Although this kit represents a rare vehicle, it was not too surprising when Tamiya released this kit a few years ago. After all, the majority of their kits are German vehicles and variants are relatively easy to produce. You would expect that the model would share most of the same pieces as their Tiger 1 Late. Actually, the kit has a few surprises but has the same quality as the earlier kit.

The two sprues "B" which contain the suspension (wheels and torsion bars), and the three sprues of track links appear to be the same as the Tiger 1 Late kit, but otherwise I think everything is new. I was surprised to find that they re-did the lower hull. It is very nicely done and its design covers the sponson undersides. This hull was used later in the Tiger 1 Mid production (kit 35194) and the Otto Carius version (35202). It has the big hull mounting lugs moulded on and more important, it has fender mounting lugs mounted on. Most Sturmtiger photos show at least some of the fenders off, so this is good. You have to cut off the lugs if you want to mount the fenders.

Wherever the sprues come from, they are all excellent. The level of detail is exactly what we have come to expect from Tamiya. Moulding is very crisp and cleanup of most parts can be done by scraping a hobby knife on the tiny seam. The tracks are nicely detailed and very easy to build, but they have incorrect solid guide horns. There is a basic interior that is very sparse, but the gun breech is complete and pretty accurate. Other than this, there is not much to say about the kit. If you have any of Tamiya's kits made within the last five years, you know what to expect. Maybe you should feel bad for making a version of a vehicle which in real life numbered less than twenty. Instead perhaps you should your time begging DML or Tamiya to make a Comet or Cromwell.

Construction notes

Now that the review is out of the way, I have a few brief comments on construction. If you always build out of the box, this is a good kit on which to try some new techniques. I made six minor improvements to the kit. All were pretty easy:

1.) I added Zimmerit. Only the lower half of the vehicle needs to be done, and most of the area is flat and easy to work with. The instructions even show how and where to apply it. I used Zimm-it-rite, but any type of thin-able putty works OK.

2.) I noticed how beat up the side skirts look in photos. I guess that they could be left totally off, but in many photos some are still on the vehicle, all bent and crumpled. I replaced the plastic ones with thin brass sheet, and they look much better. I kept the top part of the kit piece as the mounting bracket. I didn't even do all of them, I just did one on the right side and two on the left. After I did this, I thinned and bent the back fenders and left the front ones off. I could have scratchbuilt these from brass sheet, but they are more complex because of the surface detail and bends.

3.) That gun barrel is pretty big. You can see right down into it. Where's the rifling! To handle this detail, I bought a separate photo etch sheet from On The Mark. This sheet has a piece which fits into the barrel and has rifling grooves etched into it. It was hard to install though, because the part tends to bend on the rifling grooves.

4.) I noticed that the pistol port plug is moulded as a separate piece. I saw a few pictures where the plug was popped out, so I decided to show that. It was pretty easy to drill a hole into the superstructure, add a piece of plastic tube to the inside of kit part A61, and hang it from the hole with a piece of copper wire.

5.) I added screens to the engine deck. These are offered separately by Tamiya and other companies, or the more ambitious modeller may make them from nylon mesh and plastic strip. For the kit price, I think they should have been in the box. But, as a separate purchase, I get to count it as a way that I improved the kit!

6.) I adding a wire cable and strap to the ammo crane only took a few minutes. The box top painting was a good reference.

I resisted the urge to add a complete interior. I did add a few gizmos to vaguely represent the driver's area and the radios, but they are so hard to see through the hatches that it really wasn't worth the effort. I recommend that you don't do much to the interior unless you plan to do it complete and accurate, and leave the top unglued so everyone can enjoy your hard work.

References

World War Two Tanks, by George Forty.
One photo and a short description of the vehicle. I think that Forty's other book in this series, World War Two AFVs, has more info and a colour photo.

Tiger Tanks by Michael Green.
Has a colour photo of a restored vehicle, and a black and white photo of the crane in action.

Military Miniatures in Review Special Issue "The Early Years"
The article is a reprint from a few issues prior. After the article are four great pages of photos, including the interior.