A variety of smaller mainly Japanese producers have released kits from time to time, although copyright battles in the courts have from time to time prevented production. Hasegawa (apparently) now operate the licence, and have a range of 1/20 and 1/35th offerings, with Nitto also still producing some kits. I have only seen them on sale at shows, and acquired this set from Hamex Modelmarket 2019 (A small model show & kit sale event in Hanslope, just outside Milton Keynes) for a very reasonable price when compared to the online prices I’ve seen!
Being a Hasegawa release, the kit is very nicely presented in a sturdy box with some very nice matt artwork on the top depicting the two armoured suits that can be built from the kit. There are sufficient parts to allow construction of two full suits, with a variety of attachments that can be fitted according to taste.
The instructions are printed in greyscale on an A3 sheet, folded over to make a four sided leaflet. Paint colours are given in Mr Color and GSI Creos (??) numbering, plus English descriptions as well to make life a whole lot easier! The optional equipment fits are illustrated and described (although the translation is somewhat interesting!) but frankly I suspect most experience modellers would be able to piece these together without too much effort without any instructions at all.
Each suit can be fitted with either a laser gun, a Neupanzerfaust or Panzerschreck plus the front visor can be opened or left closed. A reasonable head and shoulders of the ‘driver’ is also provided which will look good behind the very clear visor. It would also be possible I suspect to fit a small LED light in the helmet part to illuminate the occupant if desired, although I have no idea if this would be prototypically correct or not.
There is a huge (comparatively) sheet of decals, with a raft of unit emblems and numbers, plus some stencilling for the suits. The leftover decals will be very useful for 1/35th German AFV modellers! There is also a painting guide which depict up to four different schemes and units, printed on a cardboard index card which is pre-punched for filing.
The parts are nicely moulded in tan coloured styrene, not a hint of flash present and no ejector marks in visible areas. The plastic feels very hard, but I can’t see this as being a problem.
I’m looking forward to building these characters one day soon (I hope), and setting them in a futuristic looking diorama representing some nuclear apocalypse style wasteland. Again, 1/35th AFV modellers could easily bash together some kind of hybrid vehicle from the spares box to go with them!
