Coming next month from Fine Molds is the first variant of the Type 89 medium tank.

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Thanks!

It has a little bit of steam punk appeal / Robin

Now one no longer has to endure Girls und Panzer decal options for a kit of this. I know how anime just gives some people nightmares around here.

Glad to see more IJA armor. Wonder where it served?

Bill,

Prior to WWII it was used extensively in China, and also saw action at Khalkhin Gol. Deemed obsolete at the start of WWII, it was still used in the Philippines, Malaya, and Burma campaigns.

Cheers,

Tat

Actually this is NOT the first variant; the first had a rail running under the top track length, and the drivers position and hull M.G. positions were transposed.

Looking forward to this release, some very interesting camo schemes available for this tank. Very different from the common scheme with the yellow stripes.

Nice to see some more Japanese armor subjects being released. On my list for Santa this year.

Just a few period pics :

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Xuzhou, China 1938 :



Xuzhou, China 1938 :



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Bataan 1942 :


Manila, May 1942 :


H.P.

Just to wander slightly OT here, but was there any particular reason why Japanese tanks tended to not have a coaxial machine gun, but instead mount one in the turret rear, such as on this or the Type 97? Seems like a pretty inefficient arrangement...

Damon.

While its nice to see another version of the Type 89, it seems that the aftermarket still has some catching up to do. Try and find metal tracks for the Type 89. I can't!