Think about it, DML/Dragon continues action box art. Their first jagdtiger suggests a massive head shot on one of the soldiers next to the beast.
Tamiya, after all, are the same people who keep rereleasing 35 year old kits with no upgrades or evencorrectoipns to their horrible two handled jerry cans and muddy figures. How much cheaper to have an illustrator simply do a vehicle with the figures from the kit and minimal need for background, perspective, etc? They are also the same people who for years marketed their XF-21 Flat Base
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Consider also Hasegawa who used excellent illustrations on their box art , so good, it was compiled in a book by the Japanese artist, only to replace this with a photo of the built up kit.