Eddy Nevarez reviews the IJA Type 4 “Ke-Nu” from Dragon in 1:72.

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Nice review. I look forward to seeing the build.

Very good review, Eddy. I must say though, I almost gasped when I saw all the "blued" out spare parts! There's probably enough there for another tank. It's also very nice to hear that Dragon finally got something else right, with the lightening holes in the idlers being opened on both inner and outer wheels (unlike those of their two Chi Ha's that only have them in the outer wheel). It's also interesting to see a sort of firewall in the inside of the lower hull.

I too can't wait to see this one being built and hopefully it goes together as smoothly as my Type 97's did. Are you contemplating leaving the hatches open? If so there is a thread here Chi Ha Interior that gives an idea and links to both that tank's turret and info about Japanese tanks. An interior wouldn't be too bad as Japanese tanks interiors were pretty Spartan. For the majority, they didn't even have a turret basket (pity for the turret crew having to stumble over the drive shaft and boxes on the floor during traverse)..

Cheers,
Jan

@c5flies – James, thanks for getting this posted up. I really enjoyed doing the research and write up. I hope that Dragon will send Kit Maker a copy of their soon to be released 72nd scale VK45.02 H and you could send that over my way, hint, hint!

@russamotto - Russ, thanks for having a look at the review and commenting it is much appreciated. I am currently working on the little plastic parts that make up this tanks chassis and will be posting this over in the Braille forum. I still need to take some photographs, gather up a possible camouflage color plate and prepare a summery, hopefully all by the end of this week?

BTW I enjoyed reading through your review on the Type 2 Ka – Mi (1:35) it inspired me to add that vehicle to the stash but in 72nd scale. I also read through a review on the same kit but in the smaller (real scale ) here at Armorama too!

@tread_geek – Jan, good to have you stop by and check out the review, I always draw inspiration from your numerous Braille reviews. As a matter of fact you have caused quit a decline on my now tight budget from having obtained most of the kits that you’ve reviewed and some that you’ve linked over to build logs.

Sometimes I just don’t get it with the molding process that Dragon uses because some kits have things that could have been implemented in other kits and visa versa. For example the lightening holes on the idler wheels that you mentioned in their Type 97 ‘Chi-Ha’ kits and the deck grates not being open on this kit and open on the Mi-Ha kit. What’s up with that?

Yes, there are a lot of parts that will get relegated over to the spares box, a Dragon kit trademark of sorts! Thanks for the link you posted as I have already bookmarked one of the sites mentioned within that link. The interior photographs that Frenchy posted there are great but in this scale you really won’t see much of anything inside of the vehicle with the hatch left in the open position so I won’t be going there with any kind of an interior.

Although some of the armor plates were welded together I did note, from Frenchy's pics, the very large sized rivets used to hold most of the armor together onto the chassis frame. These could become quit deadly to the crew if directly hit and dislodged with larger caliber weapons such as a 50cal. I imagine that workers installing these large rivets could easily become death over a short duration of time if, ear protection was not provided by the company when these vehicles were being built?

~ Eddy

Nice review of what looks like an interestiing and simpler subject. I will definitely be interested to see the blog. Like Jan's Chi Ha's and Russ' Ha Go, this one looks mor my speed.

regards,
AJ

Fantastic review Eddy!!! That is a tiny little thing but lots of potential. Thanks for your review buddy.

Gary

Eddy, excellent review! In-depth photo-rich reviews like this are what brought me to Armorama 10 years ago and why I stayed.

Is it just me or is the molding on this lil' beast simply incredible?

@Jan: thanks for the link to the interior photos. I'd missed that one.

@weathering_one – AJB, thanks for dropping by and checking out the review. I think this kit can easily be put together without having to fiddle around with added extras via PE or scratch made items and have a well detailed finished article when your done. The biggest effort would be to replicate the multi-colored camouflage scheme. However, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy had switched over to an overall green paint scheme late in the war so you could render this vehicle with a single color and use one of the three-decal markings in the kit? I may go that way on the build? I’ve already made some progress on the kit, but I’m not building it OOTB, and as soon as I take a few photographs and set up the text I’ll post that over in the Braille forum. See you there soon . . .

@BBD468 – Gary, thanks for the kind words and for stopping by, much appreciated master Windu! Yes, it’s a bitty little fellow and at my age I’ll need an electronic high-power microscope to fix things onto it!

@JPTRR – Frederick, thanks a heap for the comments it sure helps to keep me going on these reviews. Listen, is that a P-40 that you’ve got yourself strapped into? Thinking of maybe doing a little strafing on some little tanks? Hihi . . . Frederick, the molding is top notch for such a small kit, good to see Dragon taking an interest with these vehicles and going the extra mile to render them with plenty of detail. I do hope they will include many more of both the IJA and IJN vehicles used during and post WWII. Sounds like you might be interested in adding this one to your stash?

~ Eddy