Eddy Nevarez provides an impressive review on an impressive tank, the Panzerkampwagen VII Löwe from Amusing Hobby.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Thanks for posting this! Looks like Amusing is roaring ahead (no puns intended) with oversized cats!

Sounds like a pretty cool kit - from what else I've read and heard about Amusing's products, this seems like it too would be a good build.

While I'm totally unlikely to ever get one myself - not being much of a super-tank fan and having both a bulging stash and a forever-increasing shoppoing list driven by all sorts of new SMALLER kits - I really do hope to see someone pull one down and post a build! That., and it will be a thrill to see one get onto a show table soon! Perhaps someone will get one and enter it into the new supertanks / super-heavies Campaign going here!

Bob

Looks cool- I ordered one from china. Just waiting for it to arrive

I've been waiting for this kit since I stumbled upon the announcement of the release of this kit this summer. As a big fan of World of Tanks, this tank is on my to-do list. Hoping the kit will arrive this week.

Mine arrived today. What a great looking kit. Very thoughtful they included a jig for the indie tracks too. I am very impressed- going right to the top of my build pile

Cheers Eddy, looks like a nice kit. Jason, were did you get your kit from ? ta Geraint

I bought mine from Ebay- Yorkie Hobbies. The sellers user name is dogdogcome. He ships really fast- I would have had this a weekago if Customs wouldn't have had it sit in San Francisco for a week. Here is a link to his store:
http://myworld.ebay.com/dogdogcome/&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2754

What a coincidence. I bought my kit from the same seller on ebay. Indeed a decent seller so far; he shipped the kit the same day I paid for it.

So what kind of gun does the Lowe have? While the kit has a metal barrel, the pepper pot muzzle break is plastic. A metal one would really improve the look

Yep mine is from that e-bay store too !

Fast shipment !!

Cheers

Paul

@c5flies – James, thanks for getting this posted up so quickly James!

@bizzychicken – Geraint, thanks for the acknowledgement, much appreciated.

And thanks to all for taking the time to read the review and also for posting something here too!

Big Cat fans,

The review sample sent to Armorama that I wrote was not supplied with a turned metal barrel, so this might be something Amusing Hobby has added to the production kit releases as an afterthought? This metal barrel also does not show up on my example of the assembly instruction booklet as an option.

@jwest21 – Jason, would it be possible to have you post a photograph of the turned metal barrel here? Have the instructions been amended to include this barrel? Any help with this would be much appreciated.

As I have gone and ordered a second copy (Lucky Models) of this kit to build two conceptual versions; an initial production and a late production, I will check my ordered copy to see if the metal barrel is included in that kit and if the instructions were amended to include this barrel as an option at which time I will proceed with having the review updated to reflect this change.


What the “ . . . . !“ I went ahead to test fit the major parts of this kit and found this horrible issue! This would be an easy fix for me but not for the novice so this would certainly be a consideration for those thinking of making a purchase?


This issue is noted on the review but I should have added a photograph for visual clarity.

~ Eddy

I'll post a pic of the barrel in a moment. it is not mentioned in the intructions.

For the half moon holes, I am not sure I understand what you mean. On mine, when you put part B5 in, it completely fills the half moon hole on the back side. All you need to do is a little putty/sanding and it will disappear comepletely

Edit: I think I understand- the problem isn't the hole, its the lack of the housings

@jwest21 – Jason,

Thanks for posting a photograph of the aluminum turned barrel and for test fitting the rear idler axles to the hull, good going and much appreciated! Good to know there won’t be any holes left in these areas after installing the rear idler shafts.

On the Tiger II the two square armor plates that sit just to the inside armor side plates by where the idler shafts reside covered the idler adjustment ports. The tank crews would access these ports to get at the adjustment screws to adjust the track tension. Amusing Hobby has chosen to use the same rear hull plate configuration as that of the Tiger II. The idler shafts on the Löwe however sit just outside suspended away from these ports leaving the shafts without any mechanical means to make track adjustments. The front drive wheel gear housings are fixed items leaving no mechanical means for adjusting the tracks. That said, what is needed is a housing to support the adjustment hardware at the idler shafts and this feature is missing on this kit but has been captured well in this artist rendition below. To date there are no known original drawings depicting this area of the vehicle but this would have been the most logical location for placing the track adjustment hardware to adjust the tracks slack.


This housing design shares a similarity to that used on Panzer IV’s. Both track adjustment access plates on the kits rear hull armor plate would need to be removed to make room for this type of housing. I’m not saying this should be the way to go but given the time frame for when this vehicle was on the drawing boards this design would have been sound, simple and appropriate.

~ Eddy

thanks. I understand now.

Got my kit in the mail today, but I did not find the kit to include a metal barrel, only part C6, which is plastic.

Now that is really strange. We even used the same seller! Out of curiousity, what day did you buy it? I bought mine on November 21 2012.

This test shot seems to show a metal barrel, although it doesn't explain why some have it and some don't
http://www.themodellingnews.com/2012/09/amusing-hobby-gets-lowe-lowe-lowe-lowe.html

Bought it on the 23rd of November. Did your metal barrel come in one of the sprue bags or was it separate in the box?

My barrel was separate in the box. It was not wrapped at all.

Nope. No metal barrel in my box. Searched it thoroughly for the third time now. Neither the box or the manual says anything about a metal barrel though.

My kit doesn't mention the barrel inside or out either. It was just laying in there. I am going to post a separate thread here about the barrel and see what other people who bought the kit say

I posted a couple places to ask. I will let you know what I find out.

@jwest21 – Jason,

I didn’t catch your ‘edit’ note on your posting just before I posted but that’s fine because this also serves to inform and give visual clarity to all those also interested in this kit and reading through this thread. I did however want you to know that I am very appreciative about your interest and responsiveness in posting a photograph of the now mysterious turned aluminum barrel not being included in some of the kits- . . . LOL!

Thanks for following up with this issue and for taking the time to post a separate thread to get insight and feedback on this issue, I will also be following this thread. I just read in another model web forum that someone else also had the metal barrel included in their copy of the Löwe kit. Strange situation?

Again, thanks a bunch Jason,
~ Eddy