Jeremy Hengest shares quite a few photos of Tamiya's upcoming 1:35 M561 Gama Goat...enjoy!

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I want!! Any one know of a pre-order site?

Holy Toledo! It's real! Good scoop.

!!!!

She's so ugly that its beautiful!!

jaw dropped.. never ever expected a Gama Goat to make it onto the market.. let alone Tamiya being the one to do it... truly a masterful surprise

I just saw the images of this kit. Some of the molding looks a little basic by todays standards. Any chance this was a kit tooled in the 1980's but never released. It reminds me in some ways of the old Sgt. York kit and some of those in that time period. Especially the molded stowage rings. Also the split winch.

Seriously strange machine...so strange I need to get one I'm afraid, an nice full crew would be very nice though...but that is true for anything on wheels, right?

Knowing Tamiya it would not shock me that this was an old design and mold that was never released.
I also find the instructions to look a little aged as well.
Something does seem sort of fishy now that you have mentioned it.

I'm sure though the aftermarket and a little scratching will help.

As usual Tamiya release a kit of something completely off-the-wall and already the nay-sayers are out in force pulling it apart before it is even officially released. No doubt these are the same people who complain about Dragon releasing yet another Pz IV variant....there's really no pleasing some people.

BTW the reason the instructions look different is because it is a test shot....anyone who has built one will know that you are often lucky to get any instructions at all, many of the tests I've built have just been sprues in a bag

I actually like the simplified chassis and suspension system that makes the building process simple and quick.. and it is a part that basically can't be seen.

The thing is that even if the suspension is made of 100 parts with PE.. after painting and weathering with mud and stuff like that.. it will look the same as a simplified suspension (at least to my eyes).. which means going back to the "I know the detail is there" thing! I personally would rather have a simplified chassis that doesn't take that long so I can spend more time on the really fun part.. which is the painting an the weathering.

Anyway, just my personal opinion on the subject

Hisham

Looking forward to it! As usual, if anyone needs references, let me know. I've got one sitting in my storage tent.

Iain is absolutely correct about the instructions. They are just a test version printed on very thin sheets of paper stapled together. Sometimes these things lack instructions or decals as he mentioned.

Also of note, the headlight lenses are very well molded and have the diffusion pattern molded into them. My current camera just doesn't pick up very small objects very well. They look really good, as do the headlight buckets, but you will need to add bulbs in the buckets. The windshield "glass" is also distortion free.

Agree 100%, I can't wait to get my hands of a few of these

Actually, it's extremely simplified. Here's ours, simplified...



A Gama Goat suspension doesn't have solid axles, but rather there are articulation plates with butterfly shafts to the hubs for the front and rear, and A-frames with butterfly shafts to the center hubs. Simple is correct.

I just hope it comes out with a reasonable price tag

$50, at least, you watch

VERY interesting theory. I do remember how they were cranking them out in those days. Maybe Mr. Tamiya got cold feet...

Wow, it has a lot of detailed parts for such small vehicle! Looking forward to the release.

So someone doesn't like the moulded on detail and suddenly there's a theory that this is somehow a 'lost' mould from way back?
What I see is a typical Tamiya kit that will practically fall together straight from the box and provide even a novice modeller with a reasonably accurate replica of the real thing.
If you want every tiny item to be a separate part then go to Dragon or Trumpeter or wait for the inevitable aftermarket kit....or you could actually scratchbuild the stowage rings etc and put your own personal stamp on it whilst developing your modelling skills.
Tamiya's aircraft and auto kits are welcomed by those who build them yet any armour kit seems to attract unfair criticism and ludicrous conspiracy theories. Is it any wonder they hardly bother with new armour releases these days?

Regarding the price.. their latest release, which is a totally new JGSDF Type 10 tank is a pretty sizable kit and sells in Hong Kong for around $32 plus about $13 shipping, so a total price of $45. So, I seriously doubt this will be more expensive than that.

Hisham

It would be nice if the production kits come in the light grey colored styrene. They do it for other lines (a/c, ships, etc.). Has Tamiya released any recent 1/35 or 1/48 military vehicle kits in light grey styrene before???

I recall a medium grey styrene in the German dispatch rider with cycle and the German bicyclists. Any in light grey?

I think in this case, the color of the styrene, Tamiya is definitely stuck in their past mindset that their AFV kits are (were) toys. They finally got away from the motorization legacies (molded in battery holders, switch holes, hex-nut keys in the drive sprocket axle holes, etc). The final hold outs are "authentic" plastic colors, poly caps and poly bearings in the wheels, and open hull sponsons.

I agree, though, it would be nice to see this kit in a light gray vice the predictable dark OD green plastic.

The engineering and design seems pretty standard for Tamiya, both of which have remained very consistent for years. I don't think there is much difference in the way they design their AFV kits now and the way they did it in the 80's. Tamiya has been very "static" in their design approach to AFV kits, showing hardly any of the innovation that they've shown with their A/C, automotive (especially!) and nautical kit lines.

But, I simply don't believe (without having some insider info) it's possible for anyone to say that somehow this kit is an un-released holdover from days gone by.

However, having said all the above and just going by the sprue shots and instructions, I do think this is a nice looking kit.

It definitely fills a void in available subjects. The ol' Gamma Goat was staple in the US military for a couple of decades and always quite common (in the background) during most field operations. Anyone interested in AFV's from the 70's and 80's should be very happy to see the Gamma Goat released.

It was the subject, not the molding that I thought lent credence to the theory of the kit being an older concept.

We'll never know!

So long as it doesn't require making the parts out of scale to accommodate them, I'm in favor of the poly retainer bushings. It makes things easier when installing tracks and painting to be able to readily remove the suspension parts.

KL