Just finished building this. Nice enough kit went together well in usual Tamiya fashion. There are a couple of things will need adding, even to an OOB man like me. F'rinstance it clearly shows the "pig's tail" lifting eye on the box lid, but is it inside? No way! Wouldn't have thought it would be that difficult to mould. Also may drill some holes in the mantlet for the weather cover (bolts holding it not always reinserted when cover removed). Why no loading breech for the 47mm, when there is the option of showing the hatches open? Also what's the point of giving us detailed insides to the hatches, when there's no possibility of leaving them open to show that huge empty space inside? There are some aspects of the build that were surprisingly "toy-like"in a kit of this generation, e.g.the poly caps again. Can't see why they had to be used to get guns to pivot. Also some disturbing holes in the floor, & a moulded in location for some nuts - is this evidence of motorisation plans? Or are the holes meant to be there? I can see the AM boys are going to be busy, there is a cavernous space inside this tank to fill.

No danger of motorisation! The bolt locations on the hull floor also appear on the M26 and are for attaching it to a diorama base. The rectangular holes are copied from the real B1bis Tamiya studied, though perhaps they're not exactly original.

As for the interior, Tamiya policy is rarely to bother, except for the odd gun breech. They really don't want to step out of their comfort zone of producing whatever the tank equivalent of kerb-side models is, which is a shame from my point of view, but obviously not of lots of others.

David

This image pinched from militarykits huge page on the B1bis shows one of the rectangular holes



David

Steve, I think your comment Nice enough kit went together well in usual Tamiya fashion sums it up perfectly

It's a good kit, but whether we're getting spoiled and expecting a LOT more, is a moot point. No metal barrels, for example? There are some superb update/conversion sets out there as well so, yes, the AM people are having a great time with this kit....

Boy Steve -- you're hard to please.

In year end "Best model of 2006" the Tamiya Char B1 bis has often been mentioned. I have LOVED my build of the kit. The super easy tracks, the fidelity to details on the exterior.

And why the knock about using the poly caps? If that's the easiest way for Tamiya to do it, what's the complaint? On my kit, they're nicely sequestered away yet give great utility. Better than plastic grinding on plastic.

Complaining about the lack of inteior -- maybe about 5% of kits even attempt at it. Congrats to Tamiya and DML for their recent StuG kits which include them.

Are there tweaks? Sure. I can email you a list of the things I did to mine or send you a link to pictures I've posted for feedback.

I'm just glad I didn't succumb to ebay fever about two years ago and bid on one of the resin Char B1 bis kits.... LOL

I can tell you I got my money's worth --- now onto painting that Renault camo scheme!!!! Tunisie, here I come!!!

Sorry, didn't mean to come over as whinging about the kit. I bought it for myself as a Christmas present, & I wasn't disappointed in any way. It is a fine kit & the tracks are excellent, you can even have the sprocket rotating & pulling them around in prototypical fashion (that's also partly why I wondered about motorisation). I just thought it a bit odd about the turret internals. Tamiya always used to supply a simple breech unit. I don't see why the hull 75mm is held in two planes by poly caps, giving a slight side to side movement, when the instructions themselves say the tank had to be moved to aim the gun at all. An ali gun barrel for the 75 probably isn't worth it IMHO, as it's so short. The distinctive lifting hook can probably be easily made out of wire, but that's not the point. Maybe it just highlights the difference between Tamiya & Dragon - I'm getting spoilt, have only been doing Dragon lately!