Looks great. Anyone know the price of this beast? If it was reasonably priced, they'd probably sell a ton of these, but I suspect Tamiya will sell it for several hundred bucks, as the motorized version has been advertised up to $1600. Tamiya prices for the 1/35 stuff have been pretty reasonable of late, I can only hope they'll follow suit for this much larger kit. VR, Russ

Tamiya USA lists it at USD637.00

Thanks! But Wow, still, a really high price point. Especially when adding shipping or tax. When compared to other models, this will be a relatively small model in 1/16th scale, and as I understand it's a pantograph up from the 1/35 version, so not all that more detailed. compared to other large scale plastic kits with even more plastic (I'm thinking WnW here)it seems just a little high. VR, Russ

Thanks! But Wow, still, a really high price point. Especially when adding shipping or tax. When compared to other models, this will be a relatively small model in 1/16th scale, and as I understand it's a pantograph up from the 1/35 version, so not all that more detailed. compared to other large scale plastic kits with even more plastic (I'm thinking WnW here)it seems just a little high. VR, Russ[/quote] I guess pricing may improve a few months after its release. I read that it is the same as the RC kit sans the motor, and it includes a die-cast part in the hull for that "weighty" feel. Addutional photos I dug up from TamiyaBlog:

Yes nice but Hannants show it coming in at £499.99 and when you consider how much more you get (albeit slightly lower quality.) from Trumpeter for a lot less it still stings a bit much for me. I think they would be better dropping the price and selling more units than sting people for less. JMHO of course. Just noticed those huge philips screws holding the mesh screen on... really?