After being burnt with the early wheelbarrow German tank release I will be waiting for this one to come out in the regular range I think.

I would do the same but are we sure it will be released under the regular Dragon brand?

Finally... I hope they release it as a normal offering as well.

I think this may be a cyber-hobby only release and it temping enough for me to actually buy one, in fact i have actually pre-ordered one cheers Keith

Nice, this one will find it's way into my stash...

Well, you might be right. But the poster says "Early production". Would there be a "Mid" or / and "Late" version in regular release?

looking at the instructions for the recent Dragon released version it gives you the option to build a later one, the only difference being it has plates bolted over the floatation release clamps holes in the hull. I don't have enough reference material available to prove any other differences but I guess as the war went on there was little need for a beach landing from the Japanese so the floatation sections were no longer needed or built. with the later versions having no need for the clamps either. Still not sure if Dragon will release it themselves or just allow a Cyber-hobby limited run as they have done with other kits the DAK tiger being a prime example Keith

looking at the instructions for the recent Dragon released version it gives you the option to build a later one, the only difference being it has plates bolted over the floatation release clamps holes in the hull. I don't have enough reference material available to prove any other differences but I guess as the war went on there was little need for a beach landing from the Japanese so the floatation sections were no longer needed or built. with the later versions having no need for the clamps either. Still not sure if Dragon will release it themselves or just allow a Cyber-hobby limited run as they have done with other kits the DAK tiger being a prime example Keith[/quote] The late version still used floats. The only hook that is blanked off is the front middle one this is because the later front floats were two piece that when released, seperated and hopefully fell to the sides allowing the tank to continue moving forward with out having to first back up then go around as they did with the older single piece front end. I would think that Dragon will release the late float version but wouldn't be suprised if it is a "white box" kit as well. Remember the kit that came with out the floats was a "green box" release. By the way, as Russ mentioned, it is a sweet kit. One of Dragons best. I finished one and am looking forward to this one. Roy

Just ordered one... we'll see if it's the only edition.