Review by Chris Evans
Initial Assessment
This is the all new tooled British Valentine Infantry Tank from Tamiya, ref. 35352.
As can be expected, the sprues are superbly moulded. Crisp and sharp with no visible sink marks and minimal ejector pin marks, none of which are visible on the exterior.
After a while spent looking at real subject pictures, it looks to be pretty accurate.
What’s In The Box?
The usual Tamiya box (with some very nice box art) contains 5 sprues of beautifully moulded tan coloured plastic. There are no photo etch parts to complement the plastic, the only other non-plastic parts are 4 large poly-caps for attaching wheels and 2 smaller poly-caps for the gun mantlet.
The kit
The sprues have separately moulded tools, which is good. Also, 2 figures are included, both for crewing the turret and these are very well sculpted – about as good as it get with plastic moulding.
If I had to criticise, it would have been nice to see a bit of photo etch for some of the brackets. Some of the smaller parts do look a little chunky. Only a small observation, but it would have made a nice inclusion.
The cast effect on the turret is very well done.
A highlight are the plastic moulded tracks. This is a welcome move away from the horrid rubber band tracks that used to be included in Tamiya kits. The tracks are moulded in short sections and also individually. They look to be ‘pre-sagged’ so should make up realistic appearance when fitted.
Decals
A modest decal sheet is included which covers 1 British variant from the North African campaign and 2 Russian variants. The decals look to be in perfect register and are very well printed.
Instruction Booklet
The instruction booklet, being the regular Tamiya affair, is clear and easy to follow. It contains 10 pages and 24 steps. Also included is an extra booklet of information and history of this tank – a nice touch.
Summary
This looks to be an excellent kit. Superb mouldings, clear simple instructions and a good level of detail. It retails for around the £35 mark.
Tamiya armour, I find, is a little more ‘user-friendly’ to build than say a Dragon kit for example, but still maintains a good level of detail. This kit is no exception and it makes them good for beginners and experienced modellers alike.
I’ve already started the build and it’s going very well as you can see here…
Well recommended.
Chris E.