Vulcan 1/35 Zundapp K800 Motorcycle in-box review



As noted in a previous post, I received from Vulcan Scale Models a sample of their latest kit, the 1/35 Zundapp K800 Motorcycle, kit #56006.  I have not had a chance to start building it but the following are my impressions of what you get inside the box.

The kit consists of 79 plastic parts on 3 sprues, 2 stainless steel PE frets for the wheel spokes, a 24 piece brass PE fret.  Also included are 4 tiny springs for the the seats and a small decal sheet with markings for 2 different bikes.  A 6 page instruction sheet rounds out the kit.

Sprue "A" is essentially the same sprue included in Vulcan's earlier Zundapp K500 kit.  However, the handlebars, part #34, were redesigned to better reflect to slight "W" shape of the real thing.  The incorrect shape of the handlebars in the K500 kit was noted in the PMMS K500 review.  When assembling the headlight, you can only add the blackout light cover as a clear lense piece is not included.  The quality of the molding is pretty good.  There is some lite flash on a few parts with few injector pin marks. 

Sprue "C" is an entirely new sprue and features the engine parts.  Photos of K800's that I found online show 7 vents on the engine block, while the kit part C1/C2 only have 6.  These missing vents can be scribed into the parts without too much trouble.  The cylinder head covers, parts C3/C4 have small sink marks in them.  They'll need to be filled with the cooling fins rescribed afterwards.

Sprue "FA" is the figure sprue and is the same one included with the K500.  Overall, the figure looks pretty good.  However, his dust goggles are pretty flimsy and are molded in solid grey plastic.  I'll be replacing mine with some clear plastic ones from the parts box.

The photo etch wheel spokes are a nice addition.  Each one gets sandwiched between a 5 piece tire assembly.  The brass PE fret contains some very small parts so care will be needed when removing them from the fret.  The 4 springs that are mounted underneath each seat are quite tiny and will disappear into the jaws of the "Carpet Monster" if one is not careful handling them.  The decal sheet has license plate, manufacturers and a speedometer.  If you want to add tactical markings to your kit, you'll need to find another source for them.

The instruction sheet consists of 23 steps written on 6 pages.  The assembly sequence appears to be logical and clearly written.  Painting call outs are noted in each step.  Recommended paints are Tamiya, Mr. Color and Life Color.  No historical background about the motorcycle is included in the instructions. 

Overall, it looks like Vulcan has done a nice job producing this kit.  The inclusion of a couple of clear parts for the rider's goggles and the headlight would be nice.  However, seeing how the corrected the handlebars compared to the previous K500 kit shows that Vulcan is willing to make changes to its product in order to make them accurate.  I look forward to building this kit during the next couple of weeks and will post another build type review at that time.

Thanks again to Leo at Vulcan Scale Models for the review sample.

My online references included:

http://www.autogallery.org.ru/zunk800.htm

And Zundapp Fool:  http://www.zundappfool.com/  Visit this site if you want to download owner's and parts manuals for this and other Zundapp bikes.

New 1/35 Zundapp K800 motorcycles from Vulcan!

After a full overtime shift at work today, I came home to find the following waiting for me in my living room:

The brand new 1/35 Zundapp K800 kits from Vulcan!  On first glance, they look very nice.  The K800 kit consists of 3 sprues and some real nice PE spokes along with a decal sheet. 

The K800 w/Steib Side Car Nr28 has 3 sprues along with the PE spokes and decals.  I'll post a more detailed preview in the next couple of days along with a review in about 10-14 days.  Now it's time to hit up some of the online Zundapp groups for some info.

Thanks to Leo at Vulcan Models for the review samples.

New Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo from Tasca!!

Finally, Tasca has announced the Sherman kit that many have been waiting for, a M4A3E2 Assault Tank aka "Sherman Jumbo"!!  For years, modellers have been stuck with either reworking the old Tamiya kit or using one of several resin conversion sets.  This new kit from Tasca will finally provide the modeller with what will undoubtably be an accurate kit for much less than the cost of the resin stuff. 

I don't have any pics of the actual kit yet but as soon as I get some, I will post them.  No release date has been listed but I bet it'll be ready for Christmas.  The following link will take you to the Tasca page describing their new Jumbo:  M4A3E2 Jumbo

The Military Vehicle Technology Foundation's M4A3E2 Assault Tank "Sherman Jumbo".



Local PBS affiliate filming at the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation

Last week, the local PBS affiliate, KTEH, visited the MVTF to film a special show for Veteran's Day.  For this show, the Panther and the M551 Sheridan were brought outside.  The Sheridan was driven around with the show's host riding in it.  While not driven, the Panther was displayed in the museum courtyard.  Besides the Panther and Sheridan, the M4A1 Sherman and Kettenkrad were also featured in the filming.  The episode is due to air in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wed, 10NOV10 @ 7pm.  Here's a link to the show's blog:  "This is US" MVTF episode

Below are some pics of the Panther and M551.

New additions to the library

During the past 6-8 weeks, I've managed to obtain some new additions for my reference library, including 3 books from Osprey, a new Squadron Walk Around, the latest Allied-Axis and a large hard cover.

First up is Spanish Civil War Tanks is the latest New Vanguard title from Steven Zaloga.  It provides a good background on armored vehicles and their operations during the Spanish Civil War. I think it's a good place to start for anyone interested in this conflict.  I purchased this book at Amazon.



Maginot Line 1940 by Marc Romanych and Martin Rupp is #218 in the Osprey Campaign series.  I found the book to be very interesting as it explained many details about the Maginot Line that I was unaware of including the types of armament used by the fortifications and the battles that took place around them.  As a result of reading this book, I'm going to be looking for more English language publications about the Maginot Line.  This book was purchased at my local hobby shop.

Although I am primarily an armor modeller with some aircraft work, I do have an interest in naval warfare.  I bought Osprey's New Vanguard 145, British Submarines of World War I by Innes McCartney on a complete whim about 5 weeks ago.  This book is my first experience reading anything about British submarine warfare, WW I or otherwise.  I quite enjoyed the book and was completely amazed by how primative these boats were.  I'm used to reading about WW II sub warfare and compared to the WW I boats, the later pig-boats were luxury liners!  This is an enjoyable book so now I'll have to pick up more of the WW I stuff from Osprey.



Allied-Axis 25 is a quarterly photo journal published by Ampersand Publishing.  The usual format features several photo essays on various pieces of World War II equipment.  The photo essays consist of wartime and if available, preserved examples of the subject vehicle/equipment.  Issue 25 is no different.  Included are articles on the M19 40mm GMC, Panther Ausf. A, Ford Bomb Truck, GE 60" searchlight, SdKfz 222 armored car, and Ford Fordor Staff Car.  David Doyle is the primary editor and writer of the articles in this issue.  And just to keep things open here, I do have a personal stake in this one as I wrote the article on the Panther Ausf. A.  My thanks to David for my sample of this issue.

The latest Walk Around from Squadron is Valentine Tank Walk Around by David Doyle.  This 88 page book follows the latest Squadron Walk Around format.  With the exception of half a dozen b&w wartime photos, all pictures are in color.  Several line drawings and color plates are also included.  About half of the photos are of a Mk III preserved in Virginia.  The rest of the coverage includes a Mk VI in Canada and a Mk IX in the U.K.  Also included are 5 photos of a DD tank preserved in the U.K.  The timing of this book is perfect in light of the new Valentine kits that have just been released.  Thanks again to David for my sample copy.

 Last but not least, Patton's Third Army in World War II by Michael Green & James D. Brown is a real nice book for those interested in the 3rd Army and General Patton.  This is a large, coffee table type book.  It's 280+ pages are loaded with photos and maps, some commonly seen, some not.  Scattered throughout the book are short bios on commanders who served under Patton and excerpts from some of Patton's writings.  I've read through the first 50 pages or so and have not been disappointed.  Thanks to Michael Green for providing me with my sample copy.  Mike has been a friend of mine for several years so keep that in mind if you read anything I write about his books.

Getting caught up on things.

Better late than never, here's the rest of my preview of the new Tasca M4A3E8.

The kit shares several sprues with the earlier M4A3(76).  These can be seen in my preview of that kit.   However, Tasca made some subtle changes to the upper hull as seen in the photos below:

Tasca gives you a real nice looking late model upper hull in their new E8.  Along with the changes noted in the photos, the weld beads are of slightly different pattern compared to those in their earlier kit. 

The turret is the later T23 type with the oval loader's hatch.  A foundry logo is cast above the pistol port.  The logo is not present on the earlier kit.



Other changes when compared to the earlier kit are shown in the photo below:

The suspension parts are shown below.  I haven't done any test fitting yet so I won't make any comments about that.



Another new set of sprues include the fenders while the sprue with the lower hull includes the muzzle brake.

Based on the sprues alone, the kit looks like another winner from Tasca!  I haven't started either kit yet as I need to practice a bit first.  Time to pull an old Tamiya M3 Lee out for some painting practice.



Another Sherman from Tasca!

Back in June, I received the then new 1/35 Tasca M4A3(76).  Quite a very nice kit!  Well, this past Friday, what was waiting for me when I got home from work?  Well, it was this:

The newest Tasca Sherman, the M4A3E8 w/T66 tracks!  Quite a pleasant surprise.  Anyways, it was a very busy weekend so I didn't have much time to go over the kit.  I'll have a preview of it posted here in the next day or so along with comparison photos of it and Tasca's earlier M4A3(76).  Stay tuned....