CK 1/35 Russian T-18 (MS-1)
Resin and white metal Light tank
Kit no. T.002
MSRP: $32.00 (+ postage from The Tank Master in Russia)
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Introduction
I searched all the books in my home library for information on the
Russian T-18 light tank (also known as the MS-1) and came up with nil.
I then went to the internet and found a great
web-site that gives tons of information about the development and
use of this vehicle. I will direct you to that site to learn all about
this tank. I knew, when I first saw it, because of its shape and the rear
unditching skid that it was a copy of the French Renault FT-17. The history
on the web-site I found told me I was correct.
What's in the box?:
The kit comes in a small tray and sleeve type box. It was sent to me
from Penza, Russia packed in a further sleeve and wrapped in brown butcher
paper, taped shut and tied with string too. The kit parts were protected,
inside the kit, with chunks of white styrene. Everything survived the
trip to Iowa in very good shape.
The box art consists of a side view line drawing of a T-18 that is
printed on a white label.
Inside the kit are four zip-lock poly bags of parts and the small,
single sheet, instructions.
The first bag contains the medium gray colored resin parts. There are
nine of these and they consist of: the front and rear solid hull sections,
side sponsons, turret, turret dome, fenders and engine compartment door.
These are all beautifully molded with only a few pin head sized air bubbles
present, that should be very easy to fill. The front and rear hull pieces
meet at a natural seam in the tank's bolted armor and are further covered
during construction with the side sponsons and fenders.
The first cello bag of white metal parts holds: The drive sprockets,
inner and outer idler wheel halves, 12 return rollers and 28 road wheels
(46 parts in this bag).
The second cello bag of white metal parts holds: four short boggie
arms, two fuel caps, one headlight housing, the cannon barrel, coaxial
machine-gun barrel, top and bottom rear skid (unditching) plate parts,
support arms for these plates, six vertical shock absorbers, two front
axle horizontal shock absorbers, two step plates, two front suspension
assemblies, two front axles, the air horn, rear-most return roller arms
and what I believe is a sight tube. (37 parts in this cello).
The third, and last, cello bag of white metal parts holds: the tread
pieces. These are done in various lengths. You get three that are nine
links long, one that is 11 links, five that are 12 links and five that
are 14 links long. You will have to bend these straight sections around
the idler wheels and sprockets when building the model.
All the white metal parts exhibit some flash from the casting process
and will take careful cleanup with the needle files or emery paper. Actually,
this kit is more white-metal than it is resin. However, from looking at
it, it should build up beautifully.
There are no decals in the kit. The web site that talks about the T-19
has a color painting showing some three digit numbers on the side of the
hull and a triangle with what appears to be the number eleven in the center.
I will add these marks to my model when I build it.
There are no crewmen in the kit.
The small instruction sheet is just one exploded drawing. It would
have been nice if CK had provided a bit more in the way of assembly instructions
and given us a history in the kit too.
Highly recommended to Russian armor enthusiasts.
I want to thank Vyacheslav Ryzhenkov, of the Tank
Master Store in Penza, Russia for this generous review kit.
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