Features:

  • Exquisite Type 2 newly produced
  • One-piece upper hull made from 3-directional slide mold
  • Ventilation grill produced in maximum details
  • 3-directional slide-molded one-piece lower hull
  • Hatch on turret can be assembled open/closed
  • True-to-scale ultra-thin propellers
  • Injection molded float attachments w/crisp details
  • Intricate idler wheels and return rollers accurately produced
  • Sprocket wheels w/breathtaking detail
  • Suspension system offers easy assembly
  • One-piece DS track reproduced

Dragon earlier produced a simply stunning 1/35 scale Smart Kit of the Japanese Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank, and now it has been used as a platform to create a 1/72 plastic kit. The Type 2 was the first amphibious tank used by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). It was designed for Japanese landing forces performing amphibious invasions of Pacific islands that didn't have regular port facilities. Production commenced in 1942 and a total of 184 Type 2 amphibious tanks were made, although the design was too late to participate in Japan's island-hopping campaign. When used in water, large pontoons were attached to the glacis plate and rear deck to give it a top speed of 10km/h. These pontoons could be shed as soon as it reached land. The turret featured a 3.7cm Type 1 gun and coaxial Type 97 machine gun.

Dragon's 1/72 scale kit uses 100% new toolings. Fully utilizing Dragon's technological expertise, the result is another masterpiece of accurate kit engineering. The upper hull and lower hull components are both made as single pieces thanks to the employment of slide molds. The kit is closely based on measurements taken from a surviving tank on Peleliu (present-day Palau). This ensures that the kit of the Type 2 tank without its flotation pontoons is accurately dimensioned. The Ka-Mi also includes DS tracks for easy assembly of the complicated track links. This is a swimmingly good kit, a fitting counterpart to its larger 1/35 brother!

Reviews:

IJN Type 2 (Ki-Mi) Amphibious Tank

Manufacturer: Dragon Models
Scale: 1/72
Material: Styrene
Serial Number: 7435
Price: TBA
Introduction

This kit of the diminutive Japanese tank was based on the Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, but with major modifications. For amphibious operations two large pontoons were fitted fore and aft, but these are not supplied in this kit. It follows hot on the heels of Dragon larger scale 1/35th scale version.

Kit Contents

The kit is supplied in Dragon standard sized box for 1/72nd scale kits, and even in this smaller box the contents do sort of rattle around a bit. Inside there is one small sprue of light grey styrene, a separate lower and upper hull, plus turret shell, two sets of DS100 tan-coloured vinyl tracks, a tiny photo-etched brass fret and decal sheet. The instructions run to four sides, of which the first is artwork and parts map and the last is colour scheme, so you can begin to see how simple the assembly of the kit actually is.

Having said the above, there's nothing simple about the kit in terms of detail or appearance though. The parts are extremely well moulded. Take a look at the photographs below and you'll begin to see what I mean. There are even tiny holes visible in the cooling jacket of the machine gun! Construction begins with the assembly of the running gear onto to the one-piece slide moulded lower hull. The road wheels consisted of paired wheels on a bogey, and each of these are moulded as one fixed part which is then fixed to the lower hull. At this scale that is perfectly acceptable, and a lot more than you would receives from some manufacturers. Each of the drive sprockets are provided in two hales for greater detail, and once these and the idler wheels are fitted, you can fit the vinyl tracks. As mentioned these are DS100 vinyl, so can be cemented with ordinary styrene cement.....light years away from the kind of vinyl tracks that used to be supplied in the olden days and had to be stapled together! To allow for expansion or contraction, there are steps detailed to make them the correct length by either stretching or removing a link.

Once the tracks are fitted, the one-piece upper hull is detailed with front wall, machine gun and various other small details including a photo-etched mesh for over the exhaust, and then fixed to the lower hull. Lastly the two tiny propellers are fitted to the rear of the hull. Then the turret can be prepared. This is itself supplied as a one-piece slide moulded part, onto which the commander's hatch is fixed in either opened or closed position, then the main gun which is pre-drilled, turret race, grab rail, and then fitted to the hull.

There are two overall grey schemes on the instructions, both shown in full colour, something I wish Dragon would do in their 1/35th scale kits! The markings for both versions are minimal and provided on the included small decal sheeet. See below for details.

SKU DR7435
Barcode # 089195874351
Brand Dragon
Shipping Weight 3.0000kg
SCALE 1:72

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