Masterbox 1/35 Panzer I Ausf. A Ambulance Version, In-box review

I received this kit from HLJ yesterday and decide to share an in-box review of this kit. The kit includes 3 figures; 1 medic officer (I assume, based on my limited military knowledge) and 2 injured soldier.

The kit box - the box art can give you some idea for possible background setup should you decide to make a diorama out of this kit.



Some brief history of the model are shown on the side of the box.



Open box - parts are bundled in a flimsy plastic bag. Similar to those found in our local sundry shop.





Laying out the content. The kit consists of 5 runners; 1 white runner, 2 light grey and 2 black runner. Also included are 2 photo-etch parts and 1 small decal sheet.

*Cutting mat and 1 sen coin are not included in this kit.

White runner contains parts for 3 figures.



Close-up shots of the figure parts. I apologize for the dark photos. I was trying to capture the details and flourescent light hides the details on these white parts.

The grey runners provide parts for the Panzer I





Close-up of the parts

Surface details.





Some parts have minimal fleshing and require some clean up.



Some noticable sink molds.



Pin marks are clearly evident on these parts.

The black runners provide parts for the link-and-length track.


Close-up



Photo etch parts





Close-up




Decals

wow xamel... dah masuk geng armour plak..
this is very nice kit... i have the italian version of the MB kit...
thanks for sharing it...

Instruction sheet came in 2 pieces of paper, folded in half. In addition, Masterbox provide a pictorial step-by-step method of assembling the kit. It also shows how to assemble the link and length track included in this kit.





Parts checklist



Figure assembly and the tank's top portion assembly



Tank's lower portion assembly



Decal application instruction

Looks like a simple build Xamel. So bila nak mula??

SAC33

Never see this brand, donno nice or not...

By sharing this review, I hope I can 'racun' more people to buy them ! Now I want to build everything la. Already tired from doing only Gundam stuff for the past 8 years or so. I'm waiting for my Alan stuff (Bison and Grille) sometime this month. Habis la aku...

I'm afraid not anytime soon, David. Been concentrating on my LVTP5 and Osprey for APAC. I'll post the WIP when I'm building it.

Masterbox is a relatively newcomer in modelling scene. They're from Ukraine. Their figure kits are somewhat most sought after for their unique poses and subject matter. I'll reserve my comments on this kit's build up quality for now, but I will put up a quickbuild review when I have the time.

For more information about their product, you can refer to their website.

Xamel, thanks for the explanation and link.

Harman,

Welcome to the dark side of armour and dio building. Been following your LVTP dio build and see great potential as your ideas are fresh.
Can't wait for the complete build of that dio. As for this kit, looks tempting and might consider buying one. Whats the price tag on this one? Is it comparable to the other brands?

Richard.

Richard,

The kit costs me around RM100 (with shipping). I bought this from HLJ since so far there's no LHS carry them. Maybe sometime in the near future?

Compared with the big players like Tamiya or DML, I think Masterbox is catching up in terms of quality. So far I've assembled their figure set and I have to say, I'm rather impressed with the quality.

Yeh, the figures are fantastic. The poses are incredibly realistic and relevant to dio making.

I got some Italeri Panzer 1's that can still give some of the brands a run for their money although the molds are eons old. I guess prices of new kits hover around the figure you mentioned nowadays. Not bad tho for something as detaied as that.

Richard.

Nicely detailed review Harman. If its ok-dokey with the Armor Moderators I would like to pin this one so it doesn't get pushed down.

Thanks for the review.