Emhar 1/35 Tadpole

Sorry........here is a link to what it looks like:

In article , Count DeM> Anyone familiar with this brand or this kit in particular? Looks like WWI armor is so cool! There's very little of it built up at most shows too.
I don't know the Tadpole kit, but I just had a LOT of fun gluing together the MkIV Female and then the Whippet from Emhar in 1/35. I just snipped parts and glued together while watching a movie on TV... they're very simple and go together easily. Sometimes the instructions are a little vague about if a part should be butt-joined with the horizontal part under or against the vertical bit, for example. You just have to study it and work it out; the cool thing is that if you put them in the wrong orientation, it won't fit! (voice of experience).
If anything, I'd say the weak part (dare I say "link") of these kits would be the tread. They are vinyl, but not loops or "rubber band" tracks like we've seen with others. They come in straight pieces that you glue together in sections, with each track consisting of four sections. I'm unconvinced they'll go together easily, but I've not reached that point. I'm thinking ahead that the tracks will have some nasty seams which will conveniently need to be covered with turf and mud. It really won't be a big deal.
Decals look well printed but they're fairly minimal. The Whippet comes with large red/white striping decals on the side which I'll paint on. Regarding markings, the German-captured pieces have more interesting camouflage while the British ones are either green or brown (jury is supposedly out on that) but they did get good and muddy quickly.
I've not completed one of these, and glued together two last week. From what I've seen, they go together easily and are a lot of fun.
Oh one last note, there's no interior detail at all. So if you have the references and want to superdetail or something silly like that, have at it. Not my cup of tea.
Soo... goo for it!
---- Stephen

In article , Count DeM> Oh, I just looked at that... that's the same kit, essentially, as the MkIV female. The Male had cannon, I guess, while the Female had 5 machine guns. Otherwise, I believe it's the same model.
By the way, you won't believe the size of this contraption. HUGE. I guess they could do a max speed around 5mph, and it was fairly common for the soldiers to get out and walk beside the tank since the engine was totally exposed to them inside the tank. They weren't the most comfortable things!
--- Stephen

Looks interesting as is, but my twisted mind is looking at it to convert to the Warhammer 40K world. Hmmm....
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I've got their stock MK IV in 1/35, and really liked it. They came up with some really unique plastic to make the treads out of; a half-and-half mixture of polyethylene and polystyrene that flexes like polyethylene, yet glues with standard styrene cement, and can be painted without shedding as styrene can. You can get a detailed review of the kit here: if they just made that damn "International" tank, as I've wanted one of those for decades in 1/35.
Pat

You'll be pleasantly surprised; they go on no trouble at all. You want a nightmare, you put those Tauro A-7V tracks and suspension together sometime. About the time the individual links start breaking apart as you stick the wires through them, you are going to seriously reconsider having bought the damn thing, historical importance or not.
On mine, you can't even see the connections between the sections even without mud.
Decals go on very well, but are thick. Unditching beam and its chains really helps the overall look of the model. Don't forget all the machine gun hits on the exterior either; any tank moving towards a German trench in WW I was going to get hit by literally hundreds of machine gun rounds as it slowly crawled forward. They may not penetrate the armor, or even dent it; but they are going to chip the paint and leave metallic gray spots from where they hit, as the lead bullets flatten against the armor of the tank.
Pat

Those cannons BTW were the first slide-molded model parts I ever ran into. The barrels were in one piece with holes in the end. Completely baffled me as to how they'd pulled that stunt off. Oh, it's not that big...check up on photos of the Mk VIII "Liberty/International" tank, with the Renault FT-17 riding around on its back as its little "helper" tank that slides off the rear end when needed. That, by God, was indeed a "Landship". :-D
Pat

I built the Mk V version a few years back -- overall it is a rough kit if you want accuracy and the "Tadpole" was basically just a prototype (it couldn't turn in less space than a supertanker...)
The Mk V kit is better as it has a sprue that corrects some of the problems. But neither the Mk IV or V kits come with the standard combat fittings such as the aforementioned unditching beam rack (a "joy" to scratchbuild in 1/35 scale!) and other items.
Also the problem with tracks is a pain. Model Cellar did a specific set for the Tadpole that were two-piece single link type styrene tracks that were easy to assemble but they are OOP and MC said they will not be redone. There are some resin ones out there.
Only other game in town is a Russian kit of a Mk V which is (a) very expensive and (b) very bad.
Still, if you want to build it the kit is the only game in town and is a good "five footer" (e.g. looks great at five feet). I did an article up on how to do an accurate Mk V Male and sent it in to FSM but they haven't scheduled it for publication yet.
Cookie Sewell

Don't think so, IIRC the "Tadpole" was a "stretch" version, not as in "Limo" but to improve the trench-crossing capability. ISTR "Airfix Magazine" had a conversion article on how to convert their WW1 tank into a "Tadpole" soon after it was released (ye Gods that dates me!!!), the length was increased by fitting elongated sections aft of the main hull, that's why there's room for a mortar. Regards, Moramarth.

The Land Raider's Grandma... Got to be cheaper than a Forgeworld Malcador, and could be converted to one? A friend picked one up cheap for a 40K project, I must ask if anything came of it. I acquired a Whippet the year befor last with the intention of it underpinning an Ork Battlewaggon, but nothing's happened as yet. Regards Moramarth

My Mk IV came with the rack, but not the beam.
Pat

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That the one Emhar 1/35 scale tank I do not have.
I really enjoyed building and especially enjoyed weathering the Mark IV Female and Male, the Hermaphodite, the Mark V Male and the Whippet.
All went together easily and even the tracks were not too difficult to assemble.
I modified some British WW2 troops to WW1 vintage. I gave some of them Italeri No1 Mk III Lee Enfields and one was given a Lewis LMG from a Tamiya LRDG truck kit.
Peter

I have to disagree. The tracks are terrible. I couldn't get *any* adhesive to "take" in fastening the sections together -- not standard cement (liquid or tube type), and not super glue. I finally got them together -- sort of -- by roughening the tabs and clamping them together for a week while the super glue set. But the joints are still very fragile. The slightest tension breaks them apart again.
I think the solution for the tracks might be to drill little holes in the tabs, and then use "nails" made of stretched sprue, melted in place. But the result is hardly worth the effort, since the tracks don't look very realistic anyway. Nor do they fit well on the vehicle.
Maybe the version I got is different from yours.

you must have gotten different plastic. i've built a male and a hermaphrodite, and both sets of tracks went together with tube and liquid. the hard curves did take some super glue and a few hours clamping. maybe an email to emhar will get you an answer?

That's really odd, as on mine they glued together just great with Testor's liquid cement. Maybe they changed the formula of the plastic they made them out of.
Pat
Pat

I wonder if there is excess mold release on the treads? Maybe washing them thoroughly would help.
Pat