# cut-away-tank?



## airman34 (May 18, 2011)

What would you folks think about a cut away of a tank? To me it would be interesting to see.


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## StarCruiser (Sep 28, 1999)

I think there were several such kits made by Japanese companies back in the day... Nichimo...maybe?

I know there have been a few modelers doing their own. So long as the kit has a decent interior (or you can scratch or buy parts for one) it can be done.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

I have seen some great ones in Fine Scale Modeler over the years- a great project for sure!


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## rickc5 (Feb 3, 2013)

Not too many years ago, someone made a T-34 with a full interior and a totally clear hull and turret. If you could find one, it would easily build into a great cut-away. Of course, you would need to be happy with a T-34. If you want to do a Tiger I, there are many interior kits available, and even some complete kits with full interiors.


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## airman34 (May 18, 2011)

do you know who made those interior models and if they are still available?


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## rickc5 (Feb 3, 2013)

Without doing any online research, Academy, Eduard & Verlinden come readily to mind, but I'm sure there are others too. Rye Field (a new company) makes a complete tiger I model that gets rave reviews and sells for only about $50-60 US. I would try eBay to see what's available. Now, I'm only referring to 1/35 scale tanks, and have no clue what might be available in other scales. Search eBay for "1/35 Tiger interior" in the Toys & Hobbies (military models) section--lots of options pop up.

Let us know what you decide to do. Sounds like an interesting project.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

There are no cut away tank kits on the market. However there are a few tank kits with interiors. The oldest that come to mind are the Tamiya 1/25 Tiger I and British Centurion. The Centurion is actually still a decent kit today, but the Tiger is rather poorish inside and out. Tamiya has shown cut away build ups of those kits in their catalogues but you have to cut the kits up yourself. Bandai's old 1/48 range of tanks had interior but they were poor and inaccurate. If you cut them open you would see, for example, that you got a transmission and a couple of lawn chairs for the drivers compartment, but nothing else . Likewise the engine just floats in a big hollow area in the back of the tank with no fuel tanks, radiators, drive shafts, etc. The very old Nichimo 1/25 Panther, King Tiger and Jagdpanther have somewhat decent interiors but those are $200-$300 kits if you can find them today.

There are, however, a fair number of kits today with decent interiors. Rye Field Model's new Eastern Front Tiger is probably the most thorough out of the box... It is not cut away but you could cut it open. Unfortunately an issue with doing this with any kit is that the kit plastic isn't necessarily representative of the actual armor thicknesses. 

I build this sample kit from Rye Field for Track Link 





































For as good as the RFM TIger is, the interior is still lacking odd key features. The hoses that go from the radiators to the engine are all missing, as are the drives that go to the cooling fans. The snorkel gear is missing too. Likewise none of the fule lines, electrical wiring and various plumbing anywhere in the tank are provided. I scratch built some of the missing engine details for my kit.

Trumpeter's 1/16 scale T-34 tanks have interiors. The interiors are okay but have some issues. The biggest being that the T-34/76 model 42 and 43 both have T-34/85 interior details and post war features.

The Trumpeter 1/16 King Tiger interior is really Fubar. Its a mish mash of Panther and Tiger details with a lot wrong or missing and some strange things like the radio mounted upside down and no machine gun ammo storage. Disappointing for a $350 kit to say the least.

The AFV Club 1/35 T-34s have rudimentary interiors and parts of the hulls and turrets are molded in clear so you can see inside. Oddly the turret roof and engine deck are not clear so you cant look down into the turret and engine compartment. The clear armor also shows off how the fuel tanks are hollow shells and not actual tanks. 

There are a lot of resin interior kits on the market from outfits like Tank Workshop and the recently defunct Verlinden. The TW stuff is nice. Most of the Verlinden products are inaccurate if you wanted to use the interior for more than just something you see through an open hatch.


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## taskmaster58 (Feb 9, 2010)

AFV Club puts out the T-34 with complete interior and transparent hull and turret the kit # is AF 35S55 it is listed at Lucky Model for 37.99 + 13.50 for shipping for a grant total of 51.49 and they have 1 in stock also I have an Academy Tiger I mid production that has the complete interior and is only good to make a cutaway kit out of and you can have it for the shipping cost from Canada if you want I just need an address you can get to me at [email protected]


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## WTFHappenedtoHobbyTalk (Jul 1, 2016)

Very interesting Tiger, I must say. Thanks for the pics.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Takom has just announced 3 1/35 King Tiger tanks with full interiors. Not only that but they have made an attempt to replicate the actual armor thicknesses for all of the structural parts. And, the kits have molded zimmerit anti magnetic mine coating in place, so you dont need to try to add it with putty or a soldering iron.


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