PzKpfw 38(t)
Grille Ausf. M

Attack Hobby Kits, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Glen Porter

Attack's 1/72 scale Grille Ausf. M is available online from Squadron.com
 

I have not been overly impressed with Attack’s kits. They seem to be at the lower end of the short run kit range. Their detail is generally soft and most small detail parts are simply moulded onto other major parts, and their plastic tracks are not up to today's standard in the hobby.

Their one saving grace is that they do some vehicles that no-one else dose.

It is also pleasing to note that this kit, the Grill Ausf M, is better than the others I have seen. It still has soft detail, in fact most of the faults of the other kits are there, but this one has many more parts and therefore more detail.

The Grille is based on a 38[t] tank chassis with the engine fitted in the front and a 150mm howitzer mounted in the back in an open shield. There is a reasonable amount of detail in the gun and mount and also inside the shield however many of these small parts have some very ugly sink marks, which will be very hard to eliminate. While the straight lengths of track aren’t too bad they don’t give you any individual links to go around the drive and return wheels. Instead you get lengths of track with no inside detail to be “bent” around the wheels. Also, the drive sprockets have no teeth where the tracks touch them. When constructed, this may look all right if the tracks bend okay, but even so, I would prefer the way it is done by Revell and others.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The PE fret looks okay but some of the parts are very small and fiddly and as I’m not a fan of PE this is no advantage to me but I would expect others to appreciate it.

Decals look fine with good register and thin carrier film. There are markings for two vehicles, a three colour Grille in France and a similar vehicle in winter scheme on the Russian front. There doesn’t seem to be any colour recommendations for the interior detail in the instructions so an outside source will be required.

I know of no other Grille in 1/72 scale plastic so if you want one, you are going to have to build this kit.

Recommended with reservations.

Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.

Review and Images Copyright © 2005 by Glen Porter
Page Created 03 February, 2005
Last updated 03 February, 2005

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