Platz 1/35 Girls und Panzer 38(t) Hetzer Kit First Look

By Dave Manter

First Look

Girls und Panzer is a 2012 Japanese anime television series created by Actas. The series initially aired in Japan between October and December 2012. A 2014 film has been announced.

The story takes place in a universe where girls participate in Sensha-do, lit. "Way of the Tank", the art of operating tanks, as a traditional martial art. Miho Nishizumi, a girl who has had a bad experience with Sensha-do, transfers to Oarai Girls High School to get away from it. However, soon after joining, the school revives Sensha-do and Miho, being the only student with any experience in operating a tank, is ordered to take part. Joined by her new friends, they enter a national Sensha-do championship where they face off against various other schools.

This kit is the old Dragon Hetzer kit. It consists of 332 parts molded in grey styrene and 6 photo etch detail parts, as well as a large and colorful decal sheet. Despite the age of the kit, the parts are cleanly molded and flash is minimal. The instructions are all in Japanese but the illustrations will be easy to follow. The majority of the parts count is the individual track links. The rest of the kit will go together fast and easy. Fit of the major components is good.

Construction begins with the running gear and lower hull followed by the upper hull, main gun and the detail parts. No problems should be encountered. The track links will take the longest time due the cleanup required and the parts count, but they do fit pretty well.

Overall, this is a pretty decent kit, but it is a bit pricey for the age of the original kit. With a simple change of the markings you can make a standard WW II German Hetzer from this kit.

My sincere thanks to DML for this review sample!