Tamiya 1/48 WWII US Navy Pilots w/Moto-Tug

Tamiya have just released this kit, number 107 in their range, which will be most useful in any WWII carrier deck diorama or vignette. The box is typical Tamiya, and is a top-opener, containing two sprues of differently coloured plastic, one each for the tractor itself and for the pilots.

The tractor is quite complex of necessity, given its more open tractor-like appearance, and consists of 20 parts, plus a 4 part driver in period deck gear, two pairs of chocks for securing the tractor, a tail wheel mounted hitch, and a V-shaped hitch for towing aircraft by their main landing gear. The illustrated aircraft is a Corsair, but I'm sure the towing hitches could be adapted to use with any WWII USN aircraft.

The tractor can be built up in a few sub assemblies to ease painting, and would benefit from a bit of weathering, scratches etc. Ejector pin marks have been cleverly placed for the most part, the only one that'll need some work being on the back of the one piece driver's seat, which is easily removed with a narrow sanding stick.

It is worthy of note that areas such as the edges of the tractor's wheel arches have been bevelled to give a better scale finish, and the radiator protector at the front of the chassis has actual holes, rather than impressions, which would have been easier for the tooler. It's details such as these that take a kit from the run of the mill to something a little bit special.

An addition to the tractor sprue is an added pilot in the seated position, with one arm resting on the cockpit sill, the other in a waving pose. This is an undocumented "easter-egg" in the kit, and is a welcome addition in this age of pilotless planes.

The other paler sprue contains a total of 7 figures, including two standing pilots and two more kneeling looking at a 3rd kneeling pilot who is explaining an attach with the aid of a map (provided to cut from the instructions). The final two figures are a pair of deck crew carrying what looks to be a heavy packing crate of ammo, although there's no way of telling in truth. The moulding of these figures is well up to Tamiya's standard, and they should need little preparation for painting, unless you are planning to adjust their stances somewhat.

The instructions are clear and have numerous color callouts for Tamiya paints, but there are no decals provided, which would have been useful for rank insignia, stencils on the packing crate, or the moto-tug.

Conclusion

This kit has been well engineered, and will appeal to WWII US Navy fans, whether this plan on doing a full diorama, or a small base on which to display their models.