Kit Review
Straight build + decals
Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
It's huge.. Were 1/35 tanks always this big?
The total length looks to be just under 40cm.
A diorama with the figures~
There are 3 figures in total. Three soldiers — one poking out of the front hull hatch, one in the turret hatch, and one leaning on the railing.
The figure poking just his head out of the hatch right below the cannon.
The turret hatch figure.
The figure sitting on the railing. The pose looks reasonably natural.
Something about this feels like someone's getting chewed out from behind.. ;;
Let's take a closer look at the M61 tank, the star of this kit.
Side view.
Front and rear views.
Top view.
It looks great from every angle...
The twin cannons that are unique to the M61..
There's a rubber cover on top to allow the cannons to move. A pretty realistic touch.
The turret detail is excellent..
The cast texture is nicely molded all over the surface.
The top of the turret and the hatch area (closed).
The railing section at the rear of the turret.
Most of the photo-etch parts go here.
The photo-etch parts attach to both the sides and the bottom of the railing.
The precision of the photo-etch parts is great, as expected..
The railing photo-etch parts are relatively easy to attach.
The frame fits well, and it's clear which parts of the railing need super glue, so even beginners should be able to handle it..
The side of the turret.
The trickiest photo-etch part to attach is the chain on the side of the turret..
You have to glue one end to the bottom, then bend the thin end and lightly attach it to the top.
Glue the wider end down with super glue first, let it dry, then slowly fold it with tweezers and attach the other end.
Quite a challenging little item for us mere mortals..
The machine gun in the center of the turret. Very small, but the detail is good.
You need to attach two tiny photo-etch parts to the rear of the machine gun.
As long as you have tweezers and some focus, it's not as hard as it looks.
The machine gun mounted on top of the railing.
The underside of the turret. The detail on the bottom is a bit bare.
There's no interior structure at all, so the inside of the turret is pretty empty too.. Just a single seat for the figure to stand on.
Hull front section.
The headlights on the front.
The front side armor.
The molding is delicate and has great depth.
Rear section.
The top deck with the turret removed.
White string is used to represent rope.
The hatches on the hull top deck.
The covers are separate pieces so they can be opened. (See photos below.)
The lower hull.
Lower hull detail.
With the top deck removed.
There's absolutely no interior detail. -_- It's basically motorize kit level.
Feels like a bit of a missed opportunity..
The wheels are secured with polycaps.
The wheel mounting area. The detail here feels relatively sparse..
The rubber tracks have a really nice material feel,
but each side uses two long track pieces connected together with a metal shaft.
The tracks have excellent depth and texture.
The tracks fit together nicely and snap in cleanly..
Remove the front side covers and you can see the internal structure underneath.
On the right side, there's a simple box structure hidden inside..
Under the left side cover, there are tools hidden away — a shovel, an axe, a pickaxe, and more.
The side armor can be removed.. but the manual says to glue it on for durability.
You can leave it unglued, but it'll fall off if bumped, so take your pick.
A bit disappointing — there's absolutely no detail on the inside of the side armor.
An MG-class kit would have inner armor detail, so it's a little underwhelming for a kit that costs ¥9000 to be completely bare inside..
Side view with the side skirts removed.
The turret rotates and the barrel can be elevated up and down,
but the range of vertical movement is narrower than you'd expect.
On top of that, the cannon is heavy, so it keeps drooping back down when you raise it..
The barrel rest on the front armor can be assembled in two different configurations.
You can insert the unfolded rest to support the barrel.
The folded-up step on the side armor can be swapped out for an extended version..
Technically you're supposed to choose one or the other and glue it in place,
but the fit is tight enough that just leaving it clipped in works fine.
The most interesting modification point on this kit..
In the default state, the rear door is glued shut and can't be opened, but..
If you look closely at the rear door..
There's a nice panel line running right down the middle, and on both sides there are pins designed for opening and closing.
In other words, it's basically saying "cut it if you want to."
(Why not just include it as separate pieces to begin with..)
I went ahead and cut it with an art knife.
The plastic is thick, so cutting slowly takes nearly an hour..
This kind of work is all about going slow — rushing it will ruin the result.
After cutting, the edges are rough like you see above, so you'll need to sand or file them smooth.
Once you split it in half and assemble it, the doors can open to both sides like this.
However, the hinge pins are loose.. so if you just cut and clip them in, the doors will rattle around;
You'll probably need to thicken up the hinge area a bit with some super glue..
The ladder on the back of the turret is foldable, but...
in practice you have to assemble it in sections.
The ladder extended. Looks pretty convincing, right?
The turret hatch open.
Like the rest of the UCHG series, it's less of a working hatch and more of a build-time choice — you pick open or closed and glue it down.
That said, the fit is a bit tight, so it'll stay in place well enough even without glue.
The periscope on top of the turret can rotate as well.
And the machine gun on top of the turret rotates too..
The hatch on the front of the upper hull is supposed to swing open on a pivot, but..
it barely turns when you actually try it — you're better off just pulling it out and popping it back in. ㅡ.,ㅡ
The two hatches on the rear upper hull can slide open and closed, but...
they don't hold their position well once attached, so you'll need to pick one position and glue them down.
And even if you do open them, the turret blocks the view anyway, plus there aren't really any suitable figures to stick in there.
There are also a few mechanical gimmicks tucked away on the sides below the turret.
The machine gun mount on the railing can be built in one of two ways — either folded up or in the supported/deployed position.
There are several etched parts left over, which you can use however you like depending on your preference.
A variation scheme with a greenish tint is also provided, in addition to the desert color.
The leftover decals are there for exactly that kind of variation.
There are 3 figures in total, which feels a little light compared to other UCHG kits.
The Marco figure poking his head out of the upper hull hatch.
The headset mic is an etched part, but as long as you have tweezers it's pretty easy to attach.
To fit this upper hull hatch figure into the hatch... you have to detach the waist and insert just the upper body. (Poor guy..)
The Francis figure in the turret hatch.
His headset mic is also an etched part.
That pose...
No matter how you look at it, it's totally a one-handed record-spinning DJ pose. lol
The Federico figure sitting on the railing.
Since he's designed to hang off the railing, his pose is a bit awkward..
This figure has quite a few decals compared to the others.
They're so tiny that applying them is a real pain..
The leftover accessory parts. There's a bit less than with other UCHG kits.
Size comparison with the UCHG Hover Truck.
The overall body size is roughly similar, but the M61A5 tank is noticeably wider and bulkier.
Comparison with other UCHG series mechanics — the Jeep / Wappa.
The tank is so massive that the jeep looks like a toy next to it.. ;
The scales are completely different at 1/144, but here it is alongside the EX Hildolfr, which appeared in the same MS IGLOO.
The Hildolfr was big, but the Type 61 tank is still way larger.
And it's not even an EX kit... the Type 61 tank's price is way more beautiful.. T_T
A quick snap with the MG / HGUC First for a real-scale comparison.
Now that's a proper diorama... a military diorama lol.
No matter how you look at it, it's totally a veteran soldier bullying a new recruit.
Take a close look at both soldiers' faces and the expressions are just... perfect.
Straight build shot before applying decals.
There aren't many decals to begin with, so the difference isn't huge..
