Mark IV "Male" WWI Heavy Battle Tank

Manufacturer:Emhar (Kit #5001)

I finallygot my camera fixed so that I can post this review. I built thismodel a couple of years ago, and I have absolutely no referenceson World War I tanks, so I cannot comment on the scale or detailaccuracy of this kit. According to the dimensions included in theinstruction sheet, it scales out exactly to 1/72nd. Emharproduces only two 1/72nd scale armor kits, this one, and theclosely related Mark IV "Female" tank. The"Male" is armed with a pair of 6-pounder cannons in theside sponsons, and three Lewis water-cooled, or Hotchkissair-cooled machineguns, while the "Female" is armedonly with machineguns.

This kitwas exceedingly simple to build. It only has about 30 parts,including the soft plastic tracks. The tracks are claimed to be aspecial type of plastic which is easy to paint and glue. Indeed,I had no problems working these tracks while building my kit, andthere has been no degradation of the plastic since I completedthe model years ago. I do believe that the tracks would havelooked nicer had they been molded in hard plastic link and lengthsegments, but they also look very good as they are.

Thesurface detail on the tank is abundant and very well molded. Whenfirst opening the box, I was underwhelmed with the small numberof parts, none of which were very small, but after the hull goestogether, the high level of detail becomes apparent.

Therecould have been more options included, such as open hatches, andadditional details and stowage on the hull, such as theunditching beams and chains which were apparently common withthese vehicles. Figures would have also been nice. The cannonsponsons are positionable from side to side and up and down. TheLewis machineguns were simple rods of plastic that juttedstraight out from their mounts, which looked very lifeless, so Ireplaced mine with Hotchkiss air-cooled guns, by using brass rodsof varying diameters.

The decalswere very good, but had a little trouble snugging down around therivets. Had I paid more attention, I should have given them moreapplications of Solvaset, which would have likely fixed theproblem. As they are now, the carrier film disappeared after acouple coats of clear flat, with only a little silvering.Markings are included for four vehicles, including two capturedby the Germans. I painted the tank in Polly Scale Faded OliveDrab, and weathered it heavily with washes, drybrushing andchalks. All the heavy rivet detail on this model just begs for agood drybrushing. I highly recommend this model to all modelers,and it is especially suited for beginners, since it was so simpleto construct. Emhar also produces a Mk. A Whippet in 1/35thscale, and I sure wish that they would scale it down to 1/72nd.If it had the same quality as this Mark IV, then it would be awelcome addition to my collection.