Well, I built it today....kit has very close tolerances and just snaps together in places. It is a very sweet kit. I thought I would throw out a couple of tips. Part D4, which sits to the left of the rear seat?? A mapcase, right?? That's what I thought it was. Nope, it's a battery box! And there is supposed to be a toolbox on the floor next to the rear seat on the right. I'm going looking for an HO toolbox to put there. Prime Portal has seven pages of pictures of a Kuorogane. Lots of great details, some too small for this guy to attempt to add. I'm sure the windshield adjusting brackets will be in a set from Hauler. There needs to be the reinforcing door stamping added to both insides of the doors, as well as door handles. I replaced the molded assist handle on the dash with bent wire....and added an assist handle to the floor at the rear of the tranny tunnel. If you use the top down- all these areas become apparent. There are a couple of dash data placards you can add (Reheat or Archer will be fine) If you do the top up- most will remain unseen. Add the driver, maybe the seated officer figure from Tamiya's Storch- with the head in this kit....and your staff car is ready to roll.
In the Tam. instructions- they call for the seats in khaki. All the built up 1/35th kits I have seen are done in dark brown leather....and the PP pics show a grey/brown tweed on the seats, rug, and liner of the top. Hey, take your pick!!
HTH, Dave

Hey Dave,

What are the differences between this and the Hasegawa Kurogane?

Matt

It's good to have a friend here at my shoulder, with a little time to spend, til I find love again -F. C. Collins W. C. Bickhardt

" Prime Portal has seven pages of pictures of a Kuorogane"

Where on Prime Portal? Unless I'm being directed to the wrong site (I keep being sent here, http://www.dishmodels.ru/ ), I can only find one Japanese item in the walkarounds and thats an aircraft wreck.

Matt, I'm not sure sure, other than the Has. kit shows a machine gun mounting in the left hand windshield glass location. Tires might have a different pattern, don't know. The kit is due out in Japan later this month, I think.
Geoff, I'm really bad with this computer stuff...but here goes........
www.primeportal.net/trucks/yuri_pasholok/type_95_scout_car/
That's what is in my URL bar.....hope this gets you there!!
BTW, color mix, in Tamiya paints, is 50% XF-49 Khaki and 50% XF-51 Khaki Drab.
BTW2, the seated officer in the Storch is wearing almost the exact same type of uniform as the standing figure in the Kurogane. Slice off the insignia...a head-ectomy, and I'l be in business!!!
I will bet there will be some sets for detailing these cars, as soon as the Hasegawa kit hits the streets and the parts can be compared.......

Thanks Dave, I'd been entering .com after prime portal instead of .net. Are you sure about the function of D4? It seems an odd size and shape for a battery box. Its not included in the ones packaged with the aircraft, and I didn't notice one in the walkaround photos.

Geoff, I'm not sure...it's not in the PP pics at all. In a description I found it quoted, "the seating was two in the front, one in the rear- with a battery box to the left of hte seat, and a toolbox to the right." It LOOKED like a map case to me...but who knows....It IS on a sprue with the figure...maybe my initial guess is right. I'm sure in the future there will be more out on it. I wonder what the Has. kit will have there??
Dave

Just some info for reference purposes:

Photos of a later version Kurogane (four-seater) from auto museum here in Japan. The colors are suspect as just about every color for WWII Japanese vehicles (whether on land, sea or in the air) are, but at least we can see that the seats are leather.

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ku3n-kym/heiki8/jidousha/jidousha.html
(The second vehicle on the page.)

The following is a link to a set of camouflage colors for Japanese AFVs. One of these colors might be the correct one for the Kurogane:

http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZCS603

Oh, and IIRC the Hasegawa Kurogane and TX40 truck kit are due out on Feb. 14. Here's a link from HLJ:

http://www.hlj.com/product/HSG36501

Isamu

Dave,

Part D4 is just to fill the hole in the floor. You must insert it at level.

Extra battery and tool box may be standard aquipment, but those items are not included in the kits.

Primer Portal Kuro seems to be one civil version of a later model and has many different details to Tamiya kit. To me, the most interesting details are the green light primer on rear interior and the metalic blue primer on wheel hubs.

HTH
Lu

If that was just to fill that hole...I wonder what else was/is supposed to be there.
Yeah, the PP pics ARE neat. The car was built along the lines of the JAAF planes- probably using that same protectant paint. I'm fascinated by the tweed....everywhere...rug, tunnel, seats, liner for top. I'm guessing that is just what the Russians had on hand to restore it....but you never know!! Isamu's pics DO show leather seats...and that makes sense for a staff car. I can't wait to see how Has. does theirs. It's due out Feb.14th....hmmmm, I just bought myself a Valentine's Day gift !!!
Dave

Dave, somewhere I saw some sprue shots of the Hasegawa Kurogane, and I got the impression it was going to be much more detailed than the Tamiya kit, especially in the undercarriage. There were a lot more parts down there than in the Tamiya kit, which is really simplified. I don't know about the topside, but the Tamiya kit again has some clunky areas Hasegawa wouldn't have much trouble beating. As far as accuracy, without seeing the Hasegawa model built, it's hard to tell. The real tragedy of course is that both companies built the same early model of the Kurogane, instead of one doing the later four-seater, which is a considerably different vehicle.