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AURORA 1/48 AXIS ARMOUR 1943- 1945

Ref 302 (gift set  206, 322) Panther [1956] (boxart Europe 1975 ?)

The kit offers an ambiguous version with an ausf A hull but an ausf G turret. Rotating turret, elevating gun, opening hatches (except loading hatch un turret).  3 figures.

While fitting perfectly on the Bellona plan , the model appears coarse when compared to the Bandai offering.

NO PICTURE AVAILABLE

Ref 071 (monogram 6035) Panther [1976]
Same model as before but tooling modified to give a Zimmerit effect to the hull plates .

Ref 312 (324, 611) King Tiger [1964]

Pivoting turret, floating gun (better glued in place), opening hatches. 4 figures. This model ideally complements the Bandai kit as it offers the production Henschel turret..  611 is the version with the « Photascope » gimmick

NO PICTURE AVAILABLE

Ref  064 King Tiger [1977]

This would be the same kit as above but revised to feature zimmerit texturing . Was it issued ?

This one makes for a really impressive model once you have thinned down the side skirts and added a few details like the wire to the front light. Naturally you need to add Zimmerit on most machines. The rear deck was somewhat poor, it was replaced by one taken from the Academy kit . The figures used are from the Bandai « German tank crew » set.

The tracks are really good with a massive look which fits perfectly this late panzer (the Bandai tracks are too thin) . Yet you need to trick them into sagging correctly.

On the left Bandai , on the right Aurora : No doubt that Aurora has perfectly rendered the weight of the original . However the gun barrel appears too thin .

Ref 313 (325, 073) Japanese medium tank [1964]

Chi-Ha type 97 with late-style turret. Rotating turret and 4 figures. Note that these are the only WW2 Japanese soldiers available in 1/48 .  It is unknown if the reference 073 was issued.

This frontal view emphasize the only mistake of this kit (otherwise correct when compared to the plan in  Brone Kolleksshiya 3-95) :  The side panels should be rectangular and parralel .Unfortunately correcting this would also mean rebuilding the whole frontal area with the visors and rivets ! Being lazzy we left this to someone else.

The mudguards were reworked in aluminium sheet and the exhaust protections were cut out of « Tritools » grid..

This picture shows how nice the finished model still. The figures are multi-parts except the commander..

As an anecdote in the late sixties the French magazine Historia took to using diorama photographs to make up for the lack of period colour photographs . Here we can see the Aurora Chi-Ha in action to illustrate « Japan at war ».

There are numerous conversions possible on this chassis . Here we see the 75mm SP gun (anti-tank). The gun and the new superstructure are completely scratch-built.

The interior detailing was based on the Fujimi and Tamiya kits coupled with the few photos in  Ground Power 98/2.

White glue supplied the rivets.

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