1:35 PzKpfw I Ausf V

The real subject

The Pz.Kpfw. I was the smallest of the German tanks that reached series production. It came about above all as a machine for training crews and for building up armored units; it was worked by two men and its armament was light, so against armored targets it could not do much. Even so it served from the first campaigns onwards, and its chassis served as the basis for further machines, among them command and self-propelled ones.

The version in the name

The configurations of the Pz.Kpfw. I are designated by the letters A, B, C and F and they differ substantially from one another: the early machines have a different number of road wheels, a different engine and a different hull from the later heavily armored configurations. The designation given in the name of the item does not correspond to any of these letters, so before building, go by the shape of the hull and the turret in the artwork and by the manufacturer's instructions.

Building and painting tips

On a small tank everything shows. Assemble and paint the running gear before you cover it with the fenders, because afterwards a brush will not get in anywhere between the wheels. Fill the seams on the hull; on a tank the edges are usually sharp and a sanded joint shows at once. Fit the tracks only after the underside is painted. Apply dust and mud from the bottom upwards and let them thin out, because that is how it looks on a real machine; the upper surfaces, by contrast, will take a light polishing of the edges where the crew walked.

Who it is for

For modelers who build German equipment of the early period in 1:35 scale, and for collectors of the chassis on which a whole range of further machines came about. Paints, glue and tools are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.