Introduction
The TACAM T-60 was the result of Romanian forces making do with what was available to them. In a nutshell they took captured T-60 Soviet tanks, scrapped the turret with its small weapons, and combined it with the capable F-22 field gun. This 76.2mm gun was not an ideal weapon against the larger Soviet tanks but served well against lighter armoured vehicles and gave the Romanians something to hit back with. It can be thought of the Romanian version of the German Marder family.
Review
The model arrives in a substantial cardboard tray, with a partition the lid is also in cardboard and so all told good protection is provided. All of the sprues are individually bagged, except where duplicated. The lower hull of the model is provided as a single moulding and so providing the modeller with a stable base to start with. A number of holes need to be made, and a number of details need to be removed. No drill size is supplied for the holes, and so insert the back end of a drill bit into the recessed hole locater, when the drill does not move around you can be reasonably sure that you have the correct size drill bit. Removing moulded detailed areas of the model, can be tackled by sanding or with a chisel. Sanding tends to leave marks on the finished pieces, and so I prefer using a chisel. By placing the bevelled edge against the model face, as I find this helps prevent the chisel digging in to the finished piece. The underside of the hull has good moulded detail, but I cannot comment on the accuracy.
The suspension arms of the model could be displayed on an uneven surface, and it is my belief that it will actually be harder to ensure that they are aligned to be displayed on a level surface, due to the connection being a round pin in a round hole. The suspension of the vehicle is set up for torsion bars, and so the wheels are off set. A considerable number of parts are attached to this small hull tub, and so the exterior will have a lot of detail present to drag the viewers eye around the model. The track links of this release are made up using non-workable individual track links, with three gates between each link and the sprue. Detail wise they appear to be very good, with the holes that need to be opened up moulded in that manner. I have to say that I would have liked to see a jig supplied for track assembly, due to their small size.
Interior wise the modeller is provided with the drive sections and engine and a simple driver’s position that should do the job of providing the viewers of the finished model a suitable interior package for the model. A view into the driver’s position can be provided via the mounting area for the main gun, and also the driver’s hatch. But you will need to place a driver in the hatch to disguise the simple detail that could be seen. A number of stowage bins are included with the model for stowage on the track guards.
The offensive fire power of this minuscule vehicle is provided by a two part barrel, disappointingly for me the barrel is split along its length, and so filling and sanding is in you future. The breach of the weapon is separately moulded, and provides good detail. All other parts of the main gun are visually pleasing, and allows you to display the gun at the elevation that you wish. I was pleased to find that the gun shield has positive locations on the gun, and the guns shields that are on the vehicle are also provided with positive locators, as when you are trying to fit smooth parts together it almost becomes guess work as to where they belong. Two finishing options are provided with this release, but with no details about what these options represent, so in effect you have a generic green vehicle, of a green vehicle with white wash camouflage applied.
Conclusion
This small vehicle model offering in 1/35th scale from Hobby Boss of a Romanian TACAM T-60 has its appeal, in just how much of the model you can see. Interior wise you have what I consider to be a simplified driver’s position, that some modellers I am sure will go the extra mile to add the missing detail. The transmission and drive down the right hand side of the vehicle will give the average modeller a reasonable level of detail, or is could be said to provide the high end modeller with a solid starting point to begin the super detailing of the model. I do not like the fact, that the suspension arms do not have positive locations to show the model on a level surface, but I do really appreciate the individual track link detail and the positive locations for armour plates around the guns.