Review III: QRF Japanese Type 89

15mm/1:100 th scale model

The model made by QRF is the A version with the sloping turret and the two part glacis.

There are 5 parts to this model: The hull, two double-sided track suspension sponsons, the turret and the commander’s hatch. In general the model is pretty crisply cast. Edges are quite distinct and the detail while simple is there. One piece of detail that is very well done is the grill work on the exhaust – it’s something that you’re better off doing a thin wash to highlight rather than drybrush.

Looking at the hull there are a few areas of concern however. The rear track guards are poorly cast and lack the curve of the prototype, in this case there’s some damage to them which would require replacement with plastic card from the end of the exhaust onwards. Underneath the track guards is a real problem area. Be prepared either to carve or dremel the bulges of excess metal that will interfere with the top track run. A good sand down of the attachment plate will also help. There are a couple of shape issues I have with the fighting compartment area – I think the frontal aspect is a bit shallow, the lower glacis could be a bit deeper to avoid the odd looking gap between ground and belly of the hull. The side sponson angles just seem a little off in that they’re just that bit too horizontal for my liking.

The tracks: Again you’re going to have the same old problem of attaching them to the hull. This is exacerbated by the nature of the suspension units which are not slab sided at all and have many undercuts. I think you can eliminate using a plastic card shim here and instead look at using a thin sausage of milliput to create the necessary conformation of an attachment bracket. I’m not sure that the shape of the track units is that correct, as it doesn’t taper to the rear and create that steep angled look to the tank from the side. The suspension detail is pretty much non existent with none of the suspension brackets visible just solid flat disc wheels. The top track run is simple but has the return rollers showing which is a nice identifier.

The turret has some issues that will require fixing however. For one thing it’s too shallow, and the profile is not symmetrical when viewed from the front, with the right side evidencing a marked slope while the left side is much steeper. Along with the shallowness, the turret top suffers from shrinkage and is quite concave as can occur with metal castings. The turret also catches badly on the rear engine grilles to the extent that you have to traverse the turret some 60 degrees away from the centreline before this is no longer a factor. Definitely a case of adding a shim or raising the fighting compartment by about 1mm. The shim would also at least give the turret some additional needed height as otherwise the turret just looks rather wrong (the gun mounting is set too low by comparison). The turret cupola is the later version which would have a split hatch as opposed to the upturned bucket type with the dustbin lid cover. However as many Type89s were effectively hybrids this is less of an issue and it would be a simple matter to do the old style cupola.

The turret unfortunately also suffers from mould misalignment…this is noticeable when viewing the turret from the rear where you’ll need to do some filing and tidying, but also on the left hand side of the turret where there is a significant undercut in the lower third (although the photo shadow overstates this to some degree). This is probably why the slope on the left looks wrong and really can only be fixed by building it up with putty to eliminate the step and return the correct slope angle. There’s also a fair bit of banding which is annoying although not exactly

One thing that will strike you is the lack of rivet detail. This tank rivals the Italian M series tanks in number of rivets but there are none to be seen on the model. Be prepared for lots of fiddly work adding rivets to this model. Personally I’m not going to bother – I’d rather focus on getting the paint scheme right and looking crisp.

All in all a serviceable model. Very plain to the point of simplistic but it should paint up well. Those of you interested in the Mainland Asia battles should get a lot of use out of the Type 89.