Model Forum / General / Models / June 2009

Kit Review: ArsenalM 1/87 scale kit No. 1221; German Army Tiger; 80
parts (77 in olive styrene, 1 clear styrene); retail price around US
$20 (contact information available from HO-MD.Fichtl@t-online.de)

Advantages: nicely done kit of modern Eurpoean attack helicopter;
choice of weapons options; suitable for both modelers and wargamers

Disadvantages: no crew figures; some “soft” details; very spartan
directions and information

Rating: Recommended

Recommendation: for all small-scale helicopter fans and wargamers

    At the latest Great Scale Train Show in Baltimore this weekend one of
the vendors had two new kits from a new HO scale military manufacturer
from Germany, ArsenalM. They offer a collection of HO scale kits in
resin and styrene as well as styrene kits from other companies with
their own modifications; the kits also appear to be Czech, Austrian,
German or Russian in origin.

    This kit is of the Italian Agusta A.109 Tiger attack helicopter,
which has been gestating for a number of years. While not as well
known as the American AH-64 Apache or Soviet Mi-24/35 series, it is a
“third way” for anyone wanting a modern attack helicopter with high
capability. Most Americans would probably recall it as the “secret”
helicopter from the James Bond movie “Goldeneye” where the villains
steal it to take out the security around a Soviet “doomsday” laser
weapons system. This particular version is a Bundeswehr version.

    The kit is nicely done and shows how big the machine really is – ROCO
made a nice kit of the AH-64D a few years before they went bankrupt
and changed ownership, and this is nearly as large when you compare
the two. It comes with a choice of armament options - Milan, HOT or
FFAR pods.

    The crew compartment is well detailed with armored seats, sticks and
panels as separate parts, but from a wargamer’s standpoint there are
no crew figures.

    The kit has some very nice detailing to its sides with very petite
scribed panel lines and a respectably clear canopy. But some details
show its Eastern European thinking in that the rotors have separate
blades without fully positive locking mounts and neither one is
capable of rotation once installed; while some consider that to be a
“toylike” feature, it does prevent snapped or broken blades which is
very handy for wargamers. Also wheels are split in half as is the mast
sensor package.

    Only one part is apparently not supplied with the kit, an antenna
which must be made from either wire (recommended in the kit) or
stretched sprue and fits to the right side of the tailboom.

    Finishing directions are shown for a generic Bundeswehr machine but
the decal sheet provides a “number jungle” to allow multiple aircraft
to be covered; the one shown is coded 74+08.

    Overall this is a neat little kit and one which both HO model
railroaders and wargamers will also enjoy.

Cookie Sewell