Pz. II Ausf. L "Luchs" - Early Version

Manufacturer: Kora Models (Kit A7203)

Although this is not the finest resin kit I have bought, it should build into a pretty good model if given enough effort. It is certainly a full-featured kit, with resin parts, photoetched parts, decals, and an instruction sheet. Although the instructions are not as good as they could (or should) be, they are certainly better than some other resin manufacturers I've seen.

As you can see, all of the large parts are resin, with most of the smaller details in brass. I am not real happy with the resin parts, and I feel that these are the worst parts of the kit. The way in which some of the parts are attached to the resin plugs will make it very difficult to remove some of the parts, especially the wheels. The master parts look like they were very good, but the quality of the casting is sub-standard. The surface is very rough, which will require delicate sanding; not too easy to accomplish around all the surface detail. There is even a finger print molded onto the hull side. There are two very large blobs of resin from air pockets in the mold, obliterating the rear axle on both sides (visible in scan below).

Also visible in this scan are several bubbles in the resin. These should be easy enough to fill. Only a single length of track is shown in the scan above. There are several others. While highly detailed on the outside, the inner surfaces are smooth. The tracks are also incorrect in that they have holes for the sprocket teeth to stick into, despite the fact that the sprocket teeth should instead fit into gaps along the edges of the tracks, as seen on the box top. (Note that the model on the box top is not the one included in the box; I think the photo is of a 1/35th scale kit. This is an early box, and newer boxes have artwork on the cover instead.) It might take some serious effort to make the tracks wrap around the sprockets in a convincing manner.

The brass parts are not too bad. There are certainly a lot of them, and it looks as though some serious thought went into which parts should be cast, and which should be etched. As I mentioned, the instructions aren't horrible, but they could be better. The assembly instructions are all in a single, exploded-view diagram, which may be too busy for a beginner modeler. But they include several profile, top, front and rear-view drawings, and a painting guide.

I guess my main reservation about this kit is its high price. It is priced in the same range as the ExtraTECH tank kits, and yet does not have the same high quality as that brand. For the price, I expected a better product. But as I said in the beginning, with patience and effort, this should turn into a beautiful model.