EASTERN FRONT - WINTER
First Alan Kit

Rui S
What I see so far, from the hull and wheels assembly of this old kit:
- Soft plastic and details like with the older Italeri;
- Instructions full of errors, but easily correctable with some research (essential) and reference material;
- Relatively easy parts adjustment, without major problems.
A good surprise so far.

Fabian D.
I respectfully disagree. 😉
While the lower hull might be quite ok, upper hull and the interior is where the fun begins.
You would have to remove this and scratch the interior below:
[img1]
(You can copy the interor from the Bronco kit)
Correct some minor things on the outside...
[img2]
(The gun and it's shield are taken from their Marder III, hence there are some adjustments to be made.)
and finally you have to sand down the armour plating to fit with the mud guards.
But in the end, you're rewarded with a wonderful bathtub on tracks and the promise to never buy an Alan kit again. 😛
Full album: Marder II D | Album by nng (1:35)

Rui S
Hi Fabian,
Thank you for your comments and suggestions,
If I was a rivet counter I would never buy another Tamiya, after I built their first Kübel or Schwimmwagens.
In this case, I will do some alterations as in the bronco kit, but for sure not sand down or change the armour plating to fit with the mud guards, in my kit it fits OK. The only part that I will add is the vertical ones as I can see in the reference photos.
So I also respectfully disagree.😉, I will buy every Alan Kits that offer unique (or almost) models for a Cheap bargain, and work my way with them OOB, adding scratch here and there.
I prefer to buy 2 or 3 different Alan kits for the price of 1 Bronco. I hope you can understand my drift...
Adding to that I've to give some recognition to the very first brand that put this kit on plastic.
Cheers😉

Fabian D.
No worries, Rui.
I respect your approach, actually bought kits with a similar mindset. I've just gotten lazy over the years, so I don't really like guessing where things go, spend half of the time scratching stuff... And I'm no rivet counter myself, but things should at least look similar to the original.
And please, don't compare Alan kits with Tamiya. While some of their kits are a bit outdated, most of them are pretty damm well engineered and a pleasure to build. (Just a reminder, Tamiya kits from the 20 years ago look better than the Dragon kits from the same time frame.) None of the Alan kits (or the reboxes) I've build offered anything in that quality.

Rui S
No harm done Fabian,
I agree with you and I sure respect Tamiya engineered kits, the old and new (easy to build good for the beginner or professional, excellent instructions and fit, etc, etc,). but IMHO, in the mentioned examples, (and I could also had the Panzer II F, that I've also built) I can compare both brands.
I understand your reasons, but I still like to enhance my poor quality kits, for me it's part of the hobby and buying them a must for my wallet, so... no choice there.
As to "guessing where things go", nowadays with internet and hundreds of Gigabytes of information in my library, I also really like researching.
As to "things should at least look similar to the original", of course I partial agree, because over the years, I started to be more pragmatic.
I don't really mind if its not right, if we can't see it.
When I scratched a partial interior like in my Elephant, I really don't go over the top if no one can see it.
If it's on the outside that's another conversation...

Rui S
It would be very interesting to see the Criel Model - Nr. R042 - 1:35

Pz. Sfl. II fur 7,62 cm Pak 36 (r) (Sd. Kfz. 132)
scalemates.com/kits/940455-c..-7-62-cm-pak-36-r-sd-kfz-132

Fabian D.
They seem to be out of business, or at least have no official website and don't really sell stuff anymore. If you look at what others think about their kits Alan seem to be the better choice. Especially if you consider that you're also dealing with resin:
"Old school resin kit from about a decade ago. Became obsolete when the shake & bake Tamiya Marder III hit the shelves." and "Even at 1/3 of retail its not worth the effort. Less painful to just buy the Tamiya kit."😭about the Marder III, Fine Scale from 2011)
"I've bought a few of their kits. They're a bit rough, so if you're new to resin, be wary. Definitely buildable though, just have some good scratchbuilding skills and tools handy." (2015 from reddit)

Rui S
Hi Fabian,
Thank you for the heads up.
I was just wandering how did they designed the interiors on the Marder II.
I've been trying to get my hands on the Tamiya Marder III for a long time now, but it's always a bit to expensive for my wallet 😉
I've some resins in my stash but never built one.
Maybe my next project will be the 35(t).
scalemates.com/kits/653658-a..m-1010-panzerkampfwagen-35-t
I think mine is missing some pieces so I think it's a nice one to start with.

Fabian D.
I'll check it out once you get to it. 👍

Rui S
Hehehe. Thanks mate, your welcome.
For now I'm into the bathtub, and found from the book Wydawnictwo Edipresse, Militaria n.º 209-Marder II, a plate with a completely different interior from the Bronco one...???