The M103A1 was primarily used by the US Army, and its distinguishing feature was a gasoline engine, resulting in a unique engine deck and a heat shield under the turret rear. The later M103A2, used by the US Marines, featured a diesel engine with an engine deck like the M48A3 and no turret heat shield because of the different exhaust location.
Takom joins Dragon in offering both versions of the last American heavy tank, the M103. The Takom 1/35 scale M103A1 does an accurate job of replicating distinguishing features, like the heat shield, that Dragon missed. Another feature Takom provides that the Dragon kit did not is the option for mantlet covers unique to each version.
The 19 assembly steps start with the running gear. A complicated process, it produces workable torsion bars and road-wheel arms. I glued the first and last road wheels on each side to ensure they didn’t lift off the ground if I pose the model moving over bumpy terrain. I held off building the tracks, instead finishing the lower chassis and adding the deck first. There aren’t many tiny parts on the model, and it went together smoothly with minimal cleanup and no flash.
The kit offers three barrel options; an all-plastic barrel, with or without the nice mantlet cover, or a metal barrel with a plastic muzzle and no mantlet cover. I chose to use the plastic barrel with the mantlet cover because almost every picture shows the full-size tanks with it in place. The rest of the turret assembled easily. This is a good place to note that it and the hull have beautiful casting texture molded on.
Takom provides a jig to help assemble the track, a critical tool since each link builds from six parts! The parts are provided so you can attach sections of guide teeth to the end connector and pins, but these must be sandwiched between the pad halves for each link. Be extremely careful applying cement to the pads to avoid gluing the links together. I broke down this assembly over three nights, about 10 total hours, and the result was a beautiful pair of working tracks. I have other Takom kits that use the same track breakdown, and I think the result is worth the effort, so I am not afraid to tackle them.
The beautifully printed decals were thin but delicate and needed a healthy dose of decal solution to allow them to move into their final location. I learned this the hard way when I wrecked one of the star insignias; fortunately, I had a spare in my decal collection.
Takom’s 1/35 scale M103A1 was an enjoyable build, despite the lengthy track-assembly step. Keyed by great engineering, the hull and turret build quickly. I spent 24 hours on the model, and because of the tracks, I recommend it for intermediate modelers.