When it faced the Soviet army in 1939, the tank fared badly. The Soviet 45mm gun outranged the Japanese 57mm gun.
In response, the Type-97 Kai ShinHoTo was developed with a larger (ShinHoTo) three man turret with a 47mm high velocity gun. The hull was slightly modified and fitted with an improved engine.
The Warlord kit comes in a larger box and contains two sprue.
The instructions have colour images of the completed model as part of the painting guide. The sprues do not have part numbers, you need to reference the part numbers in the sprue diagram. There is a sheet of decals, a number of which are not referenced in the instructions. There are also vehicle cards for the Chi-Ha and the large turret version.
I do not have any other World War 2 Japanese tanks, and this was mainly purchased as an opponent of equal points value to the Soviet T-26 1939 for games of What A Tanker!
Most examples I have seen have been painted in a three colour camouflage, however some (including one of the painted examples in the instructions) are plain green.
Once the kit was assembled, it was undercoated with Citadel Chaos Black spray, followed by Citadel Caliban Green spray. The tyres were painted with Vallejo Black Grey, the shovel and pickaxe shafts were painted with Citadel Morning Brown.
The track was painted with a wet mix of Vallejo Black, Vallejo Black Grey and Army Painter Chaotic Red. A similar mix was used on the exhaust system. The track and the exhaust was dry-brushed with Citadel Ryza Rust. the machine guns and the tow ropes were painted with Vallejo Black Grey.
A mix of Army Painter Strong Tone and Vallejo Burnt Umber was painted over the tracks and wheels.
