Product Review: Trenchworx WW1 Mk.IV Tank

I bought this kit for my planned German Revolution project as Freikorps armored support with a gift certificate from Operation Sting provided by Trenchworx. The model was shipped very quickly (about 3 days) and also arrived quickly (another 3 days). As with all Trenchworx products, the model comes packaged in its own box, wrapped very well in bubblewrap with clear, detailed instructions. 

First impressions were pretty good. For a resin kit, it's fantastic to have some clear instructions, making this kit very approachable for new modelers. The resin looks and feels nicely cast, with little to no noticeable mold release. The components consist of a main body, two track assemblies, two Male sponsons, two Female sponsons, and the various detail parts.

Assembly was fairly straightforward however, there are VERY prominent mold lines running along the inner edge of each track assembly. In the picture below, you can see the mold line. This is, by far, my biggest issue with this model because, to fix it, requires cutting and sanding each individual track section to be level. This eliminates the fine riveting detail on each track section and takes forever to complete.

The biggest redeeming feature of this model are the magnetized, interchangeable side sponsons. This enables the modeler to quickly and easily switch the tank to either Male (cannon-armed), Female (MG-armed), or Hermaphrodite (one cannon, one MG). It should be noted that the Hermaphrodite version of the Mk. IV is highly contentious among scale modelers, as no visual evidence to their existence is known.

Another issue with this kit is the tiny muffler exhaust pipe. Despite being the smallest piece of the kit, it isn't attached to any sprue and I, inevitably, lost it. It would also have been nice to receive a pair of dorsal rails for the main body. These were fitted to many Mk. IVs to carry logs or fascines as anti-ditching devices.

In the end, the completed kit is nice and the scale seems correct (total dimensions are ~6"L x 2"W x 1.75"H). However, without the certificate, I wouldn't have been happy to pay $40 for this kit. Let's be honest - for a 1:56 scale kit, $40 is extremely overpriced, especially considering that many 1:35 scale Mk. IVs are the same price.

Pros:

• Interchangeable, magnetized sponsons to change to Male, Female, & Hermaphrodite versions
• Poseable MG and cannon
• Overall nice detailing and scale

Cons:

• Very prominent mold lines on tracks
• Exhaust pipe has no sprue and is easily lost
• Lack of dorsal rails
• VERY expensive