Tamiya 1/35 radio-controlled armor is back! Leading the way is a new kit of the Panther G Late version...with more types to follow, or so say the fine folks at Tamiya. They have miniaturized the motors and gearboxes even further to fit inside the Panther hull (previous Tamiya 1/35 RC kits were the much larger Tiger I, Tiger II, M1A1 Abrams, and Leopard 2A5 tanks)--small enough, they say, to fit inside even a 1/35 Sherman (wink wink, nudge nudge!).

Aside from the all-new electronics, a new lower hull has been tooled, allowing easy battery access from the underside (previous 1/35 RC tanks required the removal of the entire upper hull to change the batteries). Other than that, the exterior is Tamiya's excellent Panther G Late kit.

This new Panther kit features a four-channel RC system, allowing a full range of movement plus turret rotation and main gun elevation and depression. The movement is realistically slow, accurately conveying the weight of this massive iron beast. No Keystone Cops here; slow and heavy, like a Panther ought to be!

All electronics and mechanical gizmos are pre-assembled and simply need to be installed into the tank chassis, made even simpler by the use of easy-to-connect cables with connectors. Turret rotation time is noted as 25 seconds for a full 360-degree rotation. The main gun can be elevated 7 degrees and depressed 8 degrees. While the road wheels of course roll, the suspension arms are not sprung in any way (that is, the suspension is not functional. The suspension arms are molded as part of the lower chassis). Tracks are provided as flexible one-piece belts that have already been connected for you. Requires four AAA batteries for the tank and one 9v battery for the transmitter, sold separately. Boxtop info indicates an approximate 40-minute continuous running time on one set of batteries.