Takom 1/35 M29 Weasel

The M29 Weasel is a World War II tracked vehicle designed for operation in snow. Built by Studebaker, Weasels were also used in sandy, muddy, and desert terrains, including towing loads over terrain wheeled vehicles could not negotiate as in the U.S. Marine invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Standard M29s were semi-amphibious, but with a very low freeboard. A M29C Water Weasel version was produced with fore and aft buoyancy cells and twin rudders. Capable of operating in inland waterways, it however also saw limited action in surf conditions in the Pacific Theatre and during the landings on Walcheren in Europe.

The Weasel was designed by British inventor Geoffrey Pyke to support Project Plough, aimed at attacking Axis forces in Norway. The initial version, T15 (later M28), featured a rear engine, front wheel drive system, 15-inch Kégresse-style tracks, and a two-passenger capacity. The later M29 version had a front engine, rear wheel drive system, 20-inch tracks, larger passenger/load capacity, and improved amphibious capabilities. The M29C Water Weasel was more amphibious with buoyancy cells and twin rudders but limited to inland waterway conditions. The bogie wheel arrangement differs between M28 and M29 versions.

Prior to the release of this kit, the only kit of the Weasel was the elderly Monogram kit. While a kit from the 60s (or perhaps even earlier), it was nicely done and came with soldiers. Takom has included a driver and I'm sure there will be aftermarket to help fill all the seats. Takom also includes a photo etch fret with the largest piece being for the exhaust cover with others for boarding steps, braces, some interior bits, windscreen wipers, and rings for the rear idler gear.

As you can see from the box art, this kit has a lot of fairly small road wheels and so it is not surprising that a fair portion of the kit's construction revolves around assembling the suspension. One thing I like is that this kit has link and length tracks which makes it fairly easy to assemble. I know there are people who like separate links and those who like one-piece vinyl tracks, but to me, this is the best way to do things.

The rest of construction focuses on the interior. Takom has put a lot of effort into getting this correct. Included are a full driver's position that uses decals for the instrument faces. A radio suite is also provided along with pioneer tools.

Instructions are in booklet form and provide external painting info using MiG colors. There are no interior painting instructions, though you can glean some info from the overall painting guide. I found this part of the instructions to be very small to the point that you cannot read the paint color information. Of the four markings options two are overall OD while the other two have large white areas on them.  The decal sheet is nicely printed and past experience has shown them to be very good.

This particular kit is quite welcome. As many may have noticed, this is not the same variant as the Monogram kit which is the latter M29C. It does not have the boat style bow nor the props and rudders in the back. However, its detail level is considerably improved over that earlier kit. Not only that, but it is not expensive and should make into a very nice model for your shelves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M29_Weasel

December 2023

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