Subject:
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Review of Dan Siskind's Mk1 Light Tank kit
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.reviews
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Date:
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Tue, 4 Jul 2000 17:05:57 GMT
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Viewed:
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5608 times
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I purchased and built one of Dan Siskind's Mk1 Light Tank kits and
decided to post a review of my experience for the benefit of others
who might be interested in purchasing one of them. As a preamble,
I am very pleased that there are folks in the LEGO community willing
to offer alternatives to the traditional LEGO sets, and believe in
supporting them in their effort to be innovative and offer what LEGO
refuses to offer.
LOCATION. Go to http://www.brickmania.com for a picture of the model,
description, availability and cost of the kit.
LIGHT TANK MK1 KIT. The kit was released 6/3/2000 and consists of 419
pieces and 2 mini-figs, both including old style helmets and visors,
and one of them binoculars. The parts are for the most part dark grey.
Tank treads arebuilt from conveyor belt links (about 114 of them).
There are a few rare parts in the kit, such as a few soft-rounded 2x1
bricks, a low sloping 6x8 (I think) dark grey brick, and a grey antenna.
There are a few yellow bricks which are not exposed nor visible.
The kit comes in a spray-painted olive green cardboard box with template-
painted yellow lettering "Light Tank Mk1". Dan's signature and the kit
number are written in black marker ink on one side of the box. The box
is sealed with a white tag explaning that the kit is not endorsed by LEGO
and is an original creation. The box contained kit parts, an instruction
booklet and a certificate. The kit pieces were enclosed in a labeled
Ziplock bag, containing the lose pieces and three original LEGO sealed
bags holdingthe conveyor belt links. The instruction booklet contained
an introduction by Dan explaining his mission/vision/process plus LDRAW
step by step instructions. The certificate shows the kit number and
certifies the authenticity of the kit endorsed by the Builders Guild.
Total cost for the kit including shipping is $135.
CONCEPT. The Mk1 Light Tank is not modeled after any particular WWII
tank. It comes close in scale size to a Sheridan Light Tank, and it
combines elements from multiple WWII tank design philosophies (e.g.:
German with the dual-wheeled track suspension system, frontal design;
British with the square turret; Israeli with the main gun; Russian with
the two semi-barrels in the back). There is no particular scale used
for the tank other than making it work with the treads' size.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER. The instruction booklet is where the process
begins. The booklet was made from LDRAW instructions printed in shades
of grey. The instructions are complete and have all the steps necessary
to construct the tank. The booklet included with the kit was a copy of
an original, and was uneven in its grey shade quality. And while LDRAW
is a useful tool for computer-based applications, its 72dpi is less than
ideal for color or black and white printing applications given that its
resolution and the grey shading used in the booklet at times were not
sufficient to distinguish between parts to complete the steps correctly.
These booklet issues increased the time taken to build the model by
20-30%. To circumvent these limitations, each step would benefit immensely
from a parts inventory specifying the parts to be used during each step.
In all fairness it would be too expensive to provide high-resolution
color instructions for the kit. An alternative would be to allow those
who purchased the kit to download LDRAW color instructions from the site
via some kind of password protection. Lastly, some of the steps could be
reversed to diminish the complexity of buidling the kit. As an example,
all the tank tread wheels should be mounted at once before building up
the chasis. Currently instructions call for mounting the outside pulley
wheels once the chasis is built, creating an issue with the axles as
they get pushed in when inserting the wheels. I had to use a knife or
other flat object to prevent the axles from being pushed in while
inserting the pulley wheels.
EXPERIENCE. The kit is very enjoyable to construct, and certainly
fills a niche that LEGO has decided not to cover. The kit was
designed for display more so than for play. The sturdiness of the
front and back chasis slopes as well as the bottom plates could be
improved to allow for rougher play situations. The treads work well
in surfaces which offer some resistance, like a carpet or rug, but
don't work well on smooth surfaces as they do not have enough traction
to spin appropriately. The tank has three hinged doors that can be
closed or kept open to mount the minifigs. The mini-figs are easy to
display in different positions, adding a lot of good-looks realism
to the model. I was particularly pleased with the details of the
tank body as well as the smooth plates used to allow the tank treads
to "carve" into the tank's body. Some transparent round 1x1 bricks
would have added some more realism to the model by simulating lights,
as well as maybe using maroon or light grey bricks for the half barrels
at the tail of the tank. The turret rotates 360 degrees and the cannon
tilts up and down (the down tilting being a bit limited to just below
the horizon). Although the kit does not replicate an existing tank, the
kit is well designed and has a feeling of realism.
CLEAN UP. I had 6 pieces left over (2 1x1 round pegs, 2 1x1 square
holders, 2 conveyor belt links). I finally confirmed with Dan that the
left over pieces where indeed leftover, as I was not sure whether they
were really left over or I missed their installation somewhere due to
the poor readability of the instruction set.
FINAL THOUGHTS. I appreciated the certificate and the organic approach
of the box and the description of the design/part gathering process.
I would suggest offering some form of a LEGO diorama to display the
tank in some combat setting -- maybe just selling the parts as an
accessory kit that people would buy to complete the set and display it,
or instructions for building one on the website. Decals or a URL where
some could be found to complete the presentation of the tank would be
helpful. Given that you have a website, it would be possible to upload
some GIF/JPGs of the decals and just have people print them and attach
them at theirown risk/skill. Finally, is the cost justified? I believe
so for two reasons: alternatives and ingenuity. Also dark grey parts
are harder to come by in reasonable numbers, reason why I am not surprised
about the cost of production of the kit.
All in all a great kit that I recommend to those young and adult collectors
that are interested in branching into areas not covered by LEGO.
I am eagerly awaiting the Sherman tank kit that Dan is working on.
Regards,
Bill
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Review of Dan Siskind's Mk1 Light Tank kit
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| (...) --snipped terrific review information-- (...) bill, thanks for the thorough information on the tank kit. i've been very curious about that and the other models at brickmania for a bit now: (URL) was a delight to get such a fully explained (...) (24 years ago, 6-Jul-00, to lugnet.reviews)
| | | Re: Review of Dan Siskind's Mk1 Light Tank kit
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| In lugnet.reviews, Bill Sequeira writes: Bill, thanks for taking the time to post a very thorough and thought provoking review. I can say that I'm awaiting assembly of my copy rather eagerly. (It's home, I'm in Zurich...) One small nit: (...) That (...) (24 years ago, 6-Jul-00, to lugnet.reviews)
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