Toldi I, 1/35 Hobby Boss

The Treaty of Versailles forbade Hungary to possess or to develop armored vehicles after the First World War. Only in the ‘30s did the rearmament start in earnest, later than in most European countries. Some unsuccessful experiments led to the realization that a completely independent domestic tank research and development program would be prohibitively expensive. After some evaluation the government bought the license of the Swedish Landswerk AB L-60 in 1939, and started to manufacture a modified version under the name of 38.M Toldi I, or Toldi A20. (Miklos Toldi was a legendary nobleman and warrior in the 14th century.) The main modification was in the armament: the main gun was changed to the Hungarian-produced 2cm Solothurn anti-tank rifle, and an 8mm Gebauer machine gun. The first order was for 80 vehicles, produced by both the MAVAG and GANZ companies. In 1940 the Toldi received new, stronger torsion springs, and was renamed to Toldi II. 110 such vehicles were ordered. The first combat experience in Yugoslavia during the ’41 campaign highlighted how inadequate the main armament was, so 80 of the Toldi II variants were rebuilt with a 4cm gun, and had their frontal and turret armor increased to 35 mm. Even with these improvements the tank was hopelessly outclassed on the Eastern front by the T-34 and the KV-1, but due to its speed and good radio equipment it was put to good use as a reconnaissance vehicle.

When you evaluate the vehicles produced by smaller nations, keep it in mind that they were not designed to fight the Russian or German war machine originally. Their abysmal performance is due to the fact that they were built to fight military hardware built by similarly small countries; never the “big boys” -and they are the products of the ’30s, so they were already obsolete by the time the war broke out. The fact that Hungary after losing most of its historical territories where the heavy industry was based could produce tanks was a small miracle in itself. The fact that these tanks were not very good is a different matter.

Ironically, Toldi was an incredibly strong guy: showing the right way to Buda with gigantic sticks, retraining raging bulls with bare hands, and throwing milling stones at soldiers. And they named a light tank after him. Go figure.

 

 

The Hobby Boss offering was an impulse buy, and one I regretted. The model is no more detailed than a 1/72 scale model, and it has accuracy issues. The build itself can be finished in about two hours. Except for one thing. The tracks. You will hate these tracks. You are given individual track links, which you will have to cut off the sprue (five attachment points each), and glue together. They are smaller than 1/72 Tiger track links. They are thin and easily bend and break. It’s insane. (I never had problems with DML’s pnzI individual tracks, mind you.) The best way I could figure out to work with them was to glue them together two at a time, and then build up longer sections once dry. It’s still horrible; this is when link and length or one-piece, flexible tracks would have been much, much more desirable.

 

Base coat is on, and dry fitted the upper hull.

 

Before the tracks are attached the lower hull is painted and weathered.

 

Camo on -I’ve chosen the colorful pre-war scheme. 

 

Washes and filters… they help accentuate the details, and blend together the different colors. Yellow, green and brown filters prepared from oil paints were used.

 

The decals are thick and they don’t hug the details very well; this is a problem with the large ones.

I very lightly dusted the model using Mig’s washable dust. In this case I was looking for a fading-effect, not a dust effect. Once it is completely dry, it’s difficult to remove, so keep it in mind.

I’ve used pigments mixed with water to make the tank extremely dusty. I decided to use the model for an experiment, if I can create a convincingly dusty tank. After all, these were used as reconnaissance vehicles on the eastern front, and boy, that place was dusty during the summer… I wanted to show a tank absolutely caked in dust. (Next experiment: convincingly muddy tank, caked in mud.)

 

Once the water dried, I used a dry cotton swab to remove most of the pigments using downwards motions. I made sure I left more accumulated in crevices, and around rivets and other details.

Once I was satisfied I used a pigment fixer to keep everything in place. Since it’s kept in a closed-down display case, even that was unnecessary.

To sum up the experience: not good. The tracks, and the simplicity just killed this model for me; the level of detail, as I mentioned is on par with 1/72 offerings. It took me a long time to finish this model, and I’m somewhat disappointed in Hobby Boss. Their 1/48, 1/72 models are incredible; especially the T-34 series with full interior… but in 1/35 they seem a bit lacking. (The Pnz I F was somewhat underwhelming, too.) I’ve read that they’ve bought up the Tristar moulds, and started producing those kits again -this is a good sign for the future I guess.