Chinese T26 - the tank not the menu code for sweet & sour

I've made a start on the T-26s for the Chinese Nationalist army. The models are Minairons and come 5 to a box for a very reasonable £17.00 - I got mine from the Plastic Soldier Company

The models themselves are very simple - two track units and upper and lower hull, with a choice of the single turreted A version or replacing that with the twin MG armed turrets of the B. The kit also includes a commander for the A version, and a hatch that can be open or closed. The kit has the early cylindrical turret with no rear turret MG, which marks them out as Model 1933s.

Assembly is simple and trouble free. The plastic is a different composition to others I have seen in kits of this nature, and for want of a better word "softer" without reaching the "bendy" stage some of the early Zvezda snap together Art of Tactic, but it seems to take normal Liquid Poly glue well enough.

Detail is adequate if not great, particularly around the running gear and sprockets which are basically smooth. As you can see in the pic the join between the upper and lower hull is not quite perfect on this one, but when painted I expect this to be invisible. Proportionally this looks very good, particularly the two turreted version. They come with an optional tank commander but as with the actual tank the detailing is "soft" and not as sharp as we have come to expect

I liked these little models, and I understand they were one of the first (if not the first) Minairons did. I also have some of their Pz IA and they have certainly improved, but the T26 is still acceptable if a little plain.  

This is kit with its 2 versions is a great because it adds another plastic (ie cheap) option to the gamer wanting to build an SCW or Early WW2 army. Given we already have the later conical turreted T26 from Zvezda and their flamethrower version we are starting to get spoiled for choice.