【Field Gun】Highly rated for its long range, the unique Imperial Japanese Army 75mm Mobile Type 90 Field Gun is now a 3D model kit!

If you think “If it's a plastic model of a field gun, aren't they all similar?”, this kit is an existence that makes you want to view it from a slightly different angle. “1/35 Imperial Japanese Army 75mm Mobile Type 90 Field Gun” is a plastic model of the “Grand Armor Series” reproducing the Mobile Type 90 Field Gun whose mobility was heightened through compatibility with vehicle towing. The original Type 90 Field Gun was officially adopted in 1932, receiving high evaluations from troops due to its long firing range and more. On the other hand, because horse-drawn towing was its basis, issues remained in movement capability. So what appeared was an improved type equipped with suspensions and rubber tires. The maximum speed during towing reached 45km/h, greatly improving mobility which was a weakness until then. Just knowing this background changes the perspective of looking at the model, thinking “Where was improved?”.

What I want to pay attention to in this 1/35 scale kit especially is the undercarriage telling the story of evolution into the mobile type. Parts whose structures were greatly modified such as suspensions, tires, and fenders are reproduced, and the part where you can confirm differences from the standard type as a 3D object is interesting. Furthermore, eyes are also directed at locations characterizing the Mobile Type 90 Field Gun, such as gun shields where notch parts for wooden wheels were covered. Rather than simply “assembling a 75mm field gun”, you can build while following which parts were modified to adapt to high-speed towing by vehicles. People who like mechanical structures might want to imagine up to the actual design concept while gazing at the undercarriage being built up.

Total length when completed is about 165mm, put together in a moderate sense of size unique to 1/35 scale. Differing from weapons with large vehicle bodies like tanks, field guns have fun as models in that each structure such as gun barrels, gun shields, wheels, and leg parts is easily visible from the outside. Especially in the case of the Mobile Type 90 Field Gun, because suspensions, rubber tires, and more that became the center of improvements connect to appearance individuality, after completion you will want to gaze at details from various angles. Containing 1 unit, not to mention finishing carefully as a standalone work, ways of enjoying building scenes of towing or firing preparations combining with vehicles or scene models of the same 1/35 scale can also be considered.

The point that it does not end with artillery alone is also the charm of this kit. 4 artilleryman figures are included, and furthermore 3 shell parts are prepared. For people who think “If I'm going to make a field gun, I want to express even the atmosphere during operation”, it will be pleasing content. If displaying the gun alone, you can thoroughly appreciate the structural beauty of the weapon itself, but when placing human figures and shells, a story as a weapon operated by humans is born there. Because impressions upon completion change just by devising placement and orientation of figures and thinking about positional relationships with shells, room for developing into diorama production is sufficient. If adhering to painting and ground expressions, it seems possible to build up a single scene in your own way.

After the Mobile Type 90 Field Gun was deployed in actual combat in the Nomonhan Incident, it was deployed mainly to troops in Manchuria, and after 1942 it was introduced in earnest to mobile artillery regiments of tank divisions and more. Afterward, in the late stages of the war, beginning with the defense of the Philippines, it was operated in Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa as well. Considering such background, this model is not merely artillery of the former Imperial Japanese Army, but also a subject conveying the figure of a weapon required to have mobility in accordance with changes of the era. Why was suspension necessary, why did it change to rubber tires? Being able to trace up to those reasons while gazing at the completed model is the deep part of military models. It can be said to be a work that modelers who want to savor both the fun of making details and the interest of investigating the history of actual objects can face thoroughly.