Did tehy have any, or was therr heaviest a medium tank? If the did, who makes kits? TIA![:D]
Are you referring to WWII or modern era?
As far as I know the Typ 97 was the heaviest the had.
He’s reffering to WW2, look at the topic name LOL[:o)]
Type 1 Chi-He (an improved Type 97 and also with 47mm gun) was heaviest PRODUCTION tank, but they had some others which didn’t get beyond a few pre-prod versions. I believe the Type 4 and Type 5 medium tanks.
One of them was/is offered as a kit by Finemolds(?).
Yeah he was.[:0] How in the world did I miss that?[:p]. Getting old am I?[:D]
Anyway, as the guys said, it was the Type 97 which weighed 13,465 kgs and originally sporting a low velocity 57mm main gun. It was later armed with a high velocity 47mm gun from 1942 onwards.
This tank however has only 33mm maximum armor making it unable to stand up to Shermans. The high velocity 47mm gun however still pose some problems for shermans at some ranges.
Not sure about the heaviest, but the best was the Type 3 with the 75 mm gun and the SPG on the same chassis. They were produced late in the war and should be used to defend Japanese homeland - never fired a shot in anger.
The Type 3 is available from Fine Molds.
HTH
Frank
Frank’s right. The Fine Molds Type 3 is probably the heaviest tank the IJA fielded during WW2. It is based on the Type 97 chassis with the 75mm main gun from the SPG. The gun was capable of killing a Sherman, but by the time the tank was developed the US probably had more Pershings than Japan had Type 3s.
The Type 3 was considered a medium tank by WW2 standards and was probably not even a match for early versions of the Sherman.
FWIW, I found this pretty cool reference page for WW2 Jap armor. Lists by type and includes some pretty esoteric types as well, including the heavies that were indevelopment: http://users.swing.be/tanks.edito/edito/2044.html#2044
the O-I heavy: 