Tamiya Japanese Navy Komatsu G40 Bulldozer

[gtypecanare]

Japanese Navy Komatsu G40 Bulldozer

Item# 32565

along with....

[Jennings]

Those are some MONSTROUSLY big hydraulic lines on that dozer!

J

[ChernayaAkula]

Most interesting!

What scale are those? Going by the number 32565, I gather it's 1/32.

Did they forget an "S" in Komatsu? Copyright issues? Like the "US Modern 4x4 Utility Vehicle Cargo Type" that's clearly a HMMWV?

Edited March 3, 2010 by ChernayaAkula

[ross blackford]

:D, I'm assuming that's a WW2 dozer. Serious hydraulic lines on that model indeed Jennings; and at a time when 'superior' western dozers (le Tourneau, Caterpillar etc) were still using winches and cables to raise and lower the blade and rippers. Everyone knows that any Japanese machine of the time was just an 'inferior' copy of a similar western machine. I'm not having a cheap shot at anyone here, just saying that our western impressions of a lot of things eastern were and still are flawed by our false belief that we are and have to be 'superior'.

:D,

Ross.

[LanceB]

What scale are those? Going by the number 32565, I gather it's 1/32.

Did they forget an "S" in Komatsu? B) Copyright issues? Like the "US Modern 4x4 Utility Vehicle Cargo Type" that's clearly a HMMWV?

Tamiya's 32xxx vehicles are their 1/48 line.

They didn't forget the "s", back then a different romanization system was used and "tsu" was romanized "tu", just as "chi" was romanized "ti". Some genius thought it made sense to set one initial consonant for an entire "line" in the Japanese syllabary, so "ta chi tsu te to" and "sa shi su se so" ended up "ta ti tu te to" and "sa si su se so". You used to see "Showa" written as "Syowa" for the same reason.

In fact, here's a pic of a real G40, and it says "Komatu".

It also has monster hydraulic lines on it.

Komatsu G40

[ross blackford]

:D, G'day Lance,

Thank you for the clarification and explanations. I had a mate 18-19 years ago who had taught English in Japan in the 1980s. He'd also learned a reasonable amount of Japanese while he was there. He reckoned that some characters and words were sometimes so unclear in their meaning so had little subscripts to explain the tense and sense of the character or word. From what he said, some of these subscripts gave insufficient clarity so yet another subscript was added to clear up that confusion surrounding the first subscript.

B),

Ross.

[mkimages]

Nice looking kits. It's good to see that Tamiya seems to be running with their 1/48 line of "targets". Makes for some very neat diorama possibilities when combined with same-scale aircraft.

:D

[ChernayaAkula]

Thanks for the heads-up, Lance! :D Most enlightening!

[Scooby]

Tamiya's 32xxx vehicles are their 1/48 line.

They didn't forget the "s", back then a different romanization system was used and "tsu" was romanized "tu", just as "chi" was romanized "ti". Some genius thought it made sense to set one initial consonant for an entire "line" in the Japanese syllabary, so "ta chi tsu te to" and "sa shi su se so" ended up "ta ti tu te to" and "sa si su se so". You used to see "Showa" written as "Syowa" for the same reason.

In fact, here's a pic of a real G40, and it says "Komatu".

It also has monster hydraulic lines on it.

Komatsu G40

Awesome explanation Lance, the best I have heard yet. And coming from you I am certain it is correct.

[Gundamhead]

I must have one!!! Thanks for the info! :)

Any idea when and how much?

Edited March 4, 2010 by Gundamhead

[LanceB]

Tamiya's site says "planned release late March 2010", but no price just yet.

I'd keep an eye on HLJ.

*EDIT* Planned release date is March 24th in Japan, retail is 1,300 yen.

Edited March 5, 2010 by LanceB

[pbishop]

Edited March 5, 2010 by pbishop

[Matt Roberts]

I'm wondering was that the type of dozer that the Marines used to finish Henderson Field when they captured it? Though the pic I remember seeing the stuff looked much smaller.

Funny I'd have though a starter truck would have made more sense - but then again didn't Hasegawa do one?

[Old Blind Dog]

I'm wondering was that the type of dozer that the Marines used to finish Henderson Field when they captured it? Though the pic I remember seeing the stuff looked much smaller.

Funny I'd have though a starter truck would have made more sense - but then again didn't Hasegawa do one?

Hasegawa did a Toyota starter truck and an Izuzu fuel truck in 1/72. They've also done the fuel truck in 1/48, but I haven't seen or heard anything about a starter truck in the bigger scale. I would definitely be interested if Tamiya decided to do one.

That dozer looks very cool, too!

cheers

Old Blind Dog

[gtypecanare]

Here is more info with regards to this bulldozer.

http://www.tamiya.com/japan/products/32565...u_g40/index.htm

Doesn't the miniseries "The Pacific" start this weekend on HBO?

[Huey Gunner]

Those are some MONSTROUSLY big hydraulic lines on that dozer! :)

J

I thought they were grab handles at first. It would be a easy fix. But still, would even be great for an American dio using captured equipment.

[Huey Gunner]

Doesn't the miniseries "The Pacific" start this weekend on HBO?

Sunday.

[Huey Gunner]

Well' I'll be dipped.

[DErickson]

It's not that the hoses are big, but that the Komatsu dozer is small... It's interesting to find out it was a wartime company. Remember the "Chevy" Luv pickup truck from the late '70s? It was built by Isuzu.