Bandai 1/48

[Guest]

Many years ago I built several of the 1/48 scale Bandai armor kits and I can't remember much about them. Anyone has any expierience with them? Are they accurate, detailed, easy-to-build, etc...?

(There are some available on e-Bay, stuff that noone else makes in 1/48.)

[Guest]

I built a number of 1/48 Bandai armor kits in the 1970s and 1980s and loved them. They are incredibly detailed. They include a full interior, including both the crew and engine compartments, and the exterior has all the "extras" (shovels, picks, tow cables, etc.) as separate pieces rather than molded on the superstructure. All the kits include crew figures -- many of the kits include a full five-man crew and some have three figures. If I remember correctly, all the figures are in standing poses, so they have to be modified to sit in the interior crew positions. (I never glued the top of the superstructure to the lower part so I could take off the top and display the interior.)

One of my fondest memories of the Bandai kits was building the interior of the Tiger 1 turret with the commander's and gunners' seats, the 88mm breech and the interior turret floor. Bandai really outdid themselves on that.

There were only two things that bothered me about the Bandai kits. Most importantly, the treads were one-piece rubber rather than separate pieces, so the treads did not lay correctly on the bogey wheels. The other weakness was that none of the tank kits included exterior machine guns to mount next to the commander's hatch on top of the turret. Tamiya has done a nice job with their tank treads and the exterior machine gun on their 1/48 kits, but in my opinion, the Bandai kits are still far superior to the Tamiya kits. I have yet to come across a 1/48 Tamiya armor kit with a fully detailed interior, and I still have no idea why they include an all-metal lower hull.

I hoarded the Bandai kits and have a bunch that I am looking forward to building when I once again have all that leisure time!

[Guest]

I built a number of 1/48 Bandai armor kits in the 1970s and 1980s and loved them. They are incredibly detailed. They include a full interior, including both the crew and engine compartments, and the exterior has all the "extras" (shovels, picks, tow cables, etc.) as separate pieces rather than molded on the superstructure. All the kits include crew figures -- many of the kits include a full five-man crew and some have three figures. If I remember correctly, all the figures are in standing poses, so they have to be modified to sit in the interior crew positions. (I never glued the top of the superstructure to the lower part so I could take off the top and display the interior.)

One of my fondest memories of the Bandai kits was building the interior of the Tiger 1 turret with the commander's and gunners' seats, the 88mm breech and the interior turret floor. Bandai really outdid themselves on that.

There were only two things that bothered me about the Bandai kits. Most importantly, the treads were one-piece rubber rather than separate pieces, so the treads did not lay correctly on the bogey wheels. The other weakness was that none of the tank kits included exterior machine guns to mount next to the commander's hatch on top of the turret. Tamiya has done a nice job with their tank treads and the exterior machine gun on their 1/48 kits, but in my opinion, the Bandai kits are still far superior to the Tamiya kits. I have yet to come across a 1/48 Tamiya armor kit with a fully detailed interior, and I still have no idea why they include an all-metal lower hull.

I hoarded the Bandai kits and have a bunch that I am looking forward to building when I once again have all that leisure time!