Most popular models

[Guest]

I reckon german armour is more popular is because it was in it's day pretty much superior to anything the allies had to to mention they were asthetically pleasing and were generally more robust.

scott

[Guest]

It's all to an individuals taste up to a degree and to the manufacturers to another regarding what they build and offer for sale.

Look how many Tamiya Japanese motorbike kits there are and tell me when was the last time you saw a Tamiya Harley Davidson or Hinckley Triumph?

e.g. I'm not an armour person but aesthetically I think the Sherman tank is lovely looking, (comparitively speaking), when stood next to a Tiger, physically and power wise, the Tigers a much more imposing beast and made a much bigger impact. (Literally and figuratively)

[AlanG]

e.g. I'm not an armour person but aesthetically I think the Sherman tank is lovely looking, (comparitively speaking), when stood next to a Tiger, physically and power wise, the Tigers a much more imposing beast and made a much bigger impact. (Literally and figuratively)

It the German Panther and Jagdpather that does it for me lol

[Guest]

I agree that the Panther is one pretty tank but for me it lacks the character of the T34.

[Guest]

I wonder, does the OP apply to the Bomber types too?

Curious as i'd have thought that Lancasters and Mosquito's would outweigh the Germanic bombers?

[stona]

I don't know but I would guess that Lancasters and Mosquitos would be more popular. The Luftwaffe never had a proper heavy bomber anyway. I quite like the Fw200 (Condor). The only other really big operational Luftwaffe aircraft would be the Ju290,primarily a maritime patrol aircraft. Not a great looking aircraft and most people won't have heard of it.

Steve

[tr1ckey66]

Hi All

Don't know if anyone saw that documentary on, 'the BOB from the German's point of view', but the point they seem to be making about the 109's superiority was mostly down to the 20mm cannons which, when compared to the 'door knocker' Brownings, gave it much more lethality. Anyhoo, I don't care which one was better the better aircraft I enjoy building models of both! (Just got the Eduard 1/32 109e1 from ebay)

On the armour front there's loads to choose from. Panthers are a good looking tank, tigers are imposing monsters, but yer gotta love the good ol' Sherman. Personally I like the Panzer IV - good workhorse and the H variant with schurzen is just cool to model.

So, to sum up I suppose I haven't got favourites really. I can tell you the one's I seem to have modelled the most to date though (recent years, not delving into the dimly lit past)

Armour (anything 2 and above)

Shermans (inc Fireflies and crab flails) - 8

Tigers (inc Kings Tigers) - 4

Panthers - 3

Cromwells - 2

Aircraft (anything 2 and above)

109e - 5

Fw190 - 1 +3 more on the go!

Spitfire - 3

hurricane - 2

I'm not listing everything here just the subjects I've modelled the most.

It's interesting, cos it seems to contain all the usual suspects and doesn't really reflect the variety in my model stash.

Don't know what point I'm making here so I'll just shut up now!

Cheers

P

[stona]

I think that's fairly typical Paul. I only build aircraft,mostly WW2, and for the last few years have jumped up to 1/32 scale. This alone limits my choices somewhat. With my main interest being in the Luftwaffe I've built a lot of 109s and 190s but any decent kit will get my attention.

Size is also a problem,my 1/32 Ju88 is huge.

Cheers

Steve

[tr1ckey66]

It may be huge Steve (ooh er missus) but it is simply stunning (now that just sounds wrong!) Seriously your Ju88 is quality. Interestingly, I'm thinking of going up to 1/32 scale aircraft to model less subjects but add more detail to them, if that makes any sense. I'm starting with the 109 and I'm thinking of getting the Pacific Coast's Hurri (later version) and the Revell Spit Mk1 (which I think has just been re-released?) A sort of BOB display.

Go on then... How big is the Ju88!

Paul

[Guest]

There was an article not that long ago in, I think 'Fly Past' which was comparing the 109's four cannons with the Spit's eight brownings. From what I remember there really wasn't an outright winner because although the cannon shells did more damage it was a lot easier to get hits with eight guns.

[AlanG]

Difference is you can pepperpot an aircraft with .303 and it'll still fly (look at the damage He111s took) but if you hit an aircraft with a few 20mm then it aint flying for long

[tr1ckey66]

Difference is you can pepperpot an aircraft with .303 and it'll still fly (look at the damage He111s took) but if you hit an aircraft with a few 20mm then it aint flying for long

Yep, that seems to be the conclusion of this topic on the documentary (from both sets of pilots!) Also, the spitfire had fewer seconds of fire compared to that of the 109 (can't remember what the exact count was but it was a significant amount).

Cheers

P

[stona]

There was an article not that long ago in, I think 'Fly Past' which was comparing the 109's four cannons with the Spit's eight brownings. From what I remember there really wasn't an outright winner because although the cannon shells did more damage it was a lot easier to get hits with eight guns.

Initially thay was true but as aircraft started being equipped with more armour and other protective systems like self sealing tanks it became difficult to inflict terminal damage with rifle calibre machine guns. An He111 staggered back to France with nearly 200 .303 strikes! The RAF went over to typically a 2 cannon and 4 machine gun installation on the Spitfire. Some Hurricanes sported 12 .303 machine guns. The USAAF used .50 calibre machine guns but not many were available to us and we didn't have the stocks or production capability for .50 calibre ammunition that we had for the .303 variety which,as you'll know, had been a British rifle standard for years. Later British fighters were often armed entirely with cannon,like the Typhoon.

The Luftwaffe disliked weapons out on the wings as they have to be set to converge at a set distance. Aiming is easier with centre line weapons, they leave the aircraft on a straight trajectory towards the target be it 50m or 1000m away. The Bf109 and Fw190 both had a cannon firing through the spinner and two machine guns above the engine firing through the propeller. Additional weapons did appear in the wings but were not popular and in the case of the Fw190 pilots often sought to have them removed.

Cheers

Steve

[stona]

It may be huge Steve (ooh er missus) but it is simply stunning (now that just sounds wrong!) Seriously your Ju88 is quality. Interestingly, I'm thinking of going up to 1/32 scale aircraft to model less subjects but add more detail to them, if that makes any sense. I'm starting with the 109 and I'm thinking of getting the Pacific Coast's Hurri (later version) and the Revell Spit Mk1 (which I think has just been re-released?) A sort of BOB display.Go on then... How big is the Ju88!

Paul

It makes perfect sense. The Ju88 I mentioned has far more parts and detail inside than out. The Tamiya Spitfire I recently did is the same.

How big is the Ju88? It's got a wingspan around the 2' mark. If you made your shelves for fighters you may be in trouble! Here she is with a "generic" Fw190 I did to experiment making eastern front camouflage from standard RLM colours,hence the unusual but plausible scheme.

Is that Revell MkI the same kit as their Seafire? If it is make sure you've got plenty of filler.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

A fascinating thread this!

With the recent interest in the BoB there has been a glut of useful information. All good news for us modellers!

My son has taken an interest in WWII and it is interesting to see how age plays a big part in what fascinates us most.

My modelling favours vehicles that would have been mass produced, whereas my son goes for prototypes and limited production high power vehicles.

So you could say I like to model what was most likely to have been seen and my son likes to model what may have been seen had things been different. Like an actual to an hypothetical situation.

With armour I had a preference towards German. Not that I think it is superior, but because I prefer the way it was used. In large groups of similar types to great effect.

This has changed lately as I have discovered the beauty of 1:35 scale. So British has taken favourite spot as it was used in smaller groups generally, and is easier to display in small dioramas.

With aircraft I prefer modelling British because I like it's multi-roll use as well as it's aesthetic beauty. German aircraft although excellent were used less effectively and so were not used to best effect. This also applies to other German forces, especially towards the later years of the war.

I also think that the Hawker Hurricane has been "hard done by" by the press and historians. For an aircraft that supposedly shot down up to 80% of the German aircraft during the BoB it gets very little credit.

Plus being British I always favour the underdog!:lol: