G
At the Hinckley show, I was much more restrained than Dave and bought only four kits, three of which will be a bit of a gamble and the fourth? Well, that could be a problem.
The fourth is my first serious move on 1:48 armour. I bought a Tamiya 1:48 Marder III. There are two versions of this that Tamiya do, the Marder III M with 7.CM Pak 40 and the earlier Marder III with the 7.6cm Pak36. I went for the latter as it is depicted as a winter camo and the single standing figure that comes with it has the winter gear on. One of the reasons I went for this version is that the other one would have the sand with red/brown and green camo. Now Dave will testify that I did a lot of mumbling along the lines of :"how the hell am I going to airbrush that with my cheapo airbrush at 1:48", in fact I nearly talked myself out of the whole expedition into 1:48 Armour just because of that. But, challenges are what make the day so I have started my collection.
Two of the other three are old kits. One, a 1:35 Bergepanther from Italeri is not world class but I hope to make something of it hopefully helped by a small amount of Photo Etch I have ordered for it. Nothing spectacular but it will help improve it slightly.
The other old one is the Tamiya 1:35 SAS Jeep. This has been re released but not improved and I have no doubt that it will lack a few niceties that we have come to expect on modern kits. However, it is one of those classic old Tamiya kits and I made one (badly) years ago, this one will be better. Again, a small amount of PE has been ordered for this to help with straps but especially the Sand Channels which will look much better in thin PE.
Finally, and I have some mixed feelings on this one, is the MiniArt 1:35 U.S. WWII Motorcycle WLA. The classic Harley Davidson Hard Tail with windscreen and the big holster mounted Tommy Gun.
This is a superbly detailed kit so why the mixed feelings? Well, it does have some very delicate and vital photo etch parts. These are not alternative parts, you have to use them and you have to shape them correctly. These include the spokes which come in the form of two PE discs for each wheel that have to be 'dished'. So important is it that you get these right, the kit includes plastic dies to press them into shape with. There is also a block onto which you shape the stays and other parts. Remember that although this is 1:35, it is still a small kit. Each tyre is made of 3 slices to get the tread pattern right and the PE spoke discs get sandwiched into these. Some of the smaller parts are so small, the sprue it tapered to a point with the tiny yet detailed part on the end of the point.
I have read a couple of reviews and the conclusion of both is that the kit is superbly detailed but very complex to build and get the PE to fit correctly. Really looking forward to building it......
See, not a plane in sight although I still have the WWII Japanese Aircraft Carrier to do and my Eurofighter to finish... So much to do, so little time.
What have you got in your up and comings?
The fourth is my first serious move on 1:48 armour. I bought a Tamiya 1:48 Marder III. There are two versions of this that Tamiya do, the Marder III M with 7.CM Pak 40 and the earlier Marder III with the 7.6cm Pak36. I went for the latter as it is depicted as a winter camo and the single standing figure that comes with it has the winter gear on. One of the reasons I went for this version is that the other one would have the sand with red/brown and green camo. Now Dave will testify that I did a lot of mumbling along the lines of :"how the hell am I going to airbrush that with my cheapo airbrush at 1:48", in fact I nearly talked myself out of the whole expedition into 1:48 Armour just because of that. But, challenges are what make the day so I have started my collection.
Two of the other three are old kits. One, a 1:35 Bergepanther from Italeri is not world class but I hope to make something of it hopefully helped by a small amount of Photo Etch I have ordered for it. Nothing spectacular but it will help improve it slightly.
The other old one is the Tamiya 1:35 SAS Jeep. This has been re released but not improved and I have no doubt that it will lack a few niceties that we have come to expect on modern kits. However, it is one of those classic old Tamiya kits and I made one (badly) years ago, this one will be better. Again, a small amount of PE has been ordered for this to help with straps but especially the Sand Channels which will look much better in thin PE.
Finally, and I have some mixed feelings on this one, is the MiniArt 1:35 U.S. WWII Motorcycle WLA. The classic Harley Davidson Hard Tail with windscreen and the big holster mounted Tommy Gun.
This is a superbly detailed kit so why the mixed feelings? Well, it does have some very delicate and vital photo etch parts. These are not alternative parts, you have to use them and you have to shape them correctly. These include the spokes which come in the form of two PE discs for each wheel that have to be 'dished'. So important is it that you get these right, the kit includes plastic dies to press them into shape with. There is also a block onto which you shape the stays and other parts. Remember that although this is 1:35, it is still a small kit. Each tyre is made of 3 slices to get the tread pattern right and the PE spoke discs get sandwiched into these. Some of the smaller parts are so small, the sprue it tapered to a point with the tiny yet detailed part on the end of the point.
I have read a couple of reviews and the conclusion of both is that the kit is superbly detailed but very complex to build and get the PE to fit correctly. Really looking forward to building it......
See, not a plane in sight although I still have the WWII Japanese Aircraft Carrier to do and my Eurofighter to finish... So much to do, so little time.
What have you got in your up and comings?
.
