Delving into 1/48 armor and have a few questions.

[Spitfires Forever]

Greetings,

I have decided to go into the armor side of things in 1/48 and was wanting to ask a few questions of those who model in this scale. I am not a novice as far as armor goes, my first kit was the 1/25 scale Tamiya Tiger which I built in 1970 I believe. after that I built a few of the Tamiya 1/25 motorized kits then transitioned to 1/35 and the Monogram 1/32 series of German armor. Anyway, even though aircraft have been my passion armor has been a close second, so I have purchased a few kits in 1/48. I currently have the Bandai 1/48 Porsche King Tiger (complete with stickers instead of decals, I don't know what they were thinking on that one) and the Tamiya early production Sherman, as well as my favorite, the Tiger I. Now to my questions, are the Minicraft/Academy WWII kits i.e the Jagd Tiger and Panther WWII kits any good? And, where would I pick up decals for my Bandi kit? It would be a waste of time to put stickers on a nicely painted and weathered kit, so are there options? And lastly, what are your opinions in general on 1/48th armor modeling? Thanks for your time gentlemen.

Cheers

[therollercoaster]

Now to my questions, are the Minicraft/Academy WWII kits i.e the Jagd Tiger and Panther WWII kits any good? And, where would I pick up decals for my Bandi kit? It would be a waste of time to put stickers on a nicely painted and weathered kit, so are there options? And lastly, what are your opinions in general on 1/48th armor modeling? Thanks for your time gentlemen.

The Minicraft kits are crude upper hulls on a common motorised 'toy-tank' chassis, if you're looking at scale models then the Tamiya kits are a much better bet, none are perfect but they are fairly simple to build and easy to detail up with a wide variety of etch and resin add-ons available.

I used to build 1/35th armour some years ago, not any more, 1/48th provides an ideal combination of size and detail and the variety of kits is growing all the time, of late Tamiya have been the big movers, they recently released a very nice JS-2 and the new Matilda is due in the UK in a couple of weeks, the Bronco Staghounds are lovely kits but are far more involved than Tamiyas, much higher number of parts in the Staghound kits, some of the old Bandai kits are still worth having, some are collectors items.

I go for British/Commonwealth stuff and its an area that is quite well served, Tamiyas Crusader kits are considered amongst their best 1/48th armour, the Cromwell is a nice kit, the Firefly Ic is a workable model, I've got a Fighting48th resin Comet tank on my bench at the moment and its the equal of any 1/35th resin kit I've ever seen!

Check out the site at Track48 if its available in 1/48th they'll have a listing for it, you'll probably find decals there for your Bandai kit. If you are in the UK Nigel Savage at Parabellum is probably a better bet and he carries a huge range of 1/48th armour and accessories.

Currently I'm waiting on a Bailey Bridge kit to arrive from Wespe Models for a diorama I'm building, its not something I'd have considered in 1/35th because of the size, 1/48th makes it a viable project.

[Spitfires Forever]

The Minicraft kits are crude upper hulls on a common motorised 'toy-tank' chassis, if you're looking at scale models then the Tamiya kits are a much better bet, none are perfect but they are fairly simple to build and easy to detail up with a wide variety of etch and resin add-ons available.

I used to build 1/35th armour some years ago, not any more, 1/48th provides an ideal combination of size and detail and the variety of kits is growing all the time, of late Tamiya have been the big movers, they recently released a very nice JS-2 and the new Matilda is due in the UK in a couple of weeks, the Bronco Staghounds are lovely kits but are far more involved than Tamiyas, much higher number of parts in the Staghound kits, some of the old Bandai kits are still worth having, some are collectors items.

I go for British/Commonwealth stuff and its an area that is quite well served, Tamiyas Crusader kits are considered amongst their best 1/48th armour, the Cromwell is a nice kit, the Firefly Ic is a workable model, I've got a Fighting48th resin Comet tank on my bench at the moment and its the equal of any 1/35th resin kit I've ever seen!

Check out the site at Track48 if its available in 1/48th they'll have a listing for it, you'll probably find decals there for your Bandai kit. If you are in the UK Nigel Savage at Parabellum is probably a better bet and he carries a huge range of 1/48th armour and accessories.

Currently I'm waiting on a Bailey Bridge kit to arrive from Wespe Models for a diorama I'm building, its not something I'd have considered in 1/35th because of the size, 1/48th makes it a viable project.

Thanks for the input. I reckoned that their kits were more toy like than anything else, although I did build 1/48 Tamiya motorized tanks back in the day, basically shrunk down versions of their 1/25 scale motorized tanks. I find that the 1/48 kits will be a bit easier to display size-wise, and where dioramas are concerned, the better choice for me. I have heard Archer decals are an option too. I will stay away from the HobbyBoss Sherman tanks, from what I have read they have a lot of shape issues. As for British tanks, I have always had a special place in my heart for the Churchill tank, hopefully Tamiya has that one in mind. thanks again.

Cheers

[Silver Fox]

Just to echo what has been already said. Tamiya do some really nice kits that are easy to assemble and allow you to add as much etch and stowage as you like to a sound basic kit (which is what i like to do). Broncos Staghounds are fabulous but fiddley, Hobbyboss's T-34 family has good reveiews from the tankies in my club at least, though they don't rate the Shermans.

I don't rate Tamiyas figures as IMHO they seem too 2 dimensional, Dartmoor make some excellent metal figures and Parabellum has a nice range as well, though they never seem to be advertised.

[therollercoaster]

The Hobbyboss Shermans are generally a bit hit poor, though Tank Workshop make plenty of resin to improve them, upper and lower hulls, HVSS suspension, transmission covers, turrets, even a recent Israeli M50 conversion. Assuming Shermans are your interest.

Dartmoors figures are probably the best but some people don't like them because they are metal, so are the Parabellum figures, they make quite a range but you have to pick and choose, some of them are excellent, some are a bit crude and poorly sculpted, but the animation and proportions are always good.

Tamiyas own figures look sort of OK if you're sticking them in truck cabs or turret hatches, they are also cheap and as they are regular plastic easy enough to cut up and convert.

[Hepster]

Greetings,

I have decided to go into the armor side of things in 1/48 and was wanting to ask a few questions of those who model in this scale. I am not a novice as far as armor goes, my first kit was the 1/25 scale Tamiya Tiger which I built in 1970 I believe. after that I built a few of the Tamiya 1/25 motorized kits then transitioned to 1/35 and the Monogram 1/32 series of German armor. Anyway, even though aircraft have been my passion armor has been a close second, so I have purchased a few kits in 1/48. I currently have the Bandai 1/48 Porsche King Tiger (complete with stickers instead of decals, I don't know what they were thinking on that one) and the Tamiya early production Sherman, as well as my favorite, the Tiger I. Now to my questions, are the Minicraft/Academy WWII kits i.e the Jagd Tiger and Panther WWII kits any good? And, where would I pick up decals for my Bandi kit? It would be a waste of time to put stickers on a nicely painted and weathered kit, so are there options? And lastly, what are your opinions in general on 1/48th armor modeling? Thanks for your time gentlemen.

Cheers

I had exactly the same thought, and acquired a Tamiya Tiger I in 1/48 - it remains unbuilt, but the things I like about it are;

1 The cast metal hull underside, which gives the model plenty of weight and makes it 'sit' right

2 The template provided to help with construction of the tracks

I believe that these are common features of the Tamiya 1/48 range, but it was still a close choice between Tamiya and AFV Club, who I have heard good reports about.

[Spitfires Forever]

I had exactly the same thought, and acquired a Tamiya Tiger I in 1/48 - it remains unbuilt, but the things I like about it are;

1 The cast metal hull underside, which gives the model plenty of weight and makes it 'sit' right

2 The template provided to help with construction of the tracks

I believe that these are common features of the Tamiya 1/48 range, but it was still a close choice between Tamiya and AFV Club, who I have heard good reports about.

I have heard good things about the AFV collection so will try one on for size. I just bought a Tamiya Crusader and look forward to building that one. I am hoping Tamiya will produce a Centurion and a JS III in the near future too.

cheers

[SleeperService]

The HobbyBoss KV-1s are excellent as well. They are scaled down from the Trumpeter 35th scale and keep the same titles. Very good kits a club member made one in a day!

Test fit the Tamiya plastic parts where they fit the metal tub. There are reported fit issues which are best resolved by removing the coated finish from the metal. The plastic parts fit each other very well. You can go beserk adding extra detail and Hauler make very good etched sets. Most parts are usuable a few are for the truly mad.

The Academy/Minicraft kits are very poor. They look OK from about 30ft away but no closer.

The last few Tamiya kits have done away with the diecast hull but have seperate weights that can be included if desired. Rumour is that some of the earlier kits will have the metal hulls replaced with plastic when the next batch is made.

You're going to armour for a change I'm trying an hairyplane. 48th is great for this!

[Mark C]

I picked up the new Tamiya 1/48th Matilda yesterday. What a nice kit comes with marking options for the Western desert and for a tank on training in the UK. It comes with two metal weights to secure in the hull instead of the metal lower hull found in the earlier Tamiya kits.

I am also waiting to see if someone will produce a Cent in 1/48th.

As Sleeper service said the HB KV-1s are great.

Mark

[Dr Evil]

This might help as to what's around although it's not as well populated as the 35th side...

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/revi...8/48reviews.htm

[therollercoaster]

Aurora did a Centurion Mk.3 in various boxings that can still be found if you're willing to hunt around eBay, the old 'long' boxes are collectors items I understand but there were a couple of 'square' box releases that still turn up at a reasonable price.

Its very crude and simplified with some pretty fundemental errors, but its about right in terms of dimensions, I've got most of one in the stash that I picked up at a show for a tenner, but the lower turret half is missing, I did know about the missing part before I bought it, a rush of blood to the head had me believing I could make a decent scale model from it with tons of scratchbuilding! After looking at it in the box I think its actually easier to scratch the whole thing!

[bigh827]

This is and old discussion but I'm new here. That said, Academy made some very nice 1/48 scale kits, but they are very hard to come by. They are copies of Bandi kits, I have a Tiger I, Opel Blitz, 2 88s, and a Sdkfz 8 to pull one of the 88s. I got the kits from a guy who had been stationed in Korea, when I was stationed at Ft. Sam Houston back in 1985-86.

Frog of East Europe makes copies of the Bandi Sherman with the 76mm mane gun.

Aurora made a King Tiger, so, so in looks, as well as a Panther, and a late model Sherman with the 76mm gun and HVSS road wheels. Monogram put the Panther and Sherman out around 1986 as part of a tank hunter set. In one set you got the Panther and P-51B/C, a small base to put the tank on, and a tree to mount the airplane on. In the other set you got the Sherman under attack by a FW190, it used the same base and tree as the other kit.

The Sherman is very nice, but the Panther really needs work. Aurora all so made a Japanese tank a Chi-Hi I think, and it was pretty good.

Well hope I have added to this, have a nice day.

[eoin6661]

You missed AFV Club / Skybow, they do the best 1/48 early and late (with zimmerit) Tiger I going, plus Sturmtiger.

Edited October 9, 2012 by eoin6661

[bigh827]

You missed AFV Club / Skybow, they do the best 1/48 early and late (with zimmerit) Tiger I going, plus Sturmtiger.

Your right, I have one of the Tigers with zimmerit, looks to be very well done.