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An old newbie question


KRK4m

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After almost 50 years of modelling (mostly aircraft, but also ships, cars, railways) at last I decided to build a small collection of AFVs in 1/72. Frankly speaking somewhere deep in the 70s or 80s I have built two or three such models (Centurion, Patton and 155mm M40 IIRC), but the time goes by and new kits appear every year.

As a newbie in this ocean of modelling I would like to know your opinion which kits of several WW2 AFVs are the best on the market now. I'm not a rivet-counter, but correct shape and sharp surface detail are more important for me than sheer number of parts, opened hatches and detailed interior.

So which kit would you buy to model the :

  • Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. G (ESCI/Hasegawa/Italeri, Revell, Dragon, Trumpeter)
  • T-34-76 (ESCI/Hasegawa/Italeri, Revell, AER/Toga/Parc, Zvezda, Trumpeter, Dragon, Unimodels, Eastern Express)
  • T-26 (SKIF/Unimodels, Mirage, S-model, Pegasus)
  • M4 Sherman - original variant, not M4A and later (Dragon, Italeri, Trumpeter, Heller)
  • M3 Stuart - also "plain" M3, neither M3A nor M5 (Hasegawa/Revell, Alanger, Mirage) 

Eager to hear your opinion

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Whilst I have found Revell (including old Matchbox) and Italeri very good with he limited kits that are available in 1/72 and 1/76,  I have found that I am more and more drawn towards resin kits from the likes of Milicast, etc. 

 

You do have to be careful also with mixing 1/72 and 1/76 as when displaying similar models together.  I have also found that certain AFVs from different companies can be wildly different.  

 

I have found, however, that Milicast, Revell and Italeri seem to work well together, but that models from Armourfast and EWM can look overly large as they are 1/72.  I have only one Dragon Kit - LRDG Chevrolet which was also okay.  Airfix kits have also been reasonable as long as you steer clear of the Sherman and Grant.  Very peculiar turrets and other measurements, same with a Hasegawa Crusader I did.

 

I am sticking mainly to armour from the Western Desert.  However, if you limit yourself, like I have, you will very quickly run out of mainstream plastic models, leaving the likes of Milicast for the more esoteric vehicles  2pdr Poertee, anyone?

 

Steve

Edited by Stephen Hawkins
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Thank you, Gentlemen, but do you think that new Heller Sherman does really look better than all the older kits of M4 (Italeri, Dragon and Trumpeter) ?

And is really the recent Mirage M3 Stuart a better-looking model than the well-known Hasegawa/Revell?

Cheers

Michael

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I would like to draw your attention to the new model of Sturmgeschutz III produced by UM. Now they produce only Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. E, but the kit contains a lot of unused parts so I'm sure that Ausf. F will come not long from now. I've got this kit and I like it very much.

 

 

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