AB 20mm - plastic vehicle kit suggestions?

[Flinty]

Hello All, against my better judgement and having sworn I wouldn't ever start WWII,  I have not suprisingly gone and ordered some German infantry from the AB 20mm range. This will be a loose early war platoon level project, up to about '41 ish.

I've primarily chosen 20mm as there are a zillion plastic kits for evertyhing I could possibly need. I stress plastic as I like interiors (or at least interior spaces) and I find them easy to build, stow and generally fiddle about with.

Does anyone have any suggestions/experience of particular plastic vehicles kits which fit well with the AB figures - or kits to avoid for any reason?

I have a problem with ICM and ACE as they are thin, fiddly and tend to avoid useful things like locating lugs and tightly fitting sections, but I like S-Model - any comments on First to Fght or Armourfast?

Any and all suggestions for anything else that would 'sort of fit' and screams German early war operations would be most welcome.

Thanks

[vodkafan]

Plastic Soldier Company, Italeri fast build, Armourfast

[SJWi]

Hi, do you want "fast-build" or proper kits with lots of parts and detail? In the former category are Armourfast, PSC and S-Model.  Armourfast are pretty basic but cheap and you can always add extra stowage etc. A lot of my mates buy Zvezda which I think are simpler kits, but with more parts than the "fast-play" category. I don't build "complex" WW2 kits but I know one of my mates who is a bit of a tread-head buys a lot of Revell, plus some from IBG models.   

[Flinty]

Ah - cheers Chaps, as this is a new period for me I was wondering - I had forgotten about Zvezda, I shall investigate.

[gamer Mac]

I have a load of old Airfix kits and matchbox
Good simple to build kits
Scale wise not so sure but it is what I am used to

[Etranger]

Hi, do you want "fast-build" or proper kits with lots of parts and detail? In the former category are Armourfast, PSC and S-Model.  Armourfast are pretty basic but cheap and you can always add extra stowage etc. A lot of my mates buy Zvezda which I think are simpler kits, but with more parts than the "fast-play" category. I don't build "complex" WW2 kits but I know one of my mates who is a bit of a tread-head buys a lot of Revell, plus some from IBG models.

Zvezda vehicles are 15mm or 1/100. Confusingly their guns and figures are 20mm or 1/72.

[Hang Tuah]

For quick builds the offerings from First to Fight and S-Models can't be beat.

[Calimero]

Zvezda vehicles are 15mm or 1/100. Confusingly their guns and figures are 20mm or 1/72.

IIRC, they do have a small selection of 1/72 tanks

[Bearwoodman]

I have dipped my toe into 20mm vehicles for What a Tanker. I started with Armourfast which were fine for gaming and very cheap but I found myself buying extra bits for them as the kits I made looked very plain straight out of the box. I have also made PSC kits which while noticeably more expensive than Armourfast need much less work (they even come with crew!). Neither brand is aimed at serious modellers so putting them together was straightforward and the results fairly robust.

If you are doing German vehicles the PSC box of German stowage and crew might be worth a look - I have found it useful for jazzing up basic kits.

I don't have any A B figures, so I cannot comment on which kits go well with them (other than I know their figures are good and the Tactical Painter who posts on this forum often enhances vehicles by adding A B crew members - it might be worth having a look at his blog).

[Powermonger]

AB don´t do early war germans (except for DAK).

Regards,

[vodkafan]

Flinty get out now while you still can  20mm WW2 became a "Black Hole"  for me, all my money and time went into it and I never did finish a whole force off 

[SJWi]

One thing you need to watch is whether models are 1/76th or 1/72nd as “20mm” refers to both. The difference doesn’t sound big, but from personal experience models can look too small or large when next to each other. Caveat Emptor!

[vodkafan]

One thing you need to watch is whether models are 1/76th or 1/72nd as “20mm” refers to both. The difference doesn’t sound big, but from personal experience models can look too small or large when next to each other. Caveat Emptor!

Yes very good point. 1/72 is more easily available and a wider range IMO

[shadowbeast]

IIRC, they do have a small selection of 1/72 tanks

The 1/100 tanks are made for their board game series Art of Tactic.

The 1/72 vehicles are highly sophisticated and you will not feel like playing with them once they are done (sort of like using an Artesania Latina sailing ship kit as a mini for pirate games).  I have a T-90 worth over 205 components.

There are similar problems with Trumpeter. I have a halftrack, which I am trying to sell as I have lost interest in trying to build it for gaming, comprising over 310 components.

The best for gaming would be S-model, PSC, some Airfix kits (variable age and quality; the current Cromwell is good but the older IS-3 is not so good - really, don't mould the brand name and patent date of the kit on the OUTSIDE!), and the Revell-Germany kits they bought from Matchbox. Or sometimes the Italeri ones they purchased from Esci.
I haven't tried First to Fight yet, but they do also look quite suitable for the purpose. I have no AB figures yet, but they may well fit; if they are as old as I believe them to be then they may be made to an older specification and may be smaller, and fit into 1/76 vehicles more easily.

[shadowbeast]

May be worth checking out Pegasus as well; not so much the m-26 and m-46, but some others are FA as well.