1/48 Kits

[Wilkins]

I'm looking into getting a plastic sdkfz half-track. I'm not necessarily fussed on the design providing it's for troop transport and not equipped with rockets. As far as I'm aware I have options of AFV club or Tamiya. They're both similar prices, just wondering if one is superior to the other? Any help would be appreciated!

[Westfalia Chris]

I have the AFV Club model, although unbuilt, and have seen the Tamiya one. Both seem similar in complexity, but the AFV Club has tons and tons of detail parts and a full interior. Also, I think that Tamiya only have a D, whereas the AFV Club is a Early to Midwar C.

[Schogun]

Aren't AFV and Tamiya 1/48 scale?

[carlos marighela]

Yup 1/48.

The only bit of WWII kit in 1/56 that I can think of, apart from the dedicated resin gaming pieces from the likes JTFM, Bolt Action etc, is the Hobby Master Tiger.

[Wilkins]

I in fact did mean 1:48, somewhere between ebay and LAF my brain changed it. So there's no real difference between the two? Like quality or scale-wise?

[Michi]

The Tamiya one is spot on! I also made two with converted interiors (without radios and aerials):

I am back into business. I promised some vehicles for my WW2 command group and started work on them yesterday. This is how far I got:


















Two pics for size comparison with 28mms:

[Wilkins]

Those kits do look nice! And they're like 80p cheaper as well. The pics are cool although the highlight was the werewolves, who makes them?

[traveller]

If you are going to use it for gaming I can recommend the Solido metal one. The plastic ones will suffer in the heat of battle 

[carlos marighela]

Sound advice. And if you ignore the tracks, the Solido diecasts are very nice and a little closer to being in scale.

[Westfalia Chris]

To clarify that, my initial comments referred to the 251-C by AFV Club. That said, I also have one of Tamiya's 250s (the same as in Michi's WIP pics) which I converted into an 253 observation half-track. Wonderful kit, and not too difficult to assemble if you take your time with the tracks and follow the instructions.

Really, you can't stress that enough with the Tamiya kits - "Read the F***ing Manual", because the instructions are actually very clear, and speed up assembly tremendously. I once assembled two of Tamiya's Panzer III kits in the time it took me to clean up a Black Tree Designs Panzer III.

[Old Goat]

Tracks tracks tracks tracks tracks...

Make my head hurt and my fingers throb!

Goat

[n815e]

I love the Tamiya kit, but didn't listen to my own babbling when I added the bits like rearview mirrors.
They snapped off!

[Weird WWII]

That's why you don't see them on the battlefield either, they snap off easily.  The great thing about tanks is that they can be missing all sorts of stuff and you can easily get away from it as battle damage.

Brian

[Wilkins]

Can anyone give me the web address of a supplier for the Solido model? I'm in the UK and would prefer to ship from this country if possible.

Sound advice. And if you ignore the tracks, the Solido diecasts are very nice and a little closer to being in scale.

Ignoring the tracks has me a little worried! But I shall have a look anyhow! Thanks for all the help!

[Westfalia Chris]

Ignoring the tracks has me a little worried! But I shall have a look anyhow! Thanks for all the help!

I have to say that is the very reason I stopped using my Solido tracks and sold them off - as a toy, the working tracks are great, but they are considerably chunky, if not downright clunky.

I am not that picky when it comes to using toys for gaming, but in that case, I would really suggest going for the actual model kits. I don't really think the ease of assembly (i.e. none) and ruggedness make up for the simplified detail (and it's a case of overall looks being impaired, not minor nitpicks).