Just a few vehicles ...... Bridge too far finished

[Queeg]

Thanks gents ....... and next three Germans underway.

cheers
Brent

[Captain Blood]

Looking wonderful Brent 

What's your feeling on these Blitzkrieg vehicles overall, in terms of quality of the model, accuracy and so on?

[Queeg]

Looking wonderful Brent 

What's your feeling on these Blitzkrieg vehicles overall, in terms of quality of the model, accuracy and so on?

Cheers Richard ..... and mmmmm thanks for putting me on the spot. On some forums answering this could rapidly lead to excitement levels being raised.

All ranges have pluses and minuses in their line up, and supporters and detractors. I tend to look at the vehicles individually and without a dog in the manufacturer stakes. There are also others who have built many more than me, Neil - Troop of Shewe for example has probably built 90% of Warlords, Blitzkriegs and the JTFM ranges.

So my thoughts, firstly, they're gonna look the part when done which is the most important bit. In general terms they are much better than the old Warlord resins that I've dealt with in terms of overall shape and moulding quality.  That said and please everyone take this in the spirit of where it's coming from, purely on accuracy and quality - they have some issues but then my eye is picky.

I've had a few over the bench (about 20) and the quality of finish (not the shape) is often let down by excessive raster lining left from the original 3D printed master. It's so bad in places that to clean it up would require sanding off a big portion of detail and re-making it. As examples the PzIII is very clean but the 250 Neus I built had trenches on the sides.

It makes painting tricky as any wash sits in it and drybrushing highlights it and makes it more obvious. For my two cents the master should be sorted by them, or anyone supplying for quality and not just a general shape, before casting from it. Apart from that the moulding is generally good with none of the mould shift and big seam lines that seemed relatively common in some Warlord resins I've dealt with. A plus is that the few supplied pieces generally fit together well with minimal casting plugs (obviously cleaned up by Bliztkrieg before shipping so good work from them) and without having to use powered machinery as I've had to do with a few others.
   
Shape can be variable variable. The PzIII again looks ok, and the 250s I've built looked much more like 250s than Warlords old resins. Being picky, the 251C however has the front end of a dragster with very fat wheels and an odd front plate. The 222 and Honey look good (better) shape wise compared to other resin alternatives.

Like any range some are better than others and they do the job. From the quality angle I would always recommend picking and choosing but realise that sometimes purchasing from one supplier means they scale together better and is more a convenient purchase option. TBH the new plastics are generally the best option if there's a choice (Warlord or Rubicon with the latter getting a slight nod maybe for their approach). Other vehicles would be based on uniqueness, for some things there aren't multiple suppliers so if its wanted then that has to be the one. On others where they are available from several suppliers it pays to look at each on its own merits, given how much is on display now on various fora and FB you can usually track down pics and some informed comments

I realise this probably hasn't helped much ..... especially if you were looking for a quick answer to expanding the tank park !

cheers
Brent

[Captain Blood]

Cheers Richard ..... and mmmmm thanks for putting me on the spot. On some forums answering this could rapidly lead to excitement levels being raised.

But not here. We're very polite and well behaved here... 

Thanks Brent, for the overview and insights.
From what I've seen of them, the Rubicon kits seem a real cut above everything else in terms of accuracy, attention to detail, flexible build options, and just the quality of the models themselves.
Obviously they're still a relatively new kid on the block with a relatively small range at the moment (lots of German, not a lot of everything else), but I'm sure they'll grow fast if they keep the quality and innovation up.

But as for building out my tiny tank and vehicle park a little in the not too distant future, it seems like it would be wise to pick and choose a bit more carefully when it comes to the Blitzkrieg vehicles...

[Queeg]

But not here. We're very polite and well behaved here... 

But as for building out my tiny tank and vehicle park a little in the not too distant future, it seems like it would be wise to pick and choose a bit more carefully when it comes to the Blitzkrieg vehicles...

Yes. very well behaved 

As for the Tanks, well a Grant is a must ........   probably an 88 for the Germans. It's probably just about having some options rather than it all strictly working together. Also depends on which period of the campaign you want to model.

Earlyish to mid you have Crusaders and Cruisers for the Brits, later Shermans and even a Churchill. German tanks add the PzIVF1 and later the MkIV Special (L/43 long barrel F2) and Tiger.  Transport and recce pretty much went through most of the campaign unchanged, in short there a ton of cool desert stuff to pick from!

Random desert coolness ....

[OSHIROmodels]

Get them all Richard, you can never have too many options 

I must agree to the comment on leaving the printed lines on masters, the sci-fi walker I did recently had some on it and it was a bugger trying to get them off 

cheers

James

[Captain Blood]

That British armour is stonking Brent. Outrageously good.

Get them all Richard, you can never have too many options  

Tempting.

But bearing in mind Brent is still beavering away on my initial collection, I don't want to go mad
Also, I'd need a 10 foot long table if I want to fill it up with lots of armour, vehicles and big guns!
I'm thinking more early Desert War than mid/later... I like all the quirky-looking little British vehicles, not the more professional and serious-looking Allied kit that came later...

With that in mind I think a small but characterful expansion to the vehicle park might be something like:

Brits/Commonwealth

- Rubicon Crusader
- Blitzkrieg Vickers tankette
- Perry Morris CS8 truck

German

- Blitzkrieg PzII
- Blitzkrieg SDKFZ 231 armoured car
- Perry Steyr personnel carrier

I think the Perry trucks are meant to be pretty decent models. Hear good things about those generally...

We shall see...

[Andym]

Fantastic painting on those tanks! Are they all 28mm?

[Keith]

Brent's last pictures are all 1/72 (20mm).

Richard, do you visit the Rubicon forum at all? I think the 231 might be due form them next year.

Just ordered the Steyr 1500 from Perry. It's one of my favourite vehicles and the crew look good. Just thinking of ways to tame the slightly gnarly looking tread pattern on the tyres.

[Captain Blood]

Richard, do you visit the Rubicon forum at all? I think the 231 might be due form them next year.

Just ordered the Steyr 1500 from Perry. It's one of my favourite vehicles and the crew look good. Just thinking of ways to tame the slightly gnarly looking tread pattern on the tyres.

Hey Keith 

Yes, I've taken to following the Rubicon forum (although it must be said, they have a couple of very annoying 'I know everything' contributors on there, who somewhat spoil it for me with their endless nit-picking. Still, one man's nit-picking is another man's accuracy, so maybe the Rubicon team value the constant running commentary... )

I really like their approach and the way they communicate all their plans and work in progress. It's just a shame that their release schedule is quite slow... Very interested to see some of their WIP figures too. The motorcycle and sidecar combos look great. But again... Coming in a few months? A year? Two years? They're (probably rightly) very cagey about their release schedule, clearly determined to keep up quality control.

Actually, I remember reading on Brent's blog that the Blitzkrieg 231 is one of their nicer models. But I think I'd certainly take the Rubicon version if it was out fast enough. Maybe I'll get two 

Agree about the Steyr truck. It's an unsusual subject and looks very nicely done (tyre tread apart! Although I'm nowhere near enough of a vehicle buff to worry about that )

Cheers.

Richard

[Queeg]

Fantastic painting on those tanks! Are they all 28mm?

Yeah Keith remembers those !  20mm as most of my stuff used to be, Dragon Sherman IIIs and Esci Valentines.

Richard, nice list, as you say captures the early war look nicely. I thought a little the same about the Rubicon forum and I'm picky at times too, you just have to be balanced and careful how you approach "advice and knowledge". I was going to post up the finished Rubicon 250 on it but always find myself going hmmmm.

On their releases though they generally are coming quite quick, it'll be interesting how long they keep up the full release schedule and where the range ends up going over time.

Keith, didn't you have the BK Vickers? I remember you mentioning it, to me something shape wise looks a bit off, hard to put my finger form what pics I could find on it hence asking if you had one. I've done several of Crouchies and a couple Company Bs and it be nice to compare them.

Also had a fix in mind for the Steyr tires which looks good apart from that.  I think rubbing some filler around them so just the edges of the webs are proud should work, relatively easily.

[Keith]

Exactly the same thought Brent. Specifically going to go with Miliput for the tyres - water soluble and sand-able seem like they'll be useful attributes for that job.

Yeah, I have the Vickers. Probably my favourite in the scale (and closest to scale) but slightly squat and as usual feels like the details weren't quite understood By the modeller. Bigger issue is that the printed texture is variable. On the two I have one is far too rough and I'd have to re-rivet after sanding. The other is ok, but not perfect. Passable though.

I can drop you some closeup pics if that helps?

[Queeg]

Exactly the same thought Brent. Specifically going to go with Miliput for the tyres - water soluble and sand-able seem like they'll be useful attributes for that job.

Yeah, I have the Vickers. Probably my favourite in the scale (and closest to scale) but slightly squat and as usual feels like the details weren't quite understood By the modeller. Bigger issue is that the printed texture is variable. On the two I have one is far too rough and I'd have to re-rivet after sanding. The other is ok, but not perfect. Passable though.

I can drop you some closeup pics if that helps?

Yeah pics away !!!  Do you have any thoughts vrs CompanyBs one then?

These are Crouchies but I believe they're the same kit ....

[6milPhil]

Very likely the best paint job those have ever seen. Has Crouchie seen them?

[Queeg]

Very likely the best paint job those have ever seen. Has Crouchie seen them?

Thanks mate, yeah he has, they were painted well back from when he was first releasing stuff. Not this best pic unfortunately, got better ones but just grabbed something quick for the discussion.