I’m seeing more and more 1/16 scale armour vehicles coming out. In the past, I’ve never had any interest in that scale. But, the more I see, the more I’m interested. Have any of you built 1/16 scale yet? What do you think? What surprised you about the experience? Thanks in advance.
I don’t know yet,I really don’t have the room to build and display too many 1/16 models,but I was intrigued by Andy’s 1/16 Tiger,the price was right and I wnt to give it a shot it’s just going to be a one off from what I normally do,but probably gonna start it later this fall.
I would think that since it’s bigger,your mistakes will show up easier,and at that scale if you don’t detail,paint,and weather appropriately,it may look toy like.
My biggest let down, if you will, regarding 1/16th kits is that they are just upscaled 35th with no extra detail at that scale. If I’m gonna drop that kinda coin on a huge kit, it better be one parts rich kit. From what I’ve seen of most of the new kits is that they are just big with no more detail and that kinda sucks. And yes, at that scale you better be on point with your work and extra detail or it will be toy like.
BK
I got most of the way through a 1/16 Stug until a was mentally derailed by a hard core rivet counter…that won’t happen again.
I agree with both Tojo and BrandonK, space is hard to come by and gets ate up fast by those large kits. It would be great if more interior detail was provided but from experience of buying an older 1/16 Trumpeter King Tiger, unless your flush with disposable income they are cost prohibative to most.
Also agree that finish and weathering is HUGELY,(pun intended), important as you could end up with a G.I. Joe prop quickly.
Allsaid and done I want to build more and everyone who can should atleast try before poo pooing to bad.
I, too, don’t have a lot of shelf space for this size model. I built a few 1/32 jet aircraft and they may have to be tossed or sold at some point to get more shelf space. A 1/16 AFV would be a tight squeeze. I mainly wonder about painting and weather techniques and how they would change on a model that size. I wonder how much paint it takes just to put done a base coat?! How long would it take to dry brush the highlights (yes, I still dry brush)? Streaking effects?! I still struggle to get those done correctly on 1/35 scale stuff. I don’t have a modeling club anywhere near me, so the closest I can come to viewing a 1/16 build is YouTube.
I bought some panzer colors in spray cans,Vallejo and AK make some colors,didn’t want to deal with airbrushing a giant Tiger.I plan this as an ongoing side project,yes it will take time to apply all the different techniques,but I’m in no rush,if I feel burned out on it,I’ll work on something else too at the same time.
I’d say the increased scale is due to the aging of the hobbyists. Bigger is easier to see.
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Yeah, the increased size ought to make the model easier to work with. However; I always end up feeling I need to add extra detail like several others have already commented. So it ends up defeating the purpose of building bigger.
I started a 1/32nd Zero years ago. Got through adding a bunch of stuff to the cockpit and just burned out on it. She’s still sitting there in the box.
I started out building in 1/48 scale and then 1/35th. While I haven’t built in 1/16 scale, I do now build in 1/6 scale almost exclusively. I recently finished a completely scratch-built M3 Stuart (diesel) tank in that scale. Personally, I find that the larger the scale, the easier it is to work with and more details can be easily replicated. 1/16 scale is twice as big as 1/32 scale so imagine building an old Monogram SdK.fz. IV if it were twice as big. I also find that painting and weathering the larger scale models give me more control while the techniques are virtually the same. I’ve seen quite a few expertly finished 1/16 scale armor models at shows and they are impressive. What I don’t like about the smaller scales is that a lot of the interior work becomes virtually invisible when you’re finished. Of course, the larger you build the more intense the negotiations with your wife for shelf space!
And, the bigger the scale the more detail that can be replicated.
In fact by the square- cube law it is eight times as big!
Bill
I’ve done several 1/16 scale figures and it’s my prefered scale there. I’ve done nothing else in that scale but have a Trumpeter MRAP that was a gift from my son-in-law who rode around in one in Afghanistan with the 10th mountain. Planning on tackling that monster next year. Don’t do armor (or is it just a truck/car?) really so this will be new-new to me.
I’ve built two and that’s all for me. If you’re not really into weathering, and I’m not, then these arent the kits for you. They’re much to toy like unless you weather the bejeesus out of them. I bought them originally because, like Rob said, my aging eyes appreciated the larger parts. And said parts also made the kits joys to build as I didn’t have to fiddle with microscopic parts. But I’m just not good at weathering so I’ll stick to 1/35 and maybe a 1/32 plane now and then.
Hmmmm…interesting idea regarding the aged hobbyist. I have built a few (T34-85 and Tiger I) and they do eat up space, but also allow for working with larger areas, and are easier to correct errors and even experiment with some different techniques. And there are few if any flyspeck parts to deal with.