what is with tamiya going back to 1\48 scale for since the 1\35 scale has been the norm for so many years why toss this in now since for also 20 years they have been out of prodution and now they bring back[?][banghead]
Probably because other people are starting to do it. [%-)][%-)][%-)]
I think you have to consider that right now, Tamiya are getting hammered by the other Asian manufacturers on price. Tamiya can’t compete with Dragon, Trumpeter and Academy on cost in 1/35. For example, Dragon is offering the 3-in-1 kits for less than half what Tamiya is charging for kits that come with less in the box. Nobody else is doing 1/48, so that leaves the market open to them, and it is a market with some advantages. The kits are smaller and cheaper than 1/35, but bigger and have more detail than 1/72. There is some real potential there, if its done correctly.
The issue of economics is an important one for Tamiya. As mentioned Asian manufacturers can undersell Tamiya till the cows come home. Hence, Tamiya pulls a another rabbit out of the bag; 1/48th scale armour. (Don’t forget it was Tamiya that introduced 1/35th scale so many, many years ago…, and look how everyone has clammered to get on board that scale ever since.) Introducing a new scale is as prudent a move today as it was 30 years ago. The 1/35 scale market is saturated ! Sales of the new 1/48th kits have been very good for Tamiya, and you can expect other companies to divert resources to 1/48th within the next year…just to keep up with the hobby trend setter Tamiya has proven to be.
The consensus is that the SkyBow is a better kit, but that SkyBow is going to play the equivalent of Tristar to Tamiya in 1/35th – you might see one beautiful kit from them every so often, but that doesn’t mean that the Tamiya kits are at all bad, and they will release so many more of them. I’m still amazed that we have so many quarter scale tanks from Tamiya is such a short period.
Also remains to be seen what kind of a build the SkyBow kit turns out to be.
Not to suggest I’m not very excited about the SkyBow – just like I’m excited by Tristar’s 1/25th Pz I and Pz IV…
A smart move – like Dragon in 1/72nd. Those things sell like hotcakes, and quarter scale is a beautiful idea for pre-builds. It’s probably the perfect size – not too big, not too small.
I agree that is the main reason, just can’t fiscally compete. Also, they have done more subjects than any other company in 1/35, though most of their tooling is out of date. Yes, how the mighty have fallen.
The 1/48 scale armor kits on ebay prices are getting noticed… $50.00 or more for a Mobel Wagen , I’ve seen the Bandai Matilda’s go for $80.00. So why wouldn’t you want in this market , even at 1/3 these prices. Charles[:p]
Personally, I just don’t like the sudden shift of focus to 1/48. I can understand testing the waters and what not, but there are some significant releases in this range that they have not even made in 1/35 scale, and that I find to be a little bit of a slap in the face to the legions of 1/35 scale tamiya fans.
I’ve seen a couple of the new Tamiya 1/48 tanks at my local IPMS club,
they look good and are impressively detailed for their size.
However, though I think 1/48 is potentially quite a good scale for military
vehicle models, I find it hard to be enthusiastic at all about the new Tamiya
offerings, simply because of their price
They are a bit cheaper than the same Tamiya kit in 1/35, but you could easily get a 1/35 kit
of the same subject from another manufacturer for the same price or less (other than the StuG IIIB,
which I believe is the first mainstream injection-moulded kit of this vehicle in any scale) - even here
in the UK where non-European manufactured kits are rather expensive compared to in the US.
If 1/48 kits were midway in price between 1/72 and 1/35 - as they are in size - they might appeal much more to budget-conscious modellers like me.
I have to agree with you there zok. You really hit the nail on the head. Dragon, IMO, has done the same with the 1/72 series.
How many of you have seen a post or read a review of a really great kit and thought WOW! finally that vehicle is available and then been bummed when it is in 1/72? Sure you can do just about anything with AM sets in creating any vehicle you want, but I personally don’t have the money to blow on AM and PE all the time just to create the vehicle that i want to model. I also don’t really want to step over to the braille side because what happens to all of those wonderful extras I have laying around in various boxes. Same thing for 1/48. A waste of a few years of hoarding extra parts!
I like the concept of being able to make some truly mind-blowing dioramas with 1/48 scale aircraft and armor however.
I actually had no idea that there were 1/25 scale armor models available. At the risk of being off topic, could someone point a few of them out to me?
Then again, it’s not like they were spitting out a 1/35th scale kit every quarter before they looked into 1/48th. It was more like, what maybe two kits a year? And they have announced a new kit in 35th – the Leclerc.
There are definite gaps in the Tamiya range, but almost any kit they would release would be a duplicate of some other tank done by someone else. There are very, very few tanks not covered by someone in 35th already. OTOH, 48th is wide open …
Not me. I always see the release of a new kit as an unqualified good thing.
I’m hoping we continue to see Tamiya release 35th kits on interesting subjects like that which have either no kit coverage (like the Type 90) or terrible kit coverage (like the Leclerc). Leclerc is a great sign that we will.
The T-55 was a gift from God, long overdue. An incredibly important vehicle not to have a good kit for.
I’d like to see every vehicle in every scale! Why? Because I’m greedy.
Tamiya had several 1/25 scale armor kits out in the 1960s and 70s. One that has been in and out of production most often is the Tiger I. It included single link tracks and a full interior to include engine and torsion bars.
Several of their other 1/25 scale kits have been copied by Asian manufacturers. Most of these kits were originally designed to be motorized, probably why they were copied and the Tiger wasn’t. Their range included the T-34, Chieftan, Centurion, Panther, Jagdpanther and maybe another one or two I forgot.
Bandai did a 1/24 scale M60A1 and ITC did a 1/24 scale T-92 (prototype US airborne light tank). Italeri did a 1/24 scale WW2 Willys Jeep and a civilianized fire fighting version called the Fire Jeep.
Right now Mauro (sp?) does a 1/25 scale set of modern armor that is R/C and fire BB gun type soft bullets. These can be built into a nice replica.
I seen one these R/C that fire the BB’s last night at the local mall here in B’ham. It was of the Abrams tank. It was kind of neat…hihi. But back to the 1/48 scale thing.Im not a big fan of it either.But have started wanting to build one,since there alot of after market stuff coming out for it. Like the Tiger-1 But i do feel kind of let down by tamiya also for not doing much in 1/35 lately but I’ll live, i guess…LOL …since every body else has picked up the 1/35 ball.
That suggests that Tamiya dropped it, but remember that Dragon and even Trumpeter were around and making 35th kits long before Tamiya started up with 48th.
To me the real issue is workability. 1/25 takes up too much space. 1/48 is great for space but for my vision and dextarity the 1/35 is better. Nice as the other scales are I will stay with the 1/35. When I run out of space for the kits I have I just donate a few to good homes and reclaim some space.
Take a look at Dragons new Tiger 1 Initial and your answer will be there .
Tamiya is beginning to feel the heat of competition , and decided to delve elsewhere as opposed to improve .
Tamiya has some of the best old german stuff as well .
Their Panther Late G is one of the best kits I have ever done .
The Marder III also ranks right up there and is a must do for any german armour fan.
What Tamiya should do is update the older stuff they have , because I really do like to work with tamiya plastic , it seems to be a bit higher quality than Dragon , although this also seems to be changing in dragons favor
Agree with your Marder comments and I might add that their Tiger’s were really nice when they came out, but Dragon leaped over them in added goodies and improvements. I too would like to see them update some older kits like their Matilda and Panzer II. They did a fine job on their Panther series and King Tigers when they retooled them. It’s not too late for them to still satisfy our hunger for styrene.