Anybody have any good tips for shopping for aftermarket ‘stuff’. I feel like I go to a variety of websites (Squadron, for example) and kind of flail around trying to find stuff I need or am interested in.
For example, I am building Tamiya’s OLD 3.7cm Flak 37 kit and want to get some extra ammo cans/clips for it - if they even make any, although since this gun is on the new DML and Trumpy 7/2, I figured there would be some increase in aftermarket available… (I was also tempted to get a new barrel, but realized a new one would cost about 5x what I paid for the whole kit!!). I stumbled around Squadron for a while trying to find something, but got a bit frustrated.
What is your secret? How do you sort through all the stuff from all the companies?
GM and Squadron are great outlets for that stuff…If I am looking for extra things for a flak 37, I would place those words in their Search feature…Squadron’s Search engine is very finicky and GM’s does not like commas between words so you might have to test it out a bit…Or, go to Yahoo, for example, and enter in something like: “Flak, Tamiya, 1/35, ammo clips” and see what you get…
i basically go for companies i know and see if they have the items i need. I generally go in a set order, looking at Aber first, then if they don’t have it i try Eduard. I uaully check their sits out first and if they have it i know what i am looking for. Eduard is usually my fallback, if anyone else doesn’t do it and they do, then i get theirs. The other companies i stick to are Lion Roar and Voyager. If they have an AM set that Aber does i will try to compare the two, price, whats in the set etc then decide. For metal barrels i stick to Armourscale and Aber, again just compareing the two. I try to stick to as few companies as possible as you can just get lost. Ok maybe i am missing out of some things, but at least i am sain. (sort of)
The 3.7cm ammo didn’t come in cans, and as far as i know there are no AM sets of clips, i have a few kits with that type of gun on and haven’t been able to find any. Armourscale do lose 3.7cm ammo rounds which are nice, you get 12 rounds and 12 empty cases if i remember right. I There is an Eduard PE set for that gun, 35546.
The thing I like about Squadron is that they usually have a list of the aftermarket items available for a particular kit (as well as reference material) at the bottom of the kit listing.
On the search, just pick the scale, then the type of product. You can also request specific manufacturers.
My secret to searching? I do it when I have plenty of time to kill and just want to browse around, but be warned, that can lead you to purchases you didn’t even know you wanted to make.
Regards and Happy Hunting, PWB.
That’s correct. 3.7cm Flak ammo came in large rectangular cans and the gun crew had to feed them into the clips which then fed into the gun.
You can also check out PMMS to see what kinds of items are avaialble in different “families” to help narrow down things. Obviously Terry Ashley doesn’t review every product out there for every kit but you can find some nice comparison reviews as well as specialty items too depending.
Ye, sorry, that sort of came out wrong. I should imagine they would get delievered in some sort of container, but once at the vehicle/gun, would get unloaded and stored. I have the old tamiya kit, an Ostwind and the 3.7cm Mobelwagen so i have looked long and hard for AM sets for these and have only come across the lose rounds.
Yep, I actually have a pic of a guy with a wooden box of loose 20mm flak rounds he is loading into a clip—I’ll try to scan and post tonight. It is interesting in that the caps of the rounds are different colors, indicating tracer, AP, etc…
Boyd - if you’re ordering stuff that you aren’t in a hurry for, let me know. Can easily piggy back onto one of my frequent Squadron, Lucky Model, or Great Models orders if you want to save some shipping. [tup]
Many times going direct to the manufacturer is cheapest. Example, it is cheaper in the long run to go to MIG direct than buy one or two MIG items at a time from the online stores. Just wait and make one good order. Make a list search and also check ebay.
Remember this hobby is not just building, it is shopping, collecting, building the man cave, etc…all in one
It’s out of Japan, and I have never techinically ordered from this site, but Hobbylink Japan has lots of good stuff on it. If you are interested in a kit when you click on it to look it over it also has links to follow to other accessories, or figures that work with the model, PE, etc.
Not sure if there prices are any good, compared to what you may find some where else, but they have alot of stuff on there… even discontinued items sometimes.