I have never found a need to go all AM on most of my armour builds but I am old school and feel even a kit that is low on detail can be made to at least seem to have it with the right paint job. I don’t do photoetch and the armour resin aftermarket has never made a penny off me.
Those rubber band tracks get a bad rap these days but in reality many of them can look really good with a little bit of work.
These are all OOB with only some stowage added to them. Even the figures are the 40+ year old molds from the kits.
Old old OLD Tamyia
Old(ish) Tamiya
25 year old Trumpeter
15 year old Academy
20 year old Dragon
30 year old Academy
Not to say that going all AM is wrong or anything just that it simply is not automatically needed even with these old kits. Of course you could go nuts with them and make them even better but do they always HAVE to be improved?
I find nothing wrong with building OOB, I personally have never seen an active Tiger nor been attached to an Abrams unit. Most historical model subjects have been researched from units already in a museum or from very grainy period photos. Unless one has actual blueprints EVERYTHING is an interpretation.
I do use and have purchased AM PE sets to" improve" a specific kit, only because I want the detail. As said if the kit research is wrong them the 100.00 AM set may not neccessarily correct the issue. I unfortunatley do not have the skill to properly scratch build my extra detail or correct an error, however AM isn’t always the answer.
I REALLY like the 251 and want my weathered decals to looks as good so thanks for giving me something to aim for. Your other kits shown are no slouches either, those Dragon kits can be a challenge, and don’t get me started on AFV Club…love them but WOW can they be tough. Thanks for sharing your awesome old relics.
First, thanks for posting the neat pics. Those were the eras of kits I did and still do, and it’s always a pleasure to see well-done models of whatever vintage.
As to AM…I use lots for a/c and cars, but since I switched a decade or so ago more or less exclusively to 1/72 for the relatively few armored vehicles I build, AM hasn’t been all that plentiful in the past – not sure whether it’s the same now, haven’t really kept up.
Regardless, I build OOB all the time, both new and old kits. A fun project is a fun project, and sometimes the simpler builds let me better focus on finishing and weathering and such.
Tcoat - those tanks (and that Hanomag) really look good! Of course those kits don’t automatically have to be improved, and even if the modeller decides to improve upon a kit this doesn’t mean it has to be AM - many things can be done by the modeller himself. I’m building the old Tamiya M41 right now and I’m only using stuff I already have laying around.
I meant the kits are old not the builds although I guess they were all done about 10 years ago so still qualify.
Most of my truly old builds from the sixties and seventies were lost in action in the Great BB Gun Conflict of 1973.
Do have some survivours that got missed and turned up at the bottom of a box in my parents attic a few years back.
How about this old Sherman Firefly built when I was a kid around 1970. Paint by number oil paint for weathering and all. The stretched sprue antenna is original to the build and somehow managed to hang on for over 50 years!
Or if you want to go way back how about an Aurora tank complete with base. I was oviously only allowed to buy one bottle of paint though.
Love these! The German halftrack is my favorite, killer weathering. I picked up that model 4 or five years ago and you just gave me the kick in the pants to start it! I’ll definitely be drawing inspiration from your brushwork.
The Tigger and Sherman are right up there on my love it list too, thanks for sharing
