Did anyone else buy this monster? If so have you started and how is it going? I bought the Lion Roar etched brass set for it and am thinking about doing a sort of Panzertruppe '46 thing with it. I know only 2 were ever used and that was it but hey the airwingers have their fantasies so I decided to have my own [}:)]
Thanks,
Tracy
I almost got it for fee, but instead got an Academy Tiger I Early with full interior. Both were prizes in a drawing.
It is a nice kit IMHO. I have built one two months ago and I enjoyed it alot. Here is a link to my pics if your are interested to have a look.
Another German Fantasy job!!!
The resources of a model company for a vehicle of which only 2 were constructed!!
Wourse than the MAUS kit.
Where are the new US halftracks??? Where is an Early M48??? Where are kits of US/Allied guns??
Enough of the over production of the German stuff - THEY LOST!!!
Enough ranting - I suspect the kit is great - all of the latest Trumpeter stuff is - and the chassie could be used for other prototypes - and the 128mm gun was used everywhere. Take 2 and make the giant double AA gun the germans had - now that would be something.
It’s just I’ve been waiting for a nice M-40 155mm self-propeled for…
Saransk
Dwight,
That’s a beauty of a job on that Emil really nice!!!
Saransk,
It’s aways amazed me how everything under the sun is being made pertaining to the German stuff but here we are and there are no good kits of the multitude of armor and afvs that the allied forces had. No Char B no water cooled 50cal A/A halftracks, no Diamond T wreckers (much morecharisma than the M26 Dragon Wagon) How long did it take to get a Pershing for the love of Pete. Ooops I’m ranting again![(-D]
Tracy
They were used in and around the Stallingrad area, the same company have brought out alot of alied kits (the KV kits)
would you complain if a Super Pershing was released? i think not
would that be worse than a Maus kit?
Dragon brought us the first good kits of
T26
M26
M46
M4A1
T34 family
AFV Club are supposed to be bringing out the M40 SPG
Me I’m just waiting to buy one for myself the pics look good .[:)]
Have fun with it, Tracysw! Not sure how much of a Panzer46 thing this is, though. It’s more of a Panzer42 thing. [(-D]
I would complain about a Super Pershing. - It wasn’t a “Mainstream” vehicle.
There are several kits of every version of the Panther & Tiger - and even the sub types now have kits.
There are kits of every 251version - of the german halftracks - and guns, and figures from every single battle and group, etc.
All I’d like is parity.
FINALLY there are decent kits of the M4 Sherman family and the various versions
There are a couple of M26/46 kits - but no self propelled guns from either Korea or the Cold-War era.
Where is an updated M48A5 kit and the other M48 versions?
Where is a M60A3 RISE-PASSIVE and the other versions?
Where is a modern kit of the Centurion and/or Cheiftain
There are 1/2 the amount of Allied figures from DML as there are German
If we can have every prototype and evnvisioned German armor vehicle then how about the T100 Russian dual turret tank, or the M6(?) US Heavy tank from the 1940’s, or an M103 Heavy tank.
Even better - how about a M70 tank!!
How about the Little David Morter (just the thing to tow behind the M26 Tank Retriever.
How about the British 3.7" anti-air gun (destroyer of V-1’s) or the US 90mm to match the 4(?) models of the German 88mm.
How about a Bofors 40mm - used by everybody and their neighbor.
Non-German equiptment continues to get the short-list in modeling. While most of what I’ve mentioned is available - it is only in resin as a kit or modification to other kits - at extreme pricing. It would be nice to find Allied and NATO vehicles in plastic at reasonable prices.
Saransk
42 or 46 I’ve run out of fingers and toes by then so I’m not much good!!! [(-D]
I guess if I really wanted to get closer to 46 I’d do a Waffentrager or an infrared Panther II. Although the Emil looks good in gray I’d like to do one in Ambush scheme and go hog wild with it [}:)]
Tracy
Parity isn’t going to happen in injected plastic. The reason is quite simple, WWII German armor outsells all Allied armor by a huge margin. Before you go on a rant about “it’s because all they make is German stuff” you’d be wrong, there was rough parity back in the 1970’s and guess what sold the most? One guess and only one…WWII German and it’s been that way ever since. Just because they tool Allied subjects doesn’t mean they’re going to sell in anything like the quantities the German stuff will sell, companies are in busines to make money and they are smart enough to realize what subjects will maximize their investments. The market is to blame, NOT the manufacturers.
Emil review for ya:
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/trumpeter/tr00350.htm
IMO, the heavier equipment, and more aggresive look of the German stuff just has more modelling appeal. There are plenty of cool Allied vehicles as well, we just have to be patient. It’s the hundred different varieties of Tiger and 251 kits that are providing the revenue necessary to mould and manufacture more esoteric items.
Not to get into some kind of big debate or anything, but what is your evidence for that statement? I mean, on both ends – that there was Axis/Allied parity, and that the Axis stuff clearly outsold the Allied. Can you provide a source? Thanks.
I would be willing to bet we’ll see every damn PzkwIII and PzkwII plus the range of Sdkf250’s before a new set of M3/M2/M5/M9 US halftracks and varients come out. We should be thankful that we have the range of M1/M1A1/M1A2’s that we do. But why bring out the M551 instead of a new M48? And why the Vietnam M551 and not the Desert Storm/Panama version?
We got not 1, but 2 versions of the K5 railway gun. There are at least 4 versions of the 88mm.
I no longer think that it is “what sells.” I think the manufacturers of model armor don’t care. They like German armor, who cares what anyone else wants. We’ll buy it anyway, or most of us will. I personally think it is truely sad that the army of a country that set out to destroy one whole group of people and enslave most of the rest - still is so liked by our modeling community. And lets not forget, it wasn’t just the SS - the German Army as a whole was actively involved with the horrific war and policies on the Eastern Front.
Let’s face it - the only good model of a Tiger is a destroyed Tiger
Saransk
Wow!!! Oh boy, am I having to restrain myself here. Nah, screw it. This has got to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read on this board. Excuse me for being rude.
If the manufacturers like it, well, that very well could be the case. But the staple of ANY successful business, at least those well established in capitalist worlds, is to tell the public what they want. However, I doubt this is the case with such a niche category such as plastic models. Since there are relatively few of us (compared to, say, videogamers) we have the power to vote with our dollar, and that is how the subject matter of this business is governed.
What gave you the delusion that most people whom like building German equipment agree with Hitler’s policies? Does my intrigue with Russian equipment, the aggressive, rugged look of their tanks and trucks make me a Communist at heart? Modelers are a curious bunch. We are technitians, historians, people of all walks of life whom happen to be interested in mechanical objects, be they airplanes, cars, or tanks. We like them for their aestecisity, their complexity, or we just plain like them because they are a relaxing getaway for a few hours from the stresses of life. By your line of thinking, it is not too much of a stretch to say that those of us who build military equipment are warmongers.
The kit is a beauty. The Main Gun is a really cool piece in its own right.
I consider replacing the vinyl tracks but guess that it will end up OOB.
I also have the Trumpeter KV1 and I must say that Trumpeter bring very good value for money.
To the other topic:
I kind of don’t complain when new kits come out, I run to my local supplier 
And hey guys, did anyone think that there was anything but $ justice in the manufacturers launching strategies???
Take a look at the world outside…
Tracy
Sorry if I caused a big brew ha ha - but this kit really hit a nerve. - A major kit in plastic of a tank that only 2 or 3 were built.
The over production of German kits is like the chicken vs egg. Do modelers buy German kits because that’s what’s popular, or because that’s what’s available.
Good luck with the Panzer 46 - although the whole idea of “what if the German’s were still around in 46” has me a little mistified. Let’s face it, if Germany hadn’t surrendered by August of 1945 - Berlin would have been where “Little Boy” would have fallen.
As for the kit you might consider using it for the basis of what was really being proposed. Before the Germans completely gave up on mobility there were some very far reaching designs in 1943 that Hitler basically killed off to build Tigers.
saransk
Sorry to come off as such a Zealot but as I posted earlier - having a major modeling company spend all the resources to create a model that only 2 real ones were built really touched a nerve.
I don’t mean to say any of us are war mongers but after 40 years modeling, I do feel that maybe the overwhelming availablity of German and Nazi models is sad. As a community we would be appalled if a model of a concentration camp or gas chamber came out. And I don’t suspect that DML will release an Einzagruppen model figure set. And, in fairness, we won’t see a set of NKVD troops providing “backup” behind the attacking Russian troops. (Only a Russian company could bring out modern Russian soldiers from Cheznya and call them “freedom fighters.”)
Yet for every non German infantry set DML puts out, 2 or 3 German units go out. I will bet you even money that the whole PzkwIII line will come out and maybe the Sdkf250 series before an updated set of M3/M2 and variations comes out. Maybe we could get the manufacturers to concentrate more on newer vehicles instead of rehashing the same ones.
I don’t build WWII German, nor do I build Cold-War Soviet dioramas.
The realities of combat are enough, I don’t do WWII-1946 or any of the “what if” wars.
I do think that the whole image of the German army in WWII has been romanticized so much that much of the reality has been lost. Why else produce a model of a “lashed up” failed prototype that was a stop-gap, and not very effective one.
saransk
For 1/32 and 1/35 scales (1/35 only took off around 1974 as a popular scale) it’s simple. Back around 1976 and eariler Monogram had 4 Shermans (calliope, hedgecutter, anti-mine and standard), M3 Lee, M3 Grant, several US halftracks, several US softskinned vehicles, and an M48…their German line was a Stug IV, PZ IV, Wirbelwind, Ostwind and Brummbar. Airfix had the Lee, Grant and a few others including British tanks…I do not remember what their German line was like. Aurora made a number of US tanks and IIRC a couple of German ones. Renwal had the Ontos, M42 duster, “Patton Tank” (I forget which) and quite a few odd US missile rigs and vehicles. Nichimo had a Pz (either a III or IV) and a Tiger. Tamiya had the Lee, Grant, Sherman (standard and Jumbo), M3 Stuart, M5 Stuart, M551, several US halftracks, British and US softskins, the Sdkfz7, Flak 36/37, a PzII, PzIII, PzIV, Tiger, Jadgtiger, Panther, Jadgpanther, Stug. That’s off the top of my head, I’m sure each company had a few others but it was a pretty even field…now you get ONE guess why the WWII German lines were expanded and improved while the Tamiya US tanks languished until recently as the same old dogs with higher price tags. You should note that the Monogram tanks haven’t been repopped since the late 70’s, Renwal is gone, Nichimo no longer does armor, Aurora is gone and I think airfix sticks to braille scale armor now.
The answer is quite simple, the German stuff simply made more money faster. Market forces dictated what the companies produced and still produce.
So Trumpeter should not have produced the Hornet (only 3 of the class ever built), the Lexington (only two of the class ever built) or the North Carolina (again only two of the class ever built). So it’s apples and oranges…makes as much sense as your chicken and egg.
Model companies are FOR PROFIT businesses…notice the caps? They produce more of the German stuff because it outsells the Allied stuff. It’s that simple and the constant whinging by Allied armor fans won’t change it. Plus the German has way cooler paint schemes and that’s probably half the reason it does outsell the Allied stuff. I build some Allied armor but for every Allied piece I build I probably build 4 or 5 German pieces because I find the vehicles and paint schemes more interesting.
Of course the airplane guys always whinge when a new company pops yet another Me-109/P-51/Spitfire right off the bat…here’s yer sign…they’re cash cows for the company’s home market!
PS- ask a Brit what whinge means, it’s a useful Britishism.