BANDAI and ARMOR

Agreed Eric,,,,  would have to think about it

This is true. Many of the old Bandai kits are collectible and rather expensive, but those that have been surpassed by the Tamiya and Hobbyboss kit are very cheap. For instance, when I started gathering the old kits in the early 2000s, the Willys Jeep was fairly expensive, going for around $30. Today, you can get two of the excellent Tamiya kits and a boat load of infantry figures for the same amount of money.

Most of the replaced kits only run around $10.

That's what ebay and shows are for.

Rob,,  I am pretty sure I have both of those still in my inventory

Eric,, not a bad idea, but I would fear not everyone has access to these old kits

Sprue-ce Goose

Anyone know which of the Bandai 1/48 armor kits were the least accurate? 

 

 

The US halftracks, the M3A1 and M13 twin AA gun halftrack were the least accurate. They were made way too wide and end up being over-scaled because of this. The Bandai Nashorn anti-tank gun kit used the same hull as their PzKpfw IV and is too short which made the fighting compartment trunkated and throws off the angles of the armored compartment. The actual Nashorn used a lengthened PzKpfw chassis.

The best were the US M12/M30 self-propelled gun and ammo carrier. Basically the same kit, one just with the 155mm and the other without. It is said to be the most accurate M12 SPG kit available in any scale, even better than the recent 1/35 scale Academy M12, but I do not know this for sure.

Anyone know which of the Bandai 1/48 armor kits were the least accurate? 

You also have to realize many people have fond memories of the kits because they were some of the first and only armor kits to provide fairly complete/comprehensive interiors. When you look at these kits after 30+ years of model development, you can see that the kits were often inaccurate and the interiors rudimentary. But it's often more than enough when viewing the insides from a hatch opening that's smaller than a dime.

tigerman

...Actually, I'm the opposite. Most of the armor i build, you couldn't see the interior anyways, so it's unimportant to me...

I agree.  In 1/35th scale, even with all the hatches open, almost none of the interior can actually be seen.  Less so with 1/48th.

There are a few problems that prevent the manufacturers flooding us with full interiors.

[1] Armour thickness.  A tank with 30mm armour will need walls less than 1mm thick in 35th scale. It's difficult to make a solid chassis with walls this thick, especially when you don't have the option of hiding tabs and slots on the inner side. Some tanks have thicker armour, but even then the roof and belly plates are usually thinner. You don't have much scope to cheat on thickness, because the open hatches will expose it.

[2] Research. Many of the WW2 vehicles, especially Axis ones, are poorly documented. We have very few interior photos so we can't reconstruct the interiors we don't know about.

[3] Fine parts. Internal parts are usually much less robust than external. There are cables, sheet metal housings, etc. Only photo etch could do them justice.

[4] Number of parts. Take a look at the Academy Tiger interior. Compared to a real Tiger, it's only about 60% there - because of problem [2]. A full accurate interior would comprise the majority of parts in a kit.

David

tankerbuilder

I meant to write this some time ago.I got into ARMOR in a big way when BANDAI had all those nice 1/48 scale kits of GERMAN , ENGLISH and some AMERICAN armor.The reason I liked them so much is they had full interiors . Is that to much to ask of the manufacturers of 1/35 scale ARMOR subjects .I would gladly build more ARMOR subjects IF they had full interiors . Until someone chooses to emulate BANDAI I guess I will just build what catches my eye at the time .       tankerbuilder     P.S. even with full interiors they were high quality little scudders !

Academy released a Tiger I with interior and a pair of M3/A1 Stuart Honeys (US & UK versions) with interiors as well. The Tamiya and Academy M113 lines have included complete interiors as well. The Tamiya and Academy M2 Bradleys included interiors for the troop compartment (no engine or turret detail though).

Right now I think the top kit with an interior is the AFV Club T-34/76. It includes a clear plastic upper hull and clear plastic turret so you can construct it as a see-thru tank. They do two versions of the clear tank.

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/russia/afvclub35s51reviewcs_1.html

My first Bandai kit was a T-34/76 back in the 80s. I agree that they were great little kits for their time. I still have a number of them in my inventory to include the T-34/76, M4A3 (76), M12, M30, Hetzer and a couple others like the Valentine.

BaBill212

I still have a number of Bandai 48 scale kits.... I purchased long ago,,,,,

I've built a few and yes, they were extremely innovative for their time.   FUN kits to be sure.        I should slap another on the workbench sometime......  when?,, no idea.

Start a Bandai GB. I did that with Italeri about 4 years ago and it was a hit. Some of the members had never built an Italeri kit before. It was fun.

I still have a number of Bandai 48 scale kits.... I purchased long ago,,,,,

I've built a few and yes, they were extremely innovative for their time.   FUN kits to be sure.        I should slap another on the workbench sometime......  when?,, no idea.

Actually, I'm the opposite. Most of the armor i build, you couldn't see the interior anyways, so it's unimportant to me. And I would have to pay for something extra. That being said, I see your point of view and they are cool kits. My friend had a Panther back in the day and we marveled at the detail of the turret in particular and were amazed that it cost as much as a 1/35 Tamiya kit. However the detail more then made up for it's lack of size.