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1/72 tank manufacturers

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  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 12:30 PM

Bocks Suv

Kinda surprising to hear that Revell is a frontrunner here.  Are their treads one-piece, springy vinyl/rubber, or molded styrene with some sagging spots where needed??  

When Revell entered the 1/72 scale armor world, they first boxed some old Hasegawa kits and some Matchbox 1/76 scale armor mislabeled as 1/72. There first true original armor kits they sent out with the Matchbox and Monogram box. Those were the first of their line with link & length tracks. That's been their thing ever since.

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 7:32 AM

Here's an interesting website devoted to "Braille Scale" 

http://miniafv.blogspot.com/p/braille-scale-modelling.html

Tags: "miniafv"
  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Montreal
Posted by buff on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 9:11 PM

I built the Dragon 1/72 T34/85 and it was a nice little kit.  Went together with no issues.  I have to admit, I like the one piece tracks too.  I did link and length on a 1/72 Revell Leopard 1 and found them a little to small for my stubby digits.

On the bench: 1/32 Spit IXc

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 7:56 PM

waynec

working on a TRUMPETER OTS LAV-25. have it primed with VALLEJO AV desert sand.

Looks like a nice kit.
  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: Denver, Colorado
Posted by waynec on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 4:58 PM

working on a TRUMPETER OTS LAV-25. have it primed with VALLEJO AV desert sand.

Никто не Забыт    (No one is Forgotten)
Ничто не Забыто  (Nothing is Forgotten)

 

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 4:28 PM

waynec

i got into 1/72 this past year and built 4. as mentioned DRAGON kits are nice and, unlike DOOG, i like the one piece track. .................

JAGDTIGER is a DRAGON, the other 3 are TRUMPETER.

I only have one Trumpeter kit so far but would like to add that the one piece track included with the Swedish S Tank is well detailed on both sides, unlike the tracks I encountered on 1/76 scale kits of the 1970s.
Nice looking builds, waynec, I note the wheeled vehicle.
I will need to check into the availability of Trumpeter armored wheeled vehicles.
  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: Denver, Colorado
Posted by waynec on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 12:31 PM

Bocks Suv

Kinda surprising to hear that Revell is a frontrunner here.  Are their treads one-piece, springy vinyl/rubber, or molded styrene with some sagging spots where needed??  

length and link. i only have a couple of their tracked bundeswehr vehicles and all are real life live track with support rollers so no sag. . as was said earlier, the manufacturers seem to have their own niches; bundeswehr- REVELL, JGSDF- AOSHIMA, trains- HOBBYBOSS, armored trains UM (forgot to list them earlier)

Никто не Забыт    (No one is Forgotten)
Ничто не Забыто  (Nothing is Forgotten)

 

  • Member since
    March 2010
Posted by Bocks Suv on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 12:23 PM

Kinda surprising to hear that Revell is a frontrunner here.  Are their treads one-piece, springy vinyl/rubber, or molded styrene with some sagging spots where needed??  

  • Member since
    April 2006
  • From: Denver, Colorado
Posted by waynec on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 11:55 AM

i got into 1/72 this past year and built 4. as mentioned DRAGON kits are nice and, unlike DOOG, i like the one piece track. the REVELL kits, at least the bundeswehr trucks and warwheels look like scaled down versions of their 1/35; suspensions are just as detailed. TRUMPETER kits aren't bad, not as detailed as the others but they go together nicely. PEGASUS kits look like they are more for wargaming than model building. i have a couple of AOSHIMA JGSDF kits that look detailed but i haven't started them yet. HOBBYBOSS locomotives are very nice, basically scaled down from 1/35 TRUMPETER.

JAGDTIGER is a DRAGON, the other 3 are TRUMPETER.

Никто не Забыт    (No one is Forgotten)
Ничто не Забыто  (Nothing is Forgotten)

 

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Monday, January 12, 2015 4:57 PM

Well, you gotta be realistic--you'll need an 8x Optivisor if you want to get the smaller details. But they are superb figures even if you just want to put a general skin tone on them and basic uniform.

  • Member since
    March 2010
Posted by Bocks Suv on Monday, January 12, 2015 4:24 PM

Are these figs easy to paint with enamels? I mean other than going blind.

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Monday, January 12, 2015 4:01 PM

Honestly, look up a German company called Preisser. You can get them off eBay and other hobby stores online. They make fantastic 1/72 figures, and they don't skimp on them in the box either.

I bought mine through this site. Check out all the cool groups of figures they have for military. There's even Russian soldiers and tank crews. HIGHLY recommended!

www.reynaulds.com/.../dept_366.aspx

www.reynaulds.com/.../72526.aspx.   Russian guys here

  • Member since
    March 2010
Posted by Bocks Suv on Monday, January 12, 2015 10:09 AM

Thanks for all the great tips. It amazes me how people know the repops, old molds, good and bad kits from the same companies.  

Supplemental question: Who makes decent 1/72 field figures, preferably in winter war garb? I see some that look like little kids...big heads and short legs. I'm looking for a few dozen good men.  

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Illinois: Hive of Scum and Villany
Posted by Sprue-ce Goose on Sunday, January 11, 2015 5:15 PM

I used to build 1/76 AIRFIX armour kits many, many years ago but hated the rubber band tracks.

Recently, I have returned to purchasing and building small scale armour ; mostly Revell due to their lower cost and especially the link and length track.

I have read good reviews of some Zvezda kits, the Roden IS-3 Stalin kit as well as the Trumpeter Strv103 c (S-Tank ) . The Roden and Trumpeter kits use rubber band track but I intend to swipe Revell and PST link and length track for those kits. The Trumpeter S-Tank kit looks like a miniaturized version of their 1/35 scale kit.

I have not yet purchased Dragon kits due to their price and have not yet purchased Zvezda armour kits simply because they have not been available locally.

I generally prefer building mid to late war German WWII armour in larger scales but have been avoiding them in 1/72 due to the need for locating a source of 1/72 scale engine deck screens. 

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Sunday, January 11, 2015 4:12 PM

I have some experience with 1/72 kits.

Dragon kits are the great, obviously--really just shrunk-down versions of their 1/35 line, same instruction sheets and all. The real dogs about them are the darned 1-piece tracks. Atleast half of them you build are too long, and of course, you can't sag 'em. Bummer. I've actually bought Revell kits just to use the indy link tracks from them on the Dragon kits. Of course, on modern tanks like the Leopard and Abrams, you can hide that rack splice under the skirts.

Revelll have some decent, if older kits, and most come with indy tracks, which I much prefer. Some of the detail is heavier in scale, but you can get around some of it with some minor scratchbuilding.

There are a few oddball companies out there like ACE and UTZ (?). The ACE Waffentrager was one of the only models that I actually gave up on and chucked it---but their Steyr tractor is kinda nice, with PE tracks, if you can believe that. I haven't been able to convince myself to plop down the  money that UTZ is asking for some of their kits, but they have some very interesting odd ball subjects and look like they may have great detail?

The "new" Italeri 1/72 line is mostly re-pops of old ESCI kits and some older Revell kits, which used to be the standard, but are clunky now.

Trumpeter also has some nice models, but I have to say that their one-piece tracks must be made of something like silicon, because I could NOT get them to join with literally ANY glue I tried, not even super glue. I wound up having to epoxy them, which made a big bulge in them that I then had to hide. What a disappointmentr that was.

PST does some neat Russian subjects--KVs, Stalins, SU-series, and are fairly nice kits when built, but be prepared to replace hatches with scratchbuilt ones, as the plastic is really thick. They also feature indy link tracks. Here's the PST KV-II in 1/72

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Fort Knox
Posted by Rob Gronovius on Sunday, January 11, 2015 2:17 PM

Your choice of manufacturer will greatly depend on your choice of subjects. Dragon's 1/72 scale line runs the entire gambit of excellent to "don't waste glue". Revell has many outstanding kits, but a few old dogs hidden here and there. KV tanks and you are stuck to just a couple of makers, some of the eastern European kits are good, others not  so.

This is the site to visit to find out what there is in 1/72 scale armor.

http://www.onthewaymodels.com/

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Sunday, January 11, 2015 1:40 PM

I have not built any 72nd armour in some time. But the dragon kits seem to be very nice. But they don't seem to have any WW2 Soviet subjects if that's what your looking for, or do you want German armour.

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    March 2010
1/72 tank manufacturers
Posted by Bocks Suv on Sunday, January 11, 2015 1:37 PM
I developing the components for a gritty Russian Front dio that might be easier and bolder in 1/72. Does anyone rec a 1/72 manufacturer over another? Obviously I'll lose some detail, but fit, overall quality and tread style matter. Not counting for PE to bail me out. Thx.
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