When I was a kid in Vermont, the only hobby shops I had were across the river in New Hampshire. There was a local chain called Fitz Photo and Hobby Shop (or was it Pitt's?).

Anyway, the only Tamiya kits they carried were motorized Tamiya tank kits. I remember getting the Centurion, M113, Matilda, M60A2, M4A3E8 probably another one or two I don't remember.

I do know they had the 3-engined, motorized M1 Abrams with a wired remote control. It could go left, right, forward, reverse, and the third engine rotated the turret. This kit I bought when I was already in college and a tanker in the National Guard.

Around this time, I also repainted my very old Monogram M48A2 to "look" like the M48A5 tanks we used in the Guard. That kit is still on display on my bookcase in the basement.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

Tcoat

 

 

 

 

 

I have this old kit in my display cabinet. It has to be over forty years old (I built it in high school and have been out of high school since 1982). Mine is motorized.

 

That one would have been built in 1969 or 70. I could not afford the motorized version since it would have been about $4.50 and I would have had a $3.00 limit.

Tcoat

 

 

I have this old kit in my display cabinet. It has to be over forty years old (I built it in high school and have been out of high school since 1982). Mine is motorized.

Nice work on a couple of Tamiya classics. I have a number of old Tamiya and Italeri armour kits in the stash.

Cheers,

Dodgy

cbaltrin

Nice work tcoat. That  stuff brings back memories. I have not built a tank since I was a teenager and did not build many then, but I remember building the Tamiya Sturmgeschütz IV and their original Panther tank. Both fun builds.

 

Built in 1969 when I was 10. Found in the bottom of a box in my parents attic. Complete with very warped but still attached stretched sprue antenna. 

I have the Jagdpanzer of the same vintage but no picture for some reason.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

warshipguy

I love building Tamiya kits.  The only issues I have with them concerns first, the suspensions on most of them.The old kits have motorization holes, second, rubber band tracks, and, third, molded-on details. But, they are fun to build.

Bill

 

 

 

When I was stationed in Germany in the late 80s, I found an old hobby shop in downtown Mannheim. Lots of old, dust covered kits. I found a lot of old motorized Tamiya kits like the M113, Panther and a few others in odd scales.

A little over a decade ago, I sold those kits on eBay and made about a grand over the course of a month. These were kits I paid maybe $10-15 a piece for (exchange rate was $1=2 DM).

I think the highest one went for like $200 and was a Tamiya 1/50 scale Crusader to a collector in Connecticut. I think I paid less than $10 for that kit.

Used that money to buy more up-to-date kits and collectors got some highly coveted kits.

 

I spent a couple of months training with the 28th Transportation Battalion in Mannheim but I was 19 years old and not looking for hobby shops at that point in my life!

warshipguy

I love building Tamiya kits.  The only issues I have with them concerns first, the suspensions on most of them.The old kits have motorization holes, second, rubber band tracks, and, third, molded-on details. But, they are fun to build.

Bill

When I was stationed in Germany in the late 80s, I found an old hobby shop in downtown Mannheim. Lots of old, dust covered kits. I found a lot of old motorized Tamiya kits like the M113, Panther and a few others in odd scales.

A little over a decade ago, I sold those kits on eBay and made about a grand over the course of a month. These were kits I paid maybe $10-15 a piece for (exchange rate was $1=2 DM).

I think the highest one went for like $200 and was a Tamiya 1/50 scale Crusader to a collector in Connecticut. I think I paid less than $10 for that kit.

Used that money to buy more up-to-date kits and collectors got some highly coveted kits.

I love building Tamiya kits.  The only issues I have with them concerns first, the suspensions on most of them.The old kits have motorization holes, second, rubber band tracks, and, third, molded-on details. But, they are fun to build.

Bill

Nice work tcoat. That  stuff brings back memories. I have not built a tank since I was a teenager and did not build many then, but I remember building the Tamiya Sturmgeschütz IV and their original Panther tank. Both fun builds.

I have both of these in the stash. Cool builds, nice work and well done.

BK

Nice work. The Stug was a favorite build of mine when I was a lad. 

I noticed the stowage on the Bradley right away, beautifully painted.

Very nice job on the classic kits.

Yes, ODS implies it is the post Operation Desert Storm version. During Desert Storm we still had M2/3 and M2A1/M3A1 Bradleys and very few M2A2s. Some units still had M113A2s and M901 ITVs and hadn't fielded Bradleys of any sort yet.

That was a war we really hadn't prepared for and showed up with what we had.

Both of those are cool! 

Even beyond the magnetic storage great job on fabric texture of the bags. Love the paint and weathering on both! 

Those vintage Tamiya kits are still a load of fun.  

MR TOM SCHRY

Tcoat, excellent job on those "vintage" Tamiya kits.  Great molding, ease of instruction, and a reasonable parts count, what's not to LOVE?

tjs

 

Yep! Unfortunetly not all vintage kits are as buildable. These were a pleasent treat

Tcoat, excellent job on those "vintage" Tamiya kits.  Great molding, ease of instruction, and a reasonable parts count, what's not to LOVE?

tjs

HeavyArty

 

 

Tcoat

They could have marked the box as such but for some unknown reason went with ODS. 

 

 

Tamiya wasn't totally off.  The version was known as an M2A2 ODS, meaning it had the post ODS updates.  The decal placement instructions also say it is from 3ID in Iraq, 2003. 

 

Ahhh that makes more sense then!

Tojo72

Oldies but goodies

 

What surprised me most was the Stug. Even after almost 50 years and probably hundreds of thousands of kits made, the molds still produce perfect parts. There was not one bit of flash nor a misaligned seam on a single sprue

Tcoat

They could have marked the box as such but for some unknown reason went with ODS. 

Tamiya wasn't totally off.  This version was called an M2A2 ODS, meaning it had the post ODS updates.  The decal placement instructions also say it is from 3ID in Iraq, 2003. 

Oldies but goodies

HeavyArty

The Bradley came out pretty nicely.  Good job on it.

 

 

Tcoat

...M2A2 Bradly supposedly as it appeared in Desert Storm...

 

 

This version is not supposed to represent one used in Operation Desert Storm (1991).  It is a later version updated after ODS from lessons learned there.  It had more armor and other improvements added.  The kit represents one used by 3ID during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

 

 

 

Yep! They could have marked the box as such but for some unknown reason went with ODS. 

The Bradley came out pretty nicely.  Good job on it.

Tcoat

...M2A2 Bradly supposedly as it appeared in Desert Storm...

This version is not supposed to represent one used in Operation Desert Storm (1991).  It is a later version updated after ODS from lessons learned there.  It had more armor and other improvements added.  The kit represents one used by 3ID during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.