More 1/48 Tamiya AFV news

i don't like 1:48 armor , is too small and details aren't good , if some detials are
not accurate in 1:35, imagine in 1:48, Tamiya is a good company , but I will respect other's people choices
Juan

I think Tamiya is making a big mistake. I think that 1/48 will be niche scale. Most established builders aren't going to ditch their 1/35 scale kits and habits for 1/48. They might lose out on their 1/35 models too if they steer people to their 1/48s.

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk I will reserve all judgement until I see one of these kits, but it's gonna have to be of exceptional quality to drag me away from the larger scales.

Well, the 1/48 Schwimwagon and Kettenkrad kits are available at my LHS, but like I said in my other post, I won't buy them.

Enjoy your modeling...

Good to hear everybody's opinions here!
Maybe I should set up a poll and hand deliver the results to Mr. Tamiya!

Just to clear up one point: On the controversial subject of the costs of molds, it was Mr. Tamiya himself who said the lower cost involved in creating 1/48 molds is one factor in the decision to go smaller. As many people in this forum and others are quick to point out, recent 1/35 Tamiya armor kits are quite expensive. Mr. T said that to maintain or improve on the current level of Tamiya quality, the rising costs of manufacturing would only push the costs of new 1/35 kits higher and higher, resulting in lower and lower sales. Mr. Tamiya doesn't want that, of course, so he is forging ahead with this new 1/48 line with the idea of bringing the exeptional Tamiya quality we've come to expect to modelers at a reasonable price.
Remember, this is all from the horse's mouth, not speculation on my part.
Just so ya know!

As I've mentioned before, I'm personally not very excited about 1/48 armor in general, so I have mixed feelings about all this. I will reserve all judgement until I see one of these kits, but it's gonna have to be of exceptional quality to drag me away from the larger scales.

I agree that there doesn't seem to be much of a place for 1/48 WW2 AFVs. 1/35 does seem to be the best balance between size and detail, even if you don't have a huge amount of display space (and some smaller types are even better represented by 1/24 scale). And I can't imagine that the difference in tooling costs between the two scales are that significant.

However, what I think would be a really good idea, would be more support vehicles and "softskins", particularly of the sort used on airfields. These are great for adding life to aircraft dioramas, but very few are available in 1/48 scale. Tamiya have made a Kubel and Kettenkrad so far, so I'm sure they could do more - Jeep, Humber staff car, fuel trucks, etc. Or even a "Queen Mary" aircraft transporter trailer (and/or whatever its American and German equivalents were). One of those would make a very impressive diorama with a disassembled aircraft on it.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Foster7155 I had heard the rumors several months ago, so I'm not too surprised. Looks like Dragon just moved to the top of my "manufacturer of choice" list. I wish Tamiya luck, but I won't be buying anything in 1/48...no matter how unique. Enjoy your modeling...

Me too. I still hope Tamiya comes out with a Hetzer since they already have the Czech chassis for it.

According to Brian, they said they will be focusing more on 1/48th. They didn't say they were phasing out 1/35th.

I had heard the rumors several months ago, so I'm not too surprised.

Looks like Dragon just moved to the top of my "manufacturer of choice" list. I wish Tamiya luck, but I won't be buying anything in 1/48...no matter how unique.

Enjoy your modeling...

It's probably an action whose time has come! but I'm kind of set in my ways and would like to stay with the 1/35 scale armor. True it's gotten pretty pricey, but unless you're into marathone building, I usually can't produce more then half a dozen kits a year, and now with an effort to move into more advanced building it will probably be even less. Would hate to see the 1/35 scale go away, it's great for us guys who need enhanced vision equipment to build something. semper fi, mike

Thanks for the heads-up, Brian. I'm looking forward to seeing a new generation of kits that will benefit from all the new technology. I too grew up on the Aurora kits and then went nuts for the Bandai.

So, one Sherman and 19 sausage wagons? I guess that won't be bad -- easier to do that diorama of a Typhoon putting a rocket into one.

QUOTE: Originally posted by wildwilliam Quagmyre, not trying to be a wiseguy, but you can already model all of WWII in one scale. 1/72

I know. But 1/72 is sooo darn hard to work with.

Quagmyre,
not trying to be a wiseguy, but you can already model all of WWII in one scale. 1/72

this is very exciting news. I hope that they put out some modern armor to. A 1/48 scale hummer to sling under a black hawk, I can see some diorama ideas coming to life. Yes, I could do it in 1/35 scale, but I would have to mortgage my house, and then find a place to put it when I was done. I think this is great!

Being a I'm totally psyched about this! Finally everything WWII in one scale. Now I can build dioramas with both Planes and Armour!!!!

I'm also extremely thankful I didn't spend an unnecessary amount of $$$ on eBay trying to acquire some of those old Bandai kits!! Bet we'll see the price on those drop now. So much for any more arbitrage happening with those kits.

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!

QUOTE: Originally posted by tigerman Tamiya hasn't put much 1/35 out lately anyway. Dragon is moving ever forward. I think maybe Tamiya just realizes they can't go toe-to-toe with them. Dollar for dollar Tamiya isn't in the same park with Dragon, their kits are far more expensive and they give you less. I won't really miss them that much.

Tamiya is not usually my first kit manufacturer of choice when I'm looking to buy for both of these reasons. Moving to 1/48 scale gives me one more reason to not look at them for future kits as I suspect they won't be able to offer the additional goodies that Dragon and Trumpeter are making standard and still be competitive on price for the reduced scale.

Tamiya hasn't put much 1/35 out lately anyway. Dragon is moving ever forward. I think maybe Tamiya just realizes they can't go toe-to-toe with them. Dollar for dollar Tamiya isn't in the same park with Dragon, their kits are far more expensive and they give you less. I won't really miss them that much.

Yes, a 1/25 Anzio Annie, and a new garage to keep it in.

Agreed 100%. Although the bigger they are, the harder they are to display, I still prefer the bigger scales. 1/35th seems to be a nice blend of size and price.

To be honest, I prefer larger scales. I'd be very happy if 1/25 was the "standard" armor scale!

I'm sure the new Tamiya kits will be of great quality, but they're probably all going to be subjects that are already available in 1/35 scale, so I'll probably skip 'em.

I don't know. I have done a lot of 1/48th planes in the past and was happy with the recent trend there in the other direction- to 1/32nd. You can get more detail in. Plus, can you imagine the photo etched hinges and other small parts? They are small enough for me at 1/35th.

QUOTE: Originally posted by styrene Tamiya didn't by any chance buy out the old Bandai 1/48 kit molds, and are simply going to be reproducing them under the Tamiya name, are they? I hope not.... Gip Winecoff

Have no fear, Gip.
All new molds!

1/32 scale armour models never really caught on, so why should 1/48 unless they can be used in conjunction with aircraft?

Tamiya didn't by any chance buy out the old Bandai 1/48 kit molds, and are simply going to be reproducing them under the Tamiya name, are they?

I hope not....

Gip Winecoff

This is great news to me. I grew up with Aurora 1/48 scale tanks in the 70s and discovered Bandai 1/48 scale kits in the mid 80s. I thought those were the greatest kits of that time.

Biggest heartbreak was the Zhengdefu 1/48 motorized kits that used photos from Tamiya built kits as boxart. You were thinking that you were getting a shrunk down Tamiya kit but it was a real waste of plastic.

Can't wait to see the stuff and watch the bottom drop out on the Bandai kits.

I suppose it will be good for the 1:48 aircraft diorama builders, but !:35 is the standard for armor. What gives?