What is the most unusual armour kit you've built?

S-Models resin kits from Poland ...... once you've built one from this company .. .you can build anything from anyone.

I am building a Maquette Sig33 Bison, that has me pulling my hair out. The kit was originally a Zvezda Panzer and just some resin (of very poor quality, I might say) was thrown in the box.

Renwal made the 1/32 scale M50 Ontos and it was kit #557. Revell acquired the molds when Renwal went under and reissued it in the 1982-83 time frame. I have one of each issue, using a partially built Renwal kit a friend gave me to fix the Revell one I built rather badly OOB in 1983. Only difference is that the Revell name is engraved and the Renwal name covered up. And the decals differed.

There is a resin one done by one of the major resin makers, but the name escapes me at the time. Hobby Fan? Accurate Armour?

I have the nutty Renwal M-47 "General Patton II Medium Tank." Listed as "scale 3/8"=1 FT." I'm very poor at math...what is that? about 1/28 scale? It's pretty big.

And pretty nutty.

You depress the cannon to "traveling position," and the commander and loader pop out, or, as the instruction sheet says, and I quote: "expose themselves realistically." Yikes.

The coolest thing about this kit is how Renwal goes on and on about how no expense was spared to create the most accurate model kit ever, "another in a series of of models unsurpassed for rigid conformity to specifications contained in official U.S. Army Blueprints." My favorite quote (after the "expose" quote): "This model incorporates virtually all of the moveable features of the actual weapon." Pretty tall order, wouldn't you agree? Well, you could open the engine access louvres and see the engine, but...well. I reckon the real M-47 is a pretty simple vehicle after all...

It's also cool the way they recommend painting the lifting eyes, light guards, jerry cans, and hand rails black. Stunning accuracy!

And did I mention it was especially designed for "no show" cementing? Indeed, it was! This amazing feature coupled with a new techinique (explained in detail) would "enable you to complete a model which is free of burns or smears."

And it may just be me, but all five figures look just like Eddie from Iron Maiden. Could just be me, though.

Please don't think I'm knocking this kit. I love it! It's just so funny that it's so blatantly inaccurate, but they still touted it as the end-all be-all of armor models!

I know, I know, it was marketed for kids, in an age when accuracy took a back seat to playability, but did they really have to carry on so much about how they had received "complete and accurate data," "generously furnished" by the "U.S. Army Ordnance Corp., and the Office of the Chief of Information and Education?" Truth in advertising was a rare commodity back then too, I guess.
Ah well, it was all to hook the kids, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm gonna build this sucker right out of the box (which mistakenly shows the drive sprocket in front, by the way, contrary to reality, and, thankfully, the instruction sheet. The tracks are even on backwards!), with all the black detail and "exposed" crewmen.

It is one seriously nostalgic kit!

On a serious note, does anyone know when this kit was produced? I can find no reference to a date on the box or in the instructions. It's kit # 556:298.

Just for some more nostalgic info, here's the list of Renwal 3/8=1 foot scale kits as printed on the box:
Walker Bulldog
Ontos
General Patton
Skysweeper
Hawk
Atomic Cannon
Nike
8 Inch Howitzer
Twin Forty
Lacrosse Missile

Collect them all!

On Memory Lane-

As a child, my father built all those Renwal kits, god, have you seen the prices on ebay lately?!?

Anyway, from a kid's POV, they were cool, everything was moveable, and yes the Army Men were, ah, "simplistic", but it was what we had.

Shoulda kept them, but then again, hindsight is 20/20

Yeah, I built the Walker Bulldog when I was but a wee lad. Dunno where it got off to.

They're pulling a bundle on ebay? How much?
I got mine for 3,500 yen (about 30 bux US). It was actually in a set with the Skysweeper for 7,000 yen (about 60 bux US), but I didn't want that kit and talked the shopowner into splitting 'em up. I only wanted the M-47!
Heck, if they're worth a bundle, I oughta run down and get the Skysweeper, too!

QUOTE: Originally posted by J-Hulk I have the nutty Renwal M-47 "General Patton II Medium Tank." Listed as "scale 3/8"=1 FT." I'm very poor at math...what is that? about 1/28 scale? It's pretty big...

this equals 1/32 scale, a fairly popular larger scale for aircraft and armor until Tamiya went to 1/35 scale (which I hear was easier when doing metric measurements).

QUOTE: Just for some more nostalgic info, here's the list of Renwal 3/8=1 foot scale kits as printed on the box: Walker Bulldog Ontos General Patton Skysweeper Hawk Atomic Cannon Nike 8 Inch Howitzer Twin Forty Lacrosse Missile Collect them all!

The Hawk missile set actually included several kits that have been sold separately by reboxers like Life-Like. The Patton, Bulldog and Duster (Twin Forty) have been reissued by Matchbox during the 1990s. Revell also issued a couple in the "History Makers" series. I had the Mace Missile and Terra Cruiser (huge kit) and still have my SP Howitzer unbuilt in the box.

I've gotten rid of most of my old Renwal kits, but for some reason still have three of the old M42 Duster (Twin Forty) kits. I don't really know why. One is in the original Blueprinter box, another in the Renwal white box and the third is a Revell reissue. They didn't include figures with the reissue. So these three plus my SP Howitzer and pair of Ontos mean I still have six of these ancient kits.

They were 1960s vintage kits and back in the day were state of the art.

Hi, Rob!
Ah, hence all the bravado about accuracy and whatnot. I reckon they were the best in their day.

I was wrong: the other kit at the shop was the M-42 Twin Forty, not the Skysweeper.
What the heck is a Skysweeper? The M3 Halftrack with four .50s?

That scale is only 1/32? Then their scale must be off, too, cuz this M-47's a big big ol' slab o' styrene when compared to my 1/35 Italeri M-47. That's why I guessed around 1/28, based on the ol' eyeball.

Yes, it's 1/32 scale. I'm using bits and pieces of a Tamiya M113A1 to dress up the Ontos interior and engine compartment.

The Skysweeper was a 90mm anti-aircraft artillery piece coupled with fancy radar. Remember, this was pre-SAM days when our cities were protected by troops manning AAA guns. We never knew when the Red Horde would be sending masses of bombers to drop nuclear mayhem on our heads.

I do have the Life-Like boxing of this kit in 1/40 scale, think of the German WW2 Flak 88 on steriods with a big boxy radar setup included.

Edit: Oops, forgot to give you the math for the scale:

3/8"=1' which is the same as 3/8"=12"
multiply both sides by 8: 8 X 3/8"=8 X 12"
gives you: 3"=96"
divide both sides by 3: 3"/3=96"/3
gives you: 1"=32" or 1/32 scale.

ebay prices:

Ontos: last two (search for completed items) went for 150$ and up, I have seen (older than 30 days) 400+$ US dollars....

Rob, I don't doubt your math one bit, but this M-47 has got to be bigger than 1/32. It's a hog! Ya reckon your Ontos scales out right? Maybe they just didn't bother paying too much attention on the M-47, and just made it as big as the box would allow.

Whoa, Nellie! Up to 400 bux for an Ontos? Whaddaya reckon an M-47 would fetch? I suppose 30 bux was a pretty good deal, then! It has all the parts, instruction sheet, and the box is in excellent condition. Oh, I'm gonna build it alright, but It'd be kinda cool to know how much it's worth!

The Ontos, Mace Missile and Atomic Annie were the only ones worth any serious money. That old M47 can be had in any of the various boxings for $10-20, same for the M41 or M42. I didn't think the Ontos to be in the same class as the Mace and Annie, but I guess someone wanted that one bad enough.