Tamiya Sd.Kfz 251/1 Question

That's the first two I bought and I was hooked. It is a good starter kit to cut your teeth. I've also found some great kits on hobbylinc.com. They have a lot of stuff to pick from. But armor is all I do for now. 

Well, back then I only made $0.50 an hour.  And that was as a part time worker.  It was in the middle to late 1960's.

Bish

 

 

John 3:16 KJV

Haha! Well, if you DON’T want those models.... ;)

 

 

 

 

O, trust me, if there are 2 types of models i am never getting rid of, its Stuka's and 251's. I only have half the number of 251 variants i would like to have.

 

Hahaha! 

John 3:16 KJV

Haha! Well, if you DON’T want those models.... ;)

 

O, trust me, if there are 2 types of models i am never getting rid of, its Stuka's and 251's. I only have half the number of 251 variants i would like to have.

John 3:16 KJV

If only models could be a dollar each today!....

 

O i am glad they ain't. I have enough trouble restraining myself as it is. I already have more 251's than i can handle.

I am getting a little nostalgic about things again.  In 1973 or so when this cool little kit came out, we were pretty excited about it.  I was about 23 years old, in my senior year in college and had my first apartment, also had just bought my first new car, a 1974 Chevy Vega.  I had been building plastic since 1958, so I was on ground floor of building armor kits from the Japanesse kit industry.  Oh, years before we stated going to a little basement store below a gas station that had a huge collection of mostly air craft for sale.  They even had Micro Scale decals!  Wow!  It was neat.  The prices were very low.  All kits were only a buck or so.  I really don't remember.  There was barley any refereraces, no silly internet, hardly any magazines.  You were on your own! 

 The Sdkfz 251 was groundbreaking in a way.  I did see a article by some guy named Shep Paine who built one as a "D" version who made a cool diorama with redone figures on it.  We learned even back then that it never called a "Hannomag", they were just a company who made the transmission for it.  

Anyway, I've babbled on to long.  Now I have lots of them, many different types.  But the old Tamiya kit still holds a place in my heart.  (Heck, I still care for the Nitto kit). 

silentbob33

Lots of good info here, especially for for an armor newbie like me. I have several armor kits in the stash but for some reason I find them more intimidating than aircraft, especially the Dragon kits. Those older Tamiya kits should be a good way for me to break into them though.

 

Dragon kits are intimidating because they include a plethora of excess parts. They include entire sprues from other kits in case you need just one or two bits off of it. Rarely, are there no leftover parts in a Dragon kit.

Tamiya, on the other hand, tends to have just a couple extra parts for an optional version. Many times suspension parts that are multipieces in Dragon kits are already molded to the hulls of Tamiya kits.

In a Dragon kit, you might have several "M" sprues from different kits.

The old Tamiya kits are excellent entry level kits for armor. You won’t be forking over a lot of money, and they are great for learning and practicing various techniques upon. 

silentbob33

Those older Tamiya kits should be a good way for me to break into them though.

 

John 3:16 KJV

If I did go for an Ausf. D kit, I’d probably get the Tamiya one...

 

 

You wouldn't go far wrong with it.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

Bish

 

 

John 3:16 KJV

Unfortunately, the Ausf. D kits aren’t priced as well as the Ausf. C...(Sigh)... :)

 

 

 

 

If your reffering to the old Tamiya Ausf C, theres good reason for that. Its nearly 50 years old. It may be a 3rd of the price of the AFV Club Ausf D, but i'll take the AFV club over 3 of those old tamiya kits any day, they are superb kits. And the tamiya Ausf D is a nice kit and not that much more than the old Ausf C.

 

 

 

 

I agree with Bish; I got the old Hanomag in a club or show raffle and figured I'd give it a try. It is not a good kit in any way.

A friend gave me the newer Ausf D, the 251/9 with the short howitzer gun. It was a much better kit.

Some of the AFV kits are not a lot of money, and are nice builds.

 

Having built Tamiya Dragon and AFV kit but not yet the ICM or Zvezda, those AFV kits would deffinetly be my top choice if your not after a certain variant.

Bish

 

 

John 3:16 KJV

Unfortunately, the Ausf. D kits aren’t priced as well as the Ausf. C...(Sigh)... :)

 

 

 

 

If your reffering to the old Tamiya Ausf C, theres good reason for that. Its nearly 50 years old. It may be a 3rd of the price of the AFV Club Ausf D, but i'll take the AFV club over 3 of those old tamiya kits any day, they are superb kits. And the tamiya Ausf D is a nice kit and not that much more than the old Ausf C.

 

I agree with Bish; I got the old Hanomag in a club or show raffle and figured I'd give it a try. It is not a good kit in any way.

A friend gave me the newer Ausf D, the 251/9 with the short howitzer gun. It was a much better kit.

Some of the AFV kits are not a lot of money, and are nice builds.

If I did go for an Ausf. D kit, I’d probably get the Tamiya one...

When I built Military some years ago now, they were all half-tracks of one kind or another!

John 3:16 KJV

Unfortunately, the Ausf. D kits aren’t priced as well as the Ausf. C...(Sigh)... :)

 

If your reffering to the old Tamiya Ausf C, theres good reason for that. Its nearly 50 years old. It may be a 3rd of the price of the AFV Club Ausf D, but i'll take the AFV club over 3 of those old tamiya kits any day, they are superb kits. And the tamiya Ausf D is a nice kit and not that much more than the old Ausf C.

John 3:16 KJV

While on the topic of these half tracks, this halftrack from the Warsaw Uprising might make a good modeling subject; but I think an Ausf. D kit would be needed for it... 

If anyone’s interested in doing it, I may have even figured out what paint scheme it could have been...maybe...

 

Yes, it is an Ausf D. Looks like a patchy camo scheme over the DY but also loks very dusty.

And the Tamiya kit comes with the set of Grenadiers. Again, not at all up to modern standards, but good enough for first efforts.

Last one of these I bought for $ 7 somewhere, was used to swap out the rear end of "Rommels Rod" for Stik's last GB.

While on the topic of these half tracks, this halftrack from the Warsaw Uprising might make a good modeling subject; but I think an Ausf. D kit would be needed for it... 

If anyone’s interested in doing it, I may have even figured out what paint scheme it could have been...maybe...

AFV Club makes a 1/48 scale 251/1 Ausf. C that is really nice and inexpensive; around $20-25 online. Benefit to non-armor modelers is that it fits into a common aircraft scale. I once found one in a second hand shop for $15.

https://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Military_Vehicles/AFV00048007/product.php?gclid=CjwKCAjwk7rmBRAaEiwAhDGhxH6PilXm_i0ige9XRGbi23_q4mFKDVYzWNBTEvB0ADzp-jjKyU1r9hoCzC0QAvD_BwE

stikpusher

 

Bish

The kit has not been released since 1988. There are some video reviews on scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-35020-hanomag-sdkfz-251-1--183837

But none from any of the major sites. It has been very much surpassed by more recent kits. From what i have seen on here it seems to be picked up by those less familar with armour subjects.

Hobby Lobby, a chain store here in the US, has a never ending supply of the old 251/1C kit. And very affordably priced I might add. Between this kit and the Tamiya M41 Walker Bulldog that they also carry, they are great starter kits for the novice builder interested in armor.

 

Put me in that group. There's a Hobby Lobby right in my path once a week and I usually stop in. With that 40% off coupon in hand, you can only look at a slick Tamiya box like that so many times before it comes home with you. I've got the ol' Hanomag in my stash too. 

silentbob33

Thanks for the link Bish. I would say I fit into the category of those that aren't all that familiar with armor lol

 

Well, now you have a 251, no excuse not to come over to the real Dark Side.

stikpusher

 

 

Bish

The kit has not been released since 1988. There are some video reviews on scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-35020-hanomag-sdkfz-251-1--183837

But none from any of the major sites. It has been very much surpassed by more recent kits. From what i have seen on here it seems to be picked up by those less familar with armour subjects.

 

 

 

 

Hobby Lobby, a chain store here in the US, has a never ending supply of the old 251/1C kit. And very affordably priced I might add. Between this kit and the Tamiya M41 Walker Bulldog that they also carry, they are great starter kits for the novice builder interested in armor.

 

I would deffinetly concur with that last statment Stik. Ideal kits to cut your armour teeth on.

Bish

The kit has not been released since 1988. There are some video reviews on scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-35020-hanomag-sdkfz-251-1--183837

But none from any of the major sites. It has been very much surpassed by more recent kits. From what i have seen on here it seems to be picked up by those less familar with armour subjects.

 

Hobby Lobby, a chain store here in the US, has a never ending supply of the old 251/1C kit. And very affordably priced I might add. Between this kit and the Tamiya M41 Walker Bulldog that they also carry, they are great starter kits for the novice builder interested in armor.

The kit has not been released since 1988. There are some video reviews on scalemates.

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-35020-hanomag-sdkfz-251-1--183837

But none from any of the major sites. It has been very much surpassed by more recent kits. From what i have seen on here it seems to be picked up by those less familar with armour subjects.