Armor model photos from Japan

Hi, Jon!
7 of the Tiger II? Didn't see 7! They're all at the rongeorge hosting gallery, right?? I'll check again! Thanks!

J-Hulk did you see all the photos of the Kingtiger that i took ? there was about 7 ?

These guys kit-bash, scratch-build, sculpt, and whatever else you can think of! They know no boundaries, and cut no corners!

A bunch of very creative, very talented people.
And did I mention they can drink like fish?

Wow those modellers are awesome! Kind of embarassing posting my pitiful work. I think I'll use it for inspiration. Fantastic work by some gifted people over there in Japan. There seems to be a Tamiya trend there. Are they some of the best kits, or are they "''kit-bashed"? hmm...

J-Hulk,

Thanks I got the e-mail. I can't wait till my next trip

OK, I agree!

Hey, jkeller, your post is waaaay back there, but I scoped out the Tamiya scene in Furukawa and mailed ya a coupla shops right in town there.

Lemme know whether ya got the mail or not!

And happy hunting!

Any of ya'll come to Osaka, and I'll take you to the shops myself!

I think we can all agree on the following:


1) those models kick a$$ regardless of the human that built and painted it.

2) everyone needs to lighten up when speaking and modeling war subjects, duh, c'mon people. dont make me do a "what if" diorama with the french and japanese

3) if he is charging at you with an arisaka and a bayonet you can call him anything you want!!!


thanks for sharing the url,

Hi, Madda!

I agree, everyone here has a great attitude! This is the first forum I've ever participated in (don't laugh, I just got my first computer a month ago!), and the experience has been great.
Nice buncha people! I really enjoy hearing everyone's views on modeling and everything else.

It kinda saddens me to hear that this is a rare thing!

While I lived in the US, everyone I knew had positive views of Japan, too (even WWII vets I know). During the 80's there was some Japan-bashing, but that was over economic matters, not the war.

Here in Asia, it's quite different. Korea and China frequently (and officially) bring up the subject of the war (they suffered greatly at the hands of Imperial Japan), demanding official apologies and retribution on a regular basis.

While Japan's constitution forbids the deployment of Japanese combat forces overseas, debate has been raging in Japan's parliament about amending the constitution to allow that, in an effort to answer international criticism that Japan's international contributions are only financial. The current situation in Iraq has been a catalyst in this area.

Any talk of international deployment of Japanese combat forces always elicits cries of outrage from Korea, China, and other Asian nations, who claim this would be just the first step towards Japan once again pursuing its "imperialistic" goals.

I only point all this out to inform anybody that may not know that there are still constant reminders and criticism from it's neighbors about Japan's role in the war , and still much hatred for the Japanese, 60 years later.

But, as time goes by, things get better and better, and eventually, even this deep-rooted animosity will dissipate.

I hope!

This has been a really informative subject really. The pics of the models were simply amazing, and the discussion has been great too. Everyone is on good terms really, and there's no animosity flying around, that's incredibly rare for a forum (which is why I don't participate in many anymore). I really appreciate the way everyone here has been civilized about this whole thing.

I would like to say J-Hulk that everyone that I know personally think very highly of Japan, with no fallback to the war at all. Nobody bears any kind of malice, and they're considered one of our biggest allies. I don't know of a single person who bears them any ill will due to ww2, which is good.

madda

M1, sounds like you're working hard! If you put as much effort into your work as you do in your modeling, I'm sure your uncle must be very happy! I'll look back and check out your carrier. I think I may have seen it in that state.
Work hard, and enjoy modeling when ya can!

Panzer iv, sure, I believe a lot of people use "Jap" with no malice at all as an innocent abbreviation of the word "Japanese, " but to the Japanese it is an offensive word. What we personally believe to be offensive or not doesn't matter if the group that the word describes finds it offensive.

Some people say that words are only words, but words carry meaning, and that meaning can be very hurtful to the listener, regardless of the intent of the speaker.

Since this thread began, I have been asking my friends (Japanese) what their feelings are about it. All responded that yes, they would be offended by it. Japan as a nation and a people are very conscious of the role their country played in the war, and the way the world views that role. They have struggled for 60 years to put that behind them, move ahead, and become a bastion of freedom and hope in Asia. The word "Jap" throws them right back 60 years, when that word was used with hatred and malice. After the war, it was a term of hatred and prejudice.
Today, the meaning of the word is just too deep to dismiss it as simply a "word," and lightly ask people to not be "so sensitive" (nobody in this forum has asked that).

My intention when first responding to this post was simply to inform people who may not realize it that this word is indeed a very harsh term in the minds of the people it is intended to describe.

Anywaaaaaay, didn't mean to go off on a long essay again!

Since this forum deals with a lot of historical subject matter, and many races of peoples, maybe it'd be a good idea to start a "Modeling, History, and Modern Sensitivities" forum to address just these kinds of things?

Just a thought!

Brian

Calling someone an Aussie is not a derogitory statement, we call our selves Aussies. I would never call and English person a Brit but, more like a POM. LOL.
Personaly I don't see a problem with calling Japanese people Japs but. It is just a shortening of the word Japanese. Like calling Australian's Aussies. To me it is worse to call Asian people Gooks and things of that sort.

Jhulk if you look a few pages back you can see how far I've got on it. it just needs men and a weather job. I made it british, with the gun mounted directly on the hull. It'll probably be mid/late september by the time I get to do modeling next. (driving a swather for my uncle during harvest here. I put 71 hours in in 5 days, It's raining today, so I need to catch up on everything else around here that I need to do.)

Absolutely, johnpo!

Going back to Mr. Miike's LVT4, I found the issue it's in: Armour Modelling, Vol. 42 (April, 2003). That's the Vietnam issue with the M48A3 on the cover.

If you can find it, it's certainly worth checking out.

Is Armour Modelling available overseas?

I'm a yank who's son was born in the South and we live in California...who cares! What is really important is the link with all the pics of really well done armor.

Yeah, I thought you'd like that one, M1!

I should've pointed that one out to you a while back, when you started your kitbash. How's that going, by the way? Finished? Maybe I missed the post!

In my opinion, the most amazing piece at the whole show (and the one that brought home the gold) was Mr. Yoshimoto's Soviet 2A3 406mm SPG.
That thing is TOTALLY scratchbuilt, folks! [:0]I first saw it at this show last year, and then it made the rounds of the hobby mags. I can't begin to imagine the talent (and patience!) that creating something like that requires. Really looking forward to seeing what he (and all the great Kansai modelers) brings this year (next month, actually).

wow!!! I really liked the pic of the bren carrier with the pak 37 (wonder why )

Hi, folks!

Modelkid, they are dedicated, that's for sure!
The LVT4 by Mr. Miike is indeed scratchbuilt (edit: mostly scratchbuilt, with the Cromwell kit as a base!). There's a great pictorial of this build in Armour Modelling 4 or 5 issues back. The tracks were outrageous! 5 or 6 pieces per link this guy scratchbuilt![:0] Mr. Miike has the reputation of being one of the most insane scratchbuilders in the club.

Jkeller, there are TONS of great shops in Tokyo, but up where you're going to be, I don't know of any offhand. But geez, there's a Tamiya shop on almost every street corner, so I'm sure there's something up Furukawa way! I'll check my sources and see what I can find for you.

Madda and tiger, yup, people sure are funny animals!
I think we're all cool about this now, so let's just keep on enjoying each other's fine company, and keep the model talk flowing!

Yes, I doubt any of us Americans mind being referred to as Yanks, except Bostonians. Lol .Modelkid, I wanted to jump all over you for your earlier remarks, but after reading further posts, I understand you better now. I figured the hatred ran deep inside of you for some reason, but hopefully some 60 plus years can help heal the pain. I'm sorry of your loss. Hopefully you can look to our future with Japan and realize our differences are in the past and we are now Allies. Same goes for the Germans.

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."-R.E.Lee

QUOTE: Originally posted by freefall i forgot to add,the australian`s sister is dating a american.who has been refered to in the past as a yank! sorry i will now change my ways

I always wondered why it is that any American is called a yank in any other country, but in America, only people from the North of the country are called yanks, and then, only by people in the South. I always considered that a bit odd. For that matter, it's considered only somewhat derogatory, but not bad, nothing that would rate a punch in the nose or anything like that.

When I've been called a yank by people from other countries, it's never been the least bit insulting, at least I never took it that way, nor do I think it was meant that way. Is a derogatory term made that way by intent of the user, or by the perception of the recipient or some combination thereof? People are funny animals I think.

madda

AttackDonut - Great link
J-Hulk - I have to go to Japan sometimes for business and always wondered where I could find a Tamiya shop or hobby shop. I usally fly into Narita and take the Shinkansen to Furukawa (North of Tokyo way north). Any suggestions?

I bet that those guts are realy deticated to there work i can tell by that mobil howitzer and that lavt4. I wish i could scratch bult some thing like that the only thing i cand build from scratch is a curvy pice of spure. Jhulk do you know if that lavt4 is scratch built to.

theres some great peices there, i do like the Panther M10 meeting the real M10 (cant wait for Dragon to bring there Panther M10 out)
im going to have another look at the site

That armour is over the top! Really incredible work.

Hi, Freefall!
Well, there are some names like that that are fine, and obviously others that are not. That's why I think we all need to be sensitive to the issue, and make an effort to know the differences.

I'm a Yank, and I work with many Brits, Aussies, and Kiwis, all terms that ,as far as I know, are not derogatory, and are actually more terms of endearment than anything else.

Anyhooo, what did you think of the armor on the link?
Off the hook, or what?

No problem, modelkid!

You'd all love these guys, I'm tellin' ya! An amazing passion for modeling. I'm the only non-Japanese guy in the group here in Osaka (a nice fella named Scott lives way out in Nara, so he doesn't count!), so when they're doing US figures, they always want a good look at my face in different lighting as a reference! Sometimes they even ask me to not shave for a coupla days to get that rough in-the-field look. These guys are serious!

If Pixilater is reading this thread, hey, I'm sure my buds would love to donate one of their Japanese faces for a digital comp pic if you promised to show them in a Zeke or Jack!
Man, they'd love that!

i forgot to add,the australian`s sister is dating a american.who has been refered to in the past as a yank!
sorry i will now change my ways

just to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.
one of my mates from australia,i call him a aussie.
he calls me a brit,i have never thought of either being offensive.

gazza.

Ok please forgve me then.

You're right, modelkid.
That's why we have to do our best to protect common decency the best we can!

Now, let's have fun and talk models!