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Didnt the J series have pistol ports on the turret?

Yer, I am picky... sorry.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 judgedoug wrote:
Most people who advocate for 1/48 tanks do so out of some weird delusion of how big they are... but no, they're small. Small as hell. Mobile coffins with guns. 1/56 is correct.

1/56 with 28mm models usually looks like the crew could not physically fit in the vehicle. Like, the hatches aren't even wide enough to fit a person through them, they often look comical when you put a tank commander sticking out of the hatch because he doesn't look like he could fit down the hatch.

I know they were tight, but it just looks comical to me when the hatches on the vehicles are so narrow that the commander sitting in it could dislocate their shoulders and still not fit through.
I mostly prefer 1/48 after looking at historical photos and most tanks DON'T look quite so comical when someone is sitting out of the hatch.
It's probably because Warlord's 28mm are hero scale and so are badly proportioned. If they were the same height but realistic proportions then 1/56 vehicles would probably look more natural.

To me the tanks aren't so bad, but looking at WLG's jeeps and other smaller vehicles, it just looks bad/wrong/comical. I mean, we all know that Jeeps are small vehicles, but combined with the heroic scale of the figures (especially the metals...)

I think the 1/48 vs 1/56 comes to play due to the way figures are designed.

28mm for height clearly match 1/56 scale, but for girth more closely match 1/48 scale.

I looked at doing 1/48 scale myself, as a group I play with uses 1/48, but they don't make the tanks and quipment I wanted in 1/48, so I stuck with 1/56 (chaffees, locusts, and similar don't exist in 1/48 as far as I can tell).

Having built the 1/56 Puma and Panzer IV from Warlord (and frankly, Warlord's kits are horrible, shoddy production values and an inability to decide if they are wargame models or model models, the halftrack is not keyed or made fully wargamer, but then the directions lack any numbering/lettering like you'd get with any model company's product), these are correctly scaled for height, just not girth. I find this is also one of the problems folks tend to have with Wargames Factory, they think they look funny when they are generally more realistically proportioned than other gaming companies, which seem normal as everyone does chunky monkey.

My WGF Samurai scale well with my Perry Minis (save the swords/weapons, but that has to do with metal vs plastic), but the vikings are notably thinner than say Foundry's vikings.

 Azazelx wrote:

To me the tanks aren't so bad, but looking at WLG's jeeps and other smaller vehicles, it just looks bad/wrong/comical. I mean, we all know that Jeeps are small vehicles, but combined with the heroic scale of the figures (especially the metals...)

It's totally because of heroic scale. I can't stand 1/48 stuff with 28mm figures because - due to the proportions - it looks like children - literally 8 year olds with big kid heads - are playing "war". Like, I know a Panzer IV is literally less than three feet taller than me, I've stood next to one. I know how small a T-34 is, I've been in one. They are not great big Leman Russ tanks or WW1 Mark IV's.
However, 28mm w/ 1/56 looks _less wrong_ to me. Now, Warlord's metals are definitely chunky... but for instance, Perry DAK and Desert Rats plastics are much more realistically proportioned. Of course, that just means that using 1/48 with Perry means it looks like, instead of children, it's Hobbits dressed as soldiers playing war. 1/48 is just wrong with any 28mm figures; 1/56 is much closer to reality despite chibi melon-high-elf heads on Jerries.

We could see a heated argument about scale here... may be, as a manufacturer, we might be able to give some answers (for those who are not aware of this) to why different scale miniatures "sort of fit better" with other scales vehicles than same scale vehicles - particularly with gaming pieces!

Let us start with the miniatures; take 28mm (1/56) scale as an example. Back in the old days of metal, the most easily broken away pieces are the weapons (guns, swords, and spears); to fix this, the sculptors will make the weapon thicker. And in order for the figure to hold the weapon in a more natural manner, they will make the hand larger! And to make the overall figure looks proportionally right, they enlarge the head as well. Over time, blown out of scale 28mm figures were created... and they conveniently called them "heroic scale"!

Then comes the vehicles... If you look at scale like 1/16 or 1/24 or 1/35, you don't see much of an issue with same scale models (both figures and vehicles) mixing together. As you move towards smaller scale, you started to complain... The reason behind this problem is THICKNESS! No matter what scale you are making, there is always a limit as to how "thin" you can make the side wall (or skin) of a vehicle. This is due to (1) tooling and casting and (2) integrity of the model after it was built. Because of this technical limitation, particularly with personnel transports in smaller scale, you could never get a "complete" driver (with arms and legs) seated properly in his driver's seat... there is simply no leg room at all!

Hope this could clear some issues up... but probably not all of them!

Yep, I understand why. I just think it too often looks terrible. To paraphrase Doug - like children bundled into an oversized ridealong car



For me the solutions would either be:
1) Slightly oversized Jeeps and other small vehicles. Not a huge deal since we're playing in some weird no-mans-land in between 1:56 and 1:48 anyway.
or
2) Wait for plastic Jeeps and such, with plastic crew that are less comically heroically scaled - just like the WLG T-34s.

Actually, that would be great. A 2-pack of jeeps for 20 quid and a few options for crew, weapons and stowage.

Initial releases of the firs six kits are now shipped! Expected to see them on store shelves over the next two weeks!

 Azazelx wrote:

For me the solutions would either be:
1) Slightly oversized Jeeps and other small vehicles. Not a huge deal since we're playing in some weird no-mans-land in between 1:56 and 1:48 anyway.
or
2) Wait for plastic Jeeps and such, with plastic crew that are less comically heroically scaled - just like the WLG T-34s.

Actually, that would be great. A 2-pack of jeeps for 20 quid and a few options for crew, weapons and stowage.

I think the Universal Carriers do an well job of this.
http://us-store.warlordgames.com/collections/british-army/products/universal-carrier



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 RubiconModels wrote:
Initial releases of the firs six kits are now shipped! Expected to see them on store shelves over the next two weeks!

And hopefully in the USA too!!!

Good news for those in the UK and AU (and even the US). Firestorm Games is about to stock these, and they're now up for pre-order. 10% discount as standard plus free worldwide shipping for orders over 30 quid.

Their category view is borked atm so I've also supplied the direct links
(they just got put up as a category/pre-orders last night)


http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/wargames-and-miniatures/Rubicon-Models

Tiger:
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=18940

Panther D/A:
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=52_270964&search=28mm%20panther&product_id=18938

Panther G:
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=18939

PzIV:
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=52_270964&search=28mm%20panzer&product_id=18936

PzIII:
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=52_270964&search=28mm%20panzer&product_id=18937

T-34/76:
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=52_270964&search=28mm%20t34&product_id=18942

Sherman M4A3:
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=52_270964&search=28mm%20sherman&product_id=18941

It's so tempting to order a squadron of T34's!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
feth it, ordered a Tiger and a Sherman, they'll make for excellent Armoured Fury additions. Here's hoping these don't take 2+ months to reach me.

I reckon three of each will do me in good stead!

...as soon as my wallet regenerates.

I'm hoping to buy a few of these this weekend. I'm mostly interested in the Panzer III, but it seems fairly clear that the road wheels are a bit inaccurate, and there's some detail missing around the mantlet, which is disappointing. The Panther Ausf G looks good though, as does the 75mm M4A3 (although the 76mm turret looks a bit off). It'd be good to see some built and painted examples...

Got some on the way to paint up for PSC... I will review them if there is interest.

Yes please!

I am especially looking forward to your stellar paint jobs on these kits.

Big P wrote:
Got some on the way to paint up for PSC... I will review them if there is interest.

Very much so.

Cool.

I think I have the Panther Ausf. G and the T34 coming to paint up for the PSC display so I may just plog the build here so people can see it in stages and see how they build.

That would be awesome!

Seconded. Would love to see the build as well.

I have the Panzer III, Panther G and Tiger I. The initial impression is that the Panther and Tiger are significantly better kits than the Panzer III, in terms of detail and accuracy. In addition to its road wheels being very inaccurate, the Panzer III lacks important details like the non-slip pattern on the track guards. That said, all 3 kits are very nicely cast, and much crisper looking than the Warlord plastic vehicles. I might put up some WiP photos as well, of the models that Big P isn't covering.

You wouldn't happen to have a Warlord Panther lying around would you?

Tailgunner,

Shall we put all our pics in one thread to make it easy for people to reference and find?

I must admit the Panzer III has 'issues' but I'm interested to see the others. I believe PSC are sending me the Panther G and the T34 but I won't know till they arrive.

If you put up some pics of the Panzer III coule you do front, side, rear and top down profile shots? Be interested in seeing what work need to be done to make it a little more accurate.

Big P - sounds good.

I'm building the Tiger I now. So far I think it's very good (it's their most recent kit, so they've already learnt a lot). The roadwheel overlap issue you mentioned seems ok - the early version's roadwheels appear to be correctly configured. I thought I'd only put up photos of the assembled model, rather than lots of WiP shots. But it's worth showing how well the hull goes together.

The quality of the packaging and box art for these models deserves a mention. They ooze quality. Which kind of gets me back to the problems with the Panzer III - the box art depicts the running gear accurately, so they should have got it right. It's bugging me because the Panzer III is one of my favourite Panzers...

We have just uploaded the Tiger I instruction assembly to our forum (http://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=53.msg299#msg299). To view, you MUST registered as member.

The Tiger I boxes had been shipped to our distributors and will be available shortly depending on region. German players, show your prowess!

For features on our new Tiger I, you can checkout the release notes on our website: http://www.rubiconmodels.com/news.php?i=21

Here are some painted images of our Tiger I Early Production Model for the DAK, painted by our in-house painter Kent Lee!







Enjoy!

Nice! Not a colour id associate with North African Tigers, but great work.

Sooty muzzle brake though?

Wait no more! We now have a US distributor to fill up your arsenal with our tanks!
For contact info, please read the news link on our website: http://www.rubiconmodels.com/news.php?i=22

OH MY GOD yayyyy
Now who uses Golden Distribution as a distributor?!

GREAT NEWS

frpgames has them in stock at 20% off!!

http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_list&mfg=RUM

After much discussions and feedback from various forum members (on our official forum), together with our test fitting on the 3D prototype parts, we have refined our technical drawing on the T-34/85 design. This is our final version of the T-34/85 tank!

This is the early version (1943) of the T-34/85 with D5T mantlet. Note the position of the ventilator at the rear had been moved closer to the copula; plus the front pear-shaped periscope cover had been move backward towards the copula as well. In addition, the top front armour plate had been extended to make the sloping angle of the turret looks more natural.


This is the late war version (1944) of the T-34/85 with S53 mantlet. We have added a flamethrower gun to turn this tank into an OT34/85. The flamethrower is backward compatible with our T-34/76 kit; hence all parts are interchangeable (except for the hull - turret ring is larger on the T-34/85)!


C&C are most welcome! We will send the design to factory for mould making early next week!

To coincide with our website official announcement on our Q1/2015 new releases, here are more basic info for each new item:

SdKfz 251/1 Ausf. D Standard Personnel Carrier (280018)
- Contains enough parts to build a D version (1943) of the famous personnel carrier
- Choices include standard open top or with closed or half-closed canvas top (tarp) options
- Number of Parts: 43 pieces
- Number of Sprue: 2

SdKfz 251D 3-in-1 Combo (280019)
- Contains enough parts to build one of the following variants:
- SdKfz 251/7D – Assault Engineering vehicle
- SdKfz 251/8D – Ambulance
- SdKfz 251/10D – with 37mm Pak 36 anti-tank gun
- Most options are detachable and can be reverted back into a standard carrier
- Number of Parts: 64 pieces
- Number of Sprue: 3

SdKfz 251/1 Ausf. D with “Stuka Zu Fuss” Rocket Launcher (280020)
- Contains enough parts to build a Rocket Launcher variant for the Personnel Carrier
- “Stuka Zu Fuss” is detachable and can be reverted back into a standard carrier
- Number of Parts: 70 pieces
- Number of Sprue: 3

Soviet T-34/85 Medium Tank (280021)
- Contains enough parts to build either a T-34/85 or an OT-34/85 medium tank
- Choices include two turret tops to represent either a D5T (1943) or S53 (1944) turret, with hull mounted machine gun or flame thrower option
- Number of Parts: 50 pieces
- Number of Sprue: 3