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Looking for some WW2 tanks to convert to Leman Russes. 1/35 scale just looks too big....and I've heard 1/56 scale is too small. Hopefully someone has pics of bolt action tanks next to a Leman Russ for comparison? Is 1/48 any better?

You'd have more luck with 1:48 scale kits. Here's a 40k-scaled mini next to some Tamiya 1:48 tanks:

Games Workshop vehicles aren't scaled properly (none of their stuff is). 1/35th is more in line with their vehicle size, whilst anything smaller looks too small typically. 1/56 is probably the more realistic 28mm scale, with 1/48th being a bit chunkier. Ah, but anyway, here's a thread on the subject. Those look all right, but getting a hold of anything in 1/48th which isn't WWII Germans is a bitch. You can find stuff in resin, but it can be expensive (then again you buy stuff from GW). I would recommend Kitech if you're looking for plastic kits if Tamiya or Revell don't do what you're looking for (ie again anything which isn't WWII Germans, sorry the 1/48th scale market is saturated with them, 1/35th is where you go if you want anything else). There's a pinned thread on this forum which details Cold War vehicles, though if you trawl the other thread you'll probably find more links. Kid's toys and die casts usually fit in around that scale so that may be where to look if you can't find an actual kit.


1/35th scale to the left of the Landraider, 1/48th to the right. Based on this image I'd say that 1/35th looks better actually. Given that GW models are rather chunky (having the proportions of a 32mm model on a 28mm one) the look too big compared to the 1/48th tanks (vehicles which are pretty big in real life). So if you're not using Forgeworld scale guardsmen the 1/35th kits probably would fit in better, but I suppose there's size limits in the game so you'd have to stick with the titchy 1/48th ones (those Space Marine tanks look too small to carry the models they're supposed to transport).



OT that 1/48th scale Merkava makes me want to put together an IDF force. Pity Empress doesn't make any modern ones and the Cold War ones are out of production. ...That and I'd totally have to turn one into a Namer.

That StuG needs more rust BrookM for shame!

And I found this site http://www.blitzkriegminiatures.com/html%20pages/1-56%20scale%20tanks/American%20tanks%20final%2056.html
So maybe this is what I'm looking for?

Thanks for the pics and replies!

I use Tamiya's 1:35th PanzerII's for my Leman Russ dakka variants.

I am trying to get hold of a few Bolt Action Tanks though, so ill post when I have them.

Well which particular tanks are you looking for? You can pick up a HobbyBoss Sherman or T-34 for £10 here, or similar Tamiya kit for £20 (the detail level's slightly better, but that's not an issue if its for wargaming, the £10 kit's still miles better than what GW include on their's). So there's a range of 1/48th plastic kits available, but if its something less common it might not be so easy to track down. Yes Bolt Action do a range of resin models, though personally I prefer plastic kits. For one they tend to be cheaper for what you get, its just an issue of there not being so much available (like I said its German armour galore for some reason).

Again the same forum has a board on WWII which has a list of manufacturers for that period. WWII's the easiest period to find model kits for, so even a quick trawl of google for a particular tank in 1/48 should turn up something (seriously there must be a least a couple of dozen Sherman models out there at least, but try and find a 1/48th Ural Truck or GAZ Tigr for reasonable prices and you're screwed). Like I said, don't fork out the cash for something from that period in this scale, there's enough kits in the £10-£20 area suitable for wargaming that you should be covered (and the second hand market's saturated. I can go to the flea market and see racks of old die cast armoured cars and the like going for a few quid each).

Oh right, and I wouldn't say Warlord Game's Bolt Action range is suitable. They're more 1/56th scale. Like I've said they may be more realistically sized, but compared to Games Workshop models you'd be better off using one of their tanks as Sentinel counts as than Leman Russes as they're titchy in comparison (and cost just as much as the 1/48th plastic kits).



If you're just wanting a Sherman I'd recommend one of the Hobbyboss kits (I think they do two variants). Those things are so cheap in comparison to their competitors I've been considering buying a Sherman and turning it into a modified German one just for the sake of it. =P

I use a 1:35 scale WW1 male tank as a Land Raider prototype and a Char B1 bis a a land raider

1/35 is too big for 40K.

Not quite true. I have hunted down some M3 Lee/Grant tanks that are almost spot on for Leman Russ dimensions. They are not quite as wide, but it was as close as I was going to get with a kit that looked realistic and off the shelf.

General Hobbs wrote:
1/35 is too big for 40K.

Depends on the tanks, modern tanks are big but WW1 and Early WW2 tanks were quite small
The char B1 bis is close to a leman russ

There are loads of opinions on ts, and it depends on the tank itself, some look oversized in 1/35, others look great, eg the German sdkfz250 as an alternate halftrack chimera! That's my opinion having tried a few!

Here's a pic of my panther next to a russ.

As you can see, 1/56 scale tanks are way too small for 40K.
A grot could just squeeze into the hatch on the Panther pictured above.

Unless.....you started playing 40K in a smaller scale, heresy I know, but......

On a related note, I bought a tamiya 1/35 panzer iv h to use its turret on a modified baneblade I was working on. The chassis was slightly longer than a russ and the cupolas were the same size. The turret itself was smaller than the banebade's. Overall, with a 40k-ifying of the weapons, the tamiya 1/35 panzer iv h would make a suitable replacement/proxy russ. But with the cost of the kit being 35-40$, its not a cheap choice.

Very cheap 1/48 modern and ww2 can be had:

http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?MacroType=MilVeh&Scale=48&searchpage=mil&Dis=2&qid=9F9B5VSFJVGP&GenreCode=mil&DisplayMode=images&inStock=1&set=1&Sort=price+asc

 judgedoug wrote:
Very cheap 1/48 modern and ww2 can be had:

http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?MacroType=MilVeh&Scale=48&searchpage=mil&Dis=2&qid=9F9B5VSFJVGP&GenreCode=mil&DisplayMode=images&inStock=1&set=1&Sort=price+asc

Uh does that site want to check its prices again, that's listing a Merkava tanke for £5... Summary, what did you just do to my walled judgedoug?

Well unless its actually in Yuan , in which case its £85.

 Wyrmalla wrote:

 judgedoug wrote:
Very cheap 1/48 modern and ww2 can be had:

http://www.hlj.com/scripts/hljlist?MacroType=MilVeh&Scale=48&searchpage=mil&Dis=2&qid=9F9B5VSFJVGP&GenreCode=mil&DisplayMode=images&inStock=1&set=1&Sort=price+asc

Uh does that site want to check its prices again, that's listing a Merkava tanke for £5... Summary, what did you just do to my walled judgedoug?

Well unless its actually in Yuan , in which case its £85.

Its Hobby Link Japan not Hobby Link China, prices are in Yen not Yuan.

How do you think I outfitted my whole IG with APCs? Not at the prices GW charges, not by a longshot.

(I got a deal for 8 of them for 40$)

This might be helpful:
https://azazelx.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/mini-review-academy-148-challenger-kit/

Remember, the Russ has really ...odd proportions. Very un-tank-like. A Lee/Grant in 1/35 might cover you there, though.

Also, eBay has a few armour kits in 1/48. That's where I got mine from - the various Korean sellers selling kits for US$15 a pop. Not a huge variety, but might be enough to cover what you're looking for.