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I thought it was worth mentioning to anyone that hasn't noticed that Warlord are releasing the T-34/76. It comes with 3 turret options - the 1942 turret and two versions of the 1943 turret. It appears to have the same hull and running gear as their earlier T-34/85. I found the two-piece tracks on Rubicon's T-34/76 far better than Warlord's; it's a shame Rubicon didn't include a 1943 turret with their kit. As it is, we're going to have competing models of the T-34/76. This come on the heels of Warlord releasing a Tiger I very soon after Rubicon released theirs. Coincidence?

Italeri are also releasing the M4, Cromwell, Panther Ausf A and Puma kits which are currently available under the Warlord name. They've also indicated they're releasing the Tiger I themselves, and this will be followed by a StuG III, Panzer III, M8 and M10/M36. Presumably these will also be released by Warlord (there's a video about it on their site).

Rubicon have already released a Panzer III (although it's not very good), and are about to release a StuG III as well as a T-34/85 and an SdKfz 251 Ausf D. So there's already a lot of duplication from the plastic kit manufacturers in this scale. Hopefully this won't become a trend, the way some of the 1/35 scale kit manufacturers tracked each other's releases and kept releasing improved versions of the same narrow range of (mostly German) subjects in an attempt to one-up each other.

 Tailgunner wrote:
I thought it was worth mentioning to anyone that hasn't noticed that Warlord are releasing the T-34/76. It comes with 3 turret options - the 1942 turret and two versions of the 1943 turret. It appears to have the same hull and running gear as their earlier T-34/85. I found the two-piece tracks on Rubicon's T-34/76 far better than Warlord's; it's a shame Rubicon didn't include a 1943 turret with their kit. As it is, we're going to have competing models of the T-34/76. This come on the heels of Warlord releasing a Tiger I very soon after Rubicon released theirs. Coincidence?

Italeri are also releasing the M4, Cromwell, Panther Ausf A and Puma kits which are currently available under the Warlord name. They've also indicated they're releasing the Tiger I themselves, and this will be followed by a StuG III, Panzer III, M8 and M10/M36. Presumably these will also be released by Warlord (there's a video about it on their site).

Rubicon have already released a Panzer III (although it's not very good), and are about to release a StuG III as well as a T-34/85 and an SdKfz 251 Ausf D. So there's already a lot of duplication from the plastic kit manufacturers in this scale. Hopefully this won't become a trend, the way some of the 1/35 scale kit manufacturers tracked each other's releases and kept releasing improved versions of the same narrow range of (mostly German) subjects in an attempt to one-up each other.

I honestly believe it's totally coincidence. Both Rubicon and Warlord are merely releasing the most popular items basically in order of their popularity. However, Warlord has the one-up having released their M3 Half Track, 251/1 C, and Universal Carrier and the Warlord/Italeri Puma, which Rubicon has no analogue for.

BTW, Rubicon's T-34/85 includes the T/34/76 1943 turret as a bonus

I honestly only see all this as a good thing - we are now becoming spoiled for plasic tank variety whereas one year ago there was next to nothing!

 judgedoug wrote:
I honestly only see all this as a good thing - we are now becoming spoiled for plasic tank variety whereas one year ago there was next to nothing!

It's the variety that's arguably lacking. That was my point. Let's see where this goes.

Whoever makes plastic trucks first will be rich.

 Manchu wrote:
Whoever makes plastic trucks first will be rich.

I agree totally. And that's what I'd like to see, rather than three kits each of the same tanks. An Opel Blitz or GMC CCKW would sell by the ton.

The plastic truck thing is, I think, the most visible remaining indicator of how new 28mm WW2 gaming still is.

 Manchu wrote:
The plastic truck thing is, I think, the most visible remaining indicator of how new 28mm WW2 gaming still is.

28mm WW2 minis have been around for a while though. I have some Black Tree Designs minis from several years ago. I can't remember what rule system we used.

Go on Rubicon's site and vote for what you want them to produce in kit form. They're quite receptive to feedback. I've been nagging them to do trucks instead of models that are already available, like the M3A1 halftrack (although theirs looks as though it's going to be better than Warlord's).

Now if they would just do a Glider model for airborne drops......

A little competition is a good thing for everyone.

I'm feeling very "meh" about their house kit idea though.

 Manchu wrote:
The plastic truck thing is, I think, the most visible remaining indicator of how new 28mm WW2 gaming still is.

Erm 28mm WW2 gaming has been around since at least 1970, just that plastics only came around in 2010. Besides I'd rather have some plastic jeeps by Warlord that look in scale with nice detail unlike their resin versions.

Guys I am well aware that people have been making 1/48 and 1/56 kits for a while. What I am saying is, the scale is only now coming into its own marketwise. Sheesh.

Yep... Quite agree Manchu.

Its really only now with Bolt Action that its popularity will allow the investment in things like plastic truck kits.

I did speak with Will at PSC about releasing an Opel Blitz in 15mm, 20mm and 28mm but we never got around to getting the renders finished... Maybe in time it will be something that comes up again. I shall mention it to him when I see him...

I did ask Rubicon about doing 1/56 plastic trucks about two months ago - their response was "Yes, we are looking into doing some soft skins, but still have not yet fixed on any particular vehicle! "

LOL how could it not be Opel Blitz?

Well the idea we had was to have the same rear flatbed but three different cabs covering the Blitz, Ford and Mercedes trucks.

Then gamers could mix the type of truck.

I'm sure Rubicon have taken the feedback on board. If you look at the designs for their M3A1 on their site, you can get an idea of what they might be able to do with soft-skins.

Warlord/Italeri's Stug III is up for pre-release on the Warlord site. Rubicon are also about to release a StuG III. The comparison will be interesting; Rubicon's version has more options (including a proper late version with the 'Saukopf' mantlet and remote-control machine gun). It also has their simplified tracks and running gear, which I rather like. However, it looks as though Warlord's might be a bit more detailed (it seems to have the correct non-slip pattern on the track guards). And it has a commander figure.

What's also interesting is that Warlord appear to be struggling to come up with a consistent look to their box art. They recently switched from rather muddy looking photo-shopped model photos (similar to GW's) to traditional painted artwork. The Panzer IV and T-34/76 box art looks quite good, but the Tiger I box art looks amateurish and doesn't show the vehicle depicted by the kit. However, the StuG III box art looks very slick, and appears to have been done on a computer. Meanwhile, Rubicon's box art has looked great from the start - it's all done digitally by the same artist. Warlord's 'new' look artwork for the StuG II looks strikingly similar...

Warlord's kits are also cheaper. For me, I'll be getting a Stug Zug, which will be MSRP $80 (so likely $60 from online discounters), whereas Rubicon's at $35 each (so $27.50 from online discounters).

So Warlord Stug Zug for me plus a Rubicon single one, for variety.

Rubicon kits are better.

Okay.

Not what I heard about the Panzer III.

Rubicon's Tiger was nice to put together. I have Warlord's coming in the mail to make a LW Tiger so I'll have a chance to compare them.

I have a Warlord Panzer IV which I've yet to put together, and have a Rubicon one on order. As yet I haven't decided whether I'm going to compare them and use a single source for all my German armour, or use the opportunity of two manufacturers making similar kits to get a little variety in my collection by having two slightly different versions of every vehicle (as if they'd come from different factories or something).

What times we live in where such choice is available to gamers (as longs as you want to play Germans...)

 greatescapegames wrote:
Rubicon kits are better.

Rubicon kits are very well designed, principally with the wargamer in mind. They haven't quite got their approach sorted out yet - they're still making some parts which are too fragile for gaming - but you can see how rapidly they've improved when you compare their first kit (the Panzer IV) to their latest (the Tiger I). They are prone to minor inaccuracies (the Panzer III has the most issues, although it still builds into a perfectly nice Ausf M), but they've also greatly improved on that front. I think their kits are definitely superior to Warlord's (at least two of which are essentially scaled-up PSC kits), and also better than those produced in this scale by the various resin manufacturers. Rubicon's forthcoming T-34/85, for instance, promises to be a really good model, and the 'bonus' 76mm turret that comes with it looks more accurate than the turret on the new Warlord T-34/76 (and it's not German!). Their SdKfz 251 Ausf D should be even better.

The comparison with Italeri is more difficult. Italeri's 1/56 scale kits are accurate and quite well engineered, and probably a bit more detailed than Rubicon's - as you'd expect (but don't always get) from a company as experienced as Italeri. But their kits don't go together as easily, and I personally prefer Rubicon's approach to simplified tracks/running gear over Italeri's, even if you end up with less detail on the track themselves. I'm gong to buy both manufacturers' StuG III kit and compare them.

My favorite 1/56 plastic kit so far has been Warlord's Panzer IV. I own three of them and plan on buying another Zug.

The plastic Cromwell is also a breeze. Enjoyable to paint, too.

 greatescapegames wrote:
Rubicon kits are better.

Rubicon Models are a far below par as far as subject variety goes. We need an equal number of Tanks and AFVs for all the nations that made a significant effect to the course of WW2 [Americans, Germans, Soviets, British and Japanese] along with multi-national vehicles [trucks, Jeeps etc] not just der Natzees!

They are a very new company. If things continue going well, we will probably see more stuff for countries other than Germany, USA, and USSR. Their website already has links for France, Italy, Japan, and UK.

 Manchu wrote:
They are a very new company.

Funny, because they said on Miniatures Page:

We are an old establishment with a new brand name

and even if they weren't I consider "very new" to mean half a quarterly, not nearly a year.

I'm not sure what to tell you -- all those kits are new. The whole line is new. Criticizing the line for a lack of diversity ignores those facts. Whatever company the ownership previously ran, they didn't make these kits. As to what constitutes "new" when it comes to producing plastic wargaming kits ... a year is nothing, neither in terms of WW2 vehicle kits nor plastic kits generally.

 sing your life wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
They are a very new company.

Funny, because they said on Miniatures Page:

We are an old establishment with a new brand name

and even if they weren't I consider "very new" to mean half a quarterly, not nearly a year.

Manchu beat me to it. Rubicon is an off-shoot of an established business. Their injection-moulded plastic kit business was certainly new when that comment was posted, and is still 'new' in the normally sense of the word. Of course, in the 'gimme' world of the internet, one week is old, so maybe that's where you're coming from.

Rubicon's initial focus on German armour is entirely consistent with virtually every other plastic kit manufacturer's approach. If you look at their site, they are now focusing on Allied armour, with an M5/M8, an M3/M3A1 and an (as yet unidentified) British tank in the works. I'm concerned about the increasing overlap between Rubicon and Warlord/Italeri (as evidenced by both of them putting out a StuG III at the same time); hopefully that's just coincidence.

I guess it could just be that they both came up with very similar priorities. A lot of them really are no-brainers (everyone wants Tigers). The eerie part is how the releases have been near-simultaneous of late.

They seem to be releasing their kits based on popularity/what people buy the most of/what will sell the most.

Which makes a hell of a lot of sense.

There's a few kits that don't overlap, Rubicon Panzer III and Warlord's Cromwell and Puma and Universal Carrier. But everything else released has been the most in-demand stuff.

I have a hard time seeing any argument when two years ago we had no plastic 1/56 ww2 vehicle kits and now we are getting one per month.

As someone slightly involved with a maker of plastics, German stuff sells... as do T34s.

To moan about it really belies the core fundamental that these popular designs will recoup development costs faster and allow that to go into the next design.

Without a core popular line that consistently sells over time you will never have a company stable enough to risk a Japanese Chi Ha in 28mm for example.

I think people greatly under estimate the costs involved. Each kit is a considerable investment in time and money. You cannot when new, afford to take risks. You are unlikely to shift 5000 28mm Chi Ha tanks to gamers very quickly.

As the gents above me state, its all new territory as far as 1/56th kits go.