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Although I really like the Warlord Games armor kits, the Tamiya ones here are a 1/3 the price, so I tend to field them when I put armor on the table. Unfortunately, a lot of the kits you'd expect to be able to find at 1/48 here are out of production. Which sucks. Big time.

The KV-1, which is beast, is so expensive in points that it is almost prohibitive to field in an army at 1000 points (even when you ditch the 'all around armor'). T-34s are almost impossible to find now in hobby shops at 1/48. However, I found a 1/48 Wirbelwind the other day for my Germans (well...Belgian SS) which, on paper, should total smoke any infantry unit caught in the open.

Wargaming is in its infancy here. A lot of it is due to space (no where to game), time (although an artificial construct, no one seems to have any) and the popularity of Yu-gi-oh, or Pokemon, or whatever it is that all nerds are playing in the local McDonald's at 11 pm on a Friday.

I'm hoping for the best with this collaboration between Italleri and Warlord.

(Would it kill them to throw a couple of guys in their armor kits like the 1/35 Tamiya ones?)

 Khornholio wrote:
T-34s are almost impossible to find now in hobby shops at 1/48.

Reason enough not to buy 1/48.

 Manchu wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
T-34s are almost impossible to find now in hobby shops at 1/48.

Reason enough not to buy 1/48.

Three Warlord T-34/85's with tank riders, or three T-34/76's with tank riders, are what, MSRP $80? So 60 bucks from most online discounters. 20 bucks per tank plus infantry for a fast-build and sturdy kit seems pretty great to me.

With tank riders?

 Manchu wrote:
With tank riders?

The Soviet tank platoon box sets each come with a sprue of 8 plastic infantry to model as tank riders.

That completely slipped my mind as I got all my T34/85s individually.

 Manchu wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
T-34s are almost impossible to find now in hobby shops at 1/48.

Reason enough not to buy 1/48.

Well there are 1/48 T-34's. I'm not sure how common they are in hobby shops.... but to be fair, a lot of things are hard to find in hobby shops, I end up buying a lot of my stuff online these days or getting the hobby shop to order it in specially.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Manchu wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
T-34s are almost impossible to find now in hobby shops at 1/48.

Reason enough not to buy 1/48.

Well there are 1/48 T-34's. I'm not sure how common they are in hobby shops.... but to be fair, a lot of things are hard to find in hobby shops, I end up buying a lot of my stuff online these days or getting the hobby shop to order it in specially.

Not in hobby shops in Japan, dude. Especially in Tokyo.

 Khornholio wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Manchu wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
T-34s are almost impossible to find now in hobby shops at 1/48.

Reason enough not to buy 1/48.

Well there are 1/48 T-34's. I'm not sure how common they are in hobby shops.... but to be fair, a lot of things are hard to find in hobby shops, I end up buying a lot of my stuff online these days or getting the hobby shop to order it in specially.

Not in hobby shops in Japan, dude. Especially in Tokyo.

I never said you were lying Simply that the kits do exist and their availability in hobby shops isn't necessarily an indicator of overall availability.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

I never said you were lying Simply that the kits do exist and their availability in hobby shops isn't necessarily an indicator of overall availability.

No worries, Hoss. I tend to buy stuff on-line mostly too. I don't live in Megacity 1 and only go there once every couple of months. However, the Nakano Nerd mall is a true Mecca for all nerds. They have it all, pretty much. Akihabara is OK, but is all over the place in regards to interests and tastes. Tourists tend to go to Akihabara to see the maid cafes and all that, but the denizen nerds know that Nakano is the place to go.

My 2 pennies. As an average modeller with virtually no experience of military modelling (but plenty of trains and wargaming soldiers experience), Warlord kits are very easy to build but the instructions could be better. They need more pictures from different angles to make it clearer how pieces should be affixed.

Somewhat of a necrobump, but still relevant to the topic - are the Warlord/Italieri kits as sold by Italieri the exact same models as in the Warlord-sold kits?

 RobertsMinis wrote:
My 2 pennies. As an average modeller with virtually no experience of military modelling (but plenty of trains and wargaming soldiers experience), Warlord kits are very easy to build but the instructions could be better. They need more pictures from different angles to make it clearer how pieces should be affixed.

Agreed. I have a fairly good knowledge of WW2 military vehicles, and I've been stumped a couple of times. For instance, the instructions for the Mk1 version of the Universal Carrier are hopeless.

 Azazelx wrote:
Somewhat of a necrobump, but still relevant to the topic - are the Warlord/Italieri kits as sold by Italieri the exact same models as in the Warlord-sold kits?

Yep, it's the same kit, and where I live it's cheaper under the Italeri brand than the Warlord brand. Italeri also sell single sprues of some of the Warlord plastic figures under their own brand name. Must have been part of the deal when they teamed up with Warlord to produce 1/56 scale vehicles.

Thanks, Just wanted to confirm that. I've also spotted several Italieri kits locally with the Warlord brand on them that are significantly cheaper than buying from Wargaming stores. Like 50% cheaper for some of them...

My LHS did have some of Warlord's tank kits under Italeri branding a few months ago for a £19.99 RRP [£2 more than Warlord's boxing at the time], though with the former's recent price rise I guess the prices will now be equal.

I've just bought a bunch of Rubicon armour that was on sale as well as a number of Italieri-branded "Warlord" kits for far less than "RRP".

I understand that some brands of plastic cement don't work with the Rubicon kits, but others work just fine. Like a damned fool, I didn't note down which ones work fine with both, even allowing Rubicon and Warlord/Italieri parts to be glued together. My wife is doing a hobby run for me in town on Friday, so if anyone here knows the brands to buy/avoid that would be very helpful.

Dunno... both Humbrol and Tamiya plastic cement worked on my Rubicon kits.

Never heard that some wont work before...

Yeah, it seemed odd, but it was mentioned in one of the reviews I read of the Rubicons last week. I think they wrote that Humbrol Contacta didn't work, but some other brand(s) were fine...

The Humbrol cement I have worked fine on the Rubicon Panther.

Perhaps it was their glue that was the issue...

This is a strange issue. I've found that Revell Contacta doesn't work on Rubicon's plastic; it stick the parts together, but doesn't actually melt the plastic, so you can pull them apart later. I've seen that same comment from others; in fact, it was when I read this that comment that I discovered I could 'disassemble' the Panther I'd been building. However, others say that they've had no problem using this cement. I've tried using a fresh tube and it makes no difference.

Tamiya Extra Thin liquid cement works well, but does not seem to glue Rubicon plastic to either plastic card or Warlord/Italeri plastic - again, the pieces can be pulled apart later. I find I have to use superglue, which is annoying.

I'd still recommend sticking with Tamiya Extra Thin. I haven't tried Humbrol.

Any MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) based plastic glue works on Rubicon. My Rubicon Tiger went together like a breeze. Plastruct Plastic Weld is what I use. Check their Aus distributor http://www.plastruct.com/pages/IntlDist.html


Oddly enough here in my area, the hobby stores that have the Italeri kits, the pricing is all over. I think I saw a Tiger for $20 but a Puma for $35 and a Cromwell for $42. Meanwhile the Warlord pricing is $32, $28, and $29 for those three kits.

 judgedoug wrote:
Any MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) based plastic glue works on Rubicon. My Rubicon Tiger went together like a breeze. Plastruct Plastic Weld is what I use.

That stuff will stick anything!

I wish Rubicon would clarify this themselves. Their plastic holds detail well (and paints up nicely), but isn't compatible with other manufacturers'.