Scale Model And Hobby General - 1/35 with new tooling

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My latest project showed up Saturday.

A large scale Trumpeter 1/16 Panzer IV H. Has a full interior, working link-to link tracks, working suspension, tons of photo-etch, aluminum barrel, clear glass sprue and separately molded roadwheel tires requiring no masks. Initial quality impressions are that this is an excellent kit overall. Very similar to their 1/16 T-34/85, which I built a couple of years ago. As others have mentioned, some Trumpeter stuff can be spotty quality, while the newer stuff like the T-34 and this new Pz IV are consistently great kits.

Pretty funny, the box is suitcase sized with a carry handle. Parts count is somewhere around 2100. Here is is with a 1/35 Tamiya kit box for comparison, along with the 1/35 hull next to the 1/16 one-

PzIV-1.JPG PzIV-3.JPG

Inside it's broken down into 4 smaller boxes containing the fighting and engine compartments, running gear/tracks, turret and main gun, and the hull/fenders etc-

PzIV-2.JPG PzIV-4.JPG

@BlackArmada, I have that 1/350 Tamiya Tirpitz in my unbuilt kit stack, and yeah, that one is definitely showing it's age.

@Meriasek, if you decide to build that Heller ship kit, this outfit is a great source for proper scale string, cord, and fittings for model ship rigging-

https://www.bluejacketinc.com/product-category/tools-and-supplies/rigging/
 
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W'rkncacnter said:
What's everyone's backlog looking like?
I've probably got a few hundred dollars worth of unbuilt kits.
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Nothing. I have no "pile of shame".

I have a 30 Minute Missions kit I plan to make once I have the hobby time. And some minis in progress where I was waiting to glue the heads on when time was up.

My only other boxed models are waiting for things. I have some Northstar Gnolls and Cultists. I was down on these kits at first, but they're fun. I'm wanting to get some Stargrave Scavengers to sci-fi them up, but my local hobby shop doesn't have any. I'm in no rush for them either because I have no game to use them with.
 
Judge Dredd said:
I have a 30 Minute Missions kit I plan to make once I have the hobby time. And some minis in progress where I was waiting to glue the heads on when time was up.
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I've built a couple 30MM kits. The Esposito sucked. It's so flimsy and won't stand upright. The Alto was nice though. Just a solid, tacticool grunt.

The 30 Minutes Fantasy stuff though? Blown away. I built the Liber Holy Knight and was totally impressed. Really poseable, great range of motion. Detailed too. Really wanna get some of the other armor sets.
 
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My 3D printers have been running hard to prep for a TTRPG and a BloodBowl game. But I still have a few model kits on the side.

Maybe I should start posting in some of these threads as I get more finished.
 
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I recently built one of Bandai's 1/100 scale Macross kits. Small compared to the typical 1/72 scale plane, but pretty cool. Plus it's nice to have something that I can display with some of my other 1/100 robot kits. You need to do some parts swapping to transform, which I know is a downer to some people, but the end result is very sturdy thanks to that style of transformation. Really detailed though. I wound up having so much fun I bought another one.

That's probably my biggest gripe with most robot models being 1/144 and 1/100 scale. It's a scale that pretty much solely exists to give you a decent sized, appropriately detailed robot model. But there's not really a bunch of other vehicles in that same scale. Which is annoying if you've got any kind of autism (You're building plastic models. You've got some kinda 'tism) about making sure everything is to scale.
 
Need some help picking a paint.

I exclusively use GW products because 40k and lazy. But i want to paint a model car (porsche 911) and want to give it that classic metallic dark blue. GW dont do anything like that colour so seeking guidance on brands or even colours that would come close or match the goal.

Most of the brands that do it do not appear to be for models and I dont really want to make my own metallic paint but it is kinda an option. Would be going through an airbrush.
 
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Mr Clark said:
Need some help picking a paint.

I exclusively use GW products because 40k and lazy. But i want to paint a model car (porsche 911) and want to give it that classic metallic dark blue. GW dont do anything like that colour so seeking guidance on brands or even colours that would come close or match the goal.

Most of the brands that do it do not appear to be for models and I dont really want to make my own metallic paint but it is kinda an option. Would be going through an airbrush.
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My favorite brand for anything is Tamiya Color, I've seen their metallic blue in person (but do not own one) and I thought it looked pretty good.

here is their listing for the product.
 
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Here's an unusual one I recently finished. It's an old R/C 1/10 scale Tamiya Tyrrell P34. Livery is 1977 Monaco GP. Paint is all Tamiya polycarbonate shot through an Iwata Eclipse airbrush.

p34-1.jpgp34-2.jpg

And I went and caught the 1/100 scale armor bug. Some work in progress Flames of War models, ready for the paint booth.

FoW-1.JPG

Next up on build list is a Tamiya 1/12 Porsche 935. It's the 2020 re-release version with updated tooling, Cartograph decals, and two sheets of stainless photo-etch. Detail is pretty impressive for kit that was originally released in 1977.

935-1.jpg
 
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Judge Dredd said:
I'm new to model making. I never bothered for years, sticking with Warhammer off and on, in part because World War 2 aircraft have no appeal for me. Recently I've learned that models cover a wide range of subjects these days. Gunpla is an obvious one, but recently I heard of a Chinese company Border Models who, among other things, have been putting out (what I assume are unlicenced) Red Alert models.

These kits appear to be expensive with spotty availability, making me think they have to be imported from China, further adding to my "unlicenced" theory.
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I once saw one of Border's Apocalypse Tanks out in the wild. From what I recall: 1) it was a snap-fit kit with multi-colored sprues, similar to Gunpla; 2) it was expensive; and 3) it is indeed unlicensed. It also comes with LED lights and the appropriate wiring, which is neat. I don't have any experience with their snap-fit kits, but quality-wise, I do know that their World War II kits are all over the place so I'd be wary.

Verdun_Salient said:
Is Trumpeter good or crap? I see a couple of models from them that look interesting
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Others have already answered this question, but I'd also like to add that sometimes it’s a good idea to ask for recommendations based on the subject. For example, if you ask whether Trumpeter is good on its own, the likely answer you'd receive is yes. However, if you also mention that you want to build something like say, an Su-27 Flanker, you might be recommended the Zvezda kit instead, which is better than Trumpeter's.

Of course, that’s contingent on someone here having some familiarity with the subject in question, though.
 
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Built this one sometime last year.

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I was a little wary about picking it up because my experience with Border's Panzer IV Ausf. G wasn't great. The return rollers were gouged from breaking off the sprues in the box, the schurzen brackets were molded incomplete (short shot), the turret faceplate refused to fit, and the instructions wanted me to install it backwards for some reason. I ended up buying the Stuka after someone offered it to me for around $60, which was about $20 less than normal. I think it took around 2 weeks to build.

- 1/35 scale is weird for a plane, but matches a lot of ground vehicles and figures. There's some applications for dioramas, since it can be built with the engine exposed.

- The fit is very good. I used some filler along the top of the nose and fuselage, but I've read that others have been able to complete the model without any need for it. Could be a skill issue. Over time, my model developed a ghost seam on the fuselage behind the cockpit, likely due to the putty shrinking.

- The decals are nice and have a painted on look (the yellow V on the port side wing is an example). They activate very quickly though, so I recommend only a quick dip in water before placing them on a paper towel to prevent them from dissolving. The instrument panel looks like a single, large decal, but is actually made up of dozens of smaller ones to be placed manually over the knobs and dials. The only decal options are for birds flown by Hans Ulrich Rudel. This seems to be the case for most Stuka G-1/2s on the market.

- The model is fragile. I lost the pitot tube at some point between routine dusting. I also lost a small strut that controls the distance that the ailerons are allowed to move. I eventually found it, placed it on my desk to re-glue later, then lost it again.

- Border Model recently released a Stuka D-5 that uses a lot of the same parts as this kit. I think my observations are likely to apply to that as well.
 
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