Am I right in postponing my build of the TESTORS/ITALERI M47 until the new DEF Update set comes out? You watch, I'll buy the update and complete my M47, and THEN, some other plastic kit manufacturer will release an entirely new state-of-the-art M47. It NEVER fails...

ALL I'm saying is that the kits plastic/styrene tires or even the vinyl tires shows NO FOOT-PRINT or the vehicle's load! Just a round circle! LOL Sagged tires, whether historically correct towards the correct tire construction or not are more appropriate then those mentioned above. It is always left up to the modeler how far he wants to go... ... just like individual liked tracks or the single one piece vinyl tracks. The Tamiya Goat kit doesn't even have a complete tire! Just look at the profiles on picture number 4: http://armorama.com/news/16559 Jeff

OK, so TIRES-SHMIRES!!! JUST DON'T GET ME GOING ON INDY LINKS OR DRAGON's "DS" LINKS!!! I like both, depending on the application, not to open up another can of worms... PS- I prefer my PAASCHE and BADGER SINGLE-ACTION AIRBRUSHES OVER ANY DUAL-ACTION BRUSHES, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE... THERE! I'VE SAID IT!!!!!!!!

By the 1980s and 1990s civilian tires were almost completely radial ply construction. Until the late 1960s very, very few were, bias ply construction being dominant to that point. The two tire types behave very differently. Bias ply tires have little bulging while on radials it is significant. In fact, US Combat-type tires were specifically constructed with extra-heavy sidewalls to give a run flat capability and thus had virtually no detectable bulging. On the other hand, Military Desert tires intentionally had weak sidewalls so that they would bulge when the pressure was reduced to increase ground contact area and reduce ground pressure. All tires will have flat spots though, but again, the size of it depends on the construction. One should also be wary of restored vehicles as tires made for the collector market often do not follow the same construction practices as the originals. Instead, they give the *appearance* of the originals with an internal construction that gives a lower purchase cost and better fuel economy in the typical highway use. So, the really "intelligent" man realizes that technology changes to meet design requirements as well as evolving over time, and what is right for 2,200 lb commuter car in 2014 might not be what was used on a 30,000 lb cross-country military truck in 1942. KL[/quote] Hey, guys! I remember a time when a driver got 5,000 miles out of a set of tires without any issues was looked at like he had 6 heads!!!

If I had only X amount of money to spend on aftermarket gizmos for the Goat... I think I could get a lot more bang for my buck by spending it on something like a soft top for the cab and trailer... Rather than spending limited resources to get a tire bulge that I could simulate with a little heat and a few techniques. Is it me, or are some of the aftermarket companies selling solutions to problems that aren't... I've seen lots of PE sets where the kit item is better representation than the PE part - it's like sometimes they make items just because they can ... well correction - I guess they make items because suckers like me are willing to pay for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist! What the GOAT really needs is: 1. Soft tops for cab and trailer 2. Antennae mount and radio 3. Lifting rings in the front corners of the tractor 4. Correct the mismatch of time eras... a. The present turn signals are a later version though the engine cover is the first early version. b. Solution - provide the old fashioned turn signals and/or new version of the engine cover. 5. Provide the winch lever that is so clearly missing 6. Provide side marker lights/clearance lights for the front fenders. 7. Replace the hideous Black Out Drive Light's protective bracket that is supposed to be just stamped sheet metal but in plastic scales to a 2 inch piece of cast armor! And then of course all the tiny items, but those above are the ones I'd expect should be standard in the kit. I'm afraid that some of these new kits coming out are based on vehicles that are still around today in enthusiast hands and often are modified or missing things that would have been on the vehicle as seen in the proper era. I think that's what happened with the modern turn signals and old style engine cover.

I think someone is making a soft top for the Goat but I can't remember if it's cloth or resin? Jeff

Legend Resin: Voyager PE:

There is also a couple of sets from Perfect Scale Modellbau, soft top and hard top, although the canvas cover could be better IMVHO. Is this the later engine cover we're talking about?

Hi! Not to diss what you said regarding PE and resin updates/upgrades. I really like them, but that's just my opinion. A lot depends on the particular subject at hand. A good example of PE improvements over plastic are the Anti-I.E.D. Slat-Armor kits seen on quite a few AFVs today... Many times, there are resin and PE parts that are far superior to the parts that you get in the kit. Then again, there are some resin and PE parts that defy all logic- For example, those 1/35 multi-part working PE hinges for WWII German toolboxes; What're ya gonna do with those things? Play with 'em? In my own case, once I've completed any kit, it goes behind glass, and there it stays... In my own experience, I like to check any resin or PE set by reading up on what-all the up-date/back-date and/or upgrade contains before I actually buy it. Wheel/tire upgrades are a must with me, especially when you have a bazillion wheels and tires in a kit like the 1/35 HOBBY BOSS M1070/M1000 Tank Transporter; Spending the extra bucks for a ready-made set of resin "sagged" tires is worth it to me, just in time saved... Many times, the resin and/or PE upgrades contain details that got missed, omitted, or just plain ignored by the manufacturer in the original kit. Sometimes this is because of budgetary constraints. Many modellers forget, or have absolutely NO IDEA of how much money R&D, engineering, implementation and production really costs before any given product goes on the market. On top of that, there's the new tooling, plus the overhead- wages, utilities, etc, etc... I really like the 1/48 EDUARD Pre-Painted PE Aircraft Cockpit Upgrades. They sure as hell are an improvement over any scratch-building and painting done free-hand. The same goes for the various 1/35 PE and Film Instrument Clusters, or to go a different route, the ARCHER Instruments are great, too. All this new stuff comes in very handy, especially when you have arthritic hands and old, tired eyes- These things help us older guys immeasurably. Besides, they look GREAT when completed... I also like resin upgrades because there are things that can be cast in resin that are just not possible in plastic injection molding. Granted, slide-molding has improved the quality and realism in today's plastic injection-molded kits to the nth degree, but STILL, there is room for improvement. PE Brush Guards that protect the lights on various AFVs being just one example among many... Tarps, duffel bags, rucksacks, etc, are especially difficult to replicate in plastic, even with slide-mold technology. Resin heads and figures are rendered with far more life-like features than ANY plastic figures that I've ever seen... Another glaring example of the need of After-market corrections/upgrades are AFV CLUB's 155mm "Long Tom" and 8" Howitzer kits- You only get POST- World War II Tires and Towing Dollies! To model these kits in WWII configuration, your only recourse is to buy the MASTER MODELS WWII Tires & Wheelsets with or without the Towing Dolly, and your choice of "Military Tires" or "Civilian Tires". I'm on a limited income now myself, so when I buy a kit that needs "improvements", I'll buy said improvements before I shell out the money for a new kit of a different subject. Most models are put into production with the idea that they'll be on the market for a reasonable amount of time, so I don't worry about "missing out"- There's always eBay, etc to resort to, and a lot of times, you can pick up that model for less money than the original retail price, anyway...