More cool Soviet-era stuff to consider. The JS-2M might prove interesting depending on its level of detail and the engineering fit. Even in this day and age the poor engineering and fit issues that plague some kits irritate me to no end. It just shouldn't happen. Just finished Tamiya's marvelous Char B bis heavy tank and the parts were so well engineered that the kit practically fell together! Everyone else should listen and strive to do as well.

Until someone jumps in to say that "we are modelers, not just builders". But I'm with you on this. With 21th century prices, why should we not to expect 21th century quality in all new releases? Now let's wait for the "just be happy with what you get" people... On the other hand: come on, is that so hard to add the AA mg ourselves? Is that really a deal breaker? Is that the only comment you have about this new kit?

Come on ! We're modelers not just assemblers who follow instructions to the letter or diagram. Isn't this what modelling is all about? If ease of assembly is the most vital property of a new kit then maybe Lego City could be something. I remember the dark ages of modelling when detailing on the parts was practically non existent and easy to find references were even more difficult to find. Yada yada yada. We should be happy with all the choices and aftermarket goodies nowadays. When I started modelling the only trucks were the two or three deuce variants by Italeri and one Opel Blitz. Today we are comparing them against drawings and bickering about the best detailing and if the cab door is too narrow or not. Around here I could choose between Italeri and Tamiya, period. If the wholesailer was being generous it could happen that a Heller kit showed up in the shelves. Yada yada yada There now we have cleared that out of the system Stash is still too big and building time is near non existent. Why should I complain about a missing DShK? There is aftermarket for that ... / Robin

I'm also a modeler from the "dark-ages" Robin, and I completely understand what you are referring to. At this time, I'm 100% sure that it is useless to keep debating about the current status of our hobby, the current offerings' relation between price and quality, each modeler/builder preferences, and so on... Even after a many hours face to face debate it is almost impossible to reach some kind of consensus, since we all have our own point of view, our own modeling-budget, our own modeling skills, our own preferences, and so on. Are rivet-counters wrong? Are they right? That's a matter of points of view.. Are the OOB builders wrong or right? The same applies... What leads us to the lately very much used sentence:"just build what you like, and be happy with it"

The missing gear on this kit isn't a deal breaker for me, just find it odd the omission. That said, these aren't exactly cheap kits either, so the "just get aftermarket" logic isn't something I totally agree with either. I do still plan on buying the kit when it's released, and I already have the the missing IR bins and such in my spares, but seriously, I have yet to see any reference materials of these not equipped with the bins so it's a really odd and annoying omission Just my two cents

OK, so, the rule is, a company is not allowed to announce any new kits until all previously announced kits have been released? Are they allowed to cancel development of a kit, or must they shut their doors if they announce something and decide not to release it? I'm just wondering what a model company has to do to avoid irrelevant comments about them being injected into every thread that mentions their name. KL

There are times when I just want to assemble something for fun, there's nothing wrong with that. Then there are others like my Bradley that I go hog-wild with PE and scratch-built stuff. There is room in the hobby for both.

Bill, you are so WRONG it HURTS! You must CHOOSE your path and all others must agree with you and follow or else they must be mocked! (Sorry, not sure where that came from. All out of my system now.) (BTW, that was all sarcasm.)