I too would like to see some more British/Commonwealth softskins

As far as post war goes Alvis Stalwart All in plastic of course


How is everyone?

Hi Al,

You can add my name to the list too.
Any British trucks are welcome as well as armoured cars.
Humber, Daimler and AEC to name but a few.
I hope someone is listening out there?
You know it makes sense.

I have the booklet you mention too. Good luck with that.

Cheers
Kevin

Please add my name to the list as well Al, A bedford would be great, so many possibilities as Jim says.

Hi Guys,
Count me as well. Soft skins for all nationalities would be great. Maybe add in some driver/crew figures too.
Thanks

Hi Brad, Kevin, Johnny, Chad, John and Andy,

Thanks for taking the time to post, much appreciated. Hats off to you all gents.

I make that 18 out of 582 who took the time to post, Now do we take it the others would also like some new Brtitsh Made trucks or do they not want any developments at all!!

Jim is correct when he points out that this is one of the few sites you can run a thread like this becasue of the high volume of users. So to the 574 that looked but didn't comment, think again folks becasue you enthusiasm for the hobby is I believe noticed by the manufacturers, they may not always act on it, but it is one way to say Hey, we would really like or this or that.

18 months to 2 years ago, who thought we'd have a New Half Track, Humber AC, Staghound, Grant, Priest, Churchill, 2 DV Shermans and numerous sets of M3 sustpension plus all the rest of the excellent choices now available? These were all if only dreams. My thoughs are that being good businessmen, what people want and talk about gets noticed. Results may not be instant but the choice one the shelf has changed in a BIG way,

So I would ask you all, if you read this leave you mark and who knows what the future might bring, lots of great stuff to be sure.

Thanks again to all who posted so far.

Cheers

Al

Hi John,

Welcome along. Very good point, if you're going to producte a truck, make sure to give it at least a driver. How often do you have to hunt around for that pair of legs that might just fit the cab

Cheers

Al

Hi Guys,

Hits now at 643!! That's a fair few since I replied to John. What's up too shy to post ?

Perhaps it's too early on a Sunday morning .

If you read this thread and think some new kits are a good idea, then folks say so OK.

Al

More is better of anything done in plastic.

Tony the Mutt

Hi Tony,

Thanks for recording your your support. Appreciated.

Hmmmm 714!! My but we are slow today guys

Al

Al, with all the great builds of British vehicles you've logged on Armorama, you've got me wanting to attempt some! So, yes, let's get the manufacturers to give us more choices

I would buy British softskin models in plastic, especially an Austin ambulance and British motorcycles.

Ted

I second third and unanimously agree with all of the above. Okay, so German stuff was technically interesting and some of it was downright sexy, in a heavy metal sort of way, but having rival manufacturers bringing out Tigers, Panthers, PZ IVs in large quantities must mean that in a marketing sense the market has reached saturation. Good on Bronco for daring to bring out "esorteric" subjects such as the Humber scout cars and the A 10 cruiser tanks Finally someone has recognised that there were combatants other than Germany and the USA which had their own extensive range of vehicles.

Not only were there British vehicles there were also Canadian pattern, Indian pattern and Australian pattern derivatives of American softskins, a huge potential market almost entirely untapped by most of the major manufacturers. Bronco have dipped their toes in the water and found they can paddle Come on Dragon, Trumpeter et al GIVE US SOMETHING NEW!!!!

I've 'stickied' this thread so it shouldn't vanish like others. I still urge people to give their support rhough!

Hi Jeff,

Than sums it up, the potential is hugh, and Tasca, Dragon and Bronco and AFV Club wouldn't be building British kits if they didn't think there was a market. Welcome aboard.

James and Ted,

Support much appreciated, guys.

Jim,

Thanks, that will help a lot. Now where are you guys

Thanks folks, but we need lots more support, so get signed up!!

Al

OK,

I know a thread with no pictures, here's a couple of early war vehicles:

Reference only - thanks once again to The Imperial War Museum Collection





I mean don't you just want to build one

Al

Yes please - especially a KT

Hi David,

Thumbs up for joining the call.

Cheers

Al

Edit

991 hits so far, that's a lot of slackers lol, lol.

OK,


Time for another pic



Al

YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU!!! - Well your support

Hi Guys,

1056 hits and I have to say I'm overwhelemed by the number of positive responses, it's hard to keep up with all this encouragement!!

Anyway I was looking at the pictuire of the tourer. Can anyone positively ID it? I was thinking it might be an Austin 8hp Tourer?

Many of the small cars in militray service were impressed civilian vehicles. According to the info I have there were more 'impressed' vehicles in the early years of the war than 'official' ones .

The Austin was the most common type of civilian tourer use for liaison and communications work and based on the 1939 Model Austin Eight. There were some slight changes to the military version namely the radiator grill arrangement and the bonet louvres. I'm not sure if heavy duty tyres were fitted, it looks like they may have been and this was certainly the case with the Tilly's although often a mix was used with the front Civilian tyres being retained to avoid heavy steering.

You know all those calls you hear every now and again 'are there any 1/35 civilian cars?' well me things this one would make an excellent addition as a 2 in 1 kit with civilian and military finish. These would have been called to service in every theatre of war so would probably have wide spread modelling use and if one came with a civilian finish, then anywhere in Europe too probably .

Best as I know these would have been widely used up to the introduction of the jeep in 43/44 but no doubt many were around until the end of the war.

On a slightly heavier note here's one I would like to see



or if you prefer colour



The basic Bedford QLD provided the foundations for so many variations, real shame we don't have one in plastic. I like to see it's cousin too in plastic, the Bedford QLB used to tow the 40mm:




Al

I still want to see topics from the Pacific. Australian infantry (with the soft pointy hats), a crew for the DUKW, the LVTs, and how about a 4 ton 6x6. I see a couple of German 88 kits, but no US 90mm gun. Yes, the German stuff sells, but if the only options are high quality German kits, a lot of which represent prototypes, or one or two softskins, of course the German vehicles are going to sell. My LHS usually only has a Jeep in stock as opposed to 12-15 German AFVs. I already have the Jeep, so I haven't bought anything else.

Figures are desparately needed. When the three Tamika kits I have all have the same basic guy, standing looking through binoculars, even the spares box doesn't offer much. I bet the M8 Greyhound would sell much better with a four man crew (like it had in real life) instead of being an empty vehicle. Same goes for pretty much everything else. There are very few photos of any vehicle in action that dont have people attached. Add figures and I would buy a kit before one that doesn't have them. I know there are a lot of aftermarked companies making figures, but one or two figures for $16.00 is more than I can spend. My budget is tight. I am going to look for the most I can get with my money.

Here, here, the more the better. There's plenty of Axis vehicles about, now let's have some Allied vehicles as well !

Good show, Soft skins of all kinds we need, there is a flood of Tracked Veh's out there, I know I would buy the lot,

Ed

I know I'm stuck in the German rut, but I would definitely buy:-

1) Austin K2 ambulance (but must come with figures of John Mills, Harry Andrews & Sylvia Simms!)
2) Scammell tank transporter or wrecker
3) Bedford OY or QL
4) Morris Commercial 15cwt (gotta love the little windscreens!) - have seen pictures of one of these converted by the Germans into a Kfz15 Kubel, even SS crew too (it may have been a one-off for Cyber Hobby's benefit)!
5) AEC Matador - just have a soft spot for them.
6) Post war Thorneycroft Antar - saw the resin kit featured here & was almost tempted, but the price!!

I wouldn't be foolish enough to expect anyone to make a kit of a Norton 16H, after all the factory only made 125,000 of them for the war effort. Likewise BSA M20.

But why stop with the British - why not some French softskins, the French factories turned out thousands of trucks for the Wehrmacht after 1940 (hint hint)!

Slightly OT, but what never ceases to amaze me is the way there are sort of sub-cultures in modelling, like that fact that armour, figure & aircraft scales go their own way, & how come with the millions of people who buy Dinky & Corgi model buses, no one makes any commercials in styrene? Are people who want to collect buses & trucks incapable of making kits? I'm sure not, or is it that there are so many models available already it's just not worth moulding them? Imagine the cross fertilisation of a range of 1/35th commercials guys!!

The staff car, anhttp://www.motorbase.com/profiles/vehicle/picture.ehtml?i=269;p=2014965404 " TARGET="_blank"> Austin 8 tourer (I'm pretty sure it was an 8- the louvres on the side bonnet are vertical ) kinda makes you wanna give it a drink of water and let it roll over so's its tummy can be tickled Interesting that Hasegawa have released one of those dinky little Japanese staff cars in 1:48 to go with the Kawasaki Ki-45. I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure it was derived from either an Austin or a Morris tourer? I guess one of the reasons most modellers seem to want to build German stuff is because most of it was the opposite of cute and cuddly - even most of their staff cars looked -er- solid and uncuddly . About the cutest thing they had was the BMW Dixi, which, strangely enough was an... AUSTIN 7!!!

As for the Bedford QLD trucks - they remind me of the good old BRITISH BULLDOG...

A lot of the softskins are in resin kits which price them out of most people's pocket unless they're really into them as a vehicle. I would definitely build them in plastic, there is something about british softskins and all the variations which makes them interesting, so Al - you've got me on board mate.


Of course the biggest, glaring hole in the range (from my point of view anyway) is in the smaller cars. A lot of guys use the old Airfix Monty or similar 1/32 offerings (for example, see YoungC's great dio in that seciton of the forum) because there's just nothing out there.