As the conflicts in SW Asia wind down (sorta) I have a desire, as I'm sure many others do too, to build some dioramas depicting the actions in the area. Modern US/ex-Warsaw Pact/ Iraqi MILITARY vehicles abound (well, not really abound but they are out there) but so often you have seen "civilian" vehicles involved in these modern conflicts. Be they "technicals" or innocent bystanders they are a real and significant part of the "landscape" of modern conflict. Yet NO ONE that I am aware of makes any kits in this range!!!

Does anyone else have a desire to see some of these kits??

I'd be the first in line to buy a kit of this type...Desert Storm, Somalia, Afghanistan, OIF, the Balkans (I know not SW Asia) all have civilian vehicles as a part of the landscape!

Well, does anyone else have this same kit desire??

Jim

Jaster

At least there is a 1:35 Beetle. There is a manufacturr (i believe russian or polish) that make a 1:35 Beetle dessert version. When you buy this thing and you spray it in a blue color or in red then You have a quite good representation of a VW beetle in Civillian use

Thanks...

Well, it's a start! I have a 1/32 F-150 Snap together Monster Truck thingie, but it isn't representative of the vehicles in the conflicts and would take a LOT of work to be even semi accurate.

1/35 Beetle is a start! Now we need some of those infernal little pickups!

Jim

Jaster,

I'd love to see some 1/35 civillian vehicles as well. They be great just a scenery on a dio. I've wanted to do a city street scene or a SWAT dio with vehicles parked on the side of the road, but I haven't found much that would work. I think non-military vehicles would be welcome.

Many of the mainstream manufacturers used to make 1/32 scale vehicles in both snap-tite and glue variety. AMT, MPC (both now under AMT/Ertl), and Monogram (now Revell-Monogram) did pickup trucks, vans, sedans, cop cars, NASCARs, sports cars, tractor-trailer trucks, etc. in a scale compatible with 1/35 scale armor. British manufacturer Airfix makes many 1/32 scale cars. I have their civilian VW as well as Monty's Humber.

CMK does the WW2 variant VW in 1/35 scale, but they are reboxes of RPM kits. The old Monogram Toyota pickups and Ford Broncos would be great for scratchbuilding "techincals". Don't forget that Tamiya and Italeri do Land Rovers as well.

Don't forget the 1/32 scale kits from Japanese manufacturers like LS or Aoshima : many cars, trucks and buses. I've recently received a Hino truck and a 1989 Toyota from HLJ : they are really cool (and quite cheap ). The Isuzu "Bonnet bus" (easily found on Rainbowten or HLJ websites) also interesting for any African or Vietnamese diorama . Tamiya Mini 4WD series of pick-up and off-road cars may be worth a look too (with some scratchbuilding thrown in)...

Frenchy

Thanks All!

A trip through EBay seems in order as well as some poking about on the web.

Jim

In addition to everyones replies prior to this I found this info on Missing-lynx.com-

The website below has a series of Modern Civilian type vehicles, primarily European. The site is in German, so I can't tell anyone much more than this.

http://pixels.at/modellbau/content/intern/trade/index.htm#heer

This site has a picture of the GulfII Vacuform kit.
http://www.modellbau.pixels.at

Jim

Use Babel Fish to translate foreign Web sites in to Enlish...or whatever language they support. Under Translate a Web page just choose the language setting and paste the URL.

Here's a 1/32 scale truck and trailer on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3133989524&category=2588. Auction ends June 11th.

Thanks Rob...
I'll have to get my wife to give me a Ebay 101 class!

Jim

A question...

Is the scale differnce between 1/35 and 1/32 noticible as far as vechiles are concerned? Is it possible to make a 1/32 pickup truck look right beside a 1/35th Tank?

Just wondering... I have no Idea #:-)

It's not really noticeable unless you have two like vehicles in the different scales, like a 1/32 scale Sherman next to a 1/35 Sherman. A 1/32 pickup next to a 1/35 M1A1 shouldn't be too noticeable.

A little off the subject of civilian 1/35 kits, but what about other recent conflict vehicles that may spark interest in model builders? I have not done much research (yet), but does anyone make kits of the UAVs? I can picture a diorama with one of these destroying a peice of armor, or being maintained on a flightline in a desert country.

The recent conflicts (recent = Balkans/GW1 forward) also beg for more civilian figures, of all cultures and the "things" that make up modern society. Gas Pumps, Modern buildings...the list goes on and on!

Jim

FYI, you will have a better chance of having this question answered if you ask it in the proper forum. "Hijacking" a thread with an off topic question is bad form.