Hey all, Now 1/48 is really blooming in the current modelling market, with Afv expanding their range, Tamiya just keep pumping them out, i mean, how about that japanese Dozer.
The AM is satisfactory, with RB, Armorscale, Black Dog ( to name a few) supplying fantastic AM parts and accesories.

so, Whats your fave 1/48 kit, ( you dont need to have made or even owned it) it can be Resin ( must be a full kit though) and maybe let me know what you ideal kit/am combination could be. maybe put why you like 1/48, what you dont like about it, its limitations, its bonuses, remeber opinions are subjecive.

Im just curious as to others opinion on the scale e.t.c.

LPJ out.

I love 1/48 scale even though I haven't built any armor kits in this scale yet. I have dry fit several of the Hobbyboss and Tamiya kits and they are overall wonderful. They are just about the perfect size to me as they are big enough to detail and handle, but not so big that they take up a ton of space. Any of the kits I've seen in this scale look really good too.

The biggest thing that I don't like about this scale is that their isn't much out there yet, especially AM. However what IS out there is normally very good with regards to the AM stuff. For some reason Tamiya and Hobbyboss aren't getting things right the way people believe they should with regards to the Shermans, but Tank Workshop has been working hard to rectify these shortcomings so that's not too much of an issue anymore.

I would like to see more Friul sets in 1/48, but then again maybe I don't...

Hands down thus far, my favorite kit in 1/48 armor has to be the Tamiya Hetzer. It looks to be a quick build, and the shape is just so perfectly visually appealing in this scale. I have heard that the Hobbyboss T-34 series are a scale down of their 1/16 T-34 line, so that's something to consider as they would have full interiors in them which is pretty impressive for any scale.

All in all 1/48 is A+ in my opinion, and looks to keep getting better.

I have AFV clubs late Tiger1 in the stash not built yet but it looks a beauty moulded on Zim as well.My next purchase will be the hobby boss T34's, full interior for under nine pound cant be bad.

Personally, I prefer the Skybow/AFV Club early Tiger I to the late Tiger I. While both are very nice kits, I think the early seems more "right" than the late. But you can't lose with either one.

My favorite is the Tamiya M998 HMMWV, such an outstanding little kit with lots of details in a small package. It includes both early and later styles of rear view mirrors, a couple of seated figures and even the convoy whoopie light.

Unlike the 1/35 scale 2-door HMMWVs by Italeri and Academy, it includes just about everything you'd need to make the kit into a proper 2-door truck with or without rear canvas troop cover. Even the troop cover has an optional closed (lowered) or open (rolled up) rear flap.

The only thing I see the kit as needing is the omni-present safety strap that goes along the back of the troop side rails. It would be visible if the rear flap was rolled up or if the truck was modeled in the "pickup truck" mode with no rear canvas installed. It would not be too difficult to add yourself though.

A couple of nitpicks is the missing B pillar. It is molded as part of the roof and would need to be scratched if you made the kit with no canvas on top. The other is the original style tires and wheels. They were in use well into the late 90s but the newer style wheels/tires were also in use as early as 1992. Hauler(?) makes a set of resin new style tires/wheels. Although if the kit came with late style wheels, Cold War modelers would complain about not having the original style tires.

Hey check this one out,if it's anything like the 1/35 version,it will be great.But I do like that AFV Club Late Tiger w/zimm.The molded on zimm is very good,and it comes with the grills,and the tools are left off for easy painting.





http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=32569

thats my current 48th wip, the aforementioned sky/afv late tiger. such a simple but beautiful kit.

Jeremy you are correct, the hobbyboss kits have full interiors, some people have fit problems, in the 2 i built, i didnt.

Sabot, i have been looking at hummers for a while, are there any uparmoured conversions around for the tamiya kit?
Anthony, that sure does look nice, is it released yet?

I like all of the Tamiya Shermans and the M10. The nit-pickers* will say they are not perfect, but they go together well, have decent detail, and some offer options and extras.


*("Ahhh, yes. But as it stands, you can clearly see that the framistat is discombobulated exactly .011345th degree of a centimilliliter to the left side of the circumference on the horizontal vertifice!")

My fave 1/48 kit is the AFV Club Sd.Kfz,251/1 because it is decent, accurat, detailed and more cheap that Tamiya kits.

José César

I must say I like the challenge of doing conversions the most. The drawback in 1/48 to me right now is the lack of good detailed figure sets in plastic. The ICM plastic figures are limited but great. The resin figures are excellent but I feel limited in their poseability often times. My favorite OOTB build to date must be the Hobby Boss T-34/43' due to the subject and great details all in one package. although some complain of fit issues with these, so did the the real-life versions have such issues. haha.

You guys have me just about ready to run back over to my LHS and pick up one or two of those T-34s

Good idea, as Hobby Boss does not make 1/48 anymore




There is tons of AM out there from Hauler, Eduard, WWII Production (resin tracks), Voyager, CMK, Fighting48th, Gaso.line, Legend, DToys, Faxon conversions, Kengi Models, Propaganda Kompany, Squad48/AOW, Archer Transfers, Bison, MR models, Aber, Battalion bits, Evolution..... Try looking for stuff at Track48, Greatmodels, Luckymodel, quarter-kit, e-bay.

If you build it, they will come

first photo's ive seen of those T34's i am definatley going to buy them.

My favorite is the Tamiya M26 since its the only one I have and its on the bench and turning into a nice little build. I was thinking of dabbling in the scale for size and price reasons. But now the prices are climbing rapidly. All kit prices have jumped but its put me off new kits for a while. 1/48 is where Trumpeter was 5 years ago in 135. And 1/72 is pushing $15 to $20. If a fully employed family man can't afford thse kits how are young folks going to get in the hobby. Sorry felt a rant starting must shut up now

The HB T-34 is my favourite too: The pictures show why: I think we may never get again a kit of this caliber: The detail and accuracy are that insane...

Gaston

gaston, they are fantastic, i have built about 5, as well as about the same number of hobbyboss kv-1's.
really well made kits, i cant stress the afv/skybow kitt enough though. it is the best parts of tamiya and dragon mixed.

I like the Tamiya PzKpfw. III Ausf. L with some of the HobbyBoss KV's running a close second. The PzKpfw III is a total slammer kit and really only needs some PE grills and a piece to add to the driver's add on armor.

Chris "toadman" Hughes
Toadman's Tank Pictures

first off, I love 1:48 kits. they're cheaper than 1:35, yet are not pain to build (to me) as 1:72. plus, they offer decent details and you can get nice AM stuff for them - with more coming every day.

so far, my favorite kit is the m-10 by tamiya. i had a blast building it.

Ha, I'll give you a list man.
1. Tamiya Hetzer- Have to agree with vonHengest on that one.
2. Tamiya Pershing- Planning to build one
3. Tamiya Cromwell- Already made a good one so far.
4. Gasoline M1A2 Abrams- MODERN ARMOR
5. Hobby Boss Full Interior T34
6. Tamiya Su-122
7. Tamiya Tiger I early

Iron Division is back in the game now so if something is missing in the AM world as far as Conversions or Accessories, just drop me a line!

Awesome Bob, will do!

I agree with you the Tamiya Tiger 1 beats out the AFV Club/Skybow because of the far better tracks and especially the turret shape and the mantlet size, which looks odd on the AFV club: I made a comparison, and the Tamiya turret wins in plan view with the correct slight oval shape that is several inches narrower, and the presence of a real "chin" cut out which the AFV club's wrongly oversized mantlet does not allow...

Be wary of the accuracy of the Tamiya Hetzer: I compared it to the Eduard 1:35th scale which was measured from several available real Hetzers (Eduard is near where they were built), and while the Eduard Hetzer looks absolutely dead-on, the Tamiya is all over the place...:

The glacis length of the Tamiya is off by THREE inches in length, while all the other dimensions are off by about two inches... The Tamiya gun is also wrong including the muzzle cylinder, and just comparing the two kits is generally utterly devastating to the Tamiya for the overall exterior appearance.....

I will post a full dimensional comparative later, with photos, but first I want to post some builds...

The worst 1/48th kits available today are all Tamiyas in my opinion:

-GMG truck (bonnet is weirdly curved: Totally unfixable)
-King Tiger (Production Henshel turret is horrible, but the Porshe turret is on the other hand excellent!)
-Jagdpanther (weird roof slope, gun too short and other issues: Unfixable)
-Sherman (transmission rivet line is far too low (measured at 3 inches too low on actual Sherman): Unfixable, but concealable with stowage on tanks without a hull Mg like the Firefly)
-Many small errors on the Panther: Will make a side-by-side correction of the multiple issues from actual Panther measurements I made, the sum of which have a huge overall visual impact, but at least they are correctable...
-Hetzer: One of the very worst...
-KV-1: Too steep glacis, wrong gun length, driver's visor far too shallow: With the superlative Hobby Boss ranged against it, it is a complete loser except for the tracks which are beautiful and well worth putting on the Hobby Boss kit (whose tracks are OK but not as good as Tamiya's)...

-Tamiya's SdKfz 251 is truly terrible compared to AFV Club's excellent effort... This time AFV's rubber tracks win hands-down, plus a million other issues...

Most Tamiya are not impressive accuracy-wise, but the ones that are really good are hard to beat:

-The new Jagdtiger: Tracks are too thin though, but Fruilmodel offers replacements...

Other superlative Tamiya 1:48th vehicle kits:

-Panzer III
-Crusader
-Pershing
-Marder
-Steyr 1500
-Panzer II(?)

Much of Tamiya's output is not the best they could do (a bit toy-like in fact), until recently that is, since the last few kits have all been superb: No metal hulls, superior in every way: Marder III, Jagdtiger, Panzer II, and including the Crusader from 3 years ago (still with a metal hull)...

They have learned their lesson that 1:48th is not for beginners... I think the success of the ML's Marder group build may have had a major impact on their perception, which explains this change of approach...

But the release rate is at a glacial pace now...

Gaston

I really like 1/48th and have generally liked every one that I've built so far, which are all Tamiya, but I'm very interested in the HB T-34 and the AFV 251 after seeing this thread and others.

I like this scale because there is enough detail to satisfy me without too many fiddly bits, they build up quickly and don't take up much room. Most of them also fit back into their boxes nicely if you leave the turret off, and/or don't attach the upper and lower hulls. This is a real plus for me as I don't have any opportunity to display them.

Happy Modelling, -zon

I'm working on Tamiya's Marder III now. It's a beautiful kit. It seems to be their 1/35 kit scaled down almost (working on it also). I like it better then their 1/35 kit because of the tracks. They are links and length compared to the rubber band tracks in 1/35 scale. It also has a plastic hull compared to the metal bottoms on most of their kits in this scale. Wish they would have included some half shells for the ammo racks though, or at least made some brass shells like it's big brother.

One thing that is really missing is figures to go with the armor in this scale. It seems like all the German tankers are dressed like they are going on parade. In most photos they are dressed casual (comfortable) for combat. You don't see many medals, but most figures they are covered with them and collars are buttoned up.