Does anyone out there know what the story is about the new Heller Sherman and Panther in 1/35 is, are they just reboxes or what?

According to the PMMS site, these are re-boxings of Italeri kits. However, from the illustrations there, the Sherman could be a combination of their A1 (turret) and A3 (hull).

http://pmms.webace.com.au/newkitnews/newf.htm

I recently bought a Heller Kubelwagen and inside was the original Italeri Kubelwagen complete with Rommel officer figure.

I too, have heard that the Heller Sherman is the kit that Italeri originally sold as the M4A2 "Jumbo" (incorrect name). This kit used the old M4A1 kit's turret and a new M4A3 hull that was also issued with their M36B1 Jackson. It has since appeared with the Sherman Calliope and now with the USMC M4.

I guess that makes it a straight rebox of the M4A2 Jumbo with the proper name applied.

Thanks for the info, had a feeling that they would be Italeri kits.

Re. Heller,just a couple of comments. While i was in Germany recently, I had a chance to look thru the current Heller catalog in a model store. Everything was the same as it was years ago and no indications at all that they are doing anything new. I get the feeling that Heller is owned by Humbrol (who seem to also control Airfix). In other words no new kits at all and only re-issues. As some of the Heller stuff is around 30 years old (or even older) it makes me wonder how useful they are as a manufacturer since most of their stuff was pretty awful the first time around.. At least companies like Italeri are bringing out new mouldings now and again.....Jim

panzerwaffe

So it is a 76MM M4A3?

Correct, an M4A3 76mm.

Hi everyone...I know most new Heller kits are re-releases of other kits but they do have some cool little French armor kits like the Hotchkiss and the Soumua that aren't found anywhere else. The old heller diorama kits are now handled by a comany called SK kits from Poland. I had the desert diorama scene "Koufra" when I was younger and left it in Germany, where my ex-wife gave all of my model kits to one of my "good" friends. I found a company ,"Red Star Models", in Pittsburgh that handles all of the eastern kits and lo and behold I got the kit for about $17.00 US. SK models has every figure kit Heller ever put out. They aren't the best kits but fill a very important "nostalgic" void in my modelling life. Bodeen