Has anyone out there kept track of this?

I recall that Tamiya had a toy-like Panther in the 1950's, but I'm not sure if this pre-dated the Renwal kits of the same period. The Aurora Sherman was late 50's or early 60's, if I'm not mistaken.

Discuss amongst yourselves...

Pat
MMiR

As I recall, Revell had an box scale M4 in th '50's along with several others.

If you also accept toy soldiers most likely the German company O&M Hausser, in Ludwigsburg, with Elastolin figures. In 1904!
They first used a composite and later plastic.
Due to war restrictions the production stopped in 1943.
They also produced articles which could be seen as first dio material like trenches and log cabins.

Don't know who first but found this information an some American kit makers:

Aurora 1956 1/48 scale Patton, Panther, Stalin

Revell 1956 1/40 scale Sherman

Monogram 1957 1/35 scale Jeep and gun (Note: In 1970 they came out with 1/32 scale series starting with the Panzer IV)

Sigh, I built all the Aurora kits and the Revell kits listed but not the 1/35 monogram jeep, however I built all the Monogram 1/32 series of armor. Am I getting that old?

Humm... Someone could do an Aurora Panther in 1/48 comparison with a Tamiya 1/48 Panther for those that do not realize how far the kits have come.

In a past century I started out on the Tamiya Panther (with the open sponsons) A Testors M4 and a Hetzer. Kept all three for years in various states of disassembly. Not sure where the M4 is but the Panther tried to make a come back as an amphibian.

No clue as to the first armor kit. But I do remember getting the Aurora Panther for a birthday gift when I was in the 6th grade or 1965. I also remember a Sherman with a motor drive. Don't know what brand it was. I also remember my first kit disaster, Renwal's Ontos. 50 years later I can still remember how the gun tubes p----d me off.
Happy New Year

Tom

It wasn't a random size but 1/40, which was a compromise to bring in aircraft and armor or car modelers. (1/40 is halfway between 1/48 and 1/32.)

I'm also thinking "box scale" is a misnomer. I'll bet these kits were not sized to fit within a certain box but to fit within the platens of the injection molding machine. The sprue size is limited by the machine, so every kit run through that machine will have the same size sprues and be able to to fit in the same size box.

KL

The ever precise Wikipedia gives this....

The first plastic models were manufactured at the end of 1936 by Frog in the UK, with a range of 1/72nd scale model kits called 'Penguin'.

There is a site devoted to the Frog Penguin series...

http://www.frogpenguin.com

Bob

Model kits must have been produced in Germany by 1944. German children: Europe’s future inventors!

While courageous men are fighting on the battlefields for the victory that will crown a happy and united Europe, the German home front is already working today on plans to benefit the freed peoples. The German youth is preparing for the great tasks of reconstruction and peace. They tinker and build models, engaging in guided and creative learning. Whether it is in shop class at school, evenings at home, or while participating in the youth organizations, UHU is everywhere. A special glue developed by the German firm Kunststoff-Chemie, it is in demand as a dependable product.

That's swell, but they weren't armor kits.

KL

Checking "The Complete Works of Tamiya," it states that their first plastic kit in the "Tank and Armored Car Series" was the Panther, which was released in 1961.

Pat
MMiR

Adams (aka Snap) and Revell did some reasonable 1/40th scale kits in the 1950's. Revell's Sherman was an oddity, as it was overscale, closer to 1/35th, but also a bit confused, as it didn't know if it was a composite hull M4 or an M4A3E8, as it had elements of several different tanks.
The Adams/Snap kits reappeared in later years as Life-Like kits, and Revell still releases their 1/40th scale kits as nostalgia items.

I remember the box art on every one of those kits as if they came out yesterday! I AM that old! Great recollections from days bygone.

More info on Revell armor kits:

Their first armor kit was the Sherman in 1956

In 1957 they issued the the 155mm "Long Tom" and High Speed Tractor, the M20 Armored Car, the Jeep and Trailer, and the GI Battle Action Figures. These five models were financed by Steve Adams and the molds belonged to him. Adams then ended his association with Revell and started his own, unfortunately short lived, company.

I lived in Germany from 1962-1965 as a US Forces dependent, and have a very large collection of the Elastolin figures; Romans, Normans, Vikings etc. They came in two sizes and I collected the smaller ones which were probably 1.5" or so (30mm maybe?)

Reading thru, it seems the first armor kits came in the mid-50s either from Aurora or Revell?

Folks--
I agree the earliest plastic armor (pure tank) kits were likely the Aurora kits and the Revell Sherman (although I vaguely remember a Lindberg M46 at about the same time as the Revell/Adams kits in the late 50s. We shouldn't forget the Renwal 1/32 M41 and 155SP, but I think they came a little later. I think ITC (Ideal Toy Company) or Strombecker might have had a large scale motorized ("programmable") kit at about the same time too. And there might have been some block wood kits by Monogram or Lindberg which dated from the early 50's. What about the Roco Mini-tanks from Austria in HO scale? They were definitely plastic, came in several pieces, and were quite detailed for the time. I remember gluing them together with Revell tube glue in 1962 or '63, but I think they were available in Europe at an earlier date. I was given a Monogram Jeep and 37mm gun kit as a Christmas present in 1959 or '60 (Monogram purchased Revell, but I think the Jeep has since been re-issued under the Revell Germany label and packaged with the 2 1/2 ton "Eager Beaver" truck). I still have the original kit and box which I think has a 1957 date on it (but it's buried deep in storage, so I'll have to dig it out and check).
I remember pedaling my bike to our local A&H Drug store in 1962 just to look at all the wonderful kits on the shelves, when prices ranged from a mere 15 pennies to a max of about $3.49! There were hundreds of kits of all types in our local drug store, and I had to save my allowance for weeks to afford them! Things sure have changed! This is a great nostalgia trip for us "vintage dudes". VR, Russ