Hi, Steve & Everyone Else!

First, let me say that I entirely agree with Anthony; TAMIYA DOES make some really nice kits, and they are virtually stress-free, to boot!

To all of you modellers who will automatically shout me down by posting the following:

"Oh Dennis, shut up already!" and, "There goes Dennis again!"

Just remember that I DIDN'T OPEN this "can of worms", yet again. YOU GUYS DID. So, here goes nothin'...

First- DON'T hold your breath for an entirely new Bergepanther, because we were informed by Kurt Laughlin, (and I truly respect his opinion), that the "Illuminati" have decreed that it will NOT be done in their, or our lifetimes...

Second- Re-pops of DRAGON's Panther A are distinctly possible, although in my opinion, DRAGON will probably release at least another half-dozen Tiger Is before they re-pop their Panther A kits.

Third- An M4 Reman "slick" isn't in the cards either, because ASUKA released their M4 Reman "Fay" a while ago. I was completely surprised by THAT one, and a few other US Shermans that ASUKA was allowed to release!

Re: M3/M3A1 Stuarts- DON'T wish for ANY all-new (not "re-pop"), kits of M3/M3A1 Stuarts either. We will be stuck with those antediluvian TAMIYA Stuarts, because TAMIYA just RE-RELEASED that God-awful "frog" of a kit only a few months ago. The ITALERI M3A1 is only a re-box of the ACADEMY M3A1.

The "Illuminati" have imposed their will upon us, yet again. Those seemingly un-researched and incorrect ACADEMY M3A1/British "Honey" kits are to be our only real options...Forever...

Ditto, any hopes for a "state-of-the-art" M3 Lee/Grant. It's just NOT gonna happen...

THANK THE LORD THAT THE NEW TMD supplies us with their excellent M3/M3A1 replacement/corrections parts, meant for the ACADEMY kits, and replacement parts for the AFV CLUB M5A1 kits. To properly execute the woeful ACADEMY Stuarts, one needs the TMD Upper & Lower Hulls, (both welded and bolted Upper & Lower Hulls are available), and the AFV CLUB M5A1 replacement Wheels & Suspension kits.

Remember, SOME of YOU GUYS broached this subject, not I...

The non-appearance of an entirely new M8 HMC, (my 2 cents), is because there are a certain number of modellers that agree with the "Illuminati", who have handed down the law that "M8s are un-necessary, because modellers shall receive only MORE Tiger Is & IIs".

I hardly think that the release of ONE more Valentine kit to, what?, possibly a mere half-dozen other Valentine kits already on the market, warrant ANY derision and/or protest from modellers, when we already have literally DOZENS of Tiger Is & IIs, Panthers, Panzer IIIs, and YES, Shermans on the Hobby Shops' shelves, and in our own collections?!?

Upset over the possibility of a SINGLE new Valentine kit?

C'mon, already...

Let us follow Dennis's logic.

It is indeed a Valentines, but just like the Nashorn and Su-76 chassis with no corresponding gun tank the new Tamiya Valentine chassis will be for an ... Archer 17 pounder self propelled gun with Egyptian markings to tie in with the anniversary of the 1956 war...

Or a Centurion mark I for Girls und Panzer.

At least Tamiya brings out what they say they are.
I think I have seen the fast attack vehicle / dune buggy thing shown by about 4 companies over the last 10 years and none have made it happen
. Meng Scud ???

I agree > Ive built Bronco and afv and werent happy with most of them ! Tamayia is so much better !! just hold off on them until their price drops !!

yeah we need some new plastic !! Id love to see a Military /security police v100 Cadillac cage (NOT a 709 ) or some mid war stuff.

Tamiya LISTEN...,,,,,,,
I want a Tamiya 1/16 German motorbike w sidecar
And a 1/16 Tamiya Kettenkrad
Both to come with some PE please

Thanks, Steve!

I personally don't have any interest in adding an SPG-version of the Valentine to my collection. I already have several different Marks of Valentines in my 1/35 collection, so there's that...

My whole point in my last post regarding this subject, was to agree with Anthony and Steve, and to point out that Bergepanthers, additional M4-slicks, (Reman or otherwise), or entirely new M3/M3A1s & M3 Lee/Grants, PLUS my own personal hopes for an all-new PLASTIC 1/35 M8 HMC, just AREN'T going to happen...

Those hoping for new kits of Panther As will just have to wait for DRAGON to re-pop their existing Panther A kits, or the possibility of TAMIYA following-on their great Panther D kit, with their own "take" on an all-new Panther A. I wouldn't necessarily say "NO" to an all-new 1/35 TAMIYA Panther A... Maybe...

A new Panther A probably early COULD be on the cards. One new turret sprue and there you have it. I don't know it's going to happen but if you look on the Tamiya etch for the D you will see an unused machine gun sight, ready made for the A cupola machine gun.

all wrong 1/16th Jeep Willys April 1944 config

Please up scale the 1/48 Ford and Kurogane!.

Regards from the south

Alvaro

Don't say that, I'm wishing they would put out a new M-18 Hellcat!

I second a new M18 or M18 Super Hellcat by Bronco or Tamiya! (I hope bronco though...)

Hi, Steven and Mikey!

1/35 M18s aren't going to happen, either... Unless some rogue model company slips one past the "Illuminati"...

Well, maybe they release their recent sherman.in a Korean war version. To go with their M 40.
Saves som conversion work.

A new tool SAS jeep would be awesome as well as the LRDG & M8 HMC. The Horch and Krupp Protze would also be cool!

I thought for sure they were going to make a new SAS version after they re-did their Jeep kit. I'm still waiting. *sigh*

I have to admit I prefer easy to assemble kits over super detailed ones, especially the older I get.

Yeah, the new Tamiya E8 kit has the hidden locating holes for the first aid box and infantry phone inside the hull. They are considering a Korean version.

A better idea would be to do one of the "slick" M4A1E8. They have already tooled the parts specific for the large-hatched A1 for their M1 kit.

O I forgot to mention in my second last post Dragon and Star Wars LOL

That and a JSDF M4A3E8.

Or how about mate the M10 new suspension with the easy 8 for a M4A3 76mm VVSS.

I will be interested to see if they put the newly tooled VVSS suspension into re-issues of all their Shermans.

It's not a tank but can I throw in a Tamiya Scammel Tank transporter to take all the British tanks and some German ones too

Michael

I've got to admit I do like Tamiiya's kits. While they lack detail they're a stress free build. I've just built their Sdkfz 251D which I've ended up using a lot of DML 251 bits on to bring it up to a reasonable degree of accuracy as there was a lot of stuff missing internally. Pretty much everything thinking about it. While Tamiya once sat at the top of the hill modelling has changed over the last 15 years from my observations in that modellers expect more from a kit so they've slid down the pile now there are so many new companies elbowing their way forwards. Naturally modellers expect accuracy and everything to be there rather than have to scratch build or dig into the spares box to finish a kit. I think the demographic's changed as well as I think it would be fair to say most of us are 35+ these days as opposed to spotty teenagers building their first Sherman. Kits are no longer pocket money prices although Tamiya are still competitive.
Tamiya does fill an important gap in the market these days as they're an in-between manufacturer. By that I mean straightforward builds that can be drastically improved with a bit of time and care rather than buying something with 600 parts and hating building it. I usually build a Tamiya kit after a DML one to relax and remind myself that I do enjoy this hobby after all.
What does annoy me is the reboxings of other peoples kits and sticking a couple of extra bits in to make it look different. I noticed that they've done that with the Italeri Field Workshop. Same kit but either two German or American figures so two new releases which aren't new afer all.

As has already been mentioned some manufacturers are getting lazy with their releases. The way DML are releasing Tigers one after another. In ten years there'll be an individual kit for every Tiger ever produced. Surely they can't release anymore? I realise that they choose things that will sell but how many Tigers does one person need? There's only 4 versions really as we know. Early,mid, late and hybrid so why a dozen plus kits? A slightly different gun mantlet doesn't justify a new release! I can understand Tamiya releasing a Valentine as Bronco tend to be a bit over engineered to my liking. I've not built any Miniart vehicles yet so can't comment on them. Nice but lots of really tiny bits you struggle to see let alone fit. It's giving the less confident or more laid back modeller who isn't too worried about 100% accuracy an option.
It would be nice if sometimes the big companies surveyed the people who buy. Some obviously pay attention to sites like this hence we've had a lot of British softskins over the last few years as there was a huge gap in the market. Masterbox and Miniart obviously picked up on the comments about DML's "pointing Germans" as they consistently release interestingly posed figures but straightforward subjects ie German infantry, US infantry.
Tamiya can really surprise us sometimes like with their Char B which got rave reviews and was completely out of the blue. There wasn't another one available. It would be nice if they could perhaps put out two vehicles a year that no-one else has done. There are hundreds of WW2 vehicles missing that they could do. They could even go down the lines of figures as when they do release sets these days they're not bad at all (apart from the tiny pinheads) and very useful. I've got 5 boxes of the "German MG team on manouver" for an infantry column. I can't think of another box of figures where I'd buy five of the same to multipose them. Same with their British infantry on patrol. They can do figures quite well when they bother. Sorry I've gone off on a tangent slightly but I think any release from Tamiya's a good thing as they are still a very relevant company who most of us cut our modelling teeth on even if they do release something someone has already done.

M-36
Jus' sayin'......

While Tamiya does not always produce the subjects we "need," at least they seldom produce garbage. How many times have we been filled with excitement over a Black Label kit, only to open the box and find a turd of a model?

With Tamiya, you will always get a decently detailed, simple, good fitting, and very expensive kit. But hey, at least the turret will fit right!

I agree, I enjoy a break from the complex builds to a good fitting Tamiya. I'm glad they are updating their molds & coming out with new.