I will say the one thing that i personally like about modeling axis armor is that you have multiple variations of camoflauge to paint. It kind of makes for more creativity. With allied armor you don’t really see that, it’s more of olive drab and that’s it. Sorry just a little side rant. I noticed the comment on WW1 subjects, I’d like to say that this could maybe be attributed to the fact that video games such as Battlefied 1 have came out and now it’s peaked the interest of kids to model that subject. I will say It seems like video games are beginning to influence modeling, looking at all the paper panzers , i feel like this is attributed to games like war thunder and world of tanks. But with these games you also get to play as the unknown allied tanks and even a random Chinese tank or two as well. I think if anything there doesn’t seem to be a lot of allied armor built. Like i stated above there’s all these camo patterns but something else to note is the most popular tank to build for the allies is a Sherman. Now there’s multiple variations of the Sherman which anyone who studies and models the subject would have more then that. But the axis had everything from the panzer I to the King Tiger. I know there were other allied tanks such as Cromwell and Churchill but i just don’t see those subjects peeking the interest of allied model builders but i could be wrong. I think another thing that the axis builders got going for them is armored trains. Like come on growing up i loved tanks and trains and now i can combine that into a military train. There never really were any allied armored trains, there were Russian and polish ones but that’s another subject.

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I will say the one thing that i personally like about modeling axis armor is that you have multiple variations of camoflauge to paint. It kind of makes for more creativity. With allied armor you don’t really see that, it’s more of olive drab and that’s it. Sorry just a little side rant. I noticed the comment on WW1 subjects, I’d like to say that this could maybe be attributed to the fact that video games such as Battlefied 1 have came out and now it’s peaked the interest of kids to model that subject. I will say It seems like video games are beginning to influence modeling, looking at all the paper panzers , i feel like this is attributed to games like war thunder and world of tanks. But with these games you also get to play as the unknown allied tanks and even a random Chinese tank or two as well. I think if anything there doesn’t seem to be a lot of allied armor built. Like i stated above there’s all these camo patterns but something else to note is the most popular tank to build for the allies is a Sherman. Now there’s multiple variations of the Sherman which anyone who studies and models the subject would have more then that. But the axis had everything from the panzer I to the King Tiger. I know there were other allied tanks such as Cromwell and Churchill but i just don’t see those subjects peeking the interest of allied model builders but i could be wrong. I think another thing that the axis builders got going for them is armored trains. Like come on growing up i loved tanks and trains and now i can combine that into a military train. There never really were any allied armored trains, there were Russian and polish ones but that’s another subject.

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Here we go, folks- We're getting way from the subject at hand again...

First there is the erroneous belief that the US Army and the US Marine Corps had nothing but the Sherman. Wrooong...

There were the M3/M3A1-series Light Tanks, the M5/M5A1-series Light Tanks, with their sub-types, such as the M8 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage. Next step, the M3/M3A1-series Medium Tanks and their sub-types, such as the M7 105mm Howitzer Carriage and the M31 ARV, and initially the M10-series Tank Destroyers, which as time passed, made more use of M4-based components. These of course, morphed into the M36 Jackson TD-types. Speaking of TDs, NO mention was made of the early M7 Dodge "Beep" TD, which failed miserably, or of the M18, which was much more successfully employed. M8 and M20 Armored Cars or our M2/M3 Half-Tracks and their derivatives..? Not a single "peep"...

As mentioned previously, there were the Shermans. There was NO MENTION MADE that the M4/M4A1 went on to be continuously developed throughout the United States' involvement during the war. Ultimately, the US Sherman-series Tanks culminated in the M4A3E8 Medium-series Tanks, which made use of a different suspension altogether, i.e, the HVSS-type. ALL models of the Sherman went through various stages in their development- That meant there were literally DOZENS of DIFFERENT Sherman Tanks in their own right, the various British permutations notwithstanding. There were US Early, Mid, and Late Production-types, EACH type having their various and defining differences. These also had different sub-types, such as the -E2 "Jumbo", with either the 75mm or the 76mm Main Guns. The M40 was developed, using M4A3E8 HVSS-type Suspension. Then, there were the ARV-type US Shermans, i.e, the M32B1 and the M32B3.

Late in the war, the M24 Chaffee was meant to replace the M5/M5a1-type Light Tanks, but the earlier Light Tanks STILL soldiered on past VE and VJ-days. NO MENTION was made of the T26/M26 Pershing. Never mind ALL of the different AMERICAN Soft-skins which I AM NOT GOING TO GO INTO, because there is such a HUGE VARIETY to choose from.

You German fans can't see past your Panzers and refuse to admit that Great Britain, France, the then-Soviet Union, Canada, Australia, Italy, Sweden, then-Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Japan and finally, the United States, ALL produced a veritable MYRIAD of of Tanks, AFVs and Soft-skins throughout World War Two. And guess what? These vehicles were not all painted in TAMIYA XF-62... (sigh)

Now, I'm going to go into a diatribe over the "sameness" of Olive Drab...

There is no such thing as a single shade of Olive Drab, unless the person looking at WWII Olive Drab vehicles is color-blind. "OLIVE DRAB", according to US Ordnance specs, was supposed to be a mixture of "Yellow Ochre" with "Carbon Black" added in order to match "PULLMAN GREEN", which was a "Railroad Passenger Car Color". THIS was anything but a "uniform formula", as different paint manufacturers had different conceptions of what "Olive Drab" was supposed to be. Thus, there was no REAL conformity to "specs", and US Ordnance gave the various paint manufacturers a lot of leeway in this respect...

Given the lousy weathering resistance of ALL paints manufactured since the beginning of time and on into the 21st Century, one can come up with literally HUNDREDS of variations of "Olive Drab", and still be well within the range of "correctness", which is merely an illusion, anyway. Ask ANY ophthalmologist, and they will tell you that the human eye will perceive "color" differently, i.e, the perceptions of "color" vary from person to person...

The negative reference to Olive Drab is erroneous at the very least. There is NO SUCH THING as one shade of Olive Drab and there never was, except in the Mil. Specs. Just look at wartime color photos of individual US vehicles parked side by side. There was no such thing as ONE shade of OD, period. Take it a step further, and fast-forward to today. You'll see ALL kinds of different shades of our "Desert Sand" color and the different variations of colors in the NATO "Tri-color" camouflage as seen on our vehicles today. Park two M1 Abrams tanks next to each other, and you'll see that the colors will be different, even if the two tanks were manufactured within minutes of each other...

Take your TAMIYA XF-62 Olive Drab and lighten it or darken it, or add a little bit of "Panzer Yellow", or a bit of Brown or Green. One can do the same thing with AK Interactive, LIFE COLOR, HUMBROL, VALLEJO, TESTORS Model Master II Enamels and/or Acrylics and any other paint on the face of Planet Earth. And I'm just talking about Olive Drab...

Then you have the "African Campaign" variations of OD, exposed to the harsh effects of intense sunlight. On top of those variations of OD were the "Desert camo" patterns of wavy sprayed, brushed, blotched, or smeared "Sand"-colored paint over the varying shades of OD which were seen and photographed thousands of times. MUD was applied/smeared over OD, JUST LIKE THE GERMANS DID on THEIR vehicles as "improvised camouflage"...

Move into the Mediterranean Theatre, and you have more or less the same thing, BUT! Your "Dust & Mud" will be different colors from what was found in Africa, specifically in Libya and Morocco...

Now take a trip up into Northwestern Europe, i.e France, Holland, Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine and finally, Germany, and you'll AGAIN have the different shades of OD alongside of different shades of mud, dirt and dust. Different shades of Sand, Brown and relatively new patterns of Black which faded into Dark Gray, were either spray-painted or slopped on with anything that was handy over the OD as camouflage. Foliage and camo nets were also employed. On top of that, there were the various "Whitewash camos", which were applied by INDIVIDUAL Vehicle and Tank Crews during the Winter of 1944-'45- These were AS VARIED IN NATURE as ANY WWII German camo could EVER BE...

In the Pacific Theater, you had the interesting effects of weather and salt water on the "basic" OD, which really wasn't "basic" to begin with. PLUS there were the rather "wild" color schemes that the US Army and USMC employed in their various and different campaigns. Stop again, and check out the US NAVY's different shades of Gray for THEIR wheeled and tracked Amphibious Vehicles during WWII...

Just for giggles, pick up a copy of Squadron/Signal Publications' "U.S. ARMOR Camouflage and Markings World War II" by Jim Mesko. This book is an eye-opener if you are of that narrow-minded opinion that US equipment was only painted in TAMIYA XF-62. NOTHING could be further from the truth...

WWII US/Allied equipment is "boring"..? MY A**!!!

I'm actually going to say that Axis armor has peaked.

If you look at it from sheer numbers, more kits are out of more subjects so the number of German kits as a percentage of the total available kits has decreased

And please don't torture me by saying "axis" as opposed to plain old German post 1943 three color camouflage.

If Axis where's the rush of all new Italian kits? We have a trickle of Hungarian and Japanese out of Asia. There's also no horde of dark grey German vehicles. New Pzkpfw IV from Border and Zvezda and Academy but they're all post 1943 dark yellow variants.

No all new Pzkpfw I, II or III. Just a lonely Zvezda Pzkpfw IV E.

So it's much more accurate to say "has three color camouflage German cats peaked?", rather than tease us unmercifully with the chance of seeing panzer grey let alone Slovak three color, Romanian, Italian or Hungarian green or Japanese multi color.

(Don't accuse me being an Allied only guy, I built six German kitties over the past two years or so)

"Fifty Shades of OD"
maybe a theme for a model collection ....

Hi Dennis,
It was partly a joke and partly serious
/ Robin

One paint colour I have not had in my box for many a year is Olive Drab and I plan to stay that way.

ALL German MILITARY vehicles came in Dark Gray from their respective factories until February, 1943.

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ALL German MILITARY vehicles came in Dark Gray from their respective factories until February, 1943.

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Actually, by February 1943 there were about 150 Tigers in existence and most of them were painted 2-tone "tropical" when issued. I count only 25 grey ones.

http://tiger1.info/EN/Grey-Tigers.html

David

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ALL German MILITARY vehicles came in Dark Gray from their respective factories until February, 1943.

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Actually, by February 1943 there were about 150 Tigers in existence and most of them were painted 2-tone "tropical" when issued. I count only 25 grey ones.

http://tiger1.info/EN/Grey-Tigers.html

David

M4A1Sherman
Touche

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ALL German MILITARY vehicles came in Dark Gray from their respective factories until February, 1943.

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Actually, by February 1943 there were about 150 Tigers in existence and most of them were painted 2-tone "tropical" when issued. I count only 25 grey ones.

http://tiger1.info/EN/Grey-Tigers.html

David

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The same with vehicles specifically earmarked for service in tropical areas like North Africa and Southern Russia.

Now that I'm building Sherman's again I ask myself "why did I do German cats again?"

That's right, to see what the big deal was. For me there wasn't any. Especially tri color camouflage. I prefer monotone dark yellow or single color only like green or brown only. The same way I like the Blitzkrieg two tone grey/brown.

Besides just doing what everyone else is doing is boring. I'm driven by a restless creativity. In fact I just sold the classic zimmerit Panther G in three color scheme. To me it was "meh". Everybody does that. To make it different I put a Luftwaffe Hermann Goering division crew in it because to do something imaginative with it.

But I traded my two remaining Panther kits and Tiger II for three more Pzkpfw IV. I like them more.

Just a numerical "teaser"...

A sample of 10 random pages on eBay in "1/35 armor" - 50 items per page, including kits, kit parts, PE and other AM bits, decal sets, books...

"Axis" (WWII German, Hungarian, Italian, Romanian, Japanese, marked "beute" stuff) items were 161 out of 500 total posted. That's 32.2% (just a little short of 1/3) of all items on those random 10 pages.

Doesn't say that the Axis "percentage" is changing, but it does show that eBay vendors are pushing a LOT of "Axis" 1/35 scale stuff!

The other 67.8% is everything else - pre- and post-WWII stuff, Allied WWII stuff, Sci-Fi, other nations stuff, civilian stuff, buildings and scenery, generic scale bits (wheels, tools, boxes and other things not labeled as being specifically of any nation or any specific vehicle type), modeling supplies and goods not specific to Axis vehicles, etc.

Needless to say, "Axis" seems pretty popular, based on what is being sold on eBay right NOW!

Bob