Hi everyone! I was just sitting here thinking (a very dangerous subject in itself) and wondering why I love building German armor and figures so much. My wife has asked me the same question and I just can't answer it. Even when I build planes it always the WWII German stuff. When I build British, American or Soviet armor it's fun but I just don't get the satisfaction that I do when I finish a Panzer. I think it might have to do with the exotic paint schemes or zimmerit. Maybe it's the variety of subjects available. I read in another thread that the writer was upset and said manufacturers have made a figure of every single German soldier that ever fought . (Not far from the truth) I know I'm not alone in this. I even took a vacation in Maryland so that I could visit Aberdeen Proving Grounds. Downside...I had to shopping for antiques in Havre de Grace to please my "honey". What do you guys think? Or can you even answer this question without undergoing a thorough "psyche" evaluation? I know a lot of people think I'm nuts just for building models and spending the money that I do. I'm interested in hearing your opinions....Jeff

I find the variation in German subjects interesting. I find the variation in paint schemes and names given to the German armour (Panther, Tiger, Elephant, Maus) caught my imagination as a youngster . Though I have been slowly building up my allied collection I too have a soft spot for German engineering...

I don't dwell too much on the fact that they were the enemy. There are probably just as many arguements for building any armor (no matter which side).

Michael

I think you both hit the nail on the head...The German equipement was so varied ..all those camo's and no two alike ...German uniforms with those eagles over their pocket or on thier sleeves....summer camo's ..fall camo's ....pea pattern camo's ...Italian camo cloth cut to German standard...Leather U-boat jackets on Tank commanders ..What more could we ask for ...I must say that I build as much Allied as I do German ,but I do enjoy the finished product in that 3 colored camo!

Richard #:-)

I just think the German equipment was so much cooler and had a better variety... I like the Allied stuff, but most of it's olive drab and boring..

I will name three thingy:

1. 88mm Gun, Nice!
2. Ambush Pattern, Nice!!!
3. NASHORN!!!!

Sorry I am fixiated on Nashorn. #:-)

I agree 100% I think that even though it won the war, allied armor is kind of boring. The variety of German armor and markings are just more interesting than allied stuff.

It just looks cool.......look at theChurchil.......need I say more?

I've always been more interested in German subjects than allied. When I was in junior high and high school (back in the late 70's, jeesh, I'm getting old!), my parents were a bit concerned by this. Understandable, since they lived through WWII and my dad fought in the war. Worried that I was a closet nazi, they kept encouraging me to build American tanks and planes. But when it comes right down to it, German armor, and a lot of German aircraft, is just far more interesting. Why? Because of the variety of machines and paint schemes. The Germans were always pushing the edge of the technological envelope and that resulted in things like the King Tiger and the HE-219 Owl - cool stuff. I personally like all the ways the Germans incorporated captured stuff into their front line combat units.

That said, I do get a bit tired of seeing all the "happy nazi" figures out today. Like all they had time to do was sit around laughing, working on their amchines and drinking French wine. I appreciated the "bail out" figures released by DML, Warriors and others which showed German tankers in situations they often experienced. Even I occasionally worry that the military model hobby's preoccuaption with WWII Germany somehow shades the gruesome and dark intent of nazi Germany.

Eventually, my folks came to realize I wasn't going to start goose-stepping around the house just because I liked to build German tanks. But in today's overly PC society, it's easier than ever for the casual observer to see that swastika on the tail of my ME-109 and assume I'm a nazi-hugger. Really, that's their judgmental problem, not mine. I have to remind myself that many people have a problem separating the technology from the philosophy.

My two cents.

Dave Clark

I think the reason we like the German armor is all the myths and urban legends that abound and thier "so called'" superior performance over allied armor. Did it really take 12 Shermans for every Panzer knocked out?

Add to that the number of variations of the basic models, the assualt guns, Panzerjagers, Jagdpanzers, modified foriegn equipment, and neat camo paint jobs. We could spend a life time of modeling The panzers. The varity is mind bogling.

I model Allied, German, Russian and Japanese armor. i have fun with it all, but the German armor just seems to be more appealing to build.

I think its an easy question to answer!

Do French tanks look cool ?
do English Tanks look cool ?
Do Italian Tanks look cool ?

And then:

Do German Panzers look cool ?
Do Russian Tanks look cool ?

And the performance wise ask your self the sam questions again ?

People who builds cars probably don build Volvos, do they ???

I have a slightly different perspective... Most (not all) Allied hardware was simply of inferior quality in terms of "power" and "durability"... now you Sherman-heads - don't get me wrong! the M4 was a reliable tank, and could do some damage at close range (if it ever got close!) - but outside of some Russian Tanks (T34, Stalin series, etc.), the Germans just had a great idea of how to build monster fortresses that could really hold their own. Kinda like a powerful Wooly Mammouth surrounded by a dozen small Hyena's... yeah, they may eventually take the sucker down, but it will take them all on regardless, and will inflict a ton of hurt on it's attackers before it goes down. i "admire" the design and power of the german stuff. Our Lee, Grant, Walker, Sherman and along with the British "C" series (Cromwell, Comet, Challenger, Crusader, etc.) were basically "tin cans" compared to the German Panzer, Tiger, and Panther. The only US tank that could really hold it's own against the Germans (M26) wasn't really battle tested until the war was almost over, and the support of the German hardware was paper-thin. I model German armor because it was generally the best that was on the battlefield.... I've built everything, but outside of Shermans. the only tanks i build over and over again are the German units.

Does this make sense?

The reason I build german armor, is a combination of the technical side and the style side. The germans just are so anal when it comes right down to it,in all their machine work,and quality in assembly (gee no rivits- hmmmm) and the technical skill (face hardened armor) whats not to like? (not to mention ive been in a sherman and it gave me no sense of security whatsoever (and i didnt have ppl shooting at me)

I have to agree with most everything said here so far.
Style, design, variety of color schemes and cammo types, technical innovation ( IR Panthers..) a bit of the "rooting for the bad guys".. not that I endorse or support the Nazi ideals in any way.

I really like thePanther and Jagdpanther... sleek, stylish ( in as much as a tank can be stylish..), purposeful.

But the early war stuff Pz I and II and especally the 38T series leave me bored..

I guess it comes down to personal preferences and it takes all types.

My US$0.02 , before taxes..

Mike

Actually....in reply to PFC Colorado...I do think the French stuff was cool....The CharB, Hotchkiss, and all the Renault variants were pretty neat. I like the Italian stuff..too. Besides German stuff..I have more British vehicles than anything else. I also think it's all in what you grew up building. When I was a kid Tamiya and Italeri were the only games in town. (I'm 42)They had an overwhelming amount of German kits. I almost forgot Monogram and those very cool Shep Paine diorama sheets. I've still got a few of those lying around. Boy if those didn't spur the imagination. I really wish Revell/ Monogram would re-release those kits! Not very accurate but tons of fun to build and paint! Maybe that's it! I'm just trying to reclaim a bit of my lost childhood and all that German armor just fills the void...........NAAAAAAAAAAAAH! It's just cooler than the other stuff! Jeff

Hi Butch Cassidy Tanks46. Although I like to build any type of military vehicle my favorites are German WW2. Besides the technical performance and capabilities of German vehicles just the facts, myths and legends that have become lore about individual tanks and their commanders is fascinating. The variety and subjects available both active and what was on the drawing boards is really endless. I have been reading military history particularly on WW2 and modeling for over 35 years. It still fascinates me tht I can find a subject or piece of information (particularly from the members of this site) that I never heard of or a different take on it. As someone else mentioned I grew up hearing stories about WW2 from my father and uncles. I have always been enamored by WW2 and find this a very satisfying hobby...and this site the best!




Der Sonntag Bund Pig #3

I think it is because German armor is so varied. They went from armored boxes to the sleek, streamlined tanks that were the Panther and King Tiger. Their paint jobs varied from gray to mustard to the ambush pattern. They just kept reinventing the wheel with each new tank design.

I prefer US armor, but it is all too similar.

The names, the looks, the firepower, the way they used them, the camouflage, let's face it, German armor was awesome. So many variants to build, it's hard to get bored building German armor.

A few years ago, Tamiya had a Volvo station wagon set up for competition (honestly, these things were raced, I saw one in a sports car race once in person). I'm sure every Volvo dealer in the world bought one of those kits. Of course, no one else did.

I haven't been in the hobby long enough to know the answer to this, but I had the same question when I got back into the hobby a little over a year ago. When I decided to try armor out I was looking at all the choices I had along with another guy who I didn't know. I asked "We did win the war didn't we?" I just wasn't sure after looking at the selection of models I had to choose from.

Allied weapons werent made for looks or names,it was made to get the job done and get as many of it as we could.
Now in saying that,yeah I could agree that German stuff is interesting because it was so far fetched compared to Allied stuff,but Im a die-hard American fan when it comes too WWII stuff no matter what.

Here is a question that is related to this:

Why do people do allied armor as captured by the Germans or as destroyed? If you only like German armor then why not stick to it? If you are going to take the time to do an Allied piece why not do it as an Allied vehicle rather than captured or destroyed. I will agree that German armor is interesting and their camo schemes are neat, but I feel that those traits can apply to other nations as well. Look at some of the elaborate winter camo schemes given to Russian armor or the elaborate camo schemes that the Japanese and Poles used. What about some of the funky Russian armor like the T-35 and T-28 or the really wild looking early British armor such as the Crusaders and the Matilda? I think that those things are just as interesting as the German's stuff.

Is it that we love a loser? That can't totally be it because otherwise we would see more Japanese and Italian stuff as well. Maybe its because we are fascinated by the fact that the Germans let themselves be led into a world-wide war by a madman who put 6,000,000 innocent men, women, and children to their deaths just because of their faith. I know that fascinates me because I would like to believe that I wouldn't have let myself be tricked into believing that Hitler was good, but the fact is that I probably would have joined the crowd.

Just some thoughts.

I have to agree with EVERYONE - Hows that for non-committal.
A couple of factors that weight in on this are
Building Variations.
1. The variety of equipment is a big part. You can build a varient and have a new kit.
2. The variety of camo patterns is a big part. You can build the same kit and get the new kit feeling.

'emotional' (Term used loosly)
1. We like stuff that really kicks butt. Take a look at TLC - Testosterone Week - Heavy Metal -Big Big Big - the
2. The Power Factor. Tiger/Panther/Maus/Famo - need I say more. I would venture to say that the B52 is a popular AC because of this.
3. Unique factor - we want to be creative and unique in our projects. Varients!

The endeavours that some of the german equipment went to has a lot to do with the popularity of the panzer brigade.Most of use know about Michael Wittman at Villiers Bocage and the damage that he inflicted in half an hour,or that late german anti tank weapons could blow the engine out of a t-34 at 2000m.Why is the 100m more talked about than the marathon?we love power.it's kinda in our nature,and the germasn had that in bags when it came to armour.
Also,a little askew of the point,whereas the allies would serve in the line until a certain aomiunt of missions were taken,the germans litterally only went home when wounded or dead.You kinda have to admire it a little..

In response to a previous question about doing allied stuff captured in German markings:

I build this type of armor now and then and it remains a favorite subject of mine. I've built a "German" Panhard P178, Bren Carrier, KV-1, Somuoa (sp?) S-35, and have a Tamyia M-8 in the works as a captured rig. I find the captured stuff interesting because it's German and it's not a Panther or a Tiger. It's also interesting how much captured stuff the Germans turned around and used in combat because they were so short of their own equipment. They were frugal in that regard, those Germans, and they let very little usable stuff go to waste. They were desperate and made use of whatever was available.

Same could be said for Israeli armor. They've modified and used just about every type of armor vehicle they could recover from the battlefield, no matter who the previous owners were. As a result, they came up with some wierd adn very cool ad-hoc armor.

Dave C.

I agree with the matter that the German Armor has more variety in types of vehicles and camo patterns. I´m a fanatic of the Sherman tank but I also build German armor, and with the last one I think there is something like magic in my mind. I supose that it is because when I was a kid (I´m 51 now) I´ve read a lot about the Blitzkrieg and the Panzers, and in my country in that times (60´s-70´s) the most of the armor kits where German Panzers.
I also think that the kits manufacturers marketing have something with this fascination.