| iceolate | 31 Oct 2008 11:20 a.m. PST |
..according to hannants the Italeri quick build m3 half track has been released. Panzer grenadiers are still waiting on their transport from HAT/armourfast :-) Stephen |
| bill5549 | 31 Oct 2008 2:03 p.m. PST |
Good news. The quick build Panther and Tiger are good quality. I see they also intend to sell quick build Lancia 3RO with 90mm AA! |
| Griefbringer | 31 Oct 2008 2:14 p.m. PST |
I didn't know that they even had M3 half-track lined up – the Italeri homepage is not too heavy on the updates. I will keep my eyes open for this kit – definitely not planning to work on another Hasegawa version, thank you very many. Besides, I just picked from library a book about various US built half-track models. Griefbringer |
chuck05  | 31 Oct 2008 2:22 p.m. PST |
Where did you see this? I looked on their site and didnt see it. Griefbringer: I second your opinion of the Hasegawa halftrack. Mine came out looking crooked. I am an experienced modeler and I still had trouble getting things to line up. |
| Griefbringer | 31 Oct 2008 2:55 p.m. PST |
Italeri website has been pretty outdated the whole year – hte latest list of new releases they have there is from July or so. I more or less managed to assemble my Hasegawa version, but then the stress from the tight rubber track tore one of the rear wheels out, and I will need to figure out a way to get it back in a way that it will stick. In general, the whole track and wheel assembly on that model was a bunch of pain. Griefbringer |
| Garand | 31 Oct 2008 6:20 p.m. PST |
The Hasegawa kits also suffer from accuracy issues (take a look at the cab armor and how it interfaces with the troop compartment armor). A kitbash of the italeri kit and the hasegawa kit mght make a more accurate and detailed model… Damon, |
| iceolate | 01 Nov 2008 4:46 a.m. PST |
link here is the link at hannants – it was announced in their 2008-2009 catalogue and for once has arrived on time. stephen |
| iceolate | 13 Nov 2008 12:46 p.m. PST |
the less good news is that it is an early model M3 half track without the ring mounted HMG :-( stephen |
| Griefbringer | 14 Nov 2008 8:13 a.m. PST |
I just picked a box from my local model store. Indeed, it is an earlier model, and there is no pulpit for the MG – instead it is on a pintle mount in the passenger compartment. No mine racks on the sides, either. There seems to be 14 parts in total:
- chassis
- front axle
- 2 front wheels
- 2 front headlights
- 2 tracks
- hull (including sides of the passenger compartment)
- front windows
- interior of passenger compartment
- MG on a pintle mount
- steering wheel (consists of 2 parts) Having the interior of the passenger compartment as a separate piece provides plenty of modelling opportunities for those wanting to convert this kit into a weapons carrier (eg. with mortar). Griefbringer |
| iceolate | 16 Nov 2008 3:08 a.m. PST |
wouldnt it be useful if they made some of these conversions kits so we could have M16s and other variants without being expert modellers? :-) stephen |
| Griefbringer | 16 Nov 2008 5:35 a.m. PST |
In the past, many plastic manufacturers have released kits for different variants of the same basic vehicle. Let's see if that would also be hold through for this Italeri line of fast assembly kits (it seems to surely apply to some of the kits in the HäT Armourfast series). Enterprising aftermarket resin producers might also try giving it a hand, though the results could be a bit fiddly. That said, Hasegawa has an M4 mortar carrier out there (which probably has same assembly issues as their M3), and Revell has AFAIK lately re-released the Matchbox M16 (albeit in 1:76 scale). Griefbringer |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 16 Nov 2008 6:06 p.m. PST |
The Airfix one is a quick build. I don't think it's really that bad a model, either, though the interior is pretty simplified. Still looking forward to seeing pics of the Italeri models, though! 
--
Tim |
| iceolate | 17 Nov 2008 1:47 a.m. PST |
Tim this new Italeri one is a much quicker build though :-)- in fact most of it clips together without any glue. Stephen |
| Griefbringer | 17 Nov 2008 2:51 a.m. PST |
Actually, some parts clip together a bit too hard – I assembled one without glue just to see how it would look like, and it required decent amounts of force to disassemble it afterwards. However, on some places I had to trim the tabs a bit to make them fit. Griefbringer |
| Ditto Tango 2 1 | 17 Nov 2008 8:06 a.m. PST |
Sounds great, I only have 7 Airfix and a couple of Hasegawa models (I love the hasegawa kit, despite Garands comment son it) and I'd love to have some more. Only trouble is I have a hobby store's worth of kits in my studio closet…must…. resist… oh no Squdron doesn't have it. It doesn't help my credit card with my wife demanding I buy some models for Christmas… arrrrgh. Whew, squadron doesn't have them listed yet, I'm safe… for now.
--
Tim |
| Griefbringer | 19 Nov 2008 3:18 a.m. PST |
I placed the completed Italeri kit next to a completed Hasegawa kit and spotted something – the Hasegawa version in noticeably wider. After a little bit of consulting of literature, measurement tape and pocket calculator, I came to the conclusion that the Italeri kit seems to have the correct width. OTOH I realised that I could use the extra MG pulpit from the Hasegawa kit on the Italeri vehicle, should not require too excessive modelling skills. Griefbringer |
