"Sd Kfz 251 Half-Tracks - PSC and FiB Comparisons?" Topic

I've seen a few comparisons between the BF and the PSC German half-tracks, but I'm yet to see anyone give a review of the Forged in Battle gear. Anyone out there got any comparison info on issues of quality, casting, size,and compatibility?

-- George Krashos

I'm sure I've seen a review somewhere but can't find it. From other side by sides I have seen FiB seem to come out a tad smaller than BF. What would be useful from all the really helpful chaps who do these reviews would be to include dimensions of the models so we can compare to other makes and the real thing. (As someone who means to start a blog and do reviews such as this but never gets round to it I can't complain though)

If all your half-tracks are going to be from the same company then there isn't much issue with compatibility unless you go with something like the Old Glory half-tracks that come up to about waist high to Battlefront figures

From the reviews I have read people seam to like them both. The FiB ones are more expensive however, the PSC ones are made like tiny model kits: comprised of an unnecessary number of parts just for the sole purpose of having to assemble lots of parts. Some people also don't like the molded-on bases of the FiB vehicles, but I think vehicles based the same way as your infantry help the overall uniform look of the army, plus I magnetize my bases for transport.

Plastic Soldier Company here

Sorry Dameon i have to pull you up on "the PSC ones are made like tiny model kits: comprised of an unnecessary number of parts just for the sole purpose of having to assemble lots of parts"

We make our 15mm kits with the minimum number of parts to make an accurate, detailed model. Plastic injection moulding makes it impossible to mould in one piece. If i could, i would. Resin casting is more forgiving

I think you will find it takes only a little longer to assemble one of our plastic kits than a resin/metal kit

Catman,

I know people who agree with you, I also know peope who deffinitely don't, I am in the later category :)

I have 10 of your half tracks and yes they are excellent models, but if I remember correctly each one has more than 20 pieces to assemble PLUS individually modelled crew.

They are probably the best quality and the cheapest option out there, BUT, they are a lot more fiddly to assemble than say a battlefront half track and no comparison at all to FIB as their models all pretty much come preassembled.

Personally the thing I like best about FIB is that they come pre assembled. The thing I like least is that their vehicles are all slightly smaller than battlefront size.

PSC vehicles all seem to be almost exactly the same size as Battlefront so no issues there.

I accept that it is a subjective thing though….

Yours

Andy
PS I own 10 PSC panzer IV's and 10 PSC Half tracks. I only bought one platoon of FIB Panzer III's though I am seriously considering moving back from PSC to FIB….

CATMAN2 +1

As a chemicst and having worked in the plastics field… I have to say… PSC does a knock out job for adding enough detail without being too cumbersome on the parts…

AND the number of parts is indeed necessitated to get a good molding.. which translates to you and I as QUALITY.

As a note, I do not work for or even know anyoen from PSC. I am just a specialist in the field. Their kits, so far as I have bought and built are well made, sturdy and go together with minimal effort even for a novice builder.

One other thing… the platic they use works GREAT with the Loctite superboned series! No runs and you can get by using a very small amount of glue that will secure your parts in place. Very important for a good model!!!

I think you will find it takes only a little longer to assemble one of our plastic kits than a resin/metal kit

I put some BF Sdkfz 251 together a little while ago and they took me twice as long to assemble as the PSC Shermans I'd done just before as the parts were such a bad fit and many took 2 or 3 attempts to stay in place. Not built any other PSC kits so the half tracks may take a bit longer but I'm more than happy so far

I'm building a box of the PSC 251's right now, and I find them an easy build. They match up pretty well with the Battlefront models I have. At first glance you can hardly tell them apart once they are painted.

I think it really depends on what one is used to. I have a nice bottle of testor's plastic cement that comes in a brush-on bottle, and I was weaned on GW plastics, so I cranked out 30 T-34s in a couple of hours at most.

When it comes to metal and resin I'm simply not terribly used to or deft at the sanding, scraping, and roughing up of the joins between tracks and hulls.

I'll add that the FiB ones are the way to go if you don't want to bother with assembly, and my hetzers from them are quite nice. The only they need is some extra stowage and the like, but that's easily available. I don't now if it's true for other PSC kits, but at least with the T-34s there were some fuel barrels and extra track that I peppered across my models.

There's a bit of stowage in the Sherman kit which I've supplemented with stuff from Skytrex and the spares box of course.

I am all in favor of the PSC kits. I have the (ancient) Old Glory 251s as well as a few Battlefront ones, both were a pain to build. All metal and resin/metal kits seem to invariably have issues with parts fit and the Battlefront tracks were blobby-looky and not at all straight.

The clean crisp detail of the PSC kits combined with the ease of assembly (you don't have to worry about the glue join holding like on a metal part) make it a no-brainer for me.

I reviewed the kit on my blog here; link

I included lots of photos for anybody with worries about the difficulty of assembly.