"Best 28 mm 1/56 scale Vehicles" Topic

We probably have had this debate before but as there have been many new releases I thought some folks would like to weigh in on their favorites and which ones they did not like. Given that Bolt Action has its own rules for 28 mm now and then there is the old stand by Disposable Heroes, and people also game 28 mm WW II with Arc of Fire, and other rules I imagine we will see more 28 mm WW II games.

I am working on a game for Southern Front using Disposable Heroes set in North Africa. I pulled out a number of vehicles I had purchased but never put together and found that some kits were better than others. For me the Army Group North kits have been some of the best to work with. Very clean lines and easy to put together and paint. I bought a Company B M3 Grant, and while it came chocked full of extra swag to customize the tank there were some flaws in the resin casting and I had to do a good bit of putty work to fill a gap between the resin body and the metal tread fenders. As of yet I do not have any JTFM or Bolt Action vehicle but will be buying in the future.

Company B and JTFM are awesome.

Warlord / Bolt Action are consistently good. I have never been disappointed in the models I got from them.

I would stay away from Black Tree.
Models have messed up or no instructions, and the parts never fit right.

I think the main question to address first is what scale of vehicle to use with 28mm miniatures; 1/50,1/48 or 1/56th?

I am consistently told that 'officially' its 1/56th, but the figures just seem to big in comparison. I am 6'1 and used to spend much of my spare time goofing around the Panther in the RAC museum Bovington, whose suspension is still 'up', and the top of my head did not reach the hull deck…But 28mm minis can see right over a 1/56th Panther's hull….

Granted I wasn't standing on a base!

I have the Black Tree German motor cycles and side cars which appear to be in good shape. However, I bought those quite a while back.

Sparker,

The choice of whether 1/50, 1/48, or 1/56th is better is a matter of personal taste and what you believe is correct. I do not want to get into that debate. My question is directed specifically to 1/56 models. Sorry I did not make that clear.

I have only two models from JTFM. Both are nice models, cleanly cast, but I haven't put one of them together yet. It's a 2 part 251 model and will need some work at the joins, so I've been delaying. The tank was nice, and sturdy.

I like the Company B castings but they seem really fragile. Not sure why but parts seem to break really easily.

Warlord is my favorite but they never seem to get the order right. The T-34 tracks don't fit to the hull, so some sanding is required. Sturdy models.

I haven't purchased any AGN because I don't want models with the bases cast on, which is a matter of personal taste of course. But I can't compare the quality with others.

"My question is directed specifically to 1/56 models. Sorry I did not make that clear."

You did, Kim. It was in the title. It's not your fault when people don't read :)

I have owned, built, and painted most of the kits on the 1/56th scale market. I have my favorites though. In order with pros and cons (if any):

Warlord Games: Great kits. Clean cast, good detail, go together easily. Some of the early kits seem to suffer from old molds (the Polish TKS could use a remaster). Nice combination of resin bodies and metal parts, but all go together pretty easily. The resin cleans up easily, primes well, and takes paint very well. I have had almost no problems with flaking or chipping. Lots of variety of vehicles as well, and they seem to take an interest in supporting their ranges. My only quibble with accuracy is that the Char B1 model has really odd tracks that don't look like the real tank (though they bought the master from BEF way back).

Army Group North: Great kits. Clean casts, with great detail. Their French stuff is awesome. Resin is pretty good. It cleans up easily, and takes paint pretty well. Some chipping and flaking when exposed to wear and use, but nothing a few touch ups now an again don't cure. I transport my tanks back and forth to the club a lot, so they get used heavily. They have a great assortment of vehicles. If you want to represent the French in this scale (and expand it with Warlord's), then you hands down can't beat them. Their Char B1 is an awesome kit, and they are said to be putting out a Laffly truck.

Huge factor though: the kits (most of them) have bases cast on. Some people love this and some hate it. It is entirely up to taste. I can't stand bases and I wish they would cater to those of us who don't, but I buy their stuff anyway (I cut mine down as much as possible). It's not a decision I understand, but there it is.

Die Waffenkammer: Great selection of kits. Very clean castings with minor clean up. All (or mostly) resin casting with a very few metal details. Their barrels are also cast in resin and often warp, despite efforts to prevent it with the packaging. I understand the costs involved in casting metal details, it's just not something I am a fan of. The kits are amazing in their clean casting and the detail. I have never seen finer cast resin vehicles. With that said, they are some of the most fragile kits because of it. Details snap off easily and are difficult to repair. I ended up replacing a lot of the detail with scratch built components (the hand rails on the T-34 especially). Also, the resin is very hard to get all of the release agent off of. I have tried everything. Scrubbing the hell out of them after a good few days soaking. Simple Green. Spray Primer designed to be used on plastics (Krylon Fusion), auto primer, cheap flat camo spray paint, flat black grill paint…everything. Nothing seems to make these kits not suffer from bubbling, bare spots, chipping and general coverage headaches. They are gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous kits. Some of the best out there (mastered by the 1/56th wizard himself Tony Ashcroft-who also did some of the kits for these other companies). But they have also been the most frustrating.

If you want to see some or all of these painted up, I have some shots from my collection of a lot of them (the tags in the post tell you which company the kits are):

French:

link

British:

link

German:

link

Soviet:

link

US:

link

This is one of my favorites:

Hope that helps.

[Edit]: I forgot to add Company B and Brigade Games. Nice stuff as well, but I don't have much of their stuff. I think all I own are the Japanese tanks. Nice resin, good clean casts and detail. A few minor gaps, bubbles, and a little clean up, but good kids. Take paint well, and go together easily. I would own more, they just don't offer the kits I either don't already own or need right now. If I was an WWI, interwar, modern, or more esoteric armor subject fan/gamer, I would be in heaven.

And also, don't forget Force of Arms: Everything I said about the best kits goes for FoA as well. Awesome kits. I cleaned out as many of them as I could from Great Hall Games at the last con. Getting difficult to get now as their production is down.

I was disappointed with Whitman's Tiger from Warlord Games. Mainly because the rims of the roadwheels were paper thin and broken upon unpackageing and there are two huge pouring necks that needed sawed off the back of the tracks before assembly. The price of this kit was on the high side, I guess I expected more for the money.

Keith, I still have a full stock of Force of Arms.

Bob.

Bob: sorry, should have been more clear in my post. Those were the last of the kits available in the US (that I am aware of).

Keith, no problem, I understood, just wanted to let people know that although John is having a bit of down time, I still have his entire range in stock.
bob.

Hmmmmmm………………

Sparker,

The choice of whether 1/50, 1/48, or 1/56th is better is a matter of personal taste and what you believe is correct. I do not want to get into that debate. My question is directed specifically to 1/56 models. Sorry I did not make that clear.

Sure – no worries!

"My question is directed specifically to 1/56 models. Sorry I did not make that clear."

You did, Kim. It was in the title. It's not your fault when people don't read :)

Whoa! really no worries!

I'm not sure my question was completely and utterly irrelevant to the OP's initial question, but clearly I've spilled too many beers on this thread so I'll wish you all well and be on my way!