"Rubicon Models - Manufacturer of 1/56 WW2 Plastic Kits" Topic

Greetings all, just to say hi to everyone on the message board. We are an old establishment with a new brand name, working on an official website now; but you can visit us at facebook.com/rubiconmodels for the moment.

We will be launching a series of 1/56 WW2 plastic vehicles for your wargaming and modeling needs, probably Q3 this year. We look forward to serving you all soon!

Here are some images of our soon-to-be-release Panzer III (pre-production test kit) for your review:

Panzer III with 50mm gun

Panzer III with detachable schürzen

Panzer III with 75mm howitzer

Enjoy!

nice models, but once more panzers and sherman …

Look great, any idea on price?

Lou, yes… more Panzers and Sherman, but those are the backbone for any new brand. We do have a list of tanks and vehicles on the queue, and depending on demand, we can pull anyone out for immediate production.

As for retail price, we are looking at the £20.00 GBP (US$34) range.

Please like our FB page too! :)

Impressive start! looks like 1/56 just got a lot easier to do, a shame about the wet hulled M4 a3, a dry hulled m4, m4a2 or m4a1 would have more flexibility in uses, but the Pz 3s and 4s look nice!

Since the changes are minimal, we will eventually cover all M4 versions (plus variants) over time. Our goal is to release at least one kit per month. For less popular variant, we might release a resin kit as option.

We are a digital design studio, so we are quite flexible on what we can do. Feedback from gamers is what we need!

While everybody loves tanks (myself included) you might want to give some thought to soft skin vehicles as well. A 1/56 scale truck can be used for WW2 gaming as well as pulp/zombie gaming. While the stuff looks great the market is already flooded with tanks and most people already have more than enough. Just my 2 cents.

The models look great. The only thing are the road wheels. The rubber part is too thin and they look like the rubber is worn out/ burnt out.

The Sherman M4A2 should be a not brainer, Used by the British in North Africa, Italy and NWE, the Russian in the eastern front and the USMC in the pacific. Often a overlooked Sherman variant that would be very versatile.

And a decent T-34 with option for 76 and 85 turrets would be great too. The Warlord Games one is horrendous.

And plastic Churchills would be a dream!

Cheers

Oh man, I love the look of these kits.
Need M3 Stuarts to go with the Perry Miniatures' Desert Rats ;)

Razer78, we have half-tracks and wheeled armor vehicles coming, probably Q4 this year or early 2015.

Jamingui13, which tank are you talking about? It might be a viewpoint issue. We use actual tank photo and technical drawing as references, we can double check to ensure accuracy.

TredHedJon, we have the M3/M5 on our list, think it is in the middle somewhere. ;)

Rubicon Model, I mean the Panzer III.
For instance here a picture of a road wheel of a Panzer III

The rubber should be thicker. The spare wheels look like they have no rubber at all. Maybe is the viewpoint.

Please don't get me wrong, I like a lot the model (even has the screws on the roof of the turret! ) that's why I pointed out that the wheels look odd. If that could be corrected, the Panzer III would be outstanding.

I had to agree the rubber might not be as thick as expected, this is why we are using our Facebook page to post finished products and work-in-progress projects to get feedback and comments to further improve our quality control.

Thanks for the thumbs up!

I really like the models with one probably unavoidable issue. The shurtzen are really thick, in reality they would have been perhaps 5 or 10mm thick (I am not actually sure how thick but a lot less thick than they are in the photo).

Thinner schurtzen or possibly ones with a tapering thickness top to bottom would look a lot better.

I agree the schurzen do look alittle too thick and the lights look alittle too large or is that just the angle at which the picture was taken?

jameshammyhamilton: The schürzen are detachable and are clip-ons. If they are too thin, it will break easily. Furthermore, these vehicles are designed for wargaming in mind, so they needed to be sturdy and can be carried around. Our highly detailed plastic kit is already a very BIG step forward when compared to the resin blocks you have seen on the market right now!

Wow! the panzer IV looks even better than the Panzer III. The fenders on the Pz. IV have the detailed anti skid surface whereas the Pz. III is flat and should be also detailed. BTW the wheels on the Pz. IV look also spot on.

I also noticed that the front and side hull parts with the vision ports and MG, and the frotof the turrent of the Pz. IV are separated pieces, would that mean that a zimmerit version is coming…

To summarize, in my humble opinion and after been a modeller for more than 20 years and been spoiled by highly accurate models in 1/35 scale I would say that the Pz. IV is excellent and spot on for the main details. The Pz. III with corrected wheels and anti skid surface on the fenders would be also spot on. I don't know if is still possible to correct the moulds of the Pz. III, otherwise I thing they are excellent products and a huge step in the right direction.

Any news when would be available?

Cheers

If the schurtzen clip on that is a really nice plus.

I suspect I would still be tempted to look to make thinner ones if I buy some of these but I do understand that for a gaming piece there have to be some compromises.

jamingui13: Thanks for the thumbs up from a 20 years veteran. The Panzer III and IV are the first two kits of our own design, it only gets better with experience and know-how. Will post some more work-in-progress stuff on our Facebook page shortly!

We have to make hard choices on what to keep and what to delete/remove to keep the retail price down. Our target had always been 3 spures and no more than 50 parts!

@Rubicon Models: Have you tried tapering the edge of the shurtzen? That would let you have a more scale appearance without compromising strength too much.

@Lion in the Stars: That's somethings we have not considered. Thanks for the advice, can apply that into a future kit. As mentioned earlier, these Panzers are one of our first few plastic kits, still need time to learn all the tricks.

This is also one of the reasons why we have a FB page to show our work-in-progress stuff for feedback and comments. We are also in the process of starting up a forum for people who are interested to help us develop better products for the gaming community. Will let everyone know when it is ready!

For those who don't use Facebook, here is the Panzer IV…

Here is a side-by-side view of the Panzer IV with two different guns…

Enjoy!

For more info, visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/rubiconmodels. Please remember to LIKE us too!

These waterslide decals are preliminary design for individual country (expect for the British). Each kit will come with one of these generic sheets, the size is 105mm x 74mm.

Please feel free to comment and make suggestions. The design is still not final, but we think we are getting there!

Enjoy!

This is our 3rd creation – the M4A3. This Sherman comes with 3 guns (75mm/76mm/105mm) with 3 different mantlets and 2 turret choices… Even comes with a Culin hedgerow cutter!

M4A3 prototype with 75mm gun.

M4A3 prototype with 76mm gun.

M4A3 prototype with 105mm howitzer.

A side-by-side comparison of the final painted plastic with the prototype.

M4A3 painted plastic with 76mm gun.

M4A3 painted plastic with 105 howitzer and optional turret mount machine gun and Culin hedgerow cutter.

Enjoy!

For more info, visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/rubiconmodels. Please remember to LIKE us too!

WOW! The Sherman looks fantastic. Looking forward to paint a platoon of them.

And T-34 coming :) ( I saw then on photobucket)

Maybe ist the angle of the photo but the 76mm turret looks weird. The back of the turret is not so pointed, is more rounded. The muzzle brake of the 76mm gun looks also weird and the mat let is more rounded too.
The 75 mm Sherman and the 105 one look spot on.

Great work

jamingui13: We have a security leak… the T34 is out!

On the 76mm turret, I need to check with our design team. If I recall correctly, our kit is based on a 76mm gun using M62 mantlet on an early version of the T23 turret. The T23 turret was subsequently modified to save money and ease of manufacturing by Chrysler (as requested by the Ordnance Department).

Not going to do 1/56 aircraft by ANY chance???

Come In Nighthawk: Possibly yes, we have a few aircraft on our list, mostly ground attack and transport gliders. If you have something special, and we think there is a market, we might produce it too!

Here are some work-in-progress technical drawings of a T34/76:

This Soviet T34/76 is packed with different configurations that were used between 1940 and 1942.

Line drawing of the T34/76 with two turrets, two hulls, and two road-wheel sets combination. Not shown are the famous oil drums on the side…

Enjoy!

For more info, visit us at facebook.com/rubiconmodels. Please remember to LIKE and SHARE with your friends too!

The T-34 looks outstanding as usual. The only minor thing are the front fenders. I hope this diagram shows the problem. Is very easy to solve.

Cheers

Very impressive … Especially to get this out and on the web before Tango01 spotted it!

jaminnngui13: Those are not ACTUAL design feature but plolygon lines for connecting the model together. Rest assured they will not show up on the final product.

;)

These are the T34/76 Model 40/41/42 prototypes with choices of 2 hulls, 2 turrets, 2 guns, 2 rear oil drum sets, and 2 road wheel sets; plus optional features, such as headlights, antenna, and extra oil drums.

T34/76 Model 40/41 with welded turret and rubber road wheels.

T34/76 Model 41/42 with cast turret and steel road wheels.

T34/76 Model 41/42 with optional oil drums.

The two T34/76 side-by-side… note the difference with guns and crew hatch.

T34/76 rear view… note the difference in engine access hatch.

T34 Rubber Road Wheels… note the one piece track with front road wheels, and single linked back wheels. For gamers, this simplifies assembly. For modelers, can cut off the links to make them individual again!

T34 Steel Road Wheels… note the details on these wheels! For modelers, you can carefully cut one or two road wheels off and intermix with the rubber ones to create your own unique tank!

Enjoy!

For more info, visit us at facebook.com/rubiconmodels. Please remember to LIKE and SHARE with your friends too!

I want the T-34's NOW!!!!

So there will be 5 releases when the store will open, at the moment we have Pz. III, Pz. IV, Sherman M4A3 and T-34 mod. 41/42, I wonder what will be the last one?

jamingui13: If you want to know, go check out our FB page; we will post clues regularly! Think first clue is just out!

Coool Panther G coming! I wonder if parts to build a Jagdpanther will be included in the kit too

Will the T-34 include gab handles to attach to the sides of the hull and the turret?

jamingui13: Unfortunately no, there are just not enough sprue space to fit them into the kit. These can be easily installed by any experienced modeler if they want them; gamers probably will hate them! ;)

We have already posted a few painted T34/76 prototype images on our FB page, please go over there and have a look!

We had spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to put all versions of the Panther into a single kit. The sheer size of the Panther had taken up a lot of valuable sprue space, forcing us to split this particular tank into two separate kits – the Panther Ausf D/A and the Panther Ausf G! More on this later…

Enjoy!

For more info, visit us at facebook.com/rubiconmodels. Please remember to LIKE and SHARE with your friends too!

This is the close up view of the assembled tracks with wheels in place. A three piece smart design to ease assembly, yet highly detailed.

The three pieces disassembled for close up inspection. All the "connectors" are hidden away once assembled, so you won't see them at all!

Will show more of the completed Panther prototypes over the weekend!

Enjoy!

The tracks and wheels look fantastic.
Will the Panther A have zimmerit?

There are no plans to produce zimmerit coated vehicles at this stage as it involves a totally different mold production method, which is very costly. We might produce zimmerit versions of these vehicles as modified resin kits later.

Here are some prototype images of the Panther D/A and the Panther G…

The Panther D/A – should come with two copula choices and specific D and A features.

The Panther G – should come with multiple exhaust choices.

Some side-by-side view of the two Panthers

More images are being uploaded to our Facebook page. For more info, visit us at facebook.com/rubiconmodels.
Please remember to LIKE and SHARE with your friends too!

Enjoy!

There seems to be a minor issue with our Photobucket bandwidth usage. Things had now been resolved and you can see all our uploaded images as usual! Sorry for the hiccup!

;)

Rubicon

Very Very impressed [and that is from a rivet counter who is hard to impress].

Makes it worth considering28mm/1:56 rather than 1:48 or 1:32!

The Panthers look excellent, will the Panther G have options to build late models which have these features on the turret roof and the heater on the engine deck?

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kabrank: Each vehicle is first drawn on a computer using special software, then break the vehicle apart for sprue layout to create a plastic injection mold for final production. Each vehicle had three sprues and averaged about 50 parts.

jamingui13: And again, thanks for your pinpoint accuracy on these features. The heater will be an option for the late Panther G; however, the two small features on the turret will be ignored due to limited sprue space and ease of assembly. Remember, these kits are initially designed for wargaming, the serious modelers can scratch built and add these features by themselves with ease! But we are glad you point these out… just in case we'd overlook! :)

TAKE MY MONEY!!!! My Panzer Lehr Kampfgruppen needs some new tanks.