"What 1/48 vehicle brands lend themselves best to wargaming?" Topic

I have quite a few 28mm WW2 figures ready to get painted but I havent bought any vehicles. I am mostly North Africa and Late War N. Europe and I only want some basics such as German/USA/Brit trucks, halftracks, jeeps, medium/heavy tanks.

I am thinking 1/48 scale but aside from some 1st Corps and Blitzkrieg vehicles, I dont know what kits and die cast brands are true to scale and robust enough for gaming.

I like the Tamiya Schwimmenwagen but does it need to be based? Will it break if used/handled for wargaming? Do die-cast vehicles roll off the board? Can they be repainted easily? Are 1/48 kits robust enough for constant handling or do bits continuously break off?

Whats that sweet spot between well made, cool looking and available vehicle types?

I am not terribly price sensitive but there has to exist stock to buy bc Im not that interested in always being a halftrack short.

The bulk of kits will stand up pretty well, but things like mirrors and the like are vulnerable. Tamiya kits, and the new Airfix efforts are well engineered and solid. For availability I suggest looking at a model supplier's website like Hannants in the UK or Hobby Link Japan and search on 1:48 scale.

Hi there.

So in the world of wargaming will a kit or a resin vehicle such as the Blitzkrieg models stand up to more wear and tear?

1/48 scale is really a bit large for 28mm figures. There are specialist wargames manufacturers who produce 1/56 scale vehicles, if you would consider that instead. For robust, easy-to-build, cheap WW2 trucks I would recommend Anyscale Models: link , though other makes are also available.

Hugh

1/48 looks better with the chunkier "heroic scale" figures from manufacturers like Artizan, Crusader, 1st Corps and Warlord because they're not realistically proportioned, unlike those smaller (and more realistically proportioned) 28mm lines from Perry and Offensive Miniatures that would go well with 1/56.

Tamiya kits (or other manufacturers that offer WWII kits in this scale like Hobby Boss, AFV Club and Bronco) are fine for gaming IMO and are better than similar resin offerings in that they are cleaner and have better details, but as mentioned above the fiddly bits like rearview mirrors and thin antennae can break off if not handled with care. If you can live without them just leave them off the model altogether. Most resin kits don't even have these fiddly bits anyway.

Diecasts in this scale (e.g., Hobby Master, Classic Armor Diecast) are perfect for gaming. Even if you don't like the default "factory" paint-jobs they come in, you can always airbrush over them and apply new decals. Hobby Master paint jobs are not bad actually, but the Classic Armor Diecast vehicles could look better. Here are a couple such repainted and decaled Marders from CAD:

Corgi has a line of 1/50 diecast WWII Allied and German tanks and other vehicles popular for gaming. While they're not 1/48, to most people the small differences aren't noticeable enough. Here are a trio of repainted and decaled Corgi Churchill MkIV's:

The Tamiya Schwimmwagen doesn't require basing, nor do any other wheeled vehicles for that matter. Diecast wheeled vehicles do roll like the HM Schwimmwagen here: link but it's nothing that can't be easily fixed with a tiny amount of Krazy Glue.

If you are worried that energetic handling will break the wheels, glue a black painted support that is the same depth as the ground clearance of the wheels under the wheeled model. It is hard to see and will hold up well in the roughest of games.

But are the say Tamiya Kits or the Blitzkrieg resin more fragile?

Also, if one were to go 1/48 for AFVs, can one still use jeeps in 1/56 or does that look odd?

Also, are the 28mm vehicle crews from various manufacturers in mostly metal good for fitting inside 1/48 halftracks, trucks and jeeps? I just want to know if these 28mm figures genrally fit into 1/48 vehicles, they dont have to be a perfect mating.

I put some Warlord plastic 28mm in some of my 1/48 and 1/50 vehicles
Tamiya M-10

Corgi Halftracks

Also I fitted some Westwind US jeep crewmen into some Corgi jeeps but had to make some green stuff feet for the seated men as they had no feet..

Nice…and very useful.

What sort of gaming mat is that?

Also, I found this showing a smallish 28mm Perry crew in a Blitzkrieg Models 1/48 Marder.

YouTube link

But are the say Tamiya Kits or the Blitzkrieg resin more fragile?

The Blitzkrieg resin kits are probably a little more durable because they're denser than polystyrene plastic and have fewer parts, but plastic kits are fine and many gamers including myself have no problem handling them in games.

Blitzkrieg and 1st Corps are not the only resin providers. Battlemart also offers a resin line called Precision Model Design.

Also, if one were to go 1/48 for AFVs, can one still use jeeps in 1/56 or does that look odd?

Some people do I'm sure, but I prefer not to mix 1/48 and 1/56 because the size difference is too noticeable. Mixing 1/50 and 1/48 is okay because they're close enough but 1/56 is simply too small when seen in proximity with 1/48 vehicles. I once bought a 1/56 Sdkfz 222 armored car but ended up selling it because it just doesn't look right with the other 1/48 stuff I have in my collection.

For Jeep Willys I use Corgi 1/50 diecast jeeps like the one below. Corgi also has a German Kubelwagen in the same scale. Victory Force offers 28mm crew you can use for them (see pic below the jeep).

Also, are the 28mm vehicle crews from various manufacturers in mostly metal good for fitting inside 1/48 halftracks, trucks and jeeps? I just want to know if these 28mm figures genrally fit into 1/48 vehicles, they dont have to be a perfect mating.

Victory Force figures like the ones above are fine for 1/48. Die Waffenkammer resin crew and riders would also work even if they're designed for its line of 1/56 vehicles. In some cases you may need to cut off part of the legs of figures to make them fit in the driver's seat of a model, but that's okay since the portion removed is going to be hidden in the vehicle anyway.

MiniPigs, the brighter green is a board painted with flock mixed into the paint. The duller green is a moss green fleece.

@28mm Fanatik,

Thank you for those photos. It makes sense what you say about the jeeps but when I see a nice model like the Tamiya Schwimmenwagen without a crew, I naturally worry about what seated figures are available.

When we were kids, my friends and I would build Tamiya 1/35 kits and play with them and aside from the odd tank wheel dislodging, the tanks were fairly robust. Wheeled vehicles were a different story and the axles used to break frequently. I wonder if the 1/48 Tamiya kits are made more for the wargamer? Same for the Airfix 1/48 kits?

If you could have Blitzkrieg resin (Or any makers resin) or Tamiya kits for wargaming and for the same price which would you prefer for visual satisfaction?

@Paul Liddle,

Also, loved the photos and thanks for the explanation of the boards. Smartly done.

The Tamiya kits are fairly robust. Their earlier 1/48 releases had metal undercarriages to give them more heft. Their newer quarterscale releases no longer have metal undercarriages though but they're still okay.

I favor plastic kits over resin when all else being equal because as a modeler I tend to favor detail over simplicity, but ymmv.

I never had any of the Airfix kits since I don't do moderns in this scale but they're probably alright.

So, if one wanted to do British commandos in the desert hitting the Afrika Korps depot sort of scenario (Not that I'm contemplating this, mind you), the Perry SAS/Desert vehicles would all be puny next to the 1/48 scale stuff? Does anyone make these sort of softskins in 1/48?

link

I don't have any Perry figs but I would imagine they would look small for 1/48. There are not a lot of North Africa stuff in 1/48 outside of tanks, especially for the LRDG/SAS, so you may be better off using 1/56 for this theater.