"Cheap Chinese 'Kits'?" Topic

I've been meaning to jot something down on these guys for awhile. While fishing around for a cheap APC to mechanise my 100+ HOF levy I came across some cheap Chinese 1:72 kits on ebay – so cheap that I went in for three rather than just as a tester. Marketed more as puzzles than kits, I think I saw them being sold in The Works (a UK discount chain) a year or two back, under the brand name 4D. They are to some extent a sort of spiritual successor to Airfix's old poly tanks and their subsequent imitations/knockoffs. They aren't really kits or accurate military models in any sense. There 2 series each with about 8 models in.

For the APC, allegedly a YPR-76S, hull is hard plastic with a back piece that doesn't fit vey well and leaves an ugly gap. The hull also has holes under the spade and the headlights for some reason (small enough to fill), plus an inexplicable soft plastic hatch in the middle of the rear deck. The chassis is a hard plastic underside with two sets of wheels that stick on and soft plastic tracks. The turret has about three pieces of hard plastic. The chassis looks way too small for the hull. Though Looking at the rest of the series the chassis appears to be common and probably works better with the tanks. The M113A2 suffers exactly the same problem.

No use as historical wargaming miniatures IMO, but for kit bashing sci-fi conversions, sufficiently cheap.

The same people seem to do a series of larger more complex-looking 1:72 plastic "kits" which include S-3000 launcher and battery control vehicles, an MRAP and a BTR. They also produce an eclectic choice in poor Caesar 1:72 figure knock-offs.

thanks.

Link or name of seller on eBay?

Search under Toys for '4D'. It'll take some digging, but there are several dealers.

found somw modern tanks:

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btr60:
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These have recently appeared, the M3 looks a bit of a horror show, but the Sdkfz 11 looks like it could be usefully hacked about for something 'Orkish'.

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The 4D model of the BTR-80 looks to be a 'simple build' model of the Trumpeter BTR-80. It's a decent model that looks to be correct for 1/72. The gun is too thick, but its good for wargaming. I bought 11 at $3.78 USD (there was a discount for buying numbers), with free (but slow) shipping. They are not the best models. But to quote Stalin, quantity (i.e. cheapness) has a quality of it's own.

The 4D tank models are middling at best. I ordered a M-88, T-72 and M1. They are 'box' size and not proper 1/72. The T-72 is close to correct but small, it might be 1/76ish. The model looks ok from the top, but the chasis is too short, even though it has seven road wheels instead of the correct 6, it's also got a silly number of return rollers, though they are covered by the side skirts. All the tracks are identical. I could see the T-72 being used in a game. The M-1 will not be. The M-88 is fairly close in size to ROCO M-88, and would look silly trying to tow a 1/72 M-1.

There are also versions of s-300 AKA SA-20 Surface to Air Missiles and they are decent models. They run about $9 USD – 10. At that price, I'd consider "apocalypsing up' the truck.

Yeah, I've thought the S3000 battery control vehicle might make a good basis for conversions – though I'd be going for sci-fi HQ vehicle.

4D again, 1:72 WWII, only just come across these, but I think they might be an older puzzle-type kit. Bit more expensive than the other stuff, but they are actually look reasonably detailed.

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