"Airfix reissuing the 1/32 figures for 2021" Topic

link

Well, most of them, anyway: British, German and US infantry and paratroops.

That's great! Missing some good ones. Hopefully they'll be released later.

Thanks.

John

But why are they making kits in 1/35th which are not compatible?

Because that's the default scale for modelling, not 1/32.

Thanks.

John

It is irritating though. 54mm / 1:32 was the default scale in this approximate size for years, and still is for pre-WW2 subjects. In the 60s Tamiya decided to go for roughly 1:35 because this was the smallest size you could fit a motor and battery into. As a result we now have two different scales for vehicles and figures.

The Airfix Lee / Grant in 1:32 were excellent but never get a re-release. The Crusader has been reissued several times. Probably we won't see these again now they've switched to 1:35 (and likewise to 1:72 from 1:76).

The current 1:35 Airfix tanks are all reboxes of Academy kits, although I have heard that the Cromwells are new Airfix toolings.

I'm a 54mm gamer using 1/32 troops and vehicles for the most part. I completely agree. The majority of modeler's just don't.

Thanks,

John

Get a 3D printer and make your own. Lots of free or low cost files out there. Easy enough to find designers willing (for a payment) to create a file of something you want.

The nicest thing I've found in using my 3D printer, is how easy it is to scale up or down (usually) the 3D files I can find on the web.

@ Dan

Once time and $$ permit, something like that could indeed be my next investment. You can only wait so long for a 1/32 PaK 38 to come along on the 'bay (at other than stupid Forces of Valor collectors' prices).

You'd need a large 3d printer to print 1/32 scale vehicles. I have a Mars 2 and 28mm vehicles are a challenge. Even more so on my regular Mars. A Saturn would make things easier. But you'd need to slice a lot of parts up to make it fit. Doable. But not simple. I'm scaling 28mm and 15mm scifi vehicles up and down to 25mm. Buying from the UK is just too expensive for shipping. Printing they'll run me around 2 to 4 bucks each. Lot better than 25-40.00 per.

Thank

John

Good. I love a lot of their figures.

I'm not willing to pay ridiculous prices for them.

Eric

Last time they were out, they eventually got down to £2.99 GBP on Amazon, at which point I filled my boots. Rude not to at that price.

@ John L: yes, in 1/32 you'd need to kit bigger vehicles, but then again, in 1/32 how many bigger vehicles can you use unless you're blessed in the table-size department? Bren carriers and anti-tank guns seem doable.

Of course Monogram had a whole series of tanks/vehicles in 1/32nd. You can find a list here:
link

Still can be found at reasonable prices.

The Shermans, Lee, 232 and Panzer IV have all been reissued recently, but the M3 Grant and most of the Panzer IV variants go for collectory prices, unfortunately. Monogram also wasn't sure whether some of those other were 1/32 or 1/35. They did have a pretty good range though – for 1/32 figures on most people's tables I'd guess skirmishes between recon forces or Panzerjager ambushes would be popular and they gave you those all right.

An outfit from Ukraine called 'Ogonek' (which means 'Spark' apparently) did a small range of ostensibly 1/30 Russian types – ISU-152, T-34,etc – but I have had and measured these at more like 1/28. There are some old Bandai kits in 1/30 and Nichimo recently reissued its 1/30 range for reasonable money. These 1/30 models are generally more compatible with 1/32 figures than are 1/35, in my view.

The trick I think is to keep your eyes peeled for the odd reissue. hlj.com is a good place to look.

I've been printing 1/56 files for a friend without any issues on a Prusa 3D printer. Largest vehicle so far has been a JagdPz VII (Tiger), cost about a dollar in filament and some electricity (and hours of printing). If someone would tell me how to post pictures here, I'd be glad to post some.

Free 3D files can be found on Thingiverse.com.

Dan

Yeah, there are a load of files. I have printed up 150 6mm WWII vehicles.

Thanks.

John

For the Mongram 1/32 War II vehicles, you could find some here:

link

Revell also made some excellent War II vehicles and figures. They turn up sometimes at the link.