Definitely grabbing one of these for Christmas
and
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I’ve already built a FAMO but that first illustration had me ready to build a second one and put this on my pre-order list. Then I saw it was all photo etch. Hmm. I’m really good at photo etch but this doesn’t look like fun to me. Get just one corner slightly off, that throws everything else off and the whole thing is ready for the bin… not my cup of tea. If it were 3D printed I’d be all over this kit like a monkey on a cupcake but I think I’ll save my money on this one.
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It looks beautiful but the PE frames alone can be close to a nightmare. And I am not even sure all those rivets come in place…
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I had the same thought. Really liked it till I saw all the PE
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Yes, I’m not buying to give my hold & fold a work out, but… And, don’t be surprised to see this in styrene once available as a PE extravaganza.
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I like that crane version. Not that there’s anything wrong with the gun truck, but I already have several trucks with guns in back.
Not so many with a crane.
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And, looking at the red panel, bottom right hand corner, there are two different crane profiles.
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While the first subject definitely interests me, someone will eventually produce an accurate model of the whole vehicle in plastic. If I purchase the conversion set now, a complete plastic model of the subject will likely appear before it gets used, causing me a net loss of money and time. That sort of thing has happened to me on many occasions, such that I now avoid adding a conversion set to the stockpile unless I intend to use it immediately.
I wish the model designers much success but that is too much model for me.
Edit: It appears Trumpeter announced a plastic version of this vehicle in 1/35 scale back in 2021.
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I was onboard too until I saw the Brass. Nope. Trumpeter have been promising one of these for a while now. I’ll wait for that. Can’t be too long now they have their own 8.8. Then there’s PSP and Wespe in resin and another IIRC.
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Yes, I’ve rushed to buy a resin kit of an esoteric subject, not expecting to see it in styrene, only to see it released before I’d started, always cheaper, and sometimes better detailed.
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Even before seeing this one I feel it is safe to say that the 3D and resin model offered by Panzer Concepts is THE definitive version of the Famo Crane on the market today. Also the one from PC, even as I type this, is going through a generational upgrade to their first offering.
As to the gun truck with the mounted 88; it is not all the etch I would dread working with there. It would be the Super Glue I would dread.
Oh, and a p.s.
WHY does Tamiya never seem to have any interest in offering variants to their most popular kits? Models for which they have 80-90% of the research and patterning already complete? The armored Famo 88 gun truck would be easy for them to do (They already have the truck chassis AND the gun!) And then WHY no open cab Dragon Wagon or the post-war A1 trailer for same?
p.p.s
And why not a Hard Cab Deuce and a Half and also a Short Wheelbase Deuce?? Plus why the 1941 Ford Command Car and Japanese Bulldozer in 1/48th but not in 1/35th?
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Yes. Why is this? They will churn out a bunch of variations of the same race car but can’t try to pull more money out of an older mold? Obviously the race cars are a larger market than a FAMO but after so many years not one variant?
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Gents,
I can answer that…the 1/35 market is a small fraction of Tamiya’s business, they do more of everything else than 1/35, paints: cars, RC, etc and the 1/35 market is well covered by a growing number of companies, why compete?
I agree, Tamiya could do more variations of their existing kits, but it’s not part of their business model (no pun intended), and do really well for the effort.
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But that’s one of the things: Other than the resin kits out there who would be their competition for a FAMO variant in injected plastic? It would totally be their niche as the FAMO is already and would entice me to buy another. And that doesn’t stop them from offering planes in 1/48 already covered by multiple companies.
But I do understand this is only a tiny part of their overall output and not their money maker.
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Brek, No offense but I have heard that reasoning before and honestly I am getting tired of it. *(and I refuse, in this day and age) to accept it.
Consider for a moment, the amount of investment $$$ it took to create the Famo model in the first place. Now are we saying Tamiya is too big a company to be bothered or interested in offering variants that could double their sales on the Famo for only a 20-30% additional investment?
That is like saying Tamiya is not interested in an additional return on the sizable investment they have already made. Not interested in making money???
However, even if what you say is exactly correct; My response to that would be that as a long time supporter of the Tamiya product line I am both offended and insulted if this is their actual Modus Operandi. Especially given the improved technologies and reduced cost of producing new model kits these days. That is like saying “we are the phone company - too big to care!”
Apologies for the bravado here.
And?!? That was/is the attitude of the phone company, Wal Mart, and a bunch of others. Why should Tamiya be any different?
Ken
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Here’s my progress on the Trumpeter kit. A lot of extra work to convert it to a late model using PanzerConcepts 3d printed parts. I still have the gun to build, then final mist and modulation
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coat and weathering.
None of the pics are uploaded
He hit the Reply button too quickly. You have to let them complete uploading before hitting Reply.
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