I looked up photos of the Matchbox sprues online, traced over the diorama parts in them with Adobe Illustrator, and then scaled them up to 1:35 (easy to do by measuring up the diorama from the Revell version of the kit and multiplying its dimensions by ⁷⁶⁄₃₅). All I then had to do was print them out and use them as templates. See my album about this diorama on Scalemates for more.
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I actually never built a Tamiya kit as a teen; they were a bit pricey for me at the time and the only two shops that carried the brand were on the complete opposite side of town from me. So my early days were mostly Aurora, Hasegawa, Revell, Monogram, and Bandai.
I didn’t build my first until I got the Panzer II with a Hobby Lobby coupon in 2013, age 49. Tamiya make up about 10% of my stash at present.
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You can reduce the “launch” risk by wrapping some masking tape around each jaw so your slippery hard plastic part isn’t squeezed between slippery bare metal jaws! And unlike specialist rubber-coated tweezers the masking tape can be removed or replaced whenever needed…
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I don’t have any of my first models. They are long gone.
But i do still have this Tamiya panther I experimented on in the late nineties.
It’s just model for trying new techniques/ stuff on, now a days.
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Welcome!
My first kit was actually this exact Tamiya Panther A late.
I tossed it long ago, but it was a disaster.
I didn’t have sprue cutters or nippers, just a scalpel, testors model master glue as well as their black, olive green paint, some cheap brushes and some lichen.
This was in 1999, I had just seen Saving Private Ryan and spent all my lawn mowing money with my mom on a Hobby Lobby run lol.
My model was awful. I cut myself a lot by accident, used way too much glue with far too little precision.
Once construction was complete, I then painted the tools and road wheel rims black and used the olive green paint to paint the camo scheme on the box art by hand. I just let the plastic’s color serve as the dunkelgelb base.
Finally, I glued some lichen all over it.
My next model was the Dragon 1:35 Sdkfz 250/1 Spw Alte which was a whole different world and major challenge for a 12yr old. It was the old one. The box art showed the vehicle going over a small wooden bridge with the crew members leanign out to check clearances. I believe it was DML 6117, but I’m not positive. I remember it fondly, though, because It was later in the school year and I had more lawn mowing money and was able to buy Squadron’s excellent ‘Panzergrenadiers in Action’ book at Barnes and Noble the same day I got the 250 kit. It was a great way to immerse myself in the schutzenpanzerwagen German halftrack world before the internet was anyhtign close to what it is today.
Yeah, this Tamiya Panther A has probably served as the first build for more modelers than any other kit. It has some major dimension issues and is extremely dated, but it’s about having fun. I actually do recommend Tamiya for new builder’s first kits, just other kits. Tamiya is a great place to start.
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Hmm. This was still around about 2 years ago. A Tamiya motorized 1/35 Jagdpanther. Long before the Internet, I recall the plastic was excellent, treads detailed flexible material not rubber but the chassis piece came with 2 electric motors with an intended hard wired controller needing 4? C batteries. I left the motors in but left the wires exposed underneath. I attached alligator clips to wires from controller so I could drive it when I wanted and then otherwise renew it. The controller had buttons and I could make the model go forward, reverse, turn even 360 D over the wires. In later years it became a reminder of original Tamiya versus new. Now I smile at the simplicity of RC gear for 1/35, but I have moved on.
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