Ah, if you’re just worried about how it looks along with the others, I wouldn’t sweat it. Nor would I worry about whether or not it’s “the best” Sheridan out there, because clearly it ain’t.
There are modelers here who even go so far as to tell other modelers who display their builds, “You’ve should’ve gotten X instead of Y, because it’s light years ahead.”
People who want critique on their model don’t want to hear that they could’ve had something better. It’s too late for that. So why try to deflate them? Interestingly, one person who says those things need to learn that it’s not the kit, it’s the builder. If you can adequately glue pieces of plastic together (just like everyone else more than eight years old) it really doesn’t matter which kit you build if you can’t put down a decent paint job that doesn’t look like the kit was dipped in paint, or apply decals correctly, or even weather that kit correctly. I’d rather see a nicely built model of an old dog than a poorly executed kit that is “light years” ahead of it.
I happened across this old thread mentioned below. You can skip most of the drivel in the later posts. The Academy was supposed to be better than Tamiya’s old dog. But the Tamiya turret was actually better. I say built the hell out of those kits, have fun with them, and don’t worry about what a couple of old geezers cafre about the accuracy of it. (I say this as an old geezer obsessed with accuracy - but with my own builds, not yours. There’s a difference.)
There’s some good advice within all that; I’m currently building two of the Academy versions and I’m aware of some of the flaws, and in some areas I perhaps should have concentrated on a few corrections, or just watched where I splashed glue about or forgot to sand down some over thick plates, but you know what? It’s been great fun. Some areas are a bit of a challenge, which hopefully I can meet and it’s continuing to be (nearly) all enjoyable.
What would help this discussion would be some pics - especially of the venerable Tamiya beast (about which I know very little), but any would help things along I think, not to set yourselves up for criticism, but just for general interest.
I’ll start the ball rolling; these are covered within another topic in the Cold War Armour section, but they’re apposite enough for this discussion I feel. Both Academy, and both to probably be finished in the MASSTER schemes, hence the completed one in a base coat of Tamiya Deck Tan. The stowage rack on the unfinished one is really there for structural purposes not accuracy, as I plan to attach quite a bit (just before someone decides to pull me up on that!) Anyway, don’t let me be the only one:
Im wondering about how it looks, scale-wise.
Overall the old Sheridan kit isn’t bad, and Im sure we’ve all seen much worse, but when you have a line of tanks which are supposed to be the same scale and one stands out because it appears larger than it should, and compared to the others, it kinda sticks out like a sore thumb. Now if the difference is a mere couple of mm, I can live with that. If every measurement is off by several mm in every dimension and scales closer to 1/32nd, I feel that I couldn’t display it with the other tanks in it’s class, much like displaying similar model cars, but one is 1/25th while the other is 1/24th. The difference is subtle but still noticeable.
Edro
I do take your point; I am normally quite stringent with myself, and yet, I sometimes infiltrate 1/32 what I call “secondary models” into a display if necessary, not that this applies normally, the main kit on display will always be, as far as I can make it work, 1/35; where was I? Oh, for instance I plan, and it may even involve one of my Sheridans, to portray it as on German farmland, and I wish to have a tractor trundling by in the background. “Background” being a relevant term as the base will only be of the European paper-size dimensions of A3 (16.5" x 11.7") and the tractor, inevitably due to its type and sheer availability will be 1/32. It will however, have a 1/35 driver(!)
The immediate solution to your problem of course, is to purchase a new Sheridan perhaps; keep the original for novelty value, but do let us see a pic please.
As an aside, in addition to Tamiya’s more recent efforts, I believe Rye Field Model do a couple.
Honestly, what it really all comes down to is how much this bothers you. Trust me when I say that almost no one else will notice the fractional scale differences and even fewer will even know details about the dimension errors. We, who are fans of AFVs, their technology and history, can often fool ourselves about what those in the non-AFV fandom see and think about our scale models. Unlike civil automotive subjects which are very familiar to even the casual observer (and are in this respect similar to figure models), except for folks like ourselves, hardly anyone is familiar enough with AFVs to spot or notice any sort of minor scale incongruities. A casual viewer may intuit that something is not quite right looking at a mixed display of 1/25 and 1/24 scale car models, but even a mixed display of 1/35 and 1/32 scale armor models won’t raise many eyebrows.
So, if this particular incongruity does bother you, by all means build a replacement for your collection / display using one of the newer, more accurate kits. However, if you’re concerned about some general public perception of your display, have no worries. Viewers are much more likely to notice minor differences in the scales of any figures you’re displaying (mixed 1/35 and 1/32, for example) than the actual AFV models, themselves.
That Michael, in a nutshell, is an excellent summary of what, in my opinion, we all need to bear in mind at times. I just couldn’t put it as aptly as you have(!)
I think sometimes what I refer to as doctrinal aspects, cloud our thinking a bit; it’s the same with colours, we end up getting wrapped around the axle over the slightest hiccup when finishing a model. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for accuracy, both in colours and scale, but my particular aim is effect, and if I achieve what I set out to do, ie if the idea of my model/dio has more or less come to fruition (sometimes less I must admit) then I’m normally happy enough.