I recently built a Tamiya plastic WWII tank kit – the “M3 Lee,” in 1/35th scale. I really like the M3 Lee tank. It was one of WWII’s least appreciated vehicles. It sat up too high, making a really pretty silhouette to aim at, and the main gun was off to the one side, making it at least 50% less effective at shooting directly in front. That said, I like the look. It has a very “WWI – 2.0 vibe.” That’s probably not a good thing, It’s maybe not even a “thing” at all, but there it is. I’ve built at least 2 previously, and I’ll probably build a couple more before I’m done.
The model itself turned out pretty much as expected. It looks a lot like a plastic WWII tank, it is rather overdone with the weathering and mud, and it required me to replace several pieces that I either broke while removing from the sprue, or dropped and lost through poor manual dexterity. As the Mandalorian would say:
“This is the way.”
But I noticed something while building it. It was very similar to previous Tamiya tank kits I’ve built over the years, so I went and checked. It is the exact same kit that was made in 1974. The date is stamped on the inside of the hull. That’s when it was originally tooled, and hasn’t changed in 50 years. That’s both cool, and a little thought provoking. I really enjoyed building it. I enjoyed it as much now as I did as a kid in the 1970s. But I thought about advancements in plastic modeling, and the COST of current (i.e. more recently designed) models. That same M3 Lee tank, by a more recent company (Mini Art, Takom, etc.) sells for between $55 and $85, depending on which version you choose. Meanwhile, the old Tamiya tank can be found in a bargain bin at a local model show table for less than $10. I think I paid $6 for mine.
But there are very noticeable differences. Mine has the standard “rubber-band” tracks. The new ones have individual, multi-piece links. My entire kit (except for the aforementioned track assembly,) is 100% injection-molded polystyrene plastic. Many of the details on those new kits are photo-etched brass, cast resin, or machine tooled aluminum. Yes, you are definitely getting what you pay for. But, given the fact that my original kit resulted in “pretty good” results, I don’t see the value of investing in a higher quality kit, only to make the same clumsy errors, at 10 times the cost. The lesson is, “Know your limits.”
HOWEVER… I saw a couple of recent reviews of a new release of Tamiya’s 1/35 scale German Machine Gun Troops. I have built A LOT of Tamiya WWII Germans. The Panzer Grenadiers kit alone has seen my tabletop at least 5 times. In fact, I have one waiting RIGHT NOW for me to build. I’m looking forward to it. The box art on those 1970s Tamiya miniatures is so inspirational. The poses are dynamic. The figures look great. I just LOVE those guys.
But the NEW, 2024 re-tooling on the German Machine Gun Team puts the old ones to shame. I watched a couple of YouTube comparison videos of the 1970s miniatures vs. the new ones. The details seem to just jump off the plastic. The folds in the cloth, the stitching on the accessories, the expressions on their faces… it’s like a comparison of the iPhone to a couple of soup cans and a string. The old style, 1975 tooling is still available today, on the shelves as I write this, for about $7. The new version is currently available at a local hobby store for $15. Yes, it’s twice the price. But it’s only twice the price. It’s not 10 times the price. Maybe once I build up these STILL REALLY COOL 1975 vintage guys, I’ll pay a visit to the hobby shop, and cough up an extra $15, just to try out the new ones.
I’ve always done better with miniatures than with armor. Maybe I can pull off a “really nice” instead of a “pretty good” for this go around. Time will tell.
-Toph
I look forward to it every year. It starts making select appearances in late August or early September, but by now, it’s everywhere. And sometimes, it’s even on sale!
