We have new stock from Masterbox on the way including these three great new kits :

Masterbox Motorcycle troops

Kradschutzen. German Motorcycle Troops on the Move – Four Figures, One motorcycle, PE Parts for the Motorbike.

MasterBox Deutsches Afrika Korps

Deutsches Afrika Korps – Four DAK AFV Crewmen, One Bedouin figure plus a Donkey.

MasterBox Who’s There ?

Who’s There ? – Three German Figures Plus Three Russian Figures

 

So keep an eye out for them mid-March.

There’s also some great new kits in the pipeline from Masterbox including 8th Army troops, Commonwealth Tank Crew in North Africa, Italian Troops, US Artillery Crew, US troops in Europe and more German troops in non-combative poses.

1/35, 8th army, dak, deutsches Afrika Korp, Master Box, Masterbox, Military Models, militarymodels

I’m thinking of starting my own resin moulding side of the business to reproduce some of the things I tend to scratchbuild.

As I have an interest in mobile FlaK platforms and truck conversions that’s will be the start point and I’d like to put out some 1/35 scale figures for the Pacific Theatre, things like ANZAC troops in New Guinea, Chindits, Merrill’s Marauders, Marines, Japanese etc.

But I’d also like to hear what the New Zealand Modelling community would like to see available.

1/35, ANZAC, chindits, Merril's Marauders, resin figures, resit conversions, scratchbuiltmodels

Pz.Kpfw III Ausf. G FAMO

FAMO, panzer III, pzkpfw III, Sdkfz 9

For those who missed it the 2010 Nuremberg Toy Fair has just been held and there are a few goodies to behold on the “coming soon” lists.

I’ve already covered the upcoming Artillery bonanza so here’s what else there is to look forward to.

In what looks to be a continuation of the 2009 trend towards more wheeled vehicles ( think Tamiya Citroen 11CV, Bronco Staff Car, Bronco Adler, Miniart British Staff Car, Zvezda Mercedes L4500 ) Tamiya brings us their new Austin “Tilly”, ICM a Kfz. 1 Staff Car and Kfz.2 Radio Car, Bronco a radio version of the Adler and most interestingly IGB enter the 1/35 scale market with an Einheitsdiesel in two versions, Telephone Truck and Cargo truck.

Why is that the most interesting ? Because IGB do a large range of 1/72 scale Bedford QL series and Chevrolet 15 trucks and it looks like they will also be upscaling some of those with a 1/35  Bedford QLD and a Chevrolet C15A No.13 listed as coming soon.

In other kit news …

Tamiya will be bringing us some new – and some new look make overs – with a Japanese Type 3 and  a Type 5 Tank as well as a  the JagdTiger “Otto Carius” – which just looks to mate the figures and bike from their King Tiger Ardennes kit with their new JagdTiger. Figurewise there’s a US Field Maintenace set which whilst it appears to be made up primarily of the figures and accessories from the Red Ball Express kit does have a much welcomed frame and hoist included.

Trumpeter has their eye on PaperPanzers it seems with an E50 and E75 as well as the Grille 21, and some more bits for those of you building Armoured Trains.

Dragon is possibly playing it close to the chest with only the Nashorn that we already knew about ( going head to head this time with AFV Club’s own Nashorn ). A little dissappointing for me really as Dragon seems to be sticking to the tried and true and we aren’t really seeing anything innovative and exciting, more StuG variants upon variants, Sherman variants upon variants and old kits given a make-over into Smart Kits or Orange Box. Hopefully it is just a case of keeping things hush hush and this year will still bring us more fresh kits from them like last year’s Sd.Kfz 7 range, and the Pz.Kpfw IV based variants like the Ostwind, Bergepanzer and Wirbelwind ( I’m still holding out for a Mobelwagon and an Sd.Kfz 8 )

ICM as mentioned have the Kfz.1 and Kfz.2 as well as a nice looking set of Russian Field Medics and of course their recently released Studebaker with the Stalin Organ rack. More expensive than the Zvezda one but then the Zvezda one is the wrong type of vehicle for WWII.

Miniart will be bringing us a Valentine Tank, initially as a lend lease Soviet version but I assume there will no doubt be a standard British/Commonwealth service version not far behind.

Masterbox have their DAK panzercrew with a Bedouin on a donkey now out and still to come are a set of Soviet and German troops in urban fighting, a British 8th army tank crew with bedouin on a camel, US Artillery crew as well as US Infantry with nuns and there’s still hope for a 2010 release of the Horsa Gliders and possibly also the long awaited Ju52 and C47.

So plenty to look forward to this year.

8th army, AFV Club, bedouin, bronco, c47, dak, dml, dragon, icm, ju52, Masterbox, miniart, nuremberg toy fair, sherman, stug, tamiya, trumpeter, zvezda

Well last year we saw the release of the Dragon M1A1 75mm as well as the Vulcan version, some big German guns from Trumpeter, the absolutely beautiful Dragon PaK 43/3 L/71 and the Bronco Bofors to name but a few, and that trend looks to continue.

AFV Club’s 2010 line-up of releases includes their own Bofors and an M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer as well as a new German S.IG 33 Field Howizer and a US M2A1 105mm Howitzer. They also have a new Flakveirling 38 in the pipeline which will be a welcome replacement for the somewhat dated Tamiya kit which is currently our only standalone offering  and the icing on the cake is a planned ammo accessory set for the Flakveirling 38 as well. I for one love the prospect of that having spent a fruitless year trying to get ahold of the Tristar version.

Trumpeter is also to release their 37mm FlaK 37 and Flakveirling 38 as seperate kits together with an Sd.Ah 52 trailer but no word yet on if they have corrected the inaccuracies in the Flakveirling from the Sd.Kfz 7/1 kit - though no doubt Dragon will be racing them to the post to get the Flakveirling 38 and FlaK 37  from their  Sd.Kfz 7/1 and Sd.Kfz 7/2  kits out as stand-alone kits.

Add to all this MasterBox’s US Artillery Crew Figure Set, Dragon’s own S.IG 33 and a new PaK 36, Trumpeter’s Soviet 122mm and 152mm Howitzers – and does the proposed 21cm Grille portend a freestanding 21cm Mortar ?

All that’s left to ask is with all this US, Soviet and German Artillery where is a up-to-date retake on Tamiya’s venerable 25pdr and a decent 6pdr in styrene ( apologies to resicast’s beautifully rendered resin North African version ) ?

With Tamiya’s trend of late to target the North African campain with their new releases - albeit usually existing kits made over with DAK themes – is there hope for a rejuvinated 25pdr ? Or am I just asking for too much in the midst of what already looks like an artillery fan’s paradise of a year ?

AFV Club, artillery, m1a1, m2a1, Masterbox, sig 33, trumpeter