Landships II

I hope it materialises. It must be easier to assemble than the Matador Models conversion kit. Hannants still don't have it listed in their 'Future Releases' section.

However, I am wondering if Master Box will be making a Mark IV and a Mark IV Tadpole. We all know that the Emhar kits have as many problems as the Airfix kits.

Rob wrote:

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Personally, I wonder what the allure of the Tadpole is, seeming as none entered active service?

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Maybe it's something like the allure of the LKII, the FT75BS, the MS-1, the Medium B, or perhaps even the Steam Tank?

For me the allure is it's a WW1 AFV 1/72 plastic model kit, as opposed to any other period. I still hold on to the hope that if enough people bought WW1 AFV kits, more plastic manufacturers would make more of them, and maybe one day someone will make a Mark V, Rolls Royce AC, St Chamond, Schneider, Austin AC, etc and etc.

I do see your point, Pat, and I find it both baffling and frustrating that one cannot get a Tank Mark V in 1/72 plastic (to pick just one example). But in Emhar's defence (and I can't think why I should defend them!), they did start with tanks that actually saw service; the Mark IV (awful kits!), Medium A (good kit), and the A7V (good kit).

I must admit I feel that  Emhar have picked the wrong horse when they down scaled the 1/35 tadpole. The MkV would have been the more popular choice as it has more potential from 1918 to the early 40s. However like PDA I feel that beggars cannot be choosers as WW1 modellers are usually ignored or treated with contempt ( consider the Airfix MkI female where they could not be bothered to correct the known roof errors only add an extra spruce with the female bits) . Any reasonable subject would therefore be welcome if it  actually was produced.

Who knows it may be the catalyst for the leading manufactures to start producing WW1 tanks (at the same time a 1/6 scale pink flying pig should also be considered). There a  large number of fantasy '1946' Nazi products  available which did not get off the drawing board and the leading manufactures think these will   sell.  At least there were a few tadpoles made and trailed - produce some fantasy decals including a couple of iron crosses and the sales would go up straight away!  

Interesting that the pictures of the mock up appears to based on the female model rather than the male version - clearly this would be preferable as the female is more accurate and in 1918 the Hotchkiss guns may have replaced the Lewis. However it is still the basic model with add ons - but it is worth considering the price of the Matador conversion and a basic female model together is  around £20 so this product will be cost effective.  Also anyone who has attempted to use the Matador conversion of the tadpole know that it is not the easiest  project and the final result  is not brilliant especially the rivets which stand out like sore thumbs. 

However, I do wonder when it will actually materialise - think back how long it took for the WW1 American figure set to appeared  (lets not consider the Peninsular figures that have appeared but never appeared in shops) . It was 'coming soon' for awfully  long time.

Tonys wrote:

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There seems to be a swing away from the 3rd Reich stuff at long last and some unusual stuff is coming from the Chinese/Japanese/Russian firms.

If you look at the stuff that Meng has been producing, there's hope yet for us.

The best news for naval model makers is that at last, someone has done HMS Belfast in 1/350!!!  One hopes that HMS Nelson will be next.

The searching for new modelling niches and the upcoming WWI anniversary could show some interesting stuff coming out, especially if Tamiya is getting involved.

We are seeing some very esoteric stuff coming out (concrete landship, the Object 278 tank {3 different firms bring out models of a tank that never saw production}, pick-ups with HMGs on the back) so by the law of averages, something decent will come out for WWI model makers.

Tony

 

Yes I think there will be more surprises over the horizon as there are so many new projects that  could produce.   I see that Revell is          (re?)releasing a 1/350 of SMS Emden which I would like to have a look at. Certainly this small cruiser had a short but very active career until it bumped into the HMAS Sydney.

Who knows what extra bits will appear next year - HaT has a lot of WW1 items but they do seem to have ground to a halt this year. One can only hope their early German sets will reappear because they disappeared a while ago.

.......and of course we will probably see Airfix re-release their 50  year old range of WW1 products again , flash and all!

One hopes your sentiments are correct about the leading manufacturer's obsession on the third Reich as it tarnishes all modellers - however looking at other sites there are many of the rose tinted glasses brigade out there who are addicted to their tigers, panthers and will keep buying such vehicles no matter how many times are repeated.  

 

 

 

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