Small Scale Military Headquarters

Since 1/18 has been dead in the water for about two years, I am now switching to 1/32 figures and amour. As of right now, my only 1/32 piece is the 21st M4 Sherman w/ dozer blade, so I am used to the size difference between 1/18 and 1/32, but am totally naive to the market and manufacturers. From what I can see, Forces of Valor has the nicest looking items, but I want to see what else is out there.

Some things I would like to know about 1/32:
-Are the vehicles tracks/ wheels movable, and do they stay on or roll off?
-Is there any degree of movement in the figures?
-To make a decent diorama (i.e. fill up a 4 foot x 6 foot area) will I have to break the bank on figures and vehicles?

The pieces I would like to start off with:
-M4 Sherman
-Infantry sets of both US and German WWII forces
-A German tank. I am deciding between the France King Tiger, Italy Elefant, and the Kursk Panzer IV.

I am willing to spend up to $200 on my first items. Any suggestions on what I should get to begin my collection and where to get it from would be greatly appreciated, as well as some input on the quality of the items.

Thanks!

There is quite a lot for you to learn young 1/32 padawan.

The two major manufacturers are 21st Century (now defunct obviously), and Forces of Valor (the sole survivor!)

As far as the vehicles they offer:

-21st century vehicles are much like their 1/18 counterparts, just miniaturized. The have moving tracks/wheels and opening hatches. They have a basic paint scheme and not a whole lot of extra detail. The interiors of the vehicles are not painted/detailed at all and are basically just places to put figures. The tracks tend to stay on, as long as you aren't doing any eveasive maneuvers on your kitchen table. There is now weathering done to the exterior, and if you asked me I think their appearance leaves a lot to be desired, but I prefer my stuff customized and details. Some of them do have pretty small moving pieces, like the later released 1/32 marders, and you might need to be careful at times to avoid breaking things. Price-wise it used to be you couldn't beat 21st in the 1/32 category, paying between $15-$25 for a vehicle. But now, since 1st went under, the vehicles are fetching increasingly larger amounts (based on what I see on ebay). Vehicles usually come with a few figures, at least the earlier released vehicles.

-FOV has the nicer pieces of the two, but you have to pay more. The vehicles come highly detailed with opening hatches, moving tracks/wheels, and interiors (not full interiors, just an interior facade to make it look that way). The paint shemes are generally historically accurate and pretty well done. SOme can be over-weathered though (too heavy of a wash etc). The come with tons of accessories, and some really great figures; usually about 2-3 figs, but sometimes just one. Expect to pay between $40-$150, depending on what you want and how long it was made.

The figures offered by the two companies seem to be the exact opposite of their vehicle counterparts.

-21st offers really nice figure sets IMO, especially for the money you pay. If you can get your hands on the earlier series of them, grab them, they are really well done. The later releases (like Series 3 and after) definitely suffer the from the "mass-produced" disease and aren't as nice. The are static, as in they aren't poseable, so you kind of have to accumulate a good amount of them so you have one for all situations (at least that's my strategy). Packs usually come with 6 figures, although the later releases came in 3 packs.

-The FOV figures are bad IMO. They look really disproportionate, especially the hands! I personally have never bought a set for that reason. They just look so bad compared to 21st Century figures. They too are static and unposeable. The sets come with 5 figures if I recall correctly, and have a ton of accessories to boot. And now that I say it, they did make a few nicer sets, the medic set and a German POW set. I did get those lol...

Now, as to your diorama question, that is a little more tricky to answer. A 4 x 6 dio can be any level of "diorama". If we're talking a grass field with a road and smattering of vehicles accross it, then that will be pretty inexpensive. A city on the other hand can get expensive, unless you are adept at making your own buildings.

As far as your first purchases, $200 should get you quite a ways with 21st Century stuff if you are smart with your $. I would hunt ebay for good Buy It Now options. They are often your best bet as the typical auction style listings can bid up quite high. Also you can try your luck at toy soldier shows or the like, and once you've reached 6 months of membership, you can try the Buy/Sell/Trade forum here. If you are willing to trade any 1/18 items you might get some good trades.

I won't recommend a first group of vehicles to you, as that is highly dependent upon personal preference, but if it means anything, my FOV panzer IV is one of my favorite pieces.



-Kevin

Ok, now that I got the basics out of the way, we can go onto the more advanced 1/32 studies...

So if you are interested in collecting the more "toy grade" stuff, as in not plastic models you have to assemble, you're pretty much going to have to live with mostly FOV and 21st Century. There are exceptions however. Some companies like Airfix and Britains made some plastic and metal pieces that will go with the 21st and FOV pieces size-wise, but they aren;t quite on-par with them. For one they are generally unpainted plastic, or really blandly painted metal. They are also old, so you'll have a hard time finding them, and then once you find them you'll need to repaint them if you want to display them with the good stuff. They might have moving wheels (Like Britains 1/32 Daimler scout car), but moving tracks on this old stuff is rare (like the Airfix sdkfz 251 and cromwell). There are other manufacturers that some might mention, like CTS, but in my experience these items are too small to fit in.

Now if you are open minded to the non "toy grade" stuff, you'll have a few more options in terms of plastic model kits. Several companies produced 1/32 scale model kits back in the 70s and 80s, and they are quite unique offerings that oftentimes are vehicles not covered by any 21st or FOV productions. These companies include (but are not limited to) Monogram, Airfix, Renwal, Lindberg, and Italeri, and Bandai. The Airfix and Monogram kits are where you will find the most variety offered, and they are also the most common. Airifx offers 1/32 versions of the Crusader, sdkfz 250, humber car,M3 Grant/Lee, and 17 pdr AT gun. Monogram offers an sdkfz 232, jagdpanzer IV, brumbar, M8 Greyhound, M20 scout car, Flakpanzer IV Ostwind and Wirbelwind, M4 and M4A1. Renwal had a M41, a Duster, an Ontos, a SP howitzer, a nike missile set, and a huge atomic annie kit. Linberg had a sdkfz 222, a higgins boat, a PT 109 and M46 (I think). Italeri makes a few guns, like the Russian ZIS 3 and German PAK 40. Finally there is Bandai, which is kind of a tricky one. They made a "1/32" scale sdkfz 234/2 Puma that was actually more like 1/30 scale, but they made a few 1/30 scale vehicles based on the panzer IV that are actually near 1/32. Those are the Hummel, Heurshreke (sp?), and the jagdpanzer IV. There also a few poorly scaled 1/35 kits that can be counted as well. Those I've come across thus far are the vintage motorized 1/35 Tamiya M10, M36, and M4A3E2.

Figures are in abundance in this scale. Most are not painted, but that shouldn't be surprised to anyone who's seen bags of green army men. There are some pre-painted figs out there that work with 21st and FOV, namely Oryon 1/35 scale stuff, Dragon Can-Do 1/35 scale stuff, and some figarti stuff, but generally you have to pay more for them. If you want cheap figs just go with the airfix or italeri figures or the many repo companies out there.

1/32 civilian vehicles are also easy to find. There is a plethora of stuff in the 1/32 market that would be suitable for civilian vehicles for various theaters. Most lacking are probably the stuff you might see in Europe during WWII, but even those can be found with enough diligence (hint: vintage matchbox and Japanese companies).

Diorama stuff is also fairly easy to obtain. If we're talking the basics, just go to your local Michaels or Hobby Lobby during a holiday and go check out their diorama section. Not all is usable obviously, but you might come across a cobblestone road mat or field of grass. Other more war-centric stuff is available from several companies. The one that stands out the most is Build-a-Rama. Tons of great stuff, but it can get pricey. Also companies like figarti, frontline and other make diorama stuff.

Well, that is a lot of info, and I'm sure I'm missing a lot still, but I am trying not to overwhelm you too much lol

If you ever have any questions, feel free to send me a PM.


-Kevin

Thanks for the advice Kevin!

I own some tamiya 1/35 figures, as well as a 1/35 sd.kfz 251/1, so I am used to the smaller-scale modelling.

I do have a number of 1/18 items I would be willing to trade, like halftracks and some tanks, but I have to wait 5 months until I am able to deal on the trade/buy/sell forum.

The unfortunate thing is that over the christmas break I splurged on at least $400 worth of 1/18 on ebay, so I think I will have to wait a while so that the wife doesn't get annoyed.