Small Scale Military Headquarters

On the Motorpool website I counted 15 new FOV repaints in the works...with the majority of vehicles up to version 3 or 4. Yikes!! It's nice to have new choices, but I think a 4th version of the Schwimmwagen might be going overboard a bit!

Tim

Thanks for the tip Trojan, I just checked them out myself. I must say though, the crews for the new Half-Tracks (all of 'em) look great. I hope they use a little more variety with the crews for the tanks.

Just a thought.

-H

I agree the new halftrack guys are nice. I would also like to have some grunts to sit in the back of my halftracks!

Tim

Yeah,...some of these repaints are cool,...but lets face it,..it's time for a few of these to be retired too. The New FOV stuff that's slated for release any time this month,...is going to literally "BLOW" any Enthusiast away ! ....21st. has got some real competition in their 32x. vehicle dept.

I was wondering.....what would you guys thing if they did repaints of say a Sherman in nearly the same paint as another Sherman with only detail and number differances. That way you could place them next to each other and they would look like they were from the same unit. Each could come with half of a background piece. Like a hedgerow or something.

I wish I had a Sherman for all this damn snow I'm getting.

-H

It would'nt be cost effective for FOV to produce them in this way. It's so much easier and more fun to paint by stencil,..or put decal markings on them. ....."As far as your snow goes",....try the "BoB" Sherman,...it's already "white-washed". ....That is if you don't already have one. It's Bad ! ......I "white-washed" a couple of my extra Russian T-34/85's this way. I only have one,.. of their New, "white-washed" T-34/85's.

I just got some decals in the mail today. They are Trakz Registration/bumper stencils. They are great for modifying the numbers on all US Army vehicles. This way you can achieve the same unit appearance. I bought these for my Minichamps GMC 2 1/2 ton truck that I am working on. These trucks come with out markings, so you can make them up for any unit you wish. They have the standard national markings though, so not too much work required. Maybe FOV/21st could do vehicles with out individual numbers in the same way you can buy HO railroad cars that are undecorated...

TJ

Well I am glad I held off on buying a lot of the last repaints. Some of the new stuff with added crews look great. I love em FOV!

I have said this before as well as far as WWII figures go FOV has same great looking new stuff. Their Bread and butter is WWII and Modern warfare, so they have had time to sculpt and make english knights, Romans , Pirates, etc etc, Plus I now see additions in Cavalry sets. They all look great. But we better see some good US airborne figures, waffen SS , and pleanty of others! FOV, I hope you are listening!

That makes 19 new 1:32 WWII pieces so far. Sadly I think it's only 3 new molds. I hope they figure out thay can modify some of those and make new stuff M3 scout car (though that might be tough), Sherman with the Caliope, etc etc.

While I'm thinking of it, does anyone know if FoV has indeed retired some of the pieces. I know that's how The Motor Pool lists it.....but I have doubt.

-H

What I dont get about FOV is that they distribute through Toys R Us Who has a no German policy? I would think this would have FOV making new US pieces? At the very least a few new US pieces? WHERE is our Deuce?

Hi,
Unimax has a strategy regarding their FOV line that involves retiring older vehicles in favor of releasing the new schemes. This doesnt necessarily mean that they are sold out of the older items but are content to watch them sell down without replenishing the stock. Once the older stock sells out, they then plan to bring in the newest version. As a result, there is no set timetable as to when you can expect the newest versions to appear. Unimax could sell out of their older vehicles in two days or two months...all depends upon how much is drawn down from their existing stocks.

In regards to their new tooling, we finally got to see the new range (including the new repaints) today at Toy Fair (yes, we finally dug out from the snow although we got turned away from the Midtown Tunnel cause we still had snow on the roof of the car!). I must say, they look fabulous and we were very impressed by all the new products, even their new Historical Figure line (Romans, Pirates, English Knights, Civil War, etc.). Of course, the rise in wholesale prices was completely unexpected and quite dramatic. I guess zinc aint what it used to be...

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.bigstep.com

Well, that's not very encouraging news. Did ya at least get a few pics to hold us over until the stock sells down?

We have images of the new FOV repaints on our web site. I imagine these images will also be posted on the FOV site shortly....

BTW, one thing I did think was exceptionally cool was that you even get ammunition rounds for the 88mm gun. While they're small and prone to loss, it was a nice touch. In terms of painting, I really think Unimax has been stepping up the quality with each new batch of releases. Even with the price increases and the plastic content, sometimes I stand there in awe looking at these beauties. Personal favorites among the new batch was the 88mm, Sd. Kfz. 7/1, US M109A6, MLRS and believe it or not, the new StuG. The side skirts on the Stug even have potmarked dimples to indicate they were hit by medium caliber rounds...

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.bigstep.com

I was thinking more along the lines of pics you took at the show. Sorry for being vague.

Probably my bad, but I was in a crabby mood all day. Getting turned away at the Tunnel didnt help then paying $45 for parking in a nearby garage wasn't a lift either. About the only thing that did go well was registering, or the lack thereof. As soon as we walked in, a trade show employee gave us badgeholders so we could walk in without going through the arduous sign-in process.

Anyway, the pix on our site do the vehicles justice. I'm still amazed at the weathering and detail on some of the newest vehicles even if they do contain some plastic. You'd be hard-pressed to pass up this line if you havent as yet picked up any of their pieces.

As a side note, they're contemplating re-working their packaging and will introduce a new five panel box (much like the Dragon Warbirds packaging) for their new 1:72 scale F-14 Tomcat. I think the new box does a better job of explaining the product features and, if they carry this through to their 1:32 scale armor line, will ensure that some of the heavier armor doesnt detach from their screw-in bases.

While it'll take some time to bring all the marketing material to fruition, I think it'll help to improve the product range in a big way and make the vehicles even more collectible.

Lightning2000
www.themotorpool.bigstep.com

lightning2000 wrote:Anyway, the pix on our site do the vehicles justice. I'm still amazed at the weathering and detail on some of the newest vehicles even if they do contain some plastic. You'd be hard-pressed to pass up this line if you havent as yet picked up any of their pieces.

I currently have 13 pieces in my collection....all 1/32 scale modern vehicles and the 4 soldier divisions. And yes, the pics do the vehicles justice...I got 'em on my site. But I'd still like to see some up close digital pics.

Cool. I have 26 just counting WWII Tanks and Such. I hope FoV does well and keeps putting them out.

Thanks for the info Lightning. I guess I need to track down the one old piece I don't have.

-H