Small Scale Military Headquarters

Pardon me if this has already been brought up, I don't venture into the 1/32 area very often...but...wouldn't a B-17 in 1/32 scale be roughly the size of an Avenger or P-38?......any thoughts from the forum?

kimtheredxd wrote:tman I believe it was called CDL for canal defense light .mounted on obsolete tanks The normal turret was replaced by a cylindrical one containing a searchlight (projected through a vertical slit).

"Canal Defense Light" was just a cover name, these were never intended to be used around canals at all. The program had multiple cover names. In the US the CDL tanks (built on M3 "Lee" mediums here, and on M3 "Grants" in Britain) were called Leaflets in documents, in the TO&E for the special units they appeared as "Medium Tank, Special", to the factories and depots they were "Shop Tractor, T10".

The whole purpose was to create mobile, armored, searchlights to allow armor attacks at night. The vehicles were developed, and the units trained under the strictest of secrecy. The Top Secret nature of the program was its undoing. The British and Americans agreed not to give the surprise away with consulting each other. In the end, the whole program was scrapped. Very FEW CDL tanks ever saw combat, British or American.

Now back to 21C.

MR AREA 21 Sir; It would be nice if 21C would own up to the HORRIBLE job they did on the M4 Sherman and re-tool it. Most of the problem lies in the choice of enlarging the hatches so figures would fit in. This totally screws up the appearance of the front of the tank and isn't fixable without a total rebuild. The 21C tank also inherited all the flaws of the Tamiya Sherman kit that the 21C Sherman clearly was developed from. One (relatively) simple choice would be to re-tool the M4 as a "Hybrid" or "Composite Hull" type. In 1943 the M4 production changed from a welded front to a cast front added to a welded hull. This was done to improve protection and enlarge the drive hatches for easier escape. The advantages of this change would be;
1) The larger hatches WOULD allow figures to fit easily.
2) This version was seen in Europe as well as the late Pacific war.
3) The British and Canadians used quite a number of them, allowing for ACCURATE repaints.
4) The British used a number of "Hybrid" hull M4s for their "Firefly" conversions
5) Some of the late M4s in the Pacific were converted to flamethrower tanks.
6) From using the Tamiya kit as research, the suspension is a later version, however this suspesion is quite correct for the "Hybrid" M4.

We still badly need US trucks in 1/32nd! Any size bigger than a Jeep would help out.

Thanks.

Any word on those 2 new 1/32 planes yet?

The Stuka is one of them. I know the second one now but I am under orders for the moment. I think Roy Sutherland would rather I wait until he has some photos pulled together for the other plane. As a hint I will tell you guys that this airplane was used by more than one country and saw service in both the pacific and europe.

I am pretty sure WM is going to also get the new 32x figure sets. I am nit sure of the price though. Good luck.

tko211 wrote:The Stuka is one of them. I know the second one now but I am under orders for the moment. I think Roy Sutherland would rather I wait until he has some photos pulled together for the other plane. As a hint I will tell you guys that this airplane was used by more than one country and saw service in both the pacific and europe.

Tko, it's difficult, but I'll try to guess:

1) it must be the American plane (I don't think it would be the British one and the second country - one of the "smaller" Allies like Poland - in this case: Hurricane, Lysander, Wellington - they were used in Burma...),

2) in the case of bombers it would be clear: B-24 or B-25, but I don't suppose; maybe the A-20 Boston/Havoc?

3) it can be the SBD Dauntless, used as A-24 in the Free French Air Force, (a couple of dive bombers with Stuka!),

4) it could be the P-38, but who used them excepting US?,

5) P-36 (USAAF, Armee de l'Air, Finnish Air Force),

6) P-51B = Mustang Mk. III,

7) P-39 (used in Pacific and by Soviet Union),

8 ) C-47 Skytrain

9) no more ideas...

Wieslaw

Hello, The Corsair was used by the British and also was in both theaters.

Wieslaw-

Those are some very good options. Some of which I doubt I would have come up with.

But I am afraid the aircraft in question is not on your list. Sorry, there are some great ones in there though.

One more clue(for those who have not already guessed it!)... We didn't fully appreciate the value in this airplane until another country taught the US how to "fly it"

I vagly remember reading somewhere that the US Navy did not think the Corsair was good for Carrier use, alas, it was dubbed "The Ensign Killer", because of the torque from the engine.
It wasn't until the British perfected carrier landings with the Corsair, that the US Navy began using them and not relagating them exclusively for use by the Marine Corps on Pacific Islands.
I'll guess the Corsair..............I'd love one in 1:32 with or without folding wings.

I surrender... . Yes, it will be probably Corsair! I didn't know it was used in Europe , but it did! E. g. against "Tirpitz" in Norway! And the Hellcats of FAA too! I thought the dogfight: Corsair vs. FW-190 was only in the (great!) game "Airfix Dogfihter" possible! How much have I to learn! Well, the operations of the FAA - and generally the war on the seas - was never my favorite subject...

Wieslaw (waiting for the Stuka's opponents )

JOC is correct.

It was the British who taught the US carrier pilots how to fly the Corsair on a curved final approach all the way to touchdown. Using this technique the pilot would not lose sight of the touchdown zone.

I found out today that I will get a green light to make the announcement official on AREA-21 very soon. I should also be able to release what the S1 scheme will be as well in the follow-up article.

Hey TKO, since there are modifications to exisiting designs in the 32x extreme wings series, what are the chances of seeing a P-47D Razorback in 1/32?

Oh I would say the chances are very good somewhere down the line. I know the next 2 new 1/32 birds and a Razor is not one of them yet. That said the new 32x scale is a major bargain and the newer pieces are AWESOME.

I would bet that a Razor will be a must do at some point in the semi-near future.

TKO

What are the possiblities of doing bombers in this scale? I'm not talking about the big heavies like the 17 or the 24 but maybe a B-25 or a B-26.

I used an old Aurora Gas powered B-25 kit to build a B-25 in 1/32. See the custom section for my post. I think it is a very fesaible concept and it would fit in a 1/18 box. You may use my photos to show Roy

Corey

The options for bombers in 32x is pretty good in my opinion. The price point and box size would go up. I personally would love to see this happen and I would expect that someday, perhaps sooner than later we will see this. Roy has hinted to me that there is some significant potential for itmes like this.

My vote is in for a B-17 or B-25. I would take anything really!

I would most definiteley go for any 32X bombers they choose to make!

A lot of people don't collect both scales. AC especially. TKO may have an official answer but to suggest they not make an F4, a Mustang, a 109, etc...b/c they have been done in 1:18 makes no sense. I wouldn't be surprised if 21C sold more 32x planes than 1:18, so no reason 1:18 should limit 32x.

Eh this is the smaller scale so I will ask Here.

1-Tko, will the 1/144 warbirds include jets?

2-Will they have diecast?

3-Retractable landing gear?(This to me is a must, this is the sole reason I do not collect maisto, skybusters and others, if 21st were to implement jets AND retractable gear at this scale then it is a must buy! Would they be sold at walmart?

4-Is a 1/144 scaled WWII carrier possible now? I mean if 21st can make a 1/6 scale remote control tank or humvee....

5-When will these be shippied?>

6-What will the features be?

TKO please tell Roy about the retractable gear, NO ONE in the market is doing that in this scale! That ALREADY gives them the edge!

Hi Everyone,

Well in regards to bombers, this may help a little bit. My 1/32 scale B-25 (stop by the custom section to see her, very proud of her:) ) is roughly the size of the 1/18 Me-109 in wingspan. So that gives you an idea on the size we are dealing with here in these models.

I see the medium bombers as defintely able to be done in 1/32 scale. I'd personally rather see the B-26 because I already built the B-25. I also think a DC-3 is a must have in that scale. The problem is though, the bombers in other nations are not very well known in this country. The only one I see with a chance, well two, would be an HE-111 and the IL-2 because of the computer game. The others I just don't know about if you will see them because they would be pretty darn big.

I've held off getting some of the Corgi pieces in the hopes 21st will end up making them in 32 scale. I'd love to see a Spitfire and a Hurrican in particular. Only time will tell. I personally think this scale is the best compromise between size, detail and price. And we are getting a good deal, I put way too much money into my B-25 and god dang it don't even have retractable gear.

LOL

Corey