406
Official Assembly Instructions / 280018 SdKfz 251/1 Ausf D
« on: April 03, 2015, 11:34:59 am »
Assembly Instruction for the SdKfz 251/1 Ausf D
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
407
Official Assembly Instructions / 280017 StuG III Ausf G
« on: April 03, 2015, 11:28:19 am »
Assembly Instruction for the StuG III Ausf G
INSTRUCTION HAD BEEN UPDATED
PLEASE CHECK POST BELOW...
INSTRUCTION HAD BEEN UPDATED
PLEASE CHECK POST BELOW...
408
Work In Progress / Tank, Cruiser, Mk VI (A15 Crusader) - Project CLOSED!
« on: April 01, 2015, 07:26:54 pm »
It may be April Fools Day, but we are serious!
409
Showcase & Gallery / SdKfz 251/8 Ausf D - Ambulance
« on: March 14, 2015, 10:49:24 am »
SdKfz 251/8 Ausf D - Ambulance
One of the possible variants you can build from the "SdKfz 251D 3-in-1 Combo Kit #1" (280019). Other variants include the SdKfz 251/7D (Assault Engineer) and the SdKfz 251/10D (3.7cm PaK 36 with full or half shield).
Also including miniatures from The Assault Group (TAG) - LWG-024 German Medics & Casualties - for size comparison. Vehicle and miniatures painted by Kent Lee.
Enjoy!
One of the possible variants you can build from the "SdKfz 251D 3-in-1 Combo Kit #1" (280019). Other variants include the SdKfz 251/7D (Assault Engineer) and the SdKfz 251/10D (3.7cm PaK 36 with full or half shield).
Also including miniatures from The Assault Group (TAG) - LWG-024 German Medics & Casualties - for size comparison. Vehicle and miniatures painted by Kent Lee.
Enjoy!
410
Showcase & Gallery / T-34/76 Model 1943 with Russian Infantry wielding PPS-43
« on: March 14, 2015, 02:22:06 am »
T-34/76 Model 1943
Bonus T-34/76 Hex turret from our new T-34/85 (280021) plastic kit... showing conversion of mixing steel and rubber roadwheels from spare parts of the same kit (280013).
Also including miniatures from The Assault Group (TAG) - SVR-006 Russians with PPS-43 - for size comparison. Vehicle and miniatures painted by Kent Lee.
Enjoy!
Bonus T-34/76 Hex turret from our new T-34/85 (280021) plastic kit... showing conversion of mixing steel and rubber roadwheels from spare parts of the same kit (280013).
Also including miniatures from The Assault Group (TAG) - SVR-006 Russians with PPS-43 - for size comparison. Vehicle and miniatures painted by Kent Lee.
Enjoy!
411
Showcase & Gallery / The Evolution of a Tiger...
« on: March 12, 2015, 12:32:01 am »
We have painted some Tiger Is for your enjoyment...
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
412
Official Assembly Instructions / Roadwheels 102 - T-34
« on: March 07, 2015, 06:39:07 pm »
Roadwheels 102 - T-34
Simple Roadwheels Conversion
Do you know you can make creative conversions by simply moving the roadwheels around on our T-34/76 kit? Simly use a fine hobby saw or a sharp hobby knife to cut from the back of the tracks and remove the wheels you wanted to replace.
Look at the results we have shown you here...
Will post painted results later!
Simple Roadwheels Conversion
Do you know you can make creative conversions by simply moving the roadwheels around on our T-34/76 kit? Simly use a fine hobby saw or a sharp hobby knife to cut from the back of the tracks and remove the wheels you wanted to replace.
Look at the results we have shown you here...
Will post painted results later!
413
Official Assembly Instructions / Roadwheels 101 - Tiger I & T-34
« on: March 05, 2015, 10:56:12 pm »
Roadwheels 101
All you need to know about roadwheels on a Rubicon kit
We have put in a lot of thoughts and research to design our plastic kits. Particularly the easy-to-assemble roadwheels designed to help gamers speeding up assembly and
painting! There are also historical fact behind these design.
For example, on our early production Tiger I, we have made the most-outer roadwheel set independently so that you can decide if you want the front-most outer wheel or not. This is because, from wikipedia...
On the other hand, with our T-34 tanks, we have spend a lot of time researching the various type of roadwheel design so that these design can match nicely with the turret of the same period. The guns and mantlets is a little bit more complicated, and thus not been able to add too many choices to fit all on our 3 sprues.
When we designed our T-34/76, a lot of the expansion features had been put aside for our soon-to-be-released T-34/85. Look at the different roadwheel sets we have for you...
These are just part of our commitment to create a better product for the wargaming community!
Hope you all like our kits!
All you need to know about roadwheels on a Rubicon kit
We have put in a lot of thoughts and research to design our plastic kits. Particularly the easy-to-assemble roadwheels designed to help gamers speeding up assembly and
painting! There are also historical fact behind these design.
For example, on our early production Tiger I, we have made the most-outer roadwheel set independently so that you can decide if you want the front-most outer wheel or not. This is because, from wikipedia...
Quote
During the rainy period that brought on the autumn rasputitsa mud season and onwards into the Russian winter conditions on the Eastern front, the roadwheels of a Schachtellaufwerk-equipped vehicle could also become packed with mud or snow that could then freeze.
Presumably, German engineers, based on the experience of the half tracks, felt that the improvement in off road performance, track and wheel life, mobility with wheels missing or damaged, plus additional protection from enemy fire was worth the maintenance difficulties of a complex system vulnerable to mud and ice.
This approach was carried on, in various forms, to the Panther and Tiger II. Eventually, a new 'steel' wheel design, closely resembling those on the Tiger II, with an internally sprung steel-rim tire was substituted, and which like the Tiger II, were only overlapped and not interleaved.
On the other hand, with our T-34 tanks, we have spend a lot of time researching the various type of roadwheel design so that these design can match nicely with the turret of the same period. The guns and mantlets is a little bit more complicated, and thus not been able to add too many choices to fit all on our 3 sprues.
When we designed our T-34/76, a lot of the expansion features had been put aside for our soon-to-be-released T-34/85. Look at the different roadwheel sets we have for you...
These are just part of our commitment to create a better product for the wargaming community!
Hope you all like our kits!
414
General Discussions / A Quick Update – Mar 4, 2015
« on: March 04, 2015, 03:22:43 pm »
A Quick Update – Mar 4, 2015
Here is another quick update on what we are doing:
Q1/2015 New Releases – After the Chinese New Year holiday delays, our production schedule is now gradually getting back to normal. Shipping date for the new Q1/15 item codes are now set tentatively to late March. Will keep everyone update on releases!
T-34/85 Mid & Late War – Our little secret about the T-34/85 release is finally out! We are including a T-34/76 Model 1943 turret (informally called the Hex or Mickey Mouse turret) with the T-34/85 as a free bonus! Please take note the bonus T-34/76 turret WILL ONLY FIT on our T-34/76 (280013) kit, and not on the new T-34/85.
This is one way to show our appreciation for your support… Look out for more FREEBIES on future kit releases; you will never know what is coming your way!
M3 Half-Track – Finally got some 3D prototype parts back from the factory. The proposed one piece truck body looks really great! We will discuss with the factory on how to create a slide-mould for it next week. Prospect in making it work seems promising!
British Tank Project – A little delayed because of the extra time we had spent to enhance features on the StuG III. Now is back on track! Only the turret(s) are not done… once finished, we will press forward to 3D prototyping! Will post some 3D drawings soon!
M5A1/M8 Stuart – One of the five Q2/15 projects on our drawing board. We have just got the 3D prototype parts back from the factory as well. We can’t believe we have so many components from this little beast! Will need some extra time to sort them out and combine some smaller pieces into larger ones; otherwise will never fit them all into the final product!
New 3D Printer – With this new addition to our tool kit, we are now more proficient throughout our design and prototyping phase. It also opens up a whole new area where we have not explored… to integrate figures of all sorts into our plastic kits. We will still NOT doing “Armies” – will leave this to other companies; but we can now better support our products with figures; like drivers, crew, gunners, and interesting characters in plastic!
That’s it for now! In the meantime, please enjoy our released kits! Buy more to keep us working!
Here is another quick update on what we are doing:
Q1/2015 New Releases – After the Chinese New Year holiday delays, our production schedule is now gradually getting back to normal. Shipping date for the new Q1/15 item codes are now set tentatively to late March. Will keep everyone update on releases!
T-34/85 Mid & Late War – Our little secret about the T-34/85 release is finally out! We are including a T-34/76 Model 1943 turret (informally called the Hex or Mickey Mouse turret) with the T-34/85 as a free bonus! Please take note the bonus T-34/76 turret WILL ONLY FIT on our T-34/76 (280013) kit, and not on the new T-34/85.
This is one way to show our appreciation for your support… Look out for more FREEBIES on future kit releases; you will never know what is coming your way!
M3 Half-Track – Finally got some 3D prototype parts back from the factory. The proposed one piece truck body looks really great! We will discuss with the factory on how to create a slide-mould for it next week. Prospect in making it work seems promising!
British Tank Project – A little delayed because of the extra time we had spent to enhance features on the StuG III. Now is back on track! Only the turret(s) are not done… once finished, we will press forward to 3D prototyping! Will post some 3D drawings soon!
M5A1/M8 Stuart – One of the five Q2/15 projects on our drawing board. We have just got the 3D prototype parts back from the factory as well. We can’t believe we have so many components from this little beast! Will need some extra time to sort them out and combine some smaller pieces into larger ones; otherwise will never fit them all into the final product!
New 3D Printer – With this new addition to our tool kit, we are now more proficient throughout our design and prototyping phase. It also opens up a whole new area where we have not explored… to integrate figures of all sorts into our plastic kits. We will still NOT doing “Armies” – will leave this to other companies; but we can now better support our products with figures; like drivers, crew, gunners, and interesting characters in plastic!
That’s it for now! In the meantime, please enjoy our released kits! Buy more to keep us working!
415
Work In Progress / M5A1 Stuart / M8 Scott - Project CLOSED!
« on: February 04, 2015, 07:56:24 pm »
Now that our Q1/15 projects are almost finished, we are starting some Q2 projects... As you might already know the M3 Halftracks 3D drawings are already done, and had been moved to 3D prototyping; also 3D drawing done is this M5A1/M8 combo! Features of this M5A1 include:
- Be able to build a M5A1 as a mid or late production model
- Be able to build a M8 75mm HMC
- Be able to build a M5A1 Kangaroo
- Include spare wheels and hedgerow cutter
This is not final yet as we still have to see if everything will fit onto the sprues!
* Does the M5A1 Kangaroo looks like a 40K Rhino? What a coincident!
C&C welcome!
- Be able to build a M5A1 as a mid or late production model
- Be able to build a M8 75mm HMC
- Be able to build a M5A1 Kangaroo
- Include spare wheels and hedgerow cutter
This is not final yet as we still have to see if everything will fit onto the sprues!
* Does the M5A1 Kangaroo looks like a 40K Rhino? What a coincident!
C&C welcome!
416
Work In Progress / German Stowage Pack Set 1 - Project CLOSED!
« on: January 29, 2015, 05:35:03 pm »
From feedback and our wish list, here are some of the items that will be on our "German Stowage Pack #1":
Digital Sculpt of some rucksacks and blankets...
Comments & feedback welcome!
Digital Sculpt of some rucksacks and blankets...
Comments & feedback welcome!
417
General Discussions / A Quick Update – Jan 28, 2015
« on: January 28, 2015, 01:30:34 pm »
Here is a quick update on what we are doing:
Q1/2015 New Releases – Bad news first… regrettably, there will be further delays to our new releases for Q1/2015. Release date had been pushed back to mid-March. Reason for the delay is we have not factored in the Chinese New Year holiday into our production schedule. All the moulds are done and are ready for commercial production; unfortunately we have not enough workers to package them into products… now the waiting game is on!
StuG III Ausf. G – The good news is... as mentioned in one of our earlier posts, we have redone part of the injection mould to include two new muzzle brakes for our early and mid production StuG variants, giving gamers more modeling varieties for your assault gun team!
T-34/85 – Final revision for the T-34/85 sprues are almost completed! We will post some images of the trail-run assembled plastic vehicle for your review soon! Because of the delayed release of the StuG and SdKfz 251D, we probably will release the T-34/85 early!
British Tank Project – This little tank is now at the final stages on our Drawing Board. Once signed off for 3D prototyping, we will be able to show you what we have for our British fans!
M3 Half-Track – A project that we have been working on and off for as long as we could remember. We had always wanted to use "slide-mould" plastic injection with our products. The moulds are more expensive to make, but the advantage outweigh the cost!
Normal moulds have two halves; where they meet is the "parting line" which you have seen on most plastic miniatures. A slide mould has multiple parts that slide at different angles to the two primary mould halves. They allow details to be imparted on the parts at different angles than the two surfaces of a standard mould do. This technology had existed since the sixties; just take a look at any plastic or metal car bodies from Matchbox® or Airfix®, and you will know what the final part looks like!
Using a slide-mould design will give you a much sturdy-built vehicle body without having to struggle with multiple parts to build a truck cabin. This is particularly an advantage for wargamers who want their vehicle a speedy assembly for the front line!
If this trail project proved to be successful, further new releases such as jeeps and trucks will use the same design approach… a great plus for everyone!
The initial feature list for the M3 as follow:
- be able to build the half-track into a M3 / M3A1 / M3A2
- be able to be expandable to become a MMC, GMC or HMC
- will include canvas top as standard option
- will include multiple seat arrangements with radio & antennae setup options
- will include all the heavy and medium machine guns for your wargaming needs
Of course, will need to see if all these features will fit into our proposed sprues! BTW, our design won’t allow us to convert the M3 into a M16 MGMC because of the way the rear troop compartment was modified to fold down. Implementing the M16 option would mean giving up our slide-mould design. Being that said, we may still produce a M16 someday!
Other Q2/15 Projects – As mention above, besides the British tank and M3 Half-Track, we are already working on several Q2 projects. Hopefully, we will be able to release a total of FIVE products for Q2/15!
Q3/15 Projects – Research work had also begun for a few Q3/15 projects. The year 2014 had been mostly German releases; we wanted 2015 to be mostly about the Allies – American, British, and the Soviets! Being that said, it doesn't mean we will not release one or two German or even Italian vehicles too!
A Word on Glue – There had been reports about some gamers having glue problem with our plastic. We are using ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) plastic for our sprues. This is the preferred material for most high end plastic model manufacturers; other miniature manufacturers might use Polystyrene (PS) as they are lower in cost. We have tested most model cements on the market and they all worked well without any issues. If you have problems, please let us know and we will investigate!
That’s it for now! In the meantime, please enjoy our released kits! Buy more to keep us working!
418
Work In Progress / M3/M3A1 Half-Track Personnel Carrier - M21 MMC TS1 Plastic 170118
« on: January 26, 2015, 09:12:47 pm »
The M3 Half-Track Personnel Carrier had been on our drawing board for as long as we could remember. The project was put on-hold several times, giving way to other projects... until now!
Still on our drawing board, if we were to turn this into a kit, we want our M3 Half-Track to be flexible and easy to build! The initial goal is...
- Multi-variant - choice to build the kit into M3 / M3A1 / M3A2
- Expandable - should be able to upgrade to become a Mortar carrier, or a GMC or HMC...
- 3 sprues maximum at competitive selling price!
At the present stage, there are just too many parts and components; probably need to reduce parts count to turn this into a selling product!
The basic M3 Half-Track Personnel Carrier:
The updated M3A1 version:
The M3A1 version with Canvas Top:
Any comments and suggestions on this M3 project is welcome!
Still on our drawing board, if we were to turn this into a kit, we want our M3 Half-Track to be flexible and easy to build! The initial goal is...
- Multi-variant - choice to build the kit into M3 / M3A1 / M3A2
- Expandable - should be able to upgrade to become a Mortar carrier, or a GMC or HMC...
- 3 sprues maximum at competitive selling price!
At the present stage, there are just too many parts and components; probably need to reduce parts count to turn this into a selling product!
The basic M3 Half-Track Personnel Carrier:
The updated M3A1 version:
The M3A1 version with Canvas Top:
Any comments and suggestions on this M3 project is welcome!
419
General Discussions / On the Drawing Board - UPDATED 160830
« on: January 20, 2015, 09:49:40 pm »
From time to time, we will post some random images on what we are doing. Not on a particular project, but a variety of things we are working on!
Here are two of them...
Enjoy!
Here are two of them...
Enjoy!
420
Work In Progress / New Product Range - Waterslide Decals: German Panzer Division Set - CLOSED!
« on: January 18, 2015, 11:22:34 pm »
While the factory is putting final touches on our Q1/15 plastic moulds, and our studio staff working on our Q2/15 projects; the not-so-talented is working on a new range of waterslide decals. Beginning with the German Panzer Division sets.
The basic divisions are now all done:
All markings and symbols are redrawn from scratch for clarity and accuracy purposes. Because the actual size of these symbols will be very small (about 3 mm in size), some fine lines are exaggerated otherwise will not even shown up on the decal. Here are some of the more colorful and more detailed markings:
The next step will be trying to arrange them into groups to create a decal sets for various Panzer Divisions (PD). Initial idea is something like these:
Was considering by war years or by theater or by branch of services... but don't seem to work out easily. Still experimenting with different arrangements... Any suggestions?
The basic divisions are now all done:
All markings and symbols are redrawn from scratch for clarity and accuracy purposes. Because the actual size of these symbols will be very small (about 3 mm in size), some fine lines are exaggerated otherwise will not even shown up on the decal. Here are some of the more colorful and more detailed markings:
The next step will be trying to arrange them into groups to create a decal sets for various Panzer Divisions (PD). Initial idea is something like these:
Was considering by war years or by theater or by branch of services... but don't seem to work out easily. Still experimenting with different arrangements... Any suggestions?