German Tanks

[trick34]

I like have a Jagdpanzer IV /L70 or a Nashorn, or a Hetzer

[H0ffmn]

I would like to see a early Panzer lll.  You could model a lllE thru an early lllJ  with optional  gun mantles, guns, a short 50mm, long 50mm and a 37mm, two options for rear armor for the lll E thru the lllJ and the lllJ itself, optional transmission covers, optional  shock absorbers and optional drive sprockets and rear idlers, similar to what Plastic Soldier Company has done with their Panzer lllE thru lllH

[H0ffmn]

I would like to see a early Panzer lll.  You could model a lllE thru an early lllJ  with optional  gun mantles, guns, a short 50mm, long 50mm and a 37mm, two options for rear armor for the lll E thru the lllJ and the lllJ itself, optional transmission covers, optional  shock absorbers and optional drive sprockets and rear idlers, similar to what Plastic Soldier Company has done with their Panzer lllE thru lllH

  You could then cover from every front from 1939 up to at least 1943

[BourbonKid]

Dont do any german vechicles now. Start doing some US or GB asap!

[trick34]

I like have the "Neubaufahrzeug", sdkfz 231, sdkfz 232

[pmbk]

Hey, I'd like to suggest something else really.

As far as tanks are awesome, not only them were part of the battlefield. So I would like to plant an idea of doing a vehicle that saw service through the whole war, on every front. It also was quite small, so I have a feeling you guys at Rubicon could fit it on like two sprues.

What am I talking about? Why, SdKfz 222 of course.

- There were a lot of this biult, and it is also very well documented, so finding data, dimensions etc. should be on the easier side.
- Pretty much everyone needs this vehicle, wether it is a modeller who wants to make a diorama with this popular armoured car, or a gamer, needing a reconaissance vehicle in his army. I admit i'm not an expert on the market, but common sense hints it would sell really good (especially if you guys would indeed fit it in 2 sprues, thus reducing the cost compared to wonderful tank kits you already make).
- You could make more than just a 222 with almost no changes. Making SdKfz. 223 and 260 would require different vehicle's top and a new MG turret (for 223), and that's it. Still the 222 should be a main focus as vast majority of people would like just that, not a weird comms variant.
- No one does an SdKfz. 222 in plastic, and it doesn't seem someone would start soon. So there's a niche.

I know at this point you guys have far more German vehicles released, than any other nation's, but please consider this cute little armoured car, as for reasons stated above, I think it would be a good move on your side.

Nonetheless, Im very grateful for what you guys done so far, please keep up the good - wait no - fantastic work
Cheers, pmbk out!

[Pinky]

I like the SdKfz 222 as well, but its importance declined as the war went on because its off-road performance was poor.  They were pretty rare by the middle of the war.  I suspect a kit of some of the 8-wheeler variants would be more useful and more popular. 

[pmbk]

I agree completely!

Although I never said it was the most universal or best-for-the-job armoured car of German Army. I only said that there were a lot of these built, and saw service throughout the whole war. Sure the later the war, the less of them saw action, and there were better vehicles developed (234 series), but still the versatility is what speaks for this car. And that is the reason I think it would be a good move for Rubicon, as their models have to, no matter how gorgeous or niche they are, simply sell. And I can't imagine it not selling (although I might be wrong, as I said earlier I'm not an expert on miniatures market, but that is for Rubicon to determine).

So Rubicon, what do you think about that?

pmbk out!

[Laffe]

I like the SdKfz 222 as well, but its importance declined as the war went on because its off-road performance was poor.  They were pretty rare by the middle of the war.  I suspect a kit of some of the 8-wheeler variants would be more useful and more popular.

They were still quite numerous by 1944, often paired with 8-wheelers in recon units. The HJ division for instance had both SdKfz 222's and 232's in the Panzerspähkompanie of their PanzerAufklärungabteilung. However, Warlord does a 222 in resin, so maybe a 232 would be a better choice. Yet, a good 222 kit with a few different options could be used from 1939 to 1945 on all fronts.

The 6-wheelers though were strictly early war.

[Laffe]

I did a google search for SdKfz 222, just to see if I could find any late war pics.

Here's one in Italy, january 1944


Here's one from Carentan, belonging to 17th SS panzer.


(In case hotlinking doesn't work above, the original is also here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kruegerrossi/9985530426/in/pool-1905359@N20-58422024@N04

So they were present, and used, to the end of the war.

[Garga]

I fully second the idea of flak versions of pz iv... They are super cool vehicles and also good game wise.. You will perhaps reuse most of your pziv sprues or add a third sprue to the pziv to get these vehicles so one can have both versions...

Also hetzer is super cool and useful and the idea of pz 38 based tank hunters and sp guns is great...


I definitely want also the sd 250 neu

[Cat]

For German tanks, I would variants of the 38t would be great and lend themselves nicely to multi-kit options.  (The Czech company SDV Model has done a lovely series of kits in 1/87 re-using the chassis parts in each one.)
 
The cutest one which I would absolutely have to get is the recon tank 140/1 with the 222 turret ^,^
http://www.sdvmodel.cz/index.php?page=shop.product_details&product_id=39&flypage=garden_flypage.tpl&pop=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=53&lang=ru

(And of course the 222 turret would lend itself to doing the 222 itself, and the 250/9 halftrack which would also be irresistibly cute; and while not in the tank category, if you had a 250 variety of kits, I'ld have to build a whole Recon force with them!)
 
But back to the 38t variants, a Marder/Grille multi-kit would be very nice, and of course a Hetzer, and even options for the Flakpanzer model.

[Laffe]

Just be aware that the SdKfz 250/9 neu had a redesigned turret. Only the alte had the same turret as the Sd.Kfz 222.

[pmbk]

Indeed, the older decagonal turret was used only on SdKfz 222 and SdKfz 250/9 (alt). The new hexagonal turret though, was mounted on most of the vehicles you mentioned, like SdKfz 234/1, SdKfz 250/9 (neu), SdKfz 251/23, SdKfz 140/1.

[Klank]

The Jagdpanzer IV line would be a good for multi version kit with it's different and armored skirts and 75mm gun production types.