Two fantastic kit ideas for Rubicon Models -

[ultravanillasmurf]

"Early War" can depend on your perspective, I was talking to a Czech, and he had a similarly jaundiced view of the Western European view of when the war started that Western Europeans have of (some) American's views.

Of course this is a bit Western-centric, you have the first Blitzkrieg with the Russians versus the Japanese, and back in Europe there is the Spanish Civil War.

There is nothing wrong with rivets.

[WeRT]

Sep 1939 = Germany, Poland, Russia
Nov 1939 = Finland
Apr 1940 = Denmark, Norway, Britain
May 1940 = Belgium, France, Britain
Sep 1940 = Italy (Africa),
Oct 1940 = Italy (Greece)
May 1941 = Handful of Nations (Crete)
Mar 1941 = Germany (Africa)
June 1941 = Germany, Russia, Finland

You should add Japan also. It's pre WWII but can be count as a EW:

Jul - Aug 1938 = Soviet Russia, Japan -> Battle of Lake Khasan -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Khasan
May-Sep 1939 = Soviet Russia, Japan -> Battles of Khalkhin Gol -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battles_of_Khalkhin_Gol

And we have 11 "major players"

Edit: ultravanillasmurf already mentioned about Soviet–Japanese border conflicts. If we look at East we should mention "Second Sino-Japanese War" too.

[Tracks]

My mental image is that the early war period probably ends by mid-summer of 1942 (probably before Dieppe, but maybe not).   

Then its strange that you think that the Sdkfz.139 Marder III is not an early war piece of equipment. However, since the Sdkfz.139 Marder III was just seeing combat at the very end of your definition of early war, I can relate and understand the restriction you placed upon yourself.

I have nothing against the deluxe armor from later years, and understand the attraction, but just find it more interesting gaming where armor is not all about "Big Cats", and has maybe a 50/50 chance of having rivets!

You and I have something in common here becasue I too find it more interesting gaming when armor is not all about "Big Cats". As for rivets, well, we all know that they are a tankers nightmare, but visually speaking, they draw interest from modelers. This is why I really hope when someone does actually release a plastic kit of the M3 Medium, they produce the version with the riveted hull instead of the cast hull.

[ultravanillasmurf]

This is why I really hope when someone does actually release a plastic kit of the M3 Medium, they produce the version with the riveted hull instead of the cast hull.

This is Rubicon we are talking about, I would expect both ^__^.

Once that is in their library, I am hoping for Sentinels and Rams (multimedia) together with Sextons (plastic).

[ripley]

While the cast hull Lee looks cool , IRC only about 300 M3A1 cast hull Lees were made .and I don't think any were used in action , They stayed in the States as training vehicles , and  movie props in Bogart's Sahara . Can't see any market for any really .

[elias.tibbs]

I’d also throw the Thai-Franco war and the Philippines invasion in there as well.

So 3 more nations for early war;

Thailand
Philippines
United States

[Tracks]

... and  movie props in Bogart's Sahara.

@ripley: I'm pretty sure the M3 Medium Tank used in the movie "Sahara" (1943) had a riveted hull and not the cast type. I have to watch the movie again to be 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure it was.

Okay, I found this photo (see below) of the staring cast of "Sahara" (1943) with the tank in question. That is Humphrey Bogart standing one the 75mm gun sponson. The M3 Medium most certianly has rivets.



In 1995, they did a remake of the movie "Sahara" staring Jim Belushi. Both the 1943 movie and the 1995 movie had used the M3 Medium Tank with rivets. As for which movie is better? That is a completely different topic, but I think they are both good movies in there own way.



Also in Steven Spielberg's movie "1941" (1979), you get to see a M3 Medium tank. This tanks also has rivets.



But we are getting a bit off topic here, so I would like to repeat my idea to RM for two (maybe three) new plastic kits that I think would be fantastic for them.

Kit idea #1 American 57mm AT-Gun M1 and/or British QF 6-Pdr AT-Gun:
There is great potential here because the same parts sprue for the AT-Gun can be setup with the needed bits and parts to build either the American 57mm AT-Gun M1 or the British QF 6-Pdr AT-Gun. They were pretty much the same except for a few little differences. Parts can even be included to make the Airborne version of the gun. As for crew, that is easy. Separate American and British crews can be made on different sprues. This is very similar to what RM did with their Jeep kits. The Willys MB ¼ ton 4x4 Truck (Commonwealth) and the Willys MB ¼ ton 4x4 Truck (US Standard) plastic kits have the exact same sprues for the jeep, but different sprues for the riders. Fantastic idea!

Kit idea #2: SdKfz 10 Halftrack: ... and maybe kit #3, the M3 Medium Tank?
There is a lot of interest for the Sdkfz 10 in a plastic kit. I know I would prefer a plastic kit from Rubicon Models than one of those blocks of resin things. More importantly, with a basic plastic kit of the SdKfz 10, the gamer/modeler has more options to make variants and field modifications of this common transport vehicle.

[Rubicon Models]

Thank you all for the great ideas.  Right now, we have our hands full with current projects that you all know about.  We are starting some new ones as research had already been done last year.  The only project that is lagging behind is the M4A1.   The staff responsible for it had been busy with one of our OEM projects and was not able to restart the M4A1 until mid-Feb, but then it is Chinese New Year (Feb 16); therefore another week of delays...

Once the M4A1 is done, we will have the early bogie and the three-part transmission housing done.  That will be the base for any M3 and M7 projects.  No promises yet, as we might have to finish off one or two scheduled projects before the M3 or M7 ones.

We are also working on two new product range - resin vehicles & pewter figures.  This is to speed up our release schedule, and in the meantime, be able to expand our product range with more short-run items.  With the new trainees, we are assigning them to do some add-on accessory items for various plastic vehicles (under supervision, of course); and hopefully everything will come out beautifully!

Rest assured that all these new activities will not slow down our current plastic kit development.  We have also recruited a new mould maker for our studio.  The queue had improved, but now the bottleneck had moved back to within the studio... we need technical staff to write up Testshot reports so that mould makers know what to make changes to the mould.  This is a long and tedious task as every single part need to be checked against 3D drawing and the actual part, then test fit and measured for inaccuracies.  A single TS report will take up to two weeks for each mould, and each kit has an average of three moulds and up!

Hope this will give you guys something to chew on... we are always busy, but will definitely look into the wish list as always!

[H0ffmn]

 I can't wait for the M4A1 to be released. If you haven't gotten too far along into the process of mold making, please include the small hatched direct vision cast hull along with the later small hatched cast hull with the direct vision ports eliminated. It would be great to  have a choice of hulls,especially with the three piece transmission cover and the earlier M3 suspension. A plastic M7 and a M3 Lee and Grant will be a more than welcome addition to your product line (at least to me,if not more).

[somtec]

Looking forward to the m4a1 and the future looks full of interesting stuff

[ripley]

Tracks , if you look careful when they're getting the gizmo from the broken Lee , there is a cast hull Lee in the background . I know Lulubelle wasn't a M3A1  There were also two versions of the cast Lee  early with, side doors ( very like the ones on the early Ram ! ) and the hull roof hatch hinged forward , late with out side doors and the hull roof hatch folded back . I've seen some in 1/35 resin but none in plastic , pity as its one ugly , beautiful looking vehicle

[elias.tibbs]

I can't wait for the M4A1 to be released. If you haven't gotten too far along into the process of mold making, please include the small hatched direct vision cast hull along with the later small hatched cast hull with the direct vision ports eliminated. It would be great to  have a choice of hulls,especially with the three piece transmission cover and the earlier M3 suspension. A plastic M7 and a M3 Lee and Grant will be a more than welcome addition to your product line (at least to me,if not more).

A 75mm box set with small and large hatches and a 76mm box set with  large hatches would be awesome.

[ultravanillasmurf]

A 75mm box set with small and large hatches and a 76mm box set with  large hatches would be awesome.

I suspect small hatch with both 75mm turrets and large hatch with 76mm turret.
http://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=395.msg8072#msg8072

[elias.tibbs]

Oh, it might be a large hatch, 76mm kit with the HVSS sprue like the M4A3E8 kit

[stigroadie]

I'm down with the 6lb/M1 57mm AT gun. There were lots about and some variations to give Rubicon the space to give us their usual super value.
I'd go further and suggest the US 75mm pack howitzer? Used in Europe and Asia by Brits and Americans. Just remember to do the cloverleaf ammo tubes for the airborne version. Looks great behind a Jeep.
A Brit airborne trailer could fill out a sprue or be an extra?
I know the 38t chassis is getting done by Warlord but they have missed some tricks?
The Aufklärung version would extend the chassis into post Normandy, you do the turret in the 250/251 upgrade. It does need a new upper front hull.