1/56 - getting popular with scale modellers ?

[Ballardian]

I agree with the sentiments expressed here, the quality of your work is not wholly dependant on the cost of your equipment/materials. Though I do use plenty of Mig & AK products, I still have an extensive collection of ancient GW paints which still see regular use - particularly for non-vehicle subjects where their more vibrant 'gamey' colours work well. As one of the 'old guys' I've come to think that with the huge variety of hobby paints now available, it's perhaps not surprising people can get a bit clique-y about what they use, as brands come into, and fall from favour. However this misses the old dictum of 'whatever works'.
 I suppose I've wandered from the point of the post though - and if Rubicon continue to produce kits as good as the M4 range and the new Pz. IV's (I await the Pz. III's eagerly) the scale model crowd might eventually be won over - after all, some of us who game also do scale models.

[Tracks]

[ripley]

Just read  on the Armorama site , that Value Gear , has quite a few 1/56 scale resin sand bag and stowage  sets for both Warlord & Rubicon Shermans , as well as stuff for the M3 / M5 Stuarts . Some sets are made to fit on one specific model , others are more generic in style  . They also have generic box / crate / tarp sets which would work with either 1/56 or 1/48 kits . Nice to see the interest in 1/56 kits is  expanding into the after market companies

[nheather]

I do both wargaming and scale modelling.  Can’t say I have seen much growth in interest in 1:56 on the modelling communities like amorama and britmodeller.

1:48 is certain a popular growth area, but that has come from behind and still well behind 1:35 and 1:72.

I like 1:48, it is a sweet spot between size, price and detail, but I’m stuck with 1:35 because when I started there was barely any 1:48 to choose from and although the range has grown now I have a huge stash of 1:35 so a move to 1:48 is not realistic for me.

As for wargaming, I do 15mm, 20mm and 28mm depending on the scale of the order of battle.  I love the plastic 28mm vehicles much prefer them over resin/metal.  I am currently working on a warlord games 38(t) (italeri I assume) and a Rubicon T-26 1938.  I love them, easy to work with a great detail for wargaming models.  But I don’t think either would satisfy the scale modeller, too little detail, too few parts and dubious accuracy - I believe the Rubicon T-26 has some fundamental errors on the turret that would attract black marks on a scale review. 

But fine for wargaming, you have to treat them for what them are.  28mm, simplified detail, not always accurate but great for the table top.  1:48 accurate and detailed scale models, but use them for wargaming and you’ll be leaving a trail of broken off parts behind its movement.

As for heroic figures and scale creep, this is absolutely true.  The 15mm figures I have are closer to 18mm.  They are often given exaggerated poses so you can tell what they are on the table from a distance.  They are often made chunky so that they don’t break when your over-zealous team mate picks them up.

Cheers,

Nigel

[Tracks]

Nigel, I agree with everything you just said... well, except maybe for the T-26 turret errors. I have sources that show RM got it right, but I also have sources that show slightly different details, so it depends. I'm pretty sure the T-26 had all kinds of detail adjustments during its production run, and RM probably picked the most common of these.

[EarlyWarGamer]

The only "major" thing that RM got wrong about the T-26 is that there is no turret top suitable for the 1936 version.

And that is partially understandable because of how the versions evolved.

The Russians only officially noted three versions: twin turret, single cylindrical turret, and final version with the widened superstructure.  But "after the fact" if you examine all of the tweaks done, you can actually group the tanks into more than that:
 
Model 1931 (twin turrets)
Model 1933 (single cylindrical turret with two side-by-side rectangular hatches)
Model 1936 (single cylindrical turret with one round and one rectangular hatch)
Model 1938 (single conical turret with one round and one rectangular hatch)
Model 1939 (single conical turret, widened superstructure)

And MGs came and went (especially the one located on the rear of the turret), but also the AA MG mount on top. And miscellaneous other tweaks were done, and often those tweaks started on a "former" model but only on some builds, and were considered "standard" by the next build. So there was a lot of minor "transitions" between builds.

Other than the missing Model 1936 turret top piece, all of the other main models can be built with the parts provided. Might need to make a few minor alterations to make the model even closer to reality, but there really was enough variation to support what is provided.