# Picked up a small pile of military models from a buddy...



## TimVader (Jun 6, 2014)

I can't find any info on some of these off brands, was wondering if you guys could help out. I want to build a few with my sons, but do not want to ruin any "potential treasures" in the lot. He gave me the pile for $150, so I don't think that was too bad. What do you guys think? All are unbuilt, some of the tape has either given, or was slit to check contents, but all are new and complete


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Wow that is a mixed bag of (mostly) not very good or valuable kits. Some will be fun builds. Some will be hair pullers.

The Tamiya SdKfz 7 prime mover is not the best but it is easy to build and is a good "fun" kit. It's been eclipsed by much newer kits of the same vehicle by Dragon and Trumpeter. The Tamiya kit is one of their very first and is pushing 45 years old now.

Likewise the old Tamiya StuG III G is fun but not the most accurate kit. For 1/35 it is pretty big and closer to 1/32 scale. 

The 1/35 Dragon weapon set is very nice

Dragon's 1/35 HVSS Sherman suspension is one of their older products and has been eclipsed both by the availability of Sherman kits with HVSS included, and better HVSS sets from other companies. It's pretty much bin-worthy at this point. 

The Tamiya Jerry cans and oil drums are their old 70s vintage stuff. The drums are ok but the cans are awful (wrong number of handles, missing the seam between the halves, etc. 

The two MPM Messerschmitt 262 kits are bears. Both the Mistel and fighter prototype are sort of conversions in a box bassed on the old Heller Messerschmitt kit. These were very early MPM kits and are rather ill fitting and crude. I got the Mistel half built and gave up. They just do not fit very well at all and require too much cutting, sanding, filling for the end result, unless you absolutely have to have these oddball versions. 

The Planet Models resin German planes are rather pricey and nice kits. You can see what these sell for on Squadron Mail Order.

The Airmodel 17cm Kanone would have been fairly valuable at one time, (the kit probably cost upwards of $75 to $100 new). But, the availability of better kits in resin by Precision, and now in plastic by Trumpeter, have pretty much killed any great value. Airmodel stuff was rather nice but a bit tricky to build. They tend to use a peculiar wafer casting method and you might need to do a lot of cleanup. It would be a challenging but fun build and the 17cm Kanone was one of the larger pieces of German towed artillery. Unfortunately you have the SdKfz 7 halftrack, which was used to tow the 88 gun among other things, but it was not the tow vehicle for the 17cm Kanone. You need an SdKfz 8.


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## TimVader (Jun 6, 2014)

Sounds like I need to pick and choose a few and ebay a big pile of these, haha


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

Not a surprise that the MPMs are evil!

I've only ever built one resin, and it was the Planet Models He P.1080 Ramschussjaeger. That thing was a POS. I got sick just sanding it. I love the subjects, but the resin is atrocious. DO NOT build those with a child; they might actually get sick! Even a well ventilated room isn't quite enough to get the fumes of that solid chunk of diesel-impregnated rock to disperse!

Still, they make wicked subjects, and if you have a breather, you can do okay on them. Just a lot of work, that's all!

Overall, the Me's might be a good project for someone who doesn't care too much for perfection! Good "teeth cutters", right?


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Boy, that's some big pile of.............kits!

Carl-


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Ive had a few Planet kits and they were very good. At least for a resin complete kit.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Faust said:


> I've only ever built one resin, and it was the Planet Models He P.1080 Ramschussjaeger. That thing was a POS. I got sick just sanding it. I love the subjects, but the resin is atrocious. DO NOT build those with a child; they might actually get sick! Even a well ventilated room isn't quite enough to get the fumes of that solid chunk of diesel-impregnated rock to disperse!




You must have gotten a bad one or something. I've never had a problem like that. Yes, you need a dust mask when you sand so you don't clog your lungs, but that's about all.


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