I always find interesting, that every time I walk in a model shop, I see rows and rows of Tigers and Panthers (OK, a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea). However, I only see one or two French WW2 tanks. Manufacturers seems to leave out some insignificant but historical tanks for some reason. What are some vehicles you always dreamt of building in scale but never because mainstream manufacturers keep neglecting it?

For me it got to be the cutie FCM 36

Yes! And a Renault D2 please.

Although my "Holy Grail" is still the A1E1 Independent, that vehicle was just a prototype. In keeping with the spirit of your post, my tank choice would be the Matilda MK I.

the the kit manufactures seemed to be obsessed and have a hard on for german armor

Probably yes, but the Germans added some guns to the FCM 36, such as the Pak40 and 105LefH, which could make the tank an interesting subject for both German and Allied builders.

With Pak40

With 105LefH

There are some French tanks:










but there are many others still missing (there is resin of course ...)
/ Robin

Manufacturers be like, 'dang those too ugly!'

[quote]


Agreed, but they are German, so that means good sales for the firms.
Personally, I am only interested in the original French FCM 36 as a kit

I've got to agree with wanting to see a kit of an unmodified FCM 36!

Not going to go completely off-topic... But there's honestly ALOT of interesting French tanks that havent been kitted yet. Personally, I'm hoping to see an FCM-36, AMC-35, ARL-44, and (Despite their prototype nature*) hopefully an AMX-50 and Lorraine 40t someday.
Doubt it'll happen soon, but you cant blame me for hoping.

Further to Robins post:




Many years ago these were just dreams, expensive resin, or some being kits produced by Heller... brrrrr. Now they are here.

Who would have thought anyone would produce an A7V, Mark IV, etc to replace the Emhar offerings? Or an Aussie Model T armed car?

Or a new AMX 13, let alone two manufacturers and with variants? Or AML's? Or a BV 206? Even Dragon has branched out, albeit Black Death Label ...

Yes there is a lot out there that has not been kitted in styrene, or is due for an upgrade - Italian Armoured vehicles for example, and everyone has their preferences, but I am just glad that companies are branching out and finding there is a market for the less 'sexy' beasts... and as long as we support them by buying, and tell them what we want, maybe they will come.... eventually.

Petbat makes some good points, and that “hard on” for German World War Two armour has definitely peaked, waned, and may be going flaccid. Look at competition tables, there was a time when Axis kits made up the majority of exhibits. Now, they are just another category, with modern vehicles taking up more table space, along with other nations’ vehicles of all periods. Good times to be modelling, and I’m sure we will see that “holy grail” kit you need sooner or later. Like an Fa223 in 1/35....

Manufacturers don't give a crap about any of the subjects, per se.

It's modellers who have had a substantial "hard on for German armor" because they have kept buying it. Kept buying and keep buying. More than any other type by quite a bit.

None of you honestly think that manufacturers would make even a single additional German tank kit if they didn't sell really well, do you? They don't make any subject because they _want_ to. They make them because they believe _we_ will buy them in greater numbers. And we generally have.

The shift in subjects that has occurred in the last 15 or so years is possibly due to the fact that the hobby is greying, those who wanted German kits have them (a bunch of them) and some of those people are now willing to entertain more esoteric subjects. Those of use who have always wanted the more esoteric subjects are now part of a market that has expanded just enough to be worthwhile making kits for.

Added to that is that the price they can charge for kits has gone up substantially as we, generally, get older and are willing to spend more, so the numbers of kits needed to pay off the tooling and make a modest profit is substantially lower than it was when kits were both much simpler and much, much less expensive. Model companies are no longer selling to 11 years olds with 5 bucks of allowance in their pockets. They are selling to 50 year olds who are willing to spend 100 bucks on a much better model. At those rates you no longer need to move 40,000 $3.49 spitfires to pay off the tooling and make a couple bucks. Selling 5,000 $59.95 FCM-2s plus cheaper manufacturing processes allows you to make a profit on far a smaller number of units sold.

Errr... Paul. 40 years ago $3.49 was a lot of pocket money.

In relative terms, what I paid for a Tamiya 1/35th scale armour kit in 1978 (and I still have a couple) compared to my wage then, scales out to pretty close to par for relative cost of kits to my wage now... and I am not a Brain Surgeon earning big bucks...


You make some fair points about the manufacturers though. People have been moaning about German armour out pacing all others for a millennia.... but we all should face the fact, they produce a huge number of varied vehicles compared to other countries to begin with, so the ability to use parts from one existing mould to make another makes business sense and ensures that variants are manufactured and offered. Then, when they were offered, they were shiny and new, and we bought them... and when the next new shiny and new variant came out we bought them too, so we - us - modellers in general - that told the manufacturers 'German sells'... so they continued to produce them and we continued to buy them, perpetuating the trend. Blame yourselves guys...

There was no internet, no real international community for feed back to these companies. They didn't read 'Military Modelling', or snail mail their retailers for feedback on what the consumer wanted, it was the dollars and yen flowing in their coffers that said... 'German sells, keep doing them!!' No-one thought 'it is new so it sells'... until now.

Now we have internet and email and a wider community forums and review sites these companies can visit and their R&D people can gather free and varied feedback. Newer companies have come to be, and in seeking to make their profits, have asked, 'what can we produce that others have not, so we can at least be assured we will get their outlays back'? They have tested the water with 'non-German' product over the years, in response to "what I would like to see' posts on forums and still our cash has flowed to their coffers. Therefore, toe suitably moist and temperature tested, they immersed the foot into the pond a bit more, and still the cash rolled in... so now they know, models sell and not just German ones - if we build it they will come... and that is why we are now seeing the unprecedented variety in models being made, not because some grey haired 50 plus has more money than they know what to do with and has all the German kits already..