Possibly, but rather than all those glamourous fighters I'd rather see the kinds of transport craft that might interact with the vehicles we all build.

If it hadn't been for Tamiya inventing the scale once they'd measured their Tiger tank we would all be building armour in 1:32 and Monogram might still be a big player in the armour field... Or, we might have defaulted to 1:48 since back when I was a kid that was the dominant scale for fighter planes. Then again, with all the new 1:48 armour we still can!

If we need a wish-list, I'd start with a C-47 and a glider. Post-war choppers would be nice.

Tom

Me: not interested. I believe there's also at least one other liaison aircraft in 1/35 (Bronco's Grasshopper?) and one bonkers company (possibly also Bronco) has trailed a 1/35 C-47, or something. But that's really about as far as armour-scale aircraft can go, I reckon. Interactions between combat aircraft and armour are rare - even more so if you eliminate anti-aircraft vehicles - so the scope for mixing them into diorama settings is more limited than you might at first think. And the problem then is that, apart from spotter planes, the bulk of interaction is with big fat transport aircraft, which are enormous even in 1/48 and would be unmanageable in 1/35. And they'd be ruinously expensive. An armour-scale C-46 would be impressive but where would you put it, and how many kidneys can you sell before you run out?

Soft-skins can be depicted with aircraft much more, of course, and a Jeep or a 2½ tonner can be parked alongside just about anything. But I don't think it's realistic to ask for the current range of aircraft to be re-sized for this purpose. There's much more future in new vehicle kits being developed to match existing aircraft scales, as is of course happening.

The main reason it works that way round is the relative size of the things. A thirty-ton tank from WWII is only about twenty feet long; an aircraft of the same weight would be about the size of a B-17. Armour is just naturally dense, and soft-skins rarely very large. We have to start from where we are, and that's a market with lots of 1/48 or 1/72 planes and 1/35 vehicles. Developing aircraft to go with existing vehicles means climbing a long way up the scale ladder; doing it the other way round is much easier, even if it does mean some slightly coarse detail at times.

And, speaking personally, the size difference is the main reason I wouldn't go for 1/35 aircraft, even if I could afford it. It may be because I'm used to it but I find 1/35 ideal for armour and 1/48 for most aircraft, because both are at the point where size and detail levels interact best. I model subjects rather than events so I've no urge to mix them, and I'm happy to accept the differences and the fact that it's tricky to compare a 1/48 plane directly with a 1/35 tank. Mainly because, who would really want to?

Your mileage may, of course, differ.

As a potential buyer I have to say I'd approach any 1:35 plane mainly from a diorama perspective. That means loading/unloading of cargo or arming/fueling, and I'd be looking to cut the plane up into diorama-sized sections too. A C-47 split lengthways would make for two potentially very different dios from investment in one kit - good economics. And, that would let me go to town on the interior so there's something different from each side of the scene.

Sure, my tanks wouldn't get a look-in, but my trucks & Jeeps would! And think of all those figure sets that could take on new life...

Problem is it'd cost the earth for a limited run. I don't tend to shop at the top end of the armour scene, and usually look for Dragon & Tasca on sale to make them reasonable. So, a plane costing triple digits would only appear as a special guest in the divorce papers! Can you afford to make them in the under-$75 range?

Remember, the plane collectors will remain in the 1:48 & 1:32 ranges, so these 1:35 kits are only aimed at ground-based modellers who will have very specific tastes.

Tom

Space is an issue. Cost is also. There are 1/32 kits out there I would like to build, but I can't afford them. The Trumpeter kits at the LHS are all over $100 US. I imagine the 1/35 kits would run close to the same price. For that amount I could get two or three armor kits, or three or four 1/48 airplane kits. I would be in big trouble with SWMBO for buying that many kits at one time, but even more so for buying one kit at that price.

Actually, I quiet confuse. Why everyone made tank, figure in 1/35 but none make 1/35 for aircraft? I'm waiting that to make a big scale of diorama.

I wonder if 1/35 was just a metric size that turned into 1/35th when it was converted to US measurements? I have some Tamiya sports cars and they are 1/12 and a few other scales, but not 1/35th.If anybody knows, please share!

Jim,

Long Island, New York? I grew up there! We were lucky enough to have a model shop in Sayville called Dick's Hobbyland that sold all manner of models. (I started going there around 1971 if memory serves...) Tanks were a big thing and Tamiya was just starting to dominate the scene, but Monogram was fighting a spirited retreat! Of course the aircraft & car sections were much bigger.

Tamiya augmented its motorised line with the "Military Miniatures" series that were true-scale 1:35 non-motored subjects like schwimmwagens and figure sets, but they still sell their old off-scale kits just without the motor gear.

My older brother had a collection that included some real "dinosaur" tanks like the Revell Sherman (sorta 1:40th scale) that I think was released way back in the late 50s, but most of the tank kits I remember as a kid were late 60s onwards. I think the 1970s wrere the real boom years for plastic models.

And I remember having a Rat Patrol set (1:72?) that included a jeep & tank... They don't make shows like that any more!

Tom

Jim 1/35th scale aircraft would be risky but may work for you, your enemy being price and size verse detail. What may be a better option is aircraft segments aimed at diorama use with perhaps an artwork showing the rest of the aircraft, this would overcome size and price and appeal to a larger number of diorama builders. Aircraft segments could also appeal to figure painters as in theory you could take it up to even larger scales while keeping the price and size down.

I look at 1/48th and 1/24th scale aircraft (I like Airfix reminds me of being a kid), I would look at complete 1/35th scale aircraft kits however some concerns would exist depending on aircraft type. As said earlier there is/was a manufacturer looking at releasing some 1/35th scale aircraft (Jim R ran a news story late 2008 or early 2009) but I have seen nothing of them as yet.

I believe that 1/48th scale struggles where AFV’s are concerned because the figures are not there and a number of what is are not great. Most of the time we don’t include figures in our builds but they are there if we want them, and I believe that is what makes the difference in the scales even though its something most of the time we don’t think about.