I have noticed that a lot or most modelers prefer WWII German kits over others, anyone have an idea why this is? I think most respect the German army war machine, soldiers and equipment despite the bad image they aqquired.

It seems that German designers had a flare for combining military requirements with a sense for aesthetics. You set out a lineup of a T-34, a Sherman, and a Panther and ask anyone---even make it more fair and ask only people who didn't know anything but the basics of World War 2 history, which looks best. I'm sure that the Panther will come out the winner. Us airdales have a saying, "if it looks right, it will fly right."

I'd say it is variety. The Germans had dozens of variants of each mark. Add to that their use of captured French, Russian, modified Czech, etc., tanks and the variety increases exponentially.

Don´t forget to mention the variety of camouflage schemes, to say the least..
Have fun! :-)

I think it also comes down to what is available on the market. Take Dragon/DML figures for example. There are a lot more German sets than any other. Personally I also think German kits (for me figures) are more interesting. I love painting camo and German army had more than enough styles and colors.

Rob and Paulo are right with their comments on variety. If you're building American, your choices are basically the Sherman, the Sherman, or....... the Sherman. The Germans had a lot more designs and their variants were noticeably different. Another possible reason could be that the Germans were there for the whole war (well, they surrendered before Japan, but you know what I mean). This adds to the variety and the possibilities of settings (which played a part in determining those different camo schemes).

Nic

The camo is the thing that gets me into building German armor from the start, because allied ones seems to be rather boring, as most of them are just OD. And Then you got all the cool tact/unit symbols for different divisions. ANd also my facination with the Waffen-SS leads me to the building of the German stuff.

I'd say the combination of many types of vehicles combined with many interesting camo schemes are the most obvious reasons.

OK, I love Shermans but when you think about, after awhile they all start to look alike. To me, that's fine and I'd love to build as many variations as I can. To others, this may be boring and redundant.

Same with Soviet armor.

The Germans, on the other hand, had 6 or 7 what we could call 'standard' tanks through the war with about a million variations on those and oodles of other support and special vehicles.

Also, the Germans seemed to be a lot more creative with their painting and markings. This had to do with many things including the various theaters of operations, replacements, shortages, etc.

Now I think there is another reason with the popularity of German vehicles. I think there's just a fascination with the Nazis. No matter what your opinion, you have to admit that it is a fascinating and horrible regime the likes of which haven't been seen before or since. Look at how many books have been written about Hitler ...

And, from what I have heard, there is a particular fascination with the German subjects in Asia. Tamiya is, after all, a Japanese company. People there seem to be fascinated by German stuff.

Personally, I like to do Allied subjects and wish there were more being produced. It's just easier for me to relate to these vehicles.

Steve

The most important reasons for me to build german kits only are these (hope i describe it in such a way you guys understand :-) ) :

- A german vehicle meets all my expectations when i see or say the word "tank" or "armored vehicle" . Its exactely the kind of vehicle i would have imagened by the word.
- Somehow, german armor looks thougher, meaner etc. and therefore gives (me) the impression that it is an adversary to take into account.
- The fact that the german panzers were always outnumbered by the allies (air and land) and still were able to inflict heavy losses on the allies works on my imagination; i.e. i became fascinated by the german army
- Besides my personal reasons (see above), i agree with the rest; wide variety of vehicles, great variety of camouflage schemes.

My 2 cents,

Dolf

Allied equipment for the most part was boring and very redundant to look at. What were the color choices, eh......khaki, olive green, khaki green or tan. Sounds pretty ugly to me, looks like someone got seasick on land(eeeeewwwwwww). At least the Germans had varieties of color, nice camo and gorgeous looking weapons and equipment. Plus the medals and badges on the uniforms are also nice to look at. And looking at those neat SS collar tabs are better than looking at bear American collars. So what if we won the war, people somehow are drawn to losers, for making making better looking stuff than the victors.
The US Army does have the best military in the world, but the designers of our equipment must have been colorblind or hit with an ugly stick.

Chris Pig no.1

Amen to that. #:-) #:-)

The two biggest reasons that I build German armor is the variety and the looks. Their vehicles just look good and there are so many different varients that you could fill a lifetime just building variants of one chassis (especially if that chassis is the Panzer IV).

Of course for these same reasons I build Russian WWII armor also. Their vehicles just look good and there are bunches of variants (not as many as the Germans, but still a lot). Earlier someone said that the Americans basically just had the Sherman and the Soviets were the same, but I would have to disagree. The Soviets the T-26, T-34, T-28, T-35, T-50, T-40, T-37, T-38, T-40, T-60, T-70, BT series, KV series, and JS series plus tons of variants of these such as the SUs and ISUs. Plus they used lend-lease equipment like the Lee, Sherman, Churchill, Matilda, etc. The Russian army was almost as diverse as the Germans. Yes the most common thing was the T-34, but the Germans were the same in that regard because the Panzer IV was their most common vehicle.

Why isn't Italian armour more popular, I ask? They have spiffy looking camouflage and gaudy uniforms. I guess they might be somewhat lacking in variety, though, and perhaps their lack of success doesn't help either........ (had to use that guy, first time).

Nic