Basic Information
The box set comes with 5 half tracks, 1 to each sprue. I saw the box for about $25 from several vendors at Fall In, which makes them pretty cheap! The sprues come with stowage and several passengers in different positions. No decals are provided. There is also no option to make a 251/10.
The details on the vehicle are very sharp - much more sharp than resin or lead. I did find that the crew is not so sharp - but, it is just crew. There was very little flashing on the casts, and the plastic made clean up a breeze where it was required.
Assembly
Since these are really just little models, there is quite a bit of assembly to do before you can prime. I chose to create 3 groups of pieces: the top, the bottom and the tracks. It seemed to me that this would make painting the crew fairly easy.
As I put the models together I broke 3 of 4 of the MGs - they are VERY thin. I was able to glue one back together, but had to use a spare Battlefront MG in place of another. I am guessing that the others will break pretty quickly.
The only word I can think of to describe the assembly process is "fiddly". I kinda have ham-hands, so I really needed a set of tweezers to assemble these things. It took me about 15-20 minutes to assemble each model.
The Painting
I painted these up very much like the other half tracks I did. Everything went well and I cannot complain. I actually thought that the plastic tracks were very well done, with crisp detail - much better than lead.
Conclusion: 3 out of 5 Donkey-Fausts
These are ok. One must make the time/money decision on these. For me, I don't think that these are worth it. I have more money than time. I do not want to spend the time in assembly or the time that I think will be required to fix broken MGs and such. However, I am a 40 year old guy who wears a tie to work every day -- this equation may be different for some of my younger or miserly commanders!
For me, the German Panzergrenadier Box Set is better - it costs about double, but you get 4 halftracks with the 251/10 option AND a platoon of awesome Grenadiers. To me, it is worth it.
The Good:
- Cheap!
- Same size as Battlefront models
- Lots of stowage and bits
The Bad:
- "Fiddly" Lots of assembly time
- Broken MGs everywhere
- No decals
- No 251/10 Option
- Passengers are kinda lame sculpts
Here is a pic of the Battlefront (212) and the PSC (224) models together:
The box set comes with 5 half tracks, 1 to each sprue. I saw the box for about $25 from several vendors at Fall In, which makes them pretty cheap! The sprues come with stowage and several passengers in different positions. No decals are provided. There is also no option to make a 251/10.
The details on the vehicle are very sharp - much more sharp than resin or lead. I did find that the crew is not so sharp - but, it is just crew. There was very little flashing on the casts, and the plastic made clean up a breeze where it was required.
Assembly
Since these are really just little models, there is quite a bit of assembly to do before you can prime. I chose to create 3 groups of pieces: the top, the bottom and the tracks. It seemed to me that this would make painting the crew fairly easy.
As I put the models together I broke 3 of 4 of the MGs - they are VERY thin. I was able to glue one back together, but had to use a spare Battlefront MG in place of another. I am guessing that the others will break pretty quickly.
The only word I can think of to describe the assembly process is "fiddly". I kinda have ham-hands, so I really needed a set of tweezers to assemble these things. It took me about 15-20 minutes to assemble each model.
The Painting
I painted these up very much like the other half tracks I did. Everything went well and I cannot complain. I actually thought that the plastic tracks were very well done, with crisp detail - much better than lead.
Conclusion: 3 out of 5 Donkey-Fausts
These are ok. One must make the time/money decision on these. For me, I don't think that these are worth it. I have more money than time. I do not want to spend the time in assembly or the time that I think will be required to fix broken MGs and such. However, I am a 40 year old guy who wears a tie to work every day -- this equation may be different for some of my younger or miserly commanders!
For me, the German Panzergrenadier Box Set is better - it costs about double, but you get 4 halftracks with the 251/10 option AND a platoon of awesome Grenadiers. To me, it is worth it.
The Good:
- Cheap!
- Same size as Battlefront models
- Lots of stowage and bits
The Bad:
- "Fiddly" Lots of assembly time
- Broken MGs everywhere
- No decals
- No 251/10 Option
- Passengers are kinda lame sculpts
Here is a pic of the Battlefront (212) and the PSC (224) models together:
Our friends from View From the Turret also reviewed the Plastic Soldier Company halftracks recently- check them out here: http://viewfromtheturret.com/2011/11/07/plastic-soldier-company-sdkfz251d/
16 comments:
My condolences regarding the tie.
hahaha, same here
thanks for the review you have given my a lot to ponder
Nice review and good looking minis. I have PSC T-34s and Panzer IVs. Although the quality is top notch I do miss the weight and feel of resin + metal.
These guys ( http://www.i-94enterprises.com/ ) put out pretty decent decals that don't cost much. I'm actually liking the approach of buying only specific decals I want instead of paying for decal sheets that only cover 1 platoon but with options that I don't use (like other division insignia, SS decals when I play heer, etc.)
@Izimu: Thanks! I know i94 well - I get a ton of decals from those guys. They are great!
I only mention that these don't come with decals so people who buy based on the review know they will not be getting them, even though the finished figs show them here. =)
Good looking stuff Jon, I guess the factor might be on how many you need to field with a current army or list. Either way they look great
Thanks for the review. I agree that the pzr grenadier box set might be a better overall value, but I've become a big fan of the PSC stuff. I'm hoping to see some plastic cromwell's in the future.
I second the comment on the whole tie thing - horrible things they are!
Miles
i think that these are good for the price, especially for people like myself who do not need more Panzergrenadiers, i've bought enough german halftracks in blisters that i have 10 3.7cm guns in my bitz box so if you need any Jon i can send you a couple. one question, does the tire in the front come sculpted on the upper body or did you add it?
I agree 100% with the time vs money comment. I have been anti plastic for gaming minis for awhile and was right on the plastic is bad bandwagon when BF started using it. but I have more time than money and thus PSC is quickly becoming my new favorite company.
@Storm: Heck yeah, I'll take one! Shoot me an email and I'll coordinate with you.
The tire can be added, but is optional. You see it if you look closely on the sprue pic above.
Email sent.
Ah yes i can see it at the botton left of the picture with the sprue.
I love the Plastic Soldier Company stuff, and I've had no problems with it.
The barrels on their Tanks don't come 'pre-bent from the manufacturer,' and their Troopies don't have melon-heads and Sasquatch hands.
Also, their models clock in at roughly less than half the price.
For LESS THAT THE COST OF A SINGLE PANZERGRENADIER PLATOON FROM BATTLEFRONT, you can buy 5 halftracks and a box of 130 troops from PSC.
Or you can pay about TEN DOLLARS MORE, and get one less halftrack, and only a single platoon of mongoloid lookin' troops.
That's...not even a fair comparison.
Also, PSC suff comes with really nice instructions, their tank kits make several variants, and plastic is much friendlier to work with.
Battlefront minis? Instructions? Ha!
Multiple variants? Pfft! No way!
Plastic Soldier Company is the clear winner in the 'models' category, imho.
And for the record, I've never assembled a Battlefront mini without whipping out the tweezers- try putting fenders on a Tiger without them! Eeesh!
If your worried about the weight of the model, there's about a bajillion ways to add weight to them.
i will definetly be buying at least 3 boxes soon so that i can covert my SS Panzergrenadiers to Mechanised since i now have a FV FJ army i don't need 2 FV foot sloggin armies.What i plan on doing is filling the halftracks with a who lot of SS crew which should add quite a lot of weight.
@SinSynn -- Sounds like price is your main concern -- like I said above, if it is, go with PSC.
For me, price is not the #1 element and I find the BF halftracks easier to deal with and have deeper detail that holds up with paint better.
Hi, I am making a bunch of these at present. One small detail puzzles me; the seated passenger looking to the side has something across his knees - any idea what it is so I know what colour to paint it!? Cheers
Scott
www.scottswargaming.blogspot.com
scottswargaming@gmail.com
@Scott: I think that is a rifle or SMG.
I love the PSC models and I have more money than time. I found I can put them together almost as fast, can convert them easier and they paint up far nicer. I do not use thick paint and so the plastic tends to allow things like filters and washes work far more effectively.
As for crew, I find that I am always buying Command Decision crew since a half-track should have more than two lonely guys sitting in it.
I have to say though I am a little shocked by your crew comments as well. The PSC crew and infantry in general have far more detail than any Battlefront infantry model I have ever seen. Not to mention things are proportional for the PSC models whereas the BF models tend to have massive hands and heads. They look like every single one of the BF infantry models is a cousin of the Rock with alien hands!
All in all I love them. Which in some ways saddens me because BF is such a fantastic company in every other regard that I would rather support them. This brings me to a dilemma since they do not have the cheapest product, nor the best once the PSC models started coming out. I still support BF in every way I can but PSC has made that slightly harder.
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