Whats new in the World of small scale WW1 Military Modelling?

Hobby News and Rumors

So what's new in the World of Small Scale WW1 Military Modelling?
(Updated as per June 9, 2008)

Ace 76.2mm Putilov m/02 Field Gun. Surprise! The Russian firm of Ace (mostly known for their plastic kits of modern Soviet Tanks) has issued a kit of the main Field Gun of the Imperial Russian Army, the 76.2mm Putilov m/02 - with limber. This is, to my knowledge, the first HARD plastic 1/72 WW1 kit on the market. I don't say that this means that the "tipping point" has arrived - this guns was also used in WW2, by several armies - but I still want to take this as an omen. Expect a review soon. (For more info, including photos of the sprues, click here!)
Retrokits News. One of the Firms that best caters for the Great War modellers is of course Retrokits, and in the immediate future they will issue the following WW1-era kits: Knox 35 WWI tractor (late February), La Buire tank transporter trailer (March), Automitrailleuse White Mle.1917 (with PE set & decals for one French vehicle) and WWI British gunners with ‘Teddy Bear’ jackets (4 figures in relaxed poses)
More Figures News. The Russian Company of Strelets have announced that they will issue two sets of WW1 Russian Infantry: one in Summer uniform, one in Winter Unform. And as mentioned before: HÄT has a number of WW1 offerings due this year, among them German Early War Infantry, French 75mm Gun (Early & late War plus U.S.). Also: W^D Models mentioned above will soon issue their first sets. A sneak preview can be found here!
Good News from Matador. We already know that Matador Models caters well for the Great War modeller, and they continue to show it. Firstly, they have issued a set of small scale MG's (Lewis & Hotchkiss) to be used with WW1 Tanks, a very welcome enterprise! Secondly, they have snapped up the 1/76 scale kit of the Italian WW1 149/12 Mod 14 howitzer from the now defunct company of S.M.A., an excellent idea, as this is actually a very good artillery kit. Details can be found on Matadors own site.
New WW1 Figure Maker! Early next year the Firm of W^D Models (run by Barry John Williams) will start producing a whole new line of small scale WW1 figures in casual poses. As we all know, these types of poses are very much used by diorama makers and others, and I myself prefer them to the more action-oriented poses you can find in plastic sets, and will have separate torsos, some even separate arms, for maximum flexibility. W^D Models will strat by doing Britishers, but both French and Germans will follow. A most commendable effort, in my eyes. More news about this will be posted here. Below some test casts can be seen:
The Retrokit WW1 effort continues! Retrokit has split up into two firms, but Domi Jadoul (that will carry the Retrokit Brand) has signalled that WW1 will continue to be a central field: "WWI should hopefully take the lion' share of our new releases, starting this year still, with the Belgian Minerva and SAVA armoured cars and the French automitrailleuse White. Expect more artillery, trucks, tractors and possibly even an additional tank or two... " Great news, Domi! Keep up the fine work!
Tadpole Tail kit available! Matador has now issued their long-awaited Tadpole Tail conversion kit for the EMHAR Mk IV kit or the Airfix Mk I. The kit is in resin. Or really: you can still buy it. It has been out for a year, if I understand correctly. Sorry about not mentioning this earlier. For more info, click here!
Attention all you Resin kit Master Builders! The lack of good plans on WW1 Military Subjects have long been a problem. Here on Landships we have tried to remedy that problem somewhat, with a special page where all known plans are either linked to or listed. In addition to this, I've also started a special page for the excellent plans of modelling veteran Ken Musgrave. There you will find SCORES of subjects not modelled before, just waiting to be called back into 3d-life again!
Skoda 42cm Howitzer in 1/35. WW1 Military kits in this scale are really few, so it's good to notice that the Czech firm of Hauler (headed by Jan Sobotka) just started production of a kit in that scale of the famous Skoda 42cm Howitzer (also used in WW2). For more info, click here!
White Armoured Car! Retrokit is one of the few firms that really cater for the Great War Military Modeller, and this year has been very productive for them. Now yet another resin kit with WW1 interest has been issued by them. It's the French White Armoured Car. The kit portrays the WW2 version, but you should be able to back-date it. (Notice that Retrokit have started to use Etched Brass Frets in their kits now. They are really getting better and better.) And they also have a number of WW1 kits coming, like the Holt 75hp tractor, the Knox tractor & trailer and the Minerva armoured car! Click here to find out more!
The Schneider triplets! The plans were known before, but now the kits are actually here: yes, Retrokit have now issued kits of the full Schneider CA.1 family: the early variant, the mid-variant with applique armour, and the late variant, with the moved rear petrol tanks and all. At a first glance they look VERY nice. The new kits will be reviewed here soon. Click here to find out more!
We have a Mk B as well! The good modelling news keep coming. Now Matador Models has started to sell a model of another tank that you couldn't find a kit of before: the British Mk B, the successor to the Whippet. Click here to see it! It is reviewed here!
New Decal Producer! One of the areas where the WW1 Military Modeller has been left out, is custom decals. Now a new company has started to manufacture decals for WW1 Military Models (and also for some some other, less well-known periods). They are called Black Lion Decals, and there are several known names behind it, not least Michel Boer, who did the best decal sheets in the now defunct Landships Decals range. (Some of these old Landships decals can be found in the range, but improved!) Good news indeed. Click here to find out more!
Roden moves into the WW1 Military Scene? Rumor has it, that the Ukrainian Plastic Modelling firm of Roden, well-known for their big range of high-quality WW1 Aero kits, will soon do a WW1 Military kit as well. (It's logical really, with their documented expertise in the Great War.) That kit will be of the most famous Armoured Car of the conflict, the Rolls-Royce. If it's true, we can expect a first-rate plastic kit.
Retrokits 1/72 Schneider CA.1 is now out! Click here for a review!
Schneider CA.1, Mk IV Tadpole Tail and more. Retrokits have announced, that their new 1/72 resin kit of the French CA.1 Tank, will probably be issued in late january. On their webpage you can see photos of the work in progress on the master - it looks very promising! Also, Matador Models have finally issued their Mk IV Tadpole Tail conversion kit. Which is great news to all of us that always wanted a model of this very original looking Mk IV variant, but haven't had the guts to try and and do the conversion work ourselves! You can expect a review of Tadpole Tail kit soon. And Strelets have issued one more set of WW1 Cavalry: Cossacks in Summer uniforms. And finally, a new resin kit brand has enetered the market. That's BP Resin, and their first kit is of the Austro-Hungarian WW1 10.5cm M.14 Medium Howitzer.
Four more WW1-era related kits! First Al.By has issued a kit of a French Cooking-wagon, mle1916 - you can get it from Special East. Secondly Modelkrak - that has given us a number of very nice WW1 Armoured Cars - continue their commitment to this era by issuing a kit of the Soviet T-12 Tank, a prototype precursor to the T-24 (I guess that this means that a T-24 is to be expected). And thirdly, the WW1 Cavalry effort by Strelets continues: now they have a set of Russian Hussars in Summer uniform out. And last but not least, HäT are showing off a test run of their WW1 Canadians (which with the leather jerkins, Lewis MG's etc, could easily go as late war Brits as well) meaning that that set is also getting close to completion. Reviews of the Cooking-wagon and the T-12 will follow soon on this site.
At last: Italian Infantry! Perhaps the last major gap when it comes to Great War 1/72 figures is now finally to be filled. The Italian firm of Waterloo 1815 is bringing out a set of Italian Great War Infantry. (In 1/35 scale as well, by the way.) You should be able to buy them from Italy, and I believe that they eventually will be issued under the HÄT label as well. The Italian Front in WW1 has been neglected both when it comes to kits and figures, but hopefully this has changed now. Anyway: the HÄT Austro-Hungarians have more opponents now!
HäT brings out Great War French! Hät has the biggest WW1 Figures range by far, and now it grows even further. Their earlier announced sets of French Artillery (with early and late war crews) are moving forward. The sets will include both the famous "75" AND caissons, plus crew - the late war crew have gas masks on their chests. And another set that also will fill a gap, namely their eraly war WW1 Infantry, is also moving towards completion. For more pics, click here!
Schneider to the rescue! In their very ambitious release schedule for the coming year, Retrokits have included a number of items with WW1 interest. (All in 1/72.) First of all: they will do a Schneider CA.1! As there is currently NO kits available of this Tank, this is MOST welcome! Also they will reissue the kit of the Berliet CBA truck, reviewed here a while ago. Also, in October-November we should expect a kit of the 75hp Holt tractor, a most important vehicle historically, that provided the basis for several WW1 Tank designs. And they will also do a kit of the British B.L. 9.2in Heavy Howitzer.
First of Strelets WW1 Cavalry sets out now! As reported before, the Russian firm of Strelets plan to make a whole line of 1/72 soft plastic WW1 Cavalry sets. And now the first six of ten has been issued: German Uhlans, Dragoons and Hussars, plus Russian Dragoons, Cossacks and Kuban Cossacks. They can all be had through Hannants in the UK. And you can find reviews of most of them on the fine site Plastic Soldier Review. (I have decided NOT to review soft plastic figures, simply because Plastic Soldier Review is doing such a great job on that already!)
Retrokit issues two new WW1 kits! The Anglo-French firm of Retrokit, that have made quite a splash with their Resin kits during the last year, have now issued two more 1/72 kits from the Great War-era: on the French 155mm Schneider C mle. 1917 Field Howitzer and one of the biggest British gun used in that conflict, the B.L. 15 inch Siege Howitzer Mk. 1. (More info can be found on their own website.) Both kits have now been reviewed on this site.
Plastic Fiat 3000 soon here? The Italian firm of DOC Models last year announced that they will issue a kit of the Italian FT-17 clone, the FIAT 3000 (in actual life the clone was better than the original), and now their site states that the kit will come "soon" - there will be three variants. We keep our fingers crossed. Below you can see the box art:
Great War Cavalry on the way! Over the last couple of years, many sets of WW1 Fighting Men have appeared, not least thanks to the firms of HÄT and EMHAR. But there has been one, big gap in this array, and that is Cavalry: there has been no plastic sets of WW1 Cavalry. (Discounting one set from LW that was awfully difficult to get hold of.) There has been speculations of the Russian firm of Strelets doing some, and now these speculations have been duly confirmed. And they plan to release no less than TEN sets! (On the site, linked to above, you can find pics of the masters.)
Yet another WW1 Artillery kit! The Italian firm of Il Principe Nero have just given us their great 1/72 Mk I Tank. And now comes the great news that they are about to issue a 1/72 kit of a WW1 Austro-Hungarian artillery piece, the Skoda 15cm Autokanone M.15. And the master builder is no other than the gifted Italian modeller Gabriele Zenoni, who has made some of the best WW1 resin kits that can be found on the market today. Good news indeed! In anticipation of this kit, I will soon publish an article on this gun. For more pics go to: (Scroll the the bottom) http://henk.fox3000.com/gzenoni.htm
Previously hard-to-get has become easy-to get! One firm with an interesting range of smallscale WW1 kits have been BK Modelcraft: among others they have sold kits of the Fahrpanzer, 25cm Minenwerfer, 21cm Mörser, German Field Bakery, softskins etc. The problem was only, that the BK Modelcraft Models have been VERY hard to get in touch with, and the models hard to get. Well, that has changed now! The wellknown firm of Matador (who has a long standing commitment to the Great War) is now in the process of taking over the whole range of kits of BK Modelcraft! Check it out:
http://www.matadormodels.co.uk/new_kits.htm
More WW1 Figures! Several manufacturers of 1/72 scale soft plastic military figures have announced their intention of making sets with WW1 Figures. The well-known company of HÄT are planning to WW1 Canadians, WW1 Early War French Infantry, WW1 French Artillery with "75" (one set with late war crew, one set with early war). Caesar plan to do WW1 French & German infantry, Waterloo WW1 Italians, Pegasus Late War French Infantry.
Another WW1 Artillery kit! The Czech firm of Profikit, that has produced several very fine 1/72 scale kits of Artillery, among them a very nice French "75", has now announced that they will soon issue a kit of the Austro-Hungarian 10cm Feldhaubitze M.14! The M.14 was a very important gun, that also saw service in WW2. Stay tuned for a review! And there are rumours that more WW1 Artillery kits will follow under the Profikit label...

Another Big Push! More 1/72 WW1 Soldiers are moving up. HÄT's impressive effort rolls on! Soon their WW1 Serbs, WW1 US Infantry and WW1 German Colonial Troops will hit the stores here in Europe. And another company with a keen WW1 interest, EMHAR, have just issued their WW1 Americans. (As always, you can find very informative reviews of these sets at the excellent Plastic Soldier Review webpage.) Previously we had only the old Airfix set, with all it's problems and anachronisms, but not any longer!
More WW1-Era 1/72 models are coming! Firstly, the old and trusted company of MGM have issued more interesting kits. Among them a Austro-Hungarian Field Kitchen M.15 (including a friendly looking cook with a bit of a belly), and a 3.7cm Anti-Balloon-gun, mounted on a Horse-drawn carriage (it looks really exotic, ancient even). Also, their kit of the Austro-Hungarian 38cm M.16 Mörser will be issued in February, in time for Trucks n’Tracks in the UK. Secondly, a company that is new to me, Bull Models (in Northfleet, Kent, UK) have issued two very interesting kits, that show GREAT promise. Kit BM05 is a 76.2mm Putilov 02/30 including a Limber. And kit BM06 is the Soviet T18 (MS1) Tank, an old favourite of mine, including two very well-sculpted crewmen: portrayed in the kit is the early variant, without radio bustle. (A kit of the later variant is being prepared.) It looks strange this, because recently AER Molodova has issued two kits of the 76.2mm Putilov and the T-18. The kits of Bull Models are quite superior though, in detailing and overall quality. All these kits can be had through Blitzkrieg Models (see the Suppliers Page here on Landships). Stay tuned for reviews of these very interesting kits!
The NEW Tracks & Troops, now under the management of Milan Vins, will open for orders on the 15th November. They will carry a WIDE range of smallscale military kits, many otherwise hard to get, and looks very promising.
Yet another set of 1/72 WW1 soldiers have arrived, this time by EMHAR. Their US Soldiers are as always with EMHAR very well sculpted, but the helmets do look a little bit strange. See this review!
Yet another new producer of 1/72 Military kits with WW1 interests has entered the arena! (Or remade: they seems to be building on the proud remnants of Exokit and Retromodels, hence the name.) Their name is Retrokit, it's a French company and they have their own webpage. And on their list you can find a really excellent 194mm GPF SP Gun with tractor, and - HORRAY! - the British Gun Carrier (plus a 60pdr gun). And coming up is a Lancia 1ZM Armoured Car and the 155mm court modèle 1917 Schneider. Lets give them all the support they are worth! Below you can find pics of the 194mm GPF SP:
AER of Moldova has released two new resin kits, that REALLY fill the gaps for us WW1 era modellers. Firstly we FINALLY now have a kit of one of the most important Field Guns of the Great War, the Russian Putilov M/02 76.2mm Field Gun - see below. You can find a review here! Secondly, they have realeased a kit of the very first Soviet tank, the T-18, a very complex and strange-looking thing, that can be described as an extremely mutated FT-17. Click here for a review of the T-18 kit.
Surprise Move! The Italian Master Modeller Gabriele Zenoni has started work on a 1/72 Mk I! (Check the bottom of the linked page.) This is going to be VERY good, as he is one of the best. His Fiat trucks and 149mm cannon was quite superb. See this pics! Super! It looks like 1:35! (Hmmm, perhaps it is???) And as this one is getting near to completion, he has started a new project: an Austro-Hungarian WW1 Artillery Piece! Check out here!
It has happened! Matador Models, who have done a lot of WW1-related kits in the past, are back on the Great WAr track! Quoting Phil Radley: "Matador have changed the look of their catalogue to make it easier to find all the Great War stuff. Tucked amongst the older stuff are some mouth-watering morsels - Tadpole Tails, extras for the Emhar Whippet and Mk4, and the Model T Armoured Car that has been promised for so long". Check it out!
Rumors, rumors rumors! First, there is a rumor that Michael Gohres of MGM is contemplating making a kit of the Paris Gun! Big sensation! If he really does, we will get a most spectacular kit, that will dwarf even KORA's Tsar tank! Also, there is a rumor that the Russian Plastic Kit Manufacturer ICM plan to move into 1/72 WW1 Mililtary. They already have done some 1/35 WW1 kits, but rumor has it that they have seen that for WW1 1/72 is THE scale. Are we now slowly getting near a "tipping point" for WW1 Military Modelling?

Two transistion. Tracks & Troops, the best Braille Scale Military supplier there is, will change its managemnt. Philip van Acker has to leave for family reasons, but Tracks & Troops will instead be run by Milan Vins, a well-known Czech Braille-Scaler, and certainly the right man for the job. Then Fine Scale Factory in Germany are in the process of big change: the original founders have decided to close shop, but I understand that one of their Master Makers will continue with the line.

The Polish firm of "Five Star", who really deserve their name, because their resin kits of Railway Guns and Armoured Trains are really SUPER (their 1916 Zaamurets was excellent!) have issued a kit of German WW2 28cm Railway Gun, "Kurzer Bruno", a model that should be pretty easy to backdate to the WW1 version. I will get back on this subject!

The Polish form of RPM, which gave us that nice little series of T-Ford Trucks, and that very well-detailed but frustratingly complex series of FT-17, has now issued their next Great War project!!! And it is in the form of four WW1-era Mack AC "Bulldog" trucks. The variants that are now coming out to the stores - Squadron has already announced them, with box covers and all and the highly recommendable Jadar Models in Poland will sell them from April 11th- are the Type EHC1, US Tank Transporter, the Type HC3 Artillery Tractor, the Type EHC Untilty Truck and the Type EHT French Tank Transporter. This is VERY good news indeed, as these are the first kits of Large WW1 Trucks to hit the market, ever! RPM is to be congratulated. A quickie in-the-box preview can be found here. Also, stay tuned for a big review coming up on this site!

At the Nüremberg Toy Fair, The Italian firm of DOC Models (who recently released a very nice little plastic kit of the Italian WW2-era L11/30 tankette) announced that they this year will release a 1/72 kit of the FIAT 3000 - The Italian FT-17 clone - in three variants: Type 21, Type 30 and FIAT 3000. Great News! And EMHAR, who needs no further introduction, will release their announced set of 1/72 US WW1 Infantry. The last set is obviously very near completion: they were shown off painted and ready! But still no sign of the Mirage FT-17! Is it shelved? Anyone it was not listed for 2005... Also, Italeri will do a WW1 Bunker & accessories. (All in 1/72.)

The new Italian firm of Il Principe Nero ("The Black Prince") has now started production. And among their very first kits is a WW1-one, the Italian Autoblinda Terni! (see the pic below). Tracks & Troops will sell this kit. And another Italian firm, Mr Panzer (who picked up those excellent WW1 that was left behind when DA.GA folded) hope to issue two new WW1 kits during 2005. Firstly, the Armoured Car Lanzia 1ZM, and secondly ... wait for it ... the FIAT 2000, the first Italian Tank, and a sweet-heart of this site! And the one doing the masters will be none other than Master Modeller Gabriele Zenoni, who once started DA.GA.

Here we have more news from MGM and Michael Gohres (who else?), and also more pics of their previously announced kits. First, photos of the 24cm Kanone M.16, in emplaced position - including the whole base box - which looks like a very nice kit indeed. And a kit of the sister gun to the 24cm Kanone, the 38cm Haubitze M.16, is also coming soon. Also, there are kits to go with these guns: two ammo wagons, plus wagons for transporting the barrel. Below you can also see more pics of their new kit of the A7V Überlandwagen. And there are rumors of even more WW1 kits coming. If the other kit producers don't look out, Michael Gohres is going to corner the WW1 market!