Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Marcin, are you listening?

Marcin!! Oh, Marcin!! 

Marcin, who is the moving force behind Oddzial Osmy, if not the outright owner, has in the past exhibited a willingness to listen to his customers via the Yahoo 1/600 group as well as on TheMiniaturesPage.com.

So, just in case Marcin should grace my humble blog with his presence (and as an amusement for myself), here are twenty-one items I wish O8 would add to their 3mm product line. So, without further ado, in no particular order: 

1) An M548:
This US-made tracked cargo vehicle was (and indeed still is) used by numerous countries, not the least of which were the US, UK, West Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, and South Vietnam. You really can't make a correctly equipped self-propelled artillery battery for these countries without M548's. 

2) A staff/liaison/command vehicle for West Germany; either a Munga:
Or an Iltis:
Or I'd even take a Type 181:
O8 makes similar vehicles for the US, Soviets, and British, so why no German vehicle?

3) An US M60A1 with the Xenon searchlight:
O8 makes the M60A3, so why no A1?

4) A Dutch DAF 328 truck:
No way to have a correctly equipped Dutch force with it. 

5) An M113 C&R 25:
O8 makes the M113 C&R 50:
But not the more widely used 25.

6) A Dutch YPR-765 PRAT, the antitank version:

7) A Soviet S-60 57mm towed antiaircraft gun, very widely used by all WarPac armies as well as the North Vietnamese, among others:

8) A Czech-made Tatra 8x8 heavy truck, used by the Czechs and East Germans:
 
9) An M113-mounted Green Archer battlefield surveillance radar:
Used by a number of different NATO armies. 

10) O8 makes a couple of different Soviet medium range battlefield missiles, but no US/NATO ones. Maybe a Lance:
Or a Pershing I:

11) A medium range Soviet SAM missile, such as an SA-4 Ganef:
Or preferably an SA-6 Gainful:

12) And if the WarPac gets a heavier SAM launcher, NATO should have one too. An I-Hawk missile, either tracked:
 Or towed:
Used by pretty much all of NATO.

13)  LARS I multiple rocket launcher: 
O8 makes the LARS II, which began to enter service in the mid 70's, but by the early 80's the upgrade wasn't yet complete and both systems were being used simultaneously:

14) M75 armored personnel carrier:
An American-made APC that was used in large numbers by the Belgians, who didn't begin using M113's until 1982-83. 

15) AMX-VCI armored personnel carrier:
A French-made vehicle that was also heavily used by the Belgians until 1982-83. 

16) Fiat G-91R Gina ground attack aircraft:
Used by several NATO countries and not finally retired until about 1982.

17) A US M1 155mm towed howitzer:
Used by pretty much every NATO country as well as South Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, etc. 

18) An M108 self-propelled 105mm howitzer:
Again, heavily used by the Belgians, as well as by the US in Vietnam. 

19) A Soviet AT-T prime mover:
Or at least the smaller AT-L: 
Both used by all WarPac armies.

20) A West German Roland self-propelled SAM:
An 80's Bundeswehr "must".

21) And finally, an Alouette II helicopter:
The main light observation helicopter used by Belgium.

So that's my list. Needless to say, it's all geared toward my chosen timeframe, 1981 NATO v. WarPac. It's not a scientifically generated list and maybe it represents no one's interest but my own. But after all, it's MY blog! What's on your list?

7 comments:

  1. An interesting wish list.

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  2. Thank you. I may actually cobble on a couple of other things before I'm through.

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  3. A good list. At this scale I found the UAZ 459's work for their Bundeswehr counterparts in a pinch. Is the M113 C&R your referencing the same thing as the old M114 or is it a foreign mod?
    Also, if we are adding the M60A1, shouldn't we give the A2 (Starship) a little love?

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    1. Mungas are actually available in 1/600 on Shapeways, but it's an awful price for a very few of them. The quality's not too great either.

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  4. Ah, but the A2 was gone by 1981, so I didn't add it. The C&R series wasn't the M114. It was a Dutch derivative of the M113.

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  5. Hey, just an FYI -- I have a variety of M548s and Marder Rolands on my Shapeways store. I can probably pluck away at a few of the other things on your list when I get some other projects wrapped up! https://www.shapeways.com/shops/javelin98

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    1. Yes, I posted this before you had brought out your M548's, Roland's, etc. Anything on my list that you'd like to design (ie everything), please do!

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