Hawkeye’s Squawkbox

The cross over between modeling aircraft and armor/vehicles in 1:48 (O guage) just turned an important corner. Tamiya released a P-51 Mustand/Staff Car combo recently and as a follow up they are releasing the staff car separately. Kit #32559 1942 US Army Staff Car is a kit that will allow WWII aircraft modelers more incentive to cross over to an automotive subject. Model railroaders who love O gauge and have sough after quality models from this era will love this kit as well.

I know I am looking forward to seeing this kit on hobby shop shelves, which I suspect once word reaches all genres of modeling, it will not be in stock for long. A US Staff Car is something that has been missing from aircraft dioramas for decades. As a friend and fellow modeler of mine just point out…he can now do his “12 O’Clock High” diorama!

Let’s hope Tamiya recognizes that they can capture some of the model railroading market if they continue to offer vehicles such as this. Kitting other vehicles that cross over between military and civilian users makes sense to me, let’s hope they feel the same way. I’m going to ordering mine as soon as they are available!

Photo courtesy of Shizuoka 2008 Expo.

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 11:45 am and is filed under News. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.