Welcome to my Museum in Miniature!
TANK - World War I code name for a track-laying vehicle designed to break through barbed wire and machine guns and cross trenches. The name stuck!
AFV - Armored Fighting Vehicle, derived in English from the German word "panzerkampfwagen" and often abbreviated to "armor". Medieval armour is somewhat different in scope, though not in basic function!
I came right out and called this page "Nick's Model Tanks" page since that is the way most people will see it! There are in fact many military vehicles on this page that are not tanks and even a couple of helicopters. Increasingly I include figures. I have finished over 100 1/35 figures now, which I found hard to believe even after I counted!
May 7 2008: Added Indiana Jones link
The "big news", well for me at least. is that my Birthday and the Bank Account Gods have enabled me to score a Canon Digital Rebel XTi camera. Hopefully this will make getting model pictures on the web much easier and with a higher quality. The first subjects are my re-vamped Humber armoured car and a tiny 1/76 SAS Jeep (European). Quality is excellent, partly because I can immediately re-shoot if I don't like the results, and partly because of the 10 mega-pixels and 'raw' picture format. The downside is that it does take a bit of work on the computer re-formatting the picture for the web. I could just shoot in Jpeg and be happy, but I did a side-by-side comparison, and shooting in 'raw' and converting later to jpeg gave a much better picture. I care about quality! If I am going to slap something on the internet at least let it be quality something! I have added 12 totally new models so far in 2007, plus 2 updated models and many new pictures. (Note that I count a diorama as one, even though it has a base, many figures and a gun or vehicle.) I always do a cleaning on the older models before taking new pictures and sometimes I have to do some minor repair work. My goal is to be faithful to the work and workmanship of the time period that the model dates from, but the camera gets in so close, at least the way I like to photograph my models, that any slight imperfection is exaggerated! Any major work is 'reported' as an overhaul, for example the Humber armoured car. The original was never really finished, and when I checked references I realised it would be so much more authentic covered with stowage!
What you will find on this site are all-original pictures of armor models I have made over the years. And when I say "over the years" I mean the earliest model dates from about 1966! Others I just finished just days ago... Many are 1/76 or 1/72 scale and some are 1/35. Models are from Airfix, Matchbox, ESCI, Tamiya and others. Some are scratch-built, some straight kits, and some are in diorama settings. As well as allied tanks, German panzers and other tracked vehicles there are also wheeled softskins, artillery guns and tractors, trucks and other military transport and SPGs. There are also some Roco minitanks models in 1/87 scale which I have painted. Modeling is a hobby from my childhood that I have returned to, so I suppose I am a BAM! (Born-again modeler!). I never seem to have enough time for it! To do it properly takes a lot of time! After all, I am no longer content to throw a kit together in an afternoon! However, I do vary between easy and more involved projects. Boredom is deadly!
Many are prone to wonder - why tanks? For me, one reason is simply that I cannot model everything and therefore I chose to specialize. I started with tanks as supporting armor for my armies of OO scale plastic Airfix figures, much like how tanks were originally conceived as infantry support weapons. I came to really love the funkiness of armor modeling. The nifty camouflage patterns. The dirt and wear. The crew and gear. Then when was about 10 or 11 the family moved to Dorset (UK). I was a mere 17 miles from Bovington Camp, the home of the Royal Armoured Corp and practically the very birthplace of the tank! If you are an armor enthusiast, you simply must go there. (If you are wondering why an Englishman is using the spelling 'armor' it is because in 1982 I moved to California - and somehow never made it back!)
A note on scale. Some people seem to get very worked up over scales. When I started modeling there was 1/76 (Airfix) and 1/87 (Roco) and that was about it! Ideally all small scale armor would be to one sacle size, and I always thought it made more sense to use 1/72 and have armor in scale with all those aircraft models. Well, live in a perfect world we do not, so I don't let it bother me and model in 1/76 and 1/72. Roco is still there and has many unique models. 1/35 allows so much detail to be added it is almost intimidating, but the larger size does make for an impressive model. I suppose if I were starting today I might choose this scale and stick to it, but with my "history" that won't happen. I'm still trying to remake all those Airfix armor kits to my current standards! My opinion is that a hobby should be FUN, and there are times for quick builds and times for obsessive detailing. But above all, enjoy it!. It sometimes happens that modelers get bogged down in detail and obsessed with accuracy. I certainly strive to be as accurate as I can, but at the end of the day I want a finished model in my hand, not just a dream in my head! At such times I remind myself that life is a compromise and I'm doing this for enjoyment and relaxation!
So relax and enjoy my models!
Look for little fun surprises scattered on these pages, in glowing orange letters. For example -
Take an AFV identification quiz!
Just for fun, here's a little test of your basic AFV knowledge:
TAKE THE QUIZ
Do you like Star Wars? Then take a moment to visit my sister site, Custom Star Wars
Do you like Indiana Jones? Then take a moment to visit my sister site, Indiana Jones and the Quest for the Perfect Toy!
"This page was inspired by the many modeling sites on the web that I have enjoyed. They are appreciated!"
Some great links:
MODELS
1/76 & 1/72 Scale Armored Fighting Vehicle Museum:
Missing Lynx
Tony Matelliano’s Scale Model Index
MiniatureZone
Model Geek - dare to think snmall!
MUSEUMS
American Armored Foundation
The American Society of Military History
Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum
The Tank Museum at Bovington Camp
US Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground
Patton Museum
Tank Museum, Kubinka, Russia
US Army Museum, Hawaii
REAL VEHICLES
Webshots Chieftain album - There's other good stuff here too
German Special Equipment - radios etc.
SAS Landrovers
AFV Interiors - Inactive - (Contact me)
Achtung! Panzer
ON-LINE HOBBY STORES
(Only the ones I have ordered from and can vouch for...
Phoenix Model
Internet Hobbies
Discount Trains - Have plastic kits too
Aviapress
Squadron Signal
UPDATES:
25-Jan-2003: Major update with many new vehicles added and many replacement pictures also. Allied vehicles got so large I had to split it into two pages.
26-Jan-2003: Minor update. Added pop-up descriptions to the buttons, added some more comments and corrected some errors.
27-Jan-2003: Added 2 little animation sequences for a bit of fun.
16-Feb-2003: Added a new page devoted to pictures of real tanks. My site now has over 26Mb of armor and military goodies.
28-Mar-2003: Added link to Custom Star Wars page. Added to a few of the comments on the allied pages.
1-Apr-2003: Corrected some links that were not working
18-Apr-2003: Added pictures for M36, LVT4, Krupp Protz Kfz 69, Schimmwagen, Flakvierling 38, Horch Type 1a and StuG III. This time I tried using a PC camera (webcam).
7-May-2003: Added pictures for Schwere Wehrmachschlepper and updated pictures for M4A3E8, STUG III, STUG IV, Sdkfz 7 Flak and Pzkfw IV.
10-May-2003: Split WWII axis and Post war to different areas because it was too big. ATT allows me 60Mbytes of space but split into 10 Mbyte areas. Bummer.
15-May-2003: Added Sea King helicopter and SdKfz 7 diorama
15-Jun-2003: Major update with new models, new pictures of some crappy shots and some re-scanned pictures that were way too dark.
New models: T34-76 1941, M113 mortar, Chieftain prototype, Centurion, M48 bridgelayer, Fokker triplane. Also restored SU-85, T34-76 1943.
New pictures of: Matilda, M3 Grant, Humber and Daimler armoured cars, Wespe, SdKfz 222, King Tiger, Morris truck.
New scans of: Churchill IV, Churchill mine roller, DUKW, Morris with jeep, T48 halftrack, M3 75mm halftrack, Tiger I, Japanese Type 97, Panther OP, Comet, JS III, M4 Firefly, M4 Jumbo, M4 Sherman, M4A1 Sherman.
13-Jul-2003: Updated all link addresses to comcast.net. This was mandated by the change from ATT to Comcast. I hope everyone can still find my page!
25-Apr-2004: Added links.
16-Jul-2004: Added The American Society of Military History photos and link, pictures of M41 and new pencil drawings. Edited several pictures with a photo background,
19-Jul-2004: Added Panzer II, Sdkfz 253 and VW to the Axis section
01-Sep-2004: Added bigger, better pics for LVT4, AEC Matador, M36, M32, M3 Honey, Sdkfz 11 and new pics for Sdkfz 234/4
08-Jan-2005: Updated Indexes
31-Mar-2005: Added pictures of BT-7, T40, Stalin III and Valentine
02-Apr-2005: Added counter (again!) - let's hope this one works!
14-Nov-2005: Added Abbot, Pzkpfw IV F1, Sdkfz7 flak measuring, rescans of Challenger pictures
2006 : Adding rescans of many pictures to improve quality. Also trying edits of picture captions to improve Google image searching
April 2006 : Continuing to update picture captions. Added new page for toys.
May 5 2006 : Added Centaur CS and Valentine Mk VIII
May 22 2006 : Added 1/35 STUG IV and updated captions on Axis armour.
Sep 28 2006: Added M4A1 and M10
Mar 16 2007: Added 2 versions of M4A2, an early M4A1, Puma and more M10 pics
Mar 24 2007: Added Universal carrier, kubelwagen, Pak 43/41, updated Mark I male, new pics of Monty's caravan and M4A2 Scots Guards. Updated Indexes.
May 31 2007: Added German observation group, Pak 40 gun crew and new pictures of the Panzerjager I
June 2 2007: Added Sherman VC Firefly. Restored Airfix conversion and Revell (Matchbox)
July 1 2007: Added updated Humber armoured car
July 2 2007: Added SAS Jeep European Style. A tiny 1/76 Fujimi model.
July 15 2007: Added M4A1(76) and 6 pounder gun with crew. Also updated allied section with new, much nicer pictures!
July 30 2007: Added sand-colored Jeep and some much nicer pics of Churchill mine-clearer, Rodgers tractor and T48 halftrack!
Aug 1 2007: Added more new pics to allied and axis WWII pages - can't be bothered to spell 'em out!
Aug 12 2007: Added Bovington Boneyard to real tanks section
Sep 10 2007: Many new pictures - almost complete!
Jan 26 2008: Added some pictures of real tanks and did some re-org due to too many pics!
Jan 27 2008: Added more pics from the Jacques Littlefield Collection
Feb 3 2008: Even more pics from the Jacques Littlefield Collection!
Feb 10 2008: More pics of real tanks - this time from the American Society of Military History
Mar 9 2008: T62, M60A1, Leopard 2A4 and Panther G model pictures added, plus a few rescans for higher resolution.
May 7 2008: Added Indiana Jones link
Pages on this site:
This Page: Home Page
World War One vehicles
World War Two Allied vehicles
World War Two Allied Tanks
World War Two Axis vehicles
Post World War Two vehicles
Real Tank pictures
Toy tanks
**All images on this site are the property
of Nick Turner. If you like them then link to my site, don't steal them!**
You can email me at: turner-nick@comcast.net