Welcome to my Museum in Miniature!

TANK - Is a World War I code name for a track-laying vehicle designed to break through barbed wire, cross trenches and protect occupants from machine gun fire.

Another name is the acronym, AFV. This stands for Armored Fighting Vehicle, which is derived in English quite lterally from the German word "panzerkampfwagen". Just as this is often shortened to 'panzer', so AFV is often abbreviated to "armor". Or in Britain, 'armour'.


"Nick's Model Tanks" actually includes many military vehicles that are not strictly tanks and, increasingly, figures. Though they sorely try my patience I have finished over 100 1/35 figures now, which I found hard to believe until I actually counted them.




Nov 17 2009. Added Higgins boat, Chieftain, and an A7V. Also added reshoots to update pictures.

I haven't started the Last Crusade tank construction yet! (Just in case you were asking.) I drew up some plans though!


On this site you will find many all-original pictures of armor models I have made over many years. And when I say "over many years" I am saying that the earliest model dates from about 1966! Others I may have finished just days ago... Many are 1/76 or 1/72 scale and many are now 1/35. (Steve Zaloga has stated that his eyes are no longer sharp enough for braille scale tanks, and will now concentrate on 1/35 scale. I know how he feels! I am helpless without my magnifying lamp!) Models are from Airfix, Matchbox, ESCI, Dragon, Italeri, 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, and my battle cry is that above all, modeling should be FUN!


If you are asking - why tanks? Well, 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 I was about age 10 or 11 my 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 scale 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 more 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!