Armor,
Figure, and Diorama Modeling
Armor
Modelers Preservation Society (AMPS) (www.amps-armor.org) is a growing international
organization that promotes both modeling and preserving AFVs. The best feature
of the web site is a comprehensive list of AFV kits. You can join AMPS for about
$20 per year, for which you get a bimonthly susbscription to Boresight,
a slim magazine that often has good construction articles, but the product news
tends to be somewhat dated if you've been tuned in to the various AFV discussion
groups on the web. The annual national U.S. AMPS convention, showcasing some of
the world's best AFV models and dioramas, often has been held in April in Havre
de Grace, Maryland, In 2006, it was held in Hubbard, Ohio, and in 2008 it will
take place in Auburn, Indiana from April 10 to 12. The show has won great acclaim
for its unique rules where each entry is judged on its own merits, rather than
in direct competition with other kits. Consequently, there are often numerous
gold, silver and bronze awards in each category.
Armorama
(www.armorama.com) is a vibrant AFV web community, with good features, discussion
groups, and group building campaigns.
Hyperscale
(www.hyperscale.com) is Brett Green's comfortable marriage of airplane and AFV
modelers. There's not a lot of interplay between the "skeet" and "ground
target" crowds, as they have separate discussion groups and review areas.
Internet
Modeler (www.internetmodeler.com) is a monthly online magazine that runs the
gamut of modeling subjects. There are often good build-ups, references, reviews
and articles to be found here.
Mortars
in Miniature (www.mortarsinminiature.com) is the place to go if you want to
detail one of those mortars from Tamiya or Italeri. Missing-lynx
(www.missing-lynx.com), which is run by Brett Green, offers good discussion areas
and frequent contributions from Steve Zaloga.
Perth
Military Modelling Society (www.perthmilitarymodelling.com) caters to all
military modelers, but has some good AFV articles and reviews, as well as a valuable
how-to section for dioramas. Planet
Figure (www.planetfigure.com) hosts stunning examples of figures from throughout
history. Sculptor Gordon Stronach, who has contributed some of the better figures
and accessories to the Verlinden and VLS product lines, is a regular contributor
with step-by-step demonstrations of his remarkable skills. Track-Link
(www.track-link.net) is one of the oldest armor web sites on the net and certainly
the most advanced. Users are encouraged to contribute to the site and webwizard
Paul Owen's self-designed interface makes it a simple task. There are more than
1200 articles and reviews online (yours truly has contributed more than 100) as
well as hundreds of photos of models and real AFVs. There is also a lively discussion
group. Armor
and Infantry Reference Sites
See also the Sherman Corner in the Articles
section for a list of division and battalion websites.
I05th Engineer Combat Battalion
(http://www.105th.org/) is a well-done re-enactor site for this battalion, which
served in the 30th Infantry Division. It has a good photo gallery and history
section. 117th
Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division (http://home.comcast.net/~30thhrs/)
is another re-enactor site for a companion group to the 105th Engineers above.
752nd
Tank Battalion in World War II (www.752ndtank.com/index.html) is Bob Holt's
outstanding tribute to the 752nd and the memory of his father Sgt. Raymond Holt
of B Company. Bob provides an in-depth look at this independent tank battalion
and its campaign through Italy. AFV
News (www.geocities.com/firefly1002000/) is hosted by George Bradford, one
of the earliest and most dependable AFV researchers in our community. This is
a good site to post questions about kit vs. vehicle details and real world armor
issues. American
Military Medical Impression, Inc. (www.ww2medicine.org) gave me a tremendous
amount of information as I researched and built my diorama "Between Life
and Death in the Hürtgen Forest,"
which features a battalion aid station. Armored
Fighting Vehicle Data Base (afvdb.50megs.com/) is a good source for techical
information on your favorite AFVs. Built
to Scale (www.tanks2scale.com) offers a wealth of photos of museum AFVs of
all nationalities and eras. Great place to check out those minute details. Center
of Military History (www.army.mil/cmh-pg) is the U.S Army's online repository
of historical documents and data about it's military conflicts since the founding
of the nation. Poke around here for good information.
Ferrea
Mole (www.ferreamole.it) is in Italian, but speaks the universal language
of OD with some great photos of a Sherman Tank-Dozer, M26 Pershing, and M25A1
Dragon Wagon, and a number of technical manuals.
Fighting
Iron (www.fightingiron.com) offers some great detail photos of the restoration
of White Motor Company M3 halftrack and a Ford GPW jeep. Lone
Sentry (www.lonesentry.com) is a treasure chest of more than 500 pages of
WWII photos, documents, and publications from the webmaster's personal collection,
with a strong emphasis on American military. Olive
Drab (www.olive-drab.com) is a good site for info, particularly
on wheeled vehicles. Quartermaster
Foundation (www.qmfoundation.com) is a great resource for all those small
details about supporting the troops in the front lines, from supplies to meal
rations to graves registration. This was also was a great asset during the research
for my Hürtgen Forest diorama.
Roberts
Armory (www.robertsarmory.com) is another good site with a host of restored
vehicle images. Trigger
Time (www.101airborneww2.com) is noted author Mark Bando's salute to the 101st
Airborne Division. If you are a fan of "Band of Brothers," you'll be
a fan of this site! WWII
Historical Re-enactment Society, Inc. (http://www.worldwartwohrs.org/American.htm)
is an association of re-enactors. The site provides links to other re-enactor
groups and an excellent photo gallery. World
War Two Impressions (www.wwiiimpressions.com) sells replica uniforms and gear
for re-enactors and is a good visual reference site. WarWheels.net
(www.warwheels.net/index.html) is a good resource for info and photos of armored
cars and wheeled fighting vehicles. General
Modeling International
Plastic Modelers Society (www.ipmsusa.com) is a longstanding modeler's organization
with chapters worldwide. Scale
Model Index (www.scalemodelindex.com) is the place to go for an exhaustive
list modeling-related web sites compiled by the tireless Tony Matteliano. Vendors
Lucky
Model (http://www.luckymodel.com) is an excellent hong Kong vendor that has
gotten a lot of my business since the Master's Club program at VLS was discontinued
when the company was bought out by Squadron Mail Order. Prices are very good,
especially sale prices, and shipping is quite reasonable if you can wait for ground
transport (two to four weeks). At the rate I get things built, that's no problem!
R&J Enterprises
(www.rjproducts.com) is run by Rich and Joy Sullivan. Rich is very knowledgable
about armor modeling and offers some of his own resin products. Joy handles most
of the orders and is a delight to talk to. While they can sell you a Tamiya or
DML kit, their specialty is those harder-to-find items like ADV/Azimut and MK35.
They attend shows and take vacations, so its best to plan ahead or be flexible
in how soon you need something from them. Squadron
Mail Order (www.squadron.com) is considered to be the largest wholesale and
retail distributor in the U.S. Their prices are generally a bit lower than list,
and sale prices can be significant at times; the $5 subscription to the annual
catalogue and monthly supplements is worthwhile. It's a good source for Nemrod
figures. In 2007, Mike McMahon, owner of Squadron and MMD, its wholesale distribution
arm, bought the VLS Corporation from owner Bob Letterman, and moved VLS's operations
from Missouri to Texas. VLS stood for Verlinden, Letterman and Stok,
an ill-fated partnership that grew into a veritable military modeling empire under
Bob Letterman in the 1990s. Stok had already faded out of the picture by the time
of the split between modeling legend Francois Verlinden and Letterman in 1998.
Letterman quickly recovered from the loss of Verlinden's manufacturing division
by buying out Custom Dioramics and Warriors and starting several other lines.
Letterman retired in 2007 and sold VLS to MMD/Squadron. |