Panda Hobby

[Green Dragon]

Here's a look at the Panda Hobby 1/35th MRAP kit. http://www.cybermodeler.com/news/panda.shtml
Kinetic is doing one too, no clue which is going to be the best but this one does look impressive for a companies first kit.
Also don't know if this Panda Hobby is related to the old Panda company that did the 1/48th XF-35's , 1/144th B-1's and 1/35th Huey's.

Paul Harrison

[pyro-manic]

Isn't Panda an offshoot of Dragon?

[Green Dragon]

Don't know Pyro but Dragon definitely reissued some of the old Panda kits (with some fixes/additional parts) so have some of the moulds.

Paul Harrison

[Jschmus]

It's a little pricey for 1/35 armor, but check this out:

http://www.hlj.com/product/pnh35002

[Aircav]

Me want, me want. 
All was been after one of the after seeing the film of one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUUeqSseERo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUc8iJ0QvEs

[TsrJoe]

oooh thats a must have, i recall working on one of the first assessments for the system when initially seen  

[Mossie]

Object 279 in 1/35.  Odd looking four tracked, nuke resistant heavy tank that never went in into production, what's not to love!
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/PN35005

[Captain Canada]

That big heavy is so ugly-cool I want one ! Looks amphibious

[NARSES2]

There's a photo of that in a recent IPMS mag.

Love the way it has no "name" or type/prototype No just Object ??

[Dizzyfugu]

All Soviet tank prototypes were called "Object XXX", and Object 279 was really innovative with its four tracks (for low ground pressure - the thing could roll across soft/wet ground where normal tanks would sink and sit on the ground, and it was fast, too), the nuke-blast-resistant armor (so that the blow would not topple the vehicle over! It was not amphibious at all.) and it even sported a huge 130mm gun. Very interesting concept carrier, and about time that a kit came along. 

1:72 would not be bad, though... would look great next to some mecha!

[Thorvic]

All Soviet tank prototypes were called "Object XXX", and Object 279 was really innovative with its four tracks (for low ground pressure - the thing could roll across soft/wet ground where normal tanks would sink and sit on the ground, and it was fast, too), the nuke-blast-resistant armor (so that the blow would not topple the vehicle over! It was not amphibious at all.) and it even sported a huge 130mm gun. Very interesting concept carrier, and about time that a kit came along. 

1:72 would not be bad, though... would look great next to some mecha!

Its available, but at €50 i suspect the 1/35 kit may prove to be more cost effective !!!

http://www.okbgrigorov.com/R_AFV_1_72/Object%20279/Object_279.htm

http://www.okbgrigorov.com/Resin_AFV_1_72.htm

[Weaver]

Currently discounted to £25 at Hannants:

https://www.hannants.co.uk/specials/PN35016

[Weaver]

Here's a subject that's currently a whiff-in-a-box, but might not be for much longer...

M8 Armoured Gun System: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/PN35039?result-token=zeqzV



A whole series of abortive replacements for the M551 Sheridan got as far as the prototype stage in the 1980s, but then the XM-8 AGS by FMC/United Defence finally got it right in the early 1990s. It had a 105mm gun and three levels of modular armour allowing different trade-offs between air-droppability and protection, in a way that seems quite normal now but was innovative at the time. It passed approval trials, was type-classified as the M8 in 1995 with production scheduled for the following year, and everyone seemed rather pleased.

Aaaaand then it was cancelled. 

The primary reason seems to have been budget cuts that made the US Army want to spend the money on other things, rather than any failing of the product or the programme, so the squeals of pain were intense. FMC/UD tried to find other customers for it, but without a US order, nobody else would commit. That appeared to be the end of that, but then the US Army re-assessed their requirements in 2015, resulting in BAE Systems (now owners of UD) and General Dynamics getting a contract in 2018 to develop a new air-portable (but critically not air-droppable) light tank. BAE submitted an updated M8, while GD's offering is apparently a scaled-down M1 turret on an Ajax (ASCOD) hull. Both companies got a contract to build 12 prototypes for assessment in early 2020 (might be delayed now, of course  ), with downselect by 2022 and fielding of 500 to start in 2025.

So, you might have to hurry or this won't be a whiff any more, at least in US colours! 

Of course, whether it wins or loses, it'd make an excellent turret donor to some other hull.

Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M8_Armored_Gun_System

[PR19_Kit]

What's the difference between a Tank, a Self Propelled Gun and an Armoured Gun System? 

They all look the same to me. 

[Weaver]

What's the difference between a Tank, a Self Propelled Gun and an Armoured Gun System? 

They all look the same to me. 

A 'Tank' is an anti-tank gun (high velocity, low angle, direct fire), in a 360 deg turret, on a tracked chassis, with enough armour to stop almost anything.

A 'Self-Propelled Gun' is an artillery gun (medium velocity, high angle, indirect fire), maybe in a turret or maybe not, on a tracked chassis, with just enough armour to stop bullets and shell splinters.

An 'Armoured Gun System' is what you call a Tank when you don't want the politicians to notice that you're buying a Tank...