M10 On The Workbench

I picked up a Tamiya 1/48th scale M10 Tank Destroyer from the Hobby Lobby the other day. When these kits first came out I was not sure if it would be worth getting into. My 28mm WWII projects have mostly been centered around 1/56th scale resin vehicles. These look excellent but they can be very expensive - $30 to $35 per vehicle plus shipping. I branched out a little when Walmart had the Corgi die cast which are about 1/50th scale. I was paying about $20 each for the Corgis.

The advantages to the Tamiya, from a gaming perspective, is the selection and the availabilty. The price is not to bad for these, running about $25 to $30 each. I got mine with a 40% off coupon which put the price at less than $17 out the door. That makes it hard not to get into. The nice thing about this line is the selection, this is the only M10 suitable for 28mm war gaming. There are some other unusual pieces in the line.

My research into these models uncovered a bit of dissatisfaction from the military modelers. After reading the TamiyaUSA web site it is clear that one of the main reasons for the introduction of the line is the large scale war gaming. This is due to the fact that old Bandai and Academy 1/48th scale models have been selling for $50 or more on eBay. There is clearly a market for these models even if the hard-core modelers are not interested.

So far the construction has been going well. It is a model kit so it does take more time to get game ready compared to the resin game pieces. The die cast hull give the model some nice heft and will be very stable on the table. I will post some pictures once I get it assembled.