I just wanted to share with the group....

There I was, thumbing through the latest issue of Tamiyas Model Magazine International, and in it was an article on Wittmanns 007 in which he fought his last battle. Dragon 35th basis, really nicely made and painted, with some interesting notes on the version and fittings on that vehicle. I'd often toyed with the idea of a Wittmann/Eakins pairing of models, so after reading a few online reviews, and to cut the story short, I ended up bidding on a couple of Skybow kits on eBay. Well, I won them both, much to my amazement, because I'd have thought they would be snapped up, but no, they arrived in this mornings post and.....

WHAT FANTASTIC PLASTIC KITS THESE ARE!!!!!

Sorry, I just had to tell someone! I don't buy Wermacht subjects (apart from a Panther to do Cuckoo some time) so these were a revelation. The level of detail, surface textures, finesse, the hull parts just fit perfectly, I was stunned! Why are these kits so rare? What happened to the Sherman Vc on the side of the box? Why aren't these kits in my local hobby shop??!!

Anyway, if you haven't already got one, or both, go hunt them down, NOW! You will NOT be disappointed!

Tim

www.fighting48th.com

Yes, the Skybow Tigers really are the benchmark as far as 1/48 goes. I've only done the late and it's a pure and simple joy to make. The only drawback are the rubberband tracks, but you can get various replacements for those.

Hi All;

Although I did my bit buying the SKYBOW Tigers, I always felt that the guy shot himself in the foot with the weird style of packaging. It had little eye appeal and although my LHShop carried a few, they always maintained that SKYBOW was hard to display alongside the boxed armour.

Beautiful kits tho...

GB

"Why are these kits so rare? "

Well, the Skybow boxings may be rare these days because they went out of business. They could be hard to find even then, their distribution network was poor. Both their Tiger kits are still available from AFV Club (they even added some p/e grills) who also acquired their 1/35 range some years earlier.

Yes, they are beautiful kits!! When they first came out, VLS included a set of their Warriors crew figures with the kit, with the P/e included. These just SAT on their shelves.....couldn't give them away. Then they sold out to Squadron. The last I knew, Squadron still had them.....listed as Skybow....and with the figs. Haven't looked for them lately....but for many months they were in the Squadron magazine. I think a lot of these companies expect big sales numbers....like 1/35th generates.....but we seem to be a more referral based segment. You buy one...a friend sees it....he tells three friends on the 'net....and the sales spread that way. Increasing the entries at shows....spreading the word,so to speak.....will be our best benchmark. And articles in magazines has gone a long way to adding to our standing. At our upcoming show....our categories used to be 1/48th and larger & 1/50th and smaller. This year I am sponsoring all the awards for a 1/48th only category. I will enter my stuff, but marked "for display only" just to have more entries.....I hope to at least get three more!! I would hate to keep my own awards "by default".....

I Don`t usually build panzers myself but i built the late model a year or so ago and i really enjoyed it. I loved every minute of it and just had to buy the late model to do at a later date.
Nigel at Parrabellum still has the late model in stock and also stocks the Skybow replacement track sets. The track links just click together and are a bit of a pain to clean up but at £4.25 a set are worth the effort.
The guy who owns Skybow (it`s a one man band operation) always seems to have a cash flow problem which has resulted in him selling AFV club the tooling for his AFV range, on more than one occasion.
AFV Club have now released the Tigers under there own label, and the kits now come with a photo etch set of engine grills as standard.
AFV club also bought the tooling for the never released Sturmtiger from Skybow, which is due out in March i think?
It is said that the Firefly VC was never purchased by AFV club as the tooling still required extensive re-work. However i read somewhere that Mr Skybow (Money permitting) plans to finish the tooling and release the VC sometime in the future.

I haven't been over to Garfield's in awhile but I think Track48 still has some in stock. I bought a an early production model a couple of months ago and picked up a package of the injection molded individula track links too.

Dominique Lege has a drop dead gorgeous Skybow late Tiger I in a little vignette "near Caen." It will show you what can be done with this wonderful little kit. He has put some PE on it; you can see tool brackets and stowage bin latches, but most of the kit is what's in the kit. Mark Gilmore built a beautiful Skybow late Tiger I like this about a year or so ago, and it was out of the box. With the included engine deck screens, you don't miss the rest of the PE a lot of people add.