Sorry for the "Poltergeist" quote, but according to Squadron.com, the mail order model firm, the Sdkfz. 251 Ausf. C from AFV Club is "in stock" as of yesterday! So the wait is almost over, or at least I hope the Canadians get theirs as quickly, right Meeta!

Be still my beating heart....... And it seems we WILL be able to launch the Group Build on time, with kit in hand.

Cheers,
Andrew

According to my weekly email newsletter from Greatmodels.com, the 251 has "come and gone", apparently they are in short supply?? Having talked to the President of AFV Club at AMPS, he did say that they have to guess as to how many of a kit to release in the intial production run. Could they have under estimated the numbers needed! Or did they guess it would be a bust, and only produce a few?

"Instant Shortage"!

Anyway, who will be the first to post their initial work on this kit on The Assembly Line"??

Cheers,
Andrew

PS, just to make clear, I haven't a clue how many AFV produced of this kit, there may be a "glut" rather than a shortage I know I will do my bit by picking up about a half dozen of them, the first coming from Meeta!

I had two on pre-order with Greatmodels - no telling if I will be getting any of them; never heard from GM that they were shipping any to me.....

I preordered two and my order status still says "Searching For / Taking Pre-Orders"

I never received direct word from Greatmodels, but just now they sent me a shipping notice, and I haven't ordered anything else from them, so two AFV Club '251 ausf Cs should be here before the end of the week (ETA is Thursday). I also have three on pre-order from Meeta, so I may have all the kits I'll need for awhile. I am having my cataract operation this Thursday, so a return to modeling is in the offing soon.

My local hobby shop posted on their website that they had them in stock last Friday. Today was my first chance to get over there. They were sold out, save one that was "in the back". The owner let me have it since his next shipment is due tomorrow with another load of these. When I told him that these kits might be "limited", he laughed and said all the manufacturers say that to pump up initial sales. However, he did say that most of the kits he ordered went to wargamers (and not TOTS modelers - my words, not his.)

Jim

Just curious where you live. I have been searching around, and the distribution certainly is spotty here in the States. Greatmodels.com has run out. Spruebrothers.com has one left, but Squadron.com said yesterday they had "lots", but that might me a dozen, or 120, I didn't ask.

It is interesting that your LHS owner said most of his went to "wargamers". Does this mean you live in the UK, as you sure don't find many wargamers in Seattle these days. I know it was always big in the UK, and in NZ when I was there in the late '70s. In fact my high school even had an afterschool club for wargamers! And a separate one for modelers! But when I arrived in Seattle in the mid 80's, I didn't see many wargamers.

In fact where I lived in Dunedin NZ, the local uniform and weapons collectors together with the modelers and wargamers would put on an annual show that was a HUGE hit with the general public. I remember walking into my first show there, to be met by 1/1 manikins suited out in US and Waffen SS World War Two uniforms, helmets etc, side by side with authentic period weapons. Then came tables of models, followed by a number of huge tables where a series of wargames were taking place, from the Battle of Waterloo, to the D-Day landings. QUITE an impressive site for a young, impressionable lad! And the line to get in stretched around the block! So either it was a boring part of the year with little for the locals to do, or as I think more likely, there was a huge interest in history in a nation that threw itself body and soul into fighting WW2 etc.

Cheers,
Andrew

Hi Andrew. I live in Southern California, along with Konrad and a few others who occasionally post here. Although the closest hobby shop to me does not carry any AFV kits, I saw that Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove, CA (located only 7 miles from my home) listed these in stock on their website last Friday. This store has very little, if any, radio control items which seems to dominate other hobby shops. They carry practically all types of plastic kits, quite a bit of resin and aftermarket PE sets of all scales, and about a third of the store is devoted to wargaming troops and supplies, including quite a bit of military diecast. (Note - I am not affiliated with this store, just a customer.) I was told that their initial shipment was 6 kits, and they expect to receive at least 2 more shipments of 6 kits each within the next week or two.

Jim.

Jim:

Okay, SoCal, I am familiar with Brookhurst Hobbies, having visited it on a couple of occasions over the years when down in the LA area.

Having seen a few very nicely done "wargame" 48th military vehicles posted on this site over the past many months, this might in fact help TOTS immensely, as there are in effect two markets for 48th vehicles, regular modelers, and wargamers, although I am sure there is some crossover (there was when I was a lad). This is something you can't claim for the larger 35th guys, although I once saw an amazing series of photographs of a fellow's 35th wargaming "army" taken outside, and there must have been literally hundreds of pieces all in formations!

Cheers,
Andrew

for details go to Andrew's post about the group build. It's a great kit; if all 1/48 kits had been this good and well detailed, 1/48 would have been taken seriously years ago.....