The Good Filament Fighters

There is a lot of good news about this vehicle compared to the resin cast version.  To start off it costs about 1/2 the price of a resin cast vehicle.  For those of us on a budget or who make large armies, that's very good news.

The model is very few parts and easy to put together.  The railings are a single part of the kit printed onto the body, so it makes them stronger and less fiddly, they don't have to be glued on, because they are already a part of the vehicle.  The wheels and machine gun are the only separate pars and they go on quickly with super glue.

The filament is very durable, if this model were dropped from table top height to the carpeted floor, it probably would not break, on a resin kit you likely would break the railings.

Strangely, this one does not have a detailed underside which is unusual for Filament Fighters.  But that's not really an issue for me.

 The model comes unassembled and only has to be cut from the little tabs, it's not even a sprue.  You have to cut supports from around the wheel wells, I use my sprue cutter and then X-Acto knife for those jobs and they work fine.  So out of of the little bag and ready to put together in only a couple minutes.

These are very strong models, while they won't take actual abuse, don't step on them, I doubt they will incur damage on the wargame table as frequently as resin cast or even plastic molded vehicles.  

I liken these to the old soft metal castings, in terms of durability, speed of assembly, and level of detail.  But they are lighter, which is nice when you put 50 of them in a box, and they don't bend like the old metal models, and these are much cheaper.

3D Dodge

Filament Fighters 3D printed 1 1/2 ton Dodge truck.

This model varies from the resin cast Heiser version in several ways.

The detail is less crisp, there are some striations, and there are some inaccurate parts.

The diameter of the machine gun barrel is very thick, the wheels don't seem right to me, and the seats are not well detailed.

This version has no winch but the real ones varied.  I never saw one with a .50 caliber machine gun mounted in the bed, but I am sure it would have been possible to do that, even if it may have required a slight field modification. 
 

Heiser Truck

Heiser Models tend to give spare tires, steering wheels, and trailer hitches.  They often come with rear view mirrors also, but I don't use those.

The interior is nicely detailed, with the ribs on the floor of the truck.

The footboard has a spare gas can.

The bottom has minimal detail, and the axles are designed to allow the wheels to roll, I usually just glue them in solid.

They come unassembled and unpainted in a little plastic bag with a cardboard header card.  Nice detail on the seats.

 

Resin Cast Truck

WWII US Army 1 1/2 ton Dodge truck, by Heiser Models.  I got this truck about 20 years ago and it has held up well.

This is a resin cast model, hand made.

A master modeller, Paul Heiser, makes an original model in pieces that can be resin cast.

He then makes a makes a mold of those pieces, and casts them one at a time.  Heiser models makes probably 200 different model kits although they rotate through production and are difficult to find.

Consistent with the limitations of casting they produce highly detailed models that are of average difficulty and durable enough to work well in wargames.  They can be built using super glue or 5 minute epoxy for assembly.  Windshields can be fragile but are quickly repaired.  Regular model tools work fine for cutting, drilling, sanding, and filing.  Regular model paints work well, but a good primer is a good idea since the usual color of the resin is yellowish and can be hard to cover well without it.