1. As a kid I had several in a series of tank kits, most German I think, which featured optional "battle damaged" panels which had some projectile holes in them. I've been scouring ebay, but I don't even recall the manufacturer. Any pointers would be appreciated. With my luck the kits are rare...which is bad since I'm a builder, not a collector.

2. There were a few Aurora kits released with a builtin magnifying glass and film slide inside. One was the USS Nautilus sub. Another was (I think) the Aurora square box Stalin tank. But again, I never see these offered on ebay or anywhere else. Am I out of luck?

Thanks in advance!

1. As a kid I had several in a series of tank kits, most German I think, which featured optional "battle damaged" panels which had some projectile holes in them. I've been scouring eBay (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-1606754-2202639)http://www.awltovhc.com/image-1606754-2202639, but I don't even recall the manufacturer. Any pointers would be appreciated. With my luck the kits are rare...which is bad since I'm a builder, not a collector.

2. There were a few Aurora kits released with a builtin magnifying glass and film slide inside. One was the USS Nautilus sub. Another was (I think) the Aurora square box Stalin tank. But again, I never see these offered on eBay (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-1606754-2202639)http://www.awltovhc.com/image-1606754-2202639 or anywhere else. Am I out of luck?

Thanks in advance!

Monogram's 1/32 scale kits may have had that option. The various German tanks with "Schurzen" (skirts) could be easily modified. I had the Sturmpanzer Brumbar, along with the 232 armored car.

Battle damaged kits sound very familiar. I know I had some of the Aurora tanks, but don't remember the battle damanged parts. And I wonder how well that film slide worked, sounds like a really neat idea.

Now that I think about it, it was at least the skirted german tanks that had the battle damage option. One was a tank hunter with skirts on the treads, and the other was a medium tank with skirts around the turrets. The skirts had holes through them and, I think, you could build the kit with the battle damage or no damage.

I'm near certain it was Revell or Monogram, but so far I haven't seen these kits.

As for the slides in the models, it worked just fine. In the case of the sub, the left and right hulls had a hole molded in right in the center of the sub. You assembled it with a piece of film, maybe 8mm or so, that was provided, and built in plastic convex lens (aka. magnifiying glass) also provided. For the tank it was more creative. The turret had a small plastic tube built in and there was a hole through the bottom of the tank under the turret. You would open the turret hatch, look through the hatch and the magnifying glass inside, and see a similar piece of film mounted at the other end of the tube.

The sub kit came with a color picture of a submarine bridge. I remember being disappointed, since I figured a "nuclear sub" would look more like the Seaview bridge inside :). The tank came with a nice color picture of the interior or a tank turret, painted white, etc.

If you could find the lenses and some film, or a clear plstic mini-photo, it would be easy to build the 'can' that held the assembly into a tank.

Found the old Brumbar on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2588&item=5956628298&rd=1 (http://www.qksrv.net/click-1606754-5463217?loc=http%3A//cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D5956628298)

Along with several Panzerspahwagens (armored cars):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2588&item=5956901084&rd=1 (http://www.qksrv.net/click-1606754-5463217?loc=http%3A//cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D5956901084)

So - they are out there, just not in huge quantity...

Thanks, I had those spotted. That might be the series..but it may also have been an earlier or different manufacturer series. I'll know for sure if either of the skirted tanks ever show up.