Cheap vehicle models for terrain

By ScummyRebel, in Star Wars: Legion

I am contemplating doing some “wreckage” type terrain for a board. Looking for any ideas for cheap-ish models that are close to the correct scale.

Prequel ships welcome in this instance, as old battle wrecks from a war gone by would be pretty cool.

I've tried a couple searches but I keep finding either 1/72 or 1/48 scale. Those seem significantly off to me. Any ideas?

1/48 ish should be fine, especially for wreckage

My nephew got me some Disney AT-AT models for terrain. He works there and got me an extra one for the money I gave him. One or two will be wrecks. Think battle of Hoth or Rey's home.

4 hours ago, Bohemian73 said:

My nephew got me some Disney AT-AT models for terrain. He works there and got me an extra one for the money I gave him. One or two will be wrecks. Think battle of Hoth or Rey's home.

The popcorn bucket or actual models?

The Bandai 1:48 Snowspeeder and 1:48 AT-ST are both available through Amazon for a little less than $20US. For thematic vehicles, that's probably the cheapest you'll find. 1:48 is a popular scale for model airplanes and trains (corresponds to Lionel or 'O' scale), but there's not much in the way of armor or sci-fi. 1:72 is significantly too small. 1:48 is going to be a little small, I think, but pretty close. 1:35 is too big, but that may not matter too much for wreckage.

1:35 armor (tanks, APCs, etc.) might work as wreckage, and if you can find any GW vehicles at garage sales, that might be worth a look. Many hobby stores have sales on models, even model cars might work for wreckage with a little sprucing up.

There's also this Revell Eta-2 (listed as a Jedi starfighter). Scale is uncertain, but it's well-detailed and cheap.

Edited by SFC Snuffy
42 minutes ago, SFC Snuffy said:

The Bandai 1:48 Snowspeeder and 1:48 AT-ST are both available through Amazon for a little less than $20US. For thematic vehicles, that's probably the cheapest you'll find. 1:48 is a popular scale for model airplanes and trains (corresponds to Lionel or 'O' scale), but there's not much in the way of armor or sci-fi. 1:72 is significantly too small. 1:48 is going to be a little small, I think, but pretty close. 1:35 is too big, but that may not matter too much for wreckage.

1:35 armor (tanks, APCs, etc.) might work as wreckage, and if you can find any GW vehicles at garage sales, that might be worth a look. Many hobby stores have sales on models, even model cars might work for wreckage with a little sprucing up.

There's also this Revell Eta-2 (listed as a Jedi starfighter). Scale is uncertain, but it's well-detailed and cheap.

I have both the Bandai 1:48 Snowspeeder and 1:48 AT-ST and they are very well detailed have been fun to put together. I will be using them static pieces.

if you search eBay for "star wars 1/48" there are many older plastic kits. While many of the AMI/ERTL kits are not well detailed they are fine for display pieces.

I am wanting to make destroyed vehicles as scatter terrain as well. Do any of you have examples of ones that you have made? Google shows me some, but many other good examples are from hobbyists who don't always post their work. :-)

Four popcorn buckets, may be a tad small, but they are for static terrain to me. I really don't want rules for an AT-AT in Legion. I like the squad level scale.

Edited by Bohemian73
either my typing or spelling is off, that was two mistakes
22 hours ago, SFC Snuffy said:

The Bandai 1:48 Snowspeeder and 1:48 AT-ST are both available through Amazon for a little less than $20US. For thematic vehicles, that's probably the cheapest you'll find. 1:48 is a popular scale for model airplanes and trains (corresponds to Lionel or 'O' scale), but there's not much in the way of armor or sci-fi. 1:72 is significantly too small. 1:48 is going to be a little small, I think, but pretty close. 1:35 is too big, but that may not matter too much for wreckage.

1:35 armor (tanks, APCs, etc.) might work as wreckage, and if you can find any GW vehicles at garage sales, that might be worth a look. Many hobby stores have sales on models, even model cars might work for wreckage with a little sprucing up.

There's also this Revell Eta-2 (listed as a Jedi starfighter). Scale is uncertain, but it's well-detailed and cheap.

Love the Jedi Starfighter. Has anyone done the maths on it is it the right size?

Wookieepedia lists the Actis-class at 5.47 meters, and my model is a shade less than 4 inches. Some quick, back-of-the-napkin conversion puts that at about 1:53, give or take.

Slightly small, but pretty close.

1:48 to 1:54 is fine. That's well within eye balling it on a table.

1:72 stuff look okay for wreckage and debris pieces.

Would 1/51 be close enough for tie fighters?

10 hours ago, Kojib said:

Love the Jedi Starfighter. Has anyone done the maths on it is it the right size?

It's 1:58, the scale is actually on the box front (would be helpful if Amazon had a photo of that).

8 hours ago, Beastsandbrews said:

Would 1/51 be close enough for tie fighters?

Close enough I would say yes. As long as it looks okay to you that's all that matters :)

I've seen some lots of broken action figures and old ship toys on eBay. They weren't super cheap since a lot of that stuff is vintage, but there are some that looked promising. Even just broken or figures missing pieces would work pretty well.

I got a old slave 1 toy missing parts, I am going to use it for terrain.

9 minutes ago, Gunbunnie said:

I got a old slave 1 toy missing parts, I am going to use it for terrain.

Me too. Just gotta get time :)

Revel’s new A-Wing model is probably close on scale.

1 hour ago, TheRedSon said:

Revel’s new A-Wing model is probably close on scale.

I have been looking at the A-Wing myself.

24 minutes ago, Gunbunnie said:

I have been looking at the A-Wing myself.

I posted a picture of the pilot and the outer halves of the fighter’s body in another thread a couple of weeks ago beside some Imperial Assault miniatures.

I'm planning on using 1:48 which already looks okay for terrain with true 28mm figures. Certainly will be fine with Legion's slight larger models.