There are far more people that collect 21st century and FOV than there are that collect K & C and many are not children. FOV and 21 C make their models from diecast metal with plastic parts, FOV usually has more metal than 21 C.
Diecast metal and plastic are good materials for making models as the parts can be well detailed and small in need. However those materials are expensive to use because of the specialised machinery etc required for hot injection moulding, so your production runs have to be in the many thousands to warrant the investment in the machinery.
King & Country, Honour Bound, NMA are a smaller firms with low production runs specialising in the collector market. They make their models mainly from polystone which is a mixture of adhesive resin and calcium carbonate, also known as marble dust, that I believe is cold poured into a mould. So its a bit like making models out of a material somewhat tougher than plaster of paris. However if done correctly and by using expert craftsmen and add on parts made from resin etc a nice model can be produced this way.
King and Country and the other polystone manufacturers now make some well detailed models. However because polystone does not lend itself to extreme detail their models will never be as well detailed as say a plastic kit or the more expensive diecast and plastic models.
* Polystone makes up for this by adding the extra weight that some adults seem to prefer over the higher plastic content of the 21 C and FOV products. It should be noted that the better plastic kits sell for more than current K & C tanks
It's a bit like comparing your Dragon 1/72 tanks to the heavier tanks made by CDC/Matchbox. The Dragon versions have better detail but many collectors complain that Dragon have very little metal in them.
* The polystone products usually have a more attractive finish than the 21 C and FOV products.
* Polystone products have more investment value because of their collectable status and lower production runs.
* Polystone models are (usually) made in 1/30 scale (60 mm) and being larger this in theory allows better detail than 1/32.
* Perhaps the most important advantage of K & C is that the pewter figures they make to compliment their polystone vehicles are FAR better than any other figures readily available. With the proviso that the other pewter figure makers such as Patriot are closing the gap.
Therefore you have to consider what your priorities are. If you only intend to collect tanks
without figures I'd suggest you stick with FOV because FOV tanks are good value for money. However considering the high prodction runs and wide availabilty of FOV products there is no medium to long term investment potential in their models if investment is important to you.
That said, K & C have been making military models for many years and their retired pieces often sell for big dollars. So if you are a completist type of guy and you will want to collect everything, then DON'T EVEN CONSIDER K & C
However if you have a modelers eye for detail you may not find the earlier K & C polystone tanks and metal figures attractive as they were more toy like and rather crude moulds compared to their more recent products. Of course that's only my opinion and it doesn't stop them selling for big dollars on eBay to guys that have a liking for the toy soldier style.
Here is an example of an earlier K & C Lee tank and crew. You will note the poor detail of the track/road wheels due to the use of a full polystone mould.
Compare that to your FOV tanks and the improved tracks (and figures) of the later K & C Hummel and you will see why I'm not interested in the earlier polystone tanks.
