CDC Armour - Mike's Diecast Tanks and Armour

CDC Armour tanks were manufactured by C.D.C. s.r.l. of Milano, Italy. Although CDC debuted in 1992 with it's Detail Cars line (see below) it is best known by military collectors for the "CDC Armour" line, especially it's diecast airplanes. CDC Armour also produced a series of incredibly detailed, 1/72 scale tanks in 1997 and 1998. The Armour line was discontinued, and several of the tank moulds were picked up by Matchbox, who released them as Matchbox Collectibles in late 1998. CDC continued until late 2002, when is was purchased by the Franklin Mint. Franklin Mint has re-released some of the planes, and has been introducing new airplane models in this line.

CDC Armour was created by Dino Coppola. Coppola, founded the plastic model line ESCI in 1969. When ESCI was purchased by ERTL, Copppla stayed with the company through the early 1980's. In 1991 Coppola formed C.D.C. Armour/Detail Cars and production began in early 1992 (?), branching into military ground vehicles in the late 1990's. In 1999 CDC stopped producing cars and ground vehicles because of the high level of competition. In late 2001 he sold this company to Franklin Mint, which continues the aircraft line today.
In 2002, Coppola established the Oryon Collection, maker of 1/35th scale hand painted metal collectible figures. These figures are marketed through Old Northwest Trading and Michigan Toy Soldier.

PZ. KPFW IV F1 ART.3100	PZ. KPFW IV F1 ART.3101	PZ. KPFW IV G ART.3102	PZ. KPFW IV G ART.3103
PZ. KPFW IV G ART.3104	PZ. KPFW IV G ART.3105
Sherman M4A3 ART.3130	CDC "Detail Cars" Sherman M4A3 Art. 3130	CDC "Detail Cars" Art. 3130, Base	Sherman M4A3 ART.3131
Sherman M4A2 ART.3132	Sherman M42 ART.3133	Sherman M4A3 ART.3134	Sherman M4A3 ART.3135
Sherman M4A2 ART.3136	Sherman M4A2 Art. 3137	Sherman M4A3 75mm Art. 3138
Panther Asf. A Art. 3160	Panther Ausf. A ART.3161	Panther Ausf A ART. 3162	Panther Ausf. D ART.3163
Panther Ausf D ART. 3164	Panther Ausf D ART. 3165
Flak PZ IV Wirbelwind ART.3200	Flak PZ IV Wirbelwind ART.3201	Flak PZ IV Wirbelwind ART.3202
Pzkpfw IV H/J ART.3210	Panzer IV H/J ART. 3211	Pzkpfw IV H/J ART.3212	Pzkpfw IV ART 3213
Pzkpfw IV H/J ART.3214	Pzkpfw IV H/J ART.3215
	LAV 25 Piranha ART.3120	LAV 25 Piranha ART.3121	LAV 25 Tank Hunter ART. 3122
LAV 25 ART. 3123	LAV 25 ART. 3124	LAV 25 ART. 3125	LAV 25, United Nations ART.3126

My latest acquisition, completing my set of tanks!

CDC Panzer IV
ART. 3213

CDC Panzer IV
ART. 3213

CDC Panzer IV
ART. 3213

CDC 2 1/2 ton Truck ART.3140	CDC 2 1/2 ton Truck ART.3140	CDC 2 1/2 ton Truck ART.3140
CDC 2 1/2 ton Truck, armed ART.3141	CDC 2 1/2 ton Truck, armed ART.3141	CDC 2 1/2 ton Truck, armed ART.3141	CDC 2 1/2 ton Truck, armed ART.3141
	CDC 2.5T Air Force tanker ART. 3145	CDC 2.5T Air Force tanker ART. 3145
CDC Hummer ART.3110	CDC Hummer ART.3110	CDC Hummer ART.3110	CDC Hummer ART.3110
CDC Hummer ART.3117	CDC Hummer ART.3117	CDC Hummer ART.3117

Although not my main focus, I have picked us some of the trucks made by CDC. Again, the detailing is superb! Note the underside of the chassis and the interior detail.

Matchbox acquired the molds, and in (late?)1998 released a few of the CDC models under the Matchbox Collectibles name. Since then, they have issued some re-releases. For a look at the tanks released by Matchbox, see my Matchbox Collectibles page.

During the first year(s) of manufacture, CDC manufactured diecast cars under the "Detail Cars" name. The models were manufactured in China, and first appeared in 1992. CDC had an agreements with Revell and Corgi for marketing its products. Several of the Corgi products sold in the UK during this time were made by CDC. However, to the best of my knowledge, none of the tanks were sold under the Corgi or Revell name. Several tanks were sold under the "Detail Cars" name, though, including ART 3130 (a Sherman, shown in the gallery above), as well as at least one LAV. These versions have "Detail Cars" in cursive script molded into the base of the tank (i.e. part of the metal), as well as the model name and number printed in white. The cases are a slightly different size and tint than the subsequent years. Thanks Terry

My thanks to Vassilios P., who sent me this: "I am a diecast collector here in Greece. Among my other diecasts, I own a full line of CDC ARMOUR. Looking to my collection of CDC, a saw that the following number items that I own are DETAIL CARS: 3120, 3121, 3123, 3124, 3125, 3131, 3135, 3136, 3137, 3138. 3137 and 3138 do not have numbers in white, all other items they have model name and number in white. Thank you very much for your information on your web site. It is a great help to us, the collectors."

Florian H. also wrote me to say "Maybe this will be interesting for you: I own two CDC Shermans #3132, one is marked with "CDC Detail Cars" with numbers in white on the bottom and has printed markings. The other one has only the Detail Cars insignia and all markings are decals. It is also in a brighter green and the overall quality is not so good. The text on the bases is also different." Thanks Florian!

Below is a short summary of the model numbers as they relate to tank type. Time permitting I will expand upon this....

Range of Model Numbers	Model Type	Comments
3100-3105	Panzer IV	Type F1 and G
3130-3138	Sherman	M4A2 and M4A3, 3137 and 3138 rare
3160-3165	Panther	3160-3165 made
3200-3202	Wirbelwind
3210-3215	Panzer IV H/J	all made
3220-3225	Tiger	Not manufactured

In addition to Tanks, CDC also made or had plans to make, a series of trucks and other armoured vehicles:

Range of Model Numbers	Model Type	Comments
3110-3117	Hum Vees	many made
3120-3126	LAV's	many made
3140-3145	Trucks (WWII)	many made
3150-3159	Halftracks (U.S., WWII)	not produced
3170-3178	Opel Blitz (German, WWII)	not produced
3180-3186	Hanomag (German, WWII)	not produced

These models are getting very hard to find through retailers. Most are now being sold 'after-market' on eBay. The LAV's and the Trucks are NO LONGER relatively inexpensive, some are now going for over $50. Most of the Sherman's go for $20-$35, although the prices are creeping up! Fairly rare are the 1998 Sherman's (3137 and 3138) although there has been a bit of a flood of these from some old stock in Hong Kong. The Panzers are also getting more expensive - $30-$60. Panthers will set you back a great deal ($70-100+). In April of 2003, a 3161 sold for $115 and in September 2004 a 3163 sold for $163! It is hard to tell if this pricing will hold up over time. These are STILL, in my opinion, the best 1/72 diecast models available!

Although listed in the CDC Armour 1997 catalog, it would appear that the CDC Tiger tanks were never manufactured. Local retailers told friend of mine (an avid collector) that although prototyped, they were not produced. I have never seen any Tigers, so I am running on the assumption that they were not made. Below are scans from the 1997 catalog, showing the Tigers that "might have been".

My thanks to Steve , Roger, and Terry for some of the info here. The errors are my own.

CDC AH64 Apache Desert Storm ART. 5261	CDC AH64 Apache Desert Storm ART. 5261	CDC AH64 Apache Desert Storm ART. 5261
CDC AH-1 Super Cobra US Marines, Desert Storm ART. 5274	CDC AH-1 Super Cobra US Marines, Desert Storm ART. 5274	CDC AH-1 Super Cobra US Marines, Desert Storm ART. 5274
CDC AH-1 Super Cobra US Marines, Desert Storm ART. 5274	CDC AH-1 Super Cobra US Marines, Desert Storm ART. 5274	CDC AH-1 Super Cobra US Marines, Desert Storm ART. 5274