Minimizing the Cost of Armor

This is not about the cost of plate mail in D&D (in b/x it was only 60 gp!), but of tanks and such for WWII, particularly as it relates to 1/32 scale vehicles.

While infantry at this scale are affordable, not that'd I'd want to assemble a 1:1 company, armor is quite a bit different - the cheapest plastic kit I can find is around $10, with some pre-assembled items going for $60 or so. 1/35 vehicles are, to my eye, satisfactory and there are a good many kits available, but these too are pricey.

For gaming at this scale, generally, only a handful of vehicles are required, so that helps some.

Still, it does not alter the fact that my entire gaming budget for the year might only field vehicles for a single scenario from a Skirmish Campaigns book if I'm lucky!

And so, I turned to looking for printable card model PDFs. While searching (and finding a lot, although many looked complicated), I remembered an article in Lone Warrior #168, by Marvin Scott, that described scratchbuilding your own vehicles (among other frugal tips). 

Then, as fate would have it, I stumbled onto some paper modeling sites which led me to some very inspirational card stock vehicles.

Here are 1/35 vehicles made from cereal boxes:

Cereal Box Tanks: Marder III from Kristopher Peck on Vimeo.

Now, that example is a good deal beyond my ability, but his first examples seem achievable and I happen to like the way they look, especially the King Tiger, which has a toy-like appearance to it:

Cereal Box Tanks: The First Three from Kristopher Peck on Vimeo.

I'm anxious to give it a try - to make matters simple, I think I'd start with something I already have in 1/32, a T-34, just to get the measurements and angles right.