Dear all,
Just recently got back into armour modeling after … long time and I wish to built a 1/35 plastic kit of M1A1 or A2 Abrahms .
Which is the best kit on the market ?
Thank you ,
Carletto
Best M1A1 is Dragon’s new M1A1 AIM (If it doesn’t say AIM, it’s an older kit and not as good). Best M1A2 is the Tamiya M1A2, which also builds into either an Army M1A1 or Marine M1A1.
What about Italeri’s M1a2? I thought that was the best M1a2 on the market.
You actually said in a previous post that it looked the best: /forums/24733/ShowPost.aspx
Have you changed you mind since then? Just curious.
Thanks.
-Jesse
If I am not mistaken, Tamiya’s M1A2 wasn’t available at the time when Rob wrote the post that you’re referring to.
Considering that the response is almost 4 years old (3 years, 10 months), and the Tamiya M1A2 kit wasn’t released back then, yes, I have changed my mind. And if you dig back even farther into the past, I bet you will see where I said one of the older ones was the best. If pressed to guess, I think Tamiya’s M1A2 came out around the beginning of 2004, maybe the end of 2003.
Here’s the exact quote on my opinion on the Italeri kit:
And guess what, when DML produces an M1A2SEP based on the new M1A1 AIM, it’ll probably be better than the Tamiya kit. But for now, Tamiya has the best M1A2 and gives all three build options in one box.
Also if you read the last two sentences, the old DML kits are still good Abrams tank models, just not the best any more. If you want a good Abrams kit, they are still decent and affordable.
That’s cool. I didn’t read the date of the original post - my mistake. I’m working on Italeri’s M1A2 right now. I didn’t know the Tamiya kit was released after the Italeri kit. I thought maybe something changed your mind after working on the Italeri kit. Now I wish I would have bought Tamiya’s kit instead of Italeri. Oh well…
-Jesse
I agree… The Dragon M1A1 AIM (kit Nº 3535) is the BEST M1A1 out there… I supose that the long-ago announced M1A2 SEP will be based on this new mould, so I’d wait until It will be released, but if you can’t wait, the Tamiya kit is the best option, I think, but it has some inaccuracies (come on, all kits have inaccuracies) like the lack of non-skid surfaces on hull and turret… It’s funny: nobody even named the Trumpeter kits… Trumpeter has the M1A1 HA, with and without plow, the M1A2 with and without mine roller and the M1 Panther II… I know that they’re not the best M1 kits, but I think they are a good option too… at least they look like the tanks they are suposed to depict, once finished, the good points are: price (you can get ANY of them for about 8 bucks at Hobbyeasy, and a Tamiya for 24 bucks), at least they come with non-skid surfaces and comes with both vinyl and plastic link-and-lenght tracks. The bad point are: Some missing/simplified details and some fitting problems that require some putty and patience… I forgot, some mistakes in the instruction sheet too: there are several guide pins for the suspension arms in the hull sides, the arms should be glued with the pin within the groove in the arm. If you use the pin as a top, your tank will look really weird, really weird, this is not mentioned in the instructions. A friend of mine make that mistake, really… I only have the Dragon M1A1 AIM still in the stash… and I’m thinking about purchase a Trumpeter M1A2… Hope this helps. Most regards.
José.
I put the lack of non-slip coating on the tank in the same category as lack of zimmerit on appropriate WW2 German panzers. Just something you have to add yourself. Besides, with the lack of the uniform coat, you can back date the kit to an earlier M1A1 Abrams.
I didn’t mention the Trumpeter (or initially the Italeri kit) because he asked for “the best” M1A1 (Dragon’s AIM) or “the best” M1A2 (Tamiya). If he asked for a rank order, I could have easily added all manufacturer’s Abrams tank kits, reboxes, etc., just like I did for the 4 year old post.