hello everyone,
i have another question for everyone. Im thinking about buying a 1/35 king tiger. but im not sure what brand to choose. Tamiya or dragon. I’ve gotten back into models 10 weeks or so ago, and so far iv built 2 kits. The E-100 and the Tiger I (isn’t finished yet), and they were both dragon. I find the instructions quiet simple on dragon kits but the painting part on the are very complicated (for me anyway). you dont get a top view and it only shows one side of the tank. I’ve enjoyed building them tho. But i wouldnt mind trying tamiya. So what do you think? are tamiya kits good or not? Are they very well detailed? What would you recommend?
Dragon 1/35 6303 king tiger?
or
Tamiya 1/35 king tiger?
and is the tamiya liquad cement better than the liquad glue from revel? And yet another question. Are tamiya acrylic paints better than humbrol enamel? i’ve only use the revel liquad glue and the Humbrol Enamel paints.
thanks
regards callum.
I think the answer to all your questions is that it’s a matter of personal preference. Tamiya kits tend to cost more and don’t have as many options available, but in my experience don’t have as many fit issues. Their detail is usually pretty good and the kits are easy to build. I have both in my stash and have built both, each have their good and bad points. I like Tamiya kits, but that’s just my personal opinion, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Dragon products. I haven’t used either of the cements you asked about, I use Testors pink label most of the time, because it’s what my lhs has in stock and it works fine for me. As to paint, the main difference in the brands you mention is that Tamiya paint is acrylic meaning it’s water based and enamel is of course oil based, once again it’s a matter of personal preference. The acrylic paints tend to be much less smelly so if you’re having issues with the odor of enamel paint try the acrylic. See what works best for you.
I find dragon kits are alot more detailed and have more fiddly bits to make it look realer then tamiya, which normally have alot less detail on seperate parts but has it all molded on. Atleast in my experiance.
As far as paints anything goes. I am working on a Diorama right now I have used… Model Masters Enamels, Model Masters Acrylics, Tamiya Acrylics, Hobby Craft Acrylic, Artist Oil Paints. I have used Testors glue, I have used Tamiya Glue and I have used Super Glue. All on the one project.
It ALL depends on your preference. You will find some stuff works better for some applications. Like specificly I find the testors red glue works great for making parts really stick together. Super glue works good for non plastic on plastic. Tamiya thin cement works great for small parts but horrible for large things, I use it alot for test fitting if I wana put something together and then take it appart for some reason the thin cement works great for that, also work sgreat for small details.
Super glue is also great for making a thin protective outter shell over your fingers… >.>
I find it kind of amazing that the Tamiya=expensive meme is getting trotted out here of all places. Dragon’s KT kits are more expensive than Tamiya’s.
From what I understand - I’m mostly aircraft but I’m dipping my toe into armor so I’ve been reading a lot - Dragon’s kits are highly detailed with lots of small fiddly bits. Perhaps too many depending on your style. Tamiya’s kits are well detailed, don’t have as many fiddly bits, and are well regarded for their fit and engineering. This has been my experience with the Tamiya armor I built back during my teenage years (which I’m pretty sure included the King Tiger!). Some of the kits aren’t very accurate (the T-34 springs to mind), but others are. Not sure about the KT.
As for cements and paints…if you’ve got access to Revell stuff I’m going to guess you’re not in the U.S. Can’t speak to it or the Tamiya cement as I use Tenax 7R for the big visible joins (works great) and CA and a slower-curing Loctite adhesive for the rest. But a solvent adhesive like Tenax, Tamiya, or I assume Revell will work great at welding the plastic together. The big difference is the strength. Tenax will melt and bond plastic in ten seconds. The Testors stuff can take a good deal longer. Not good or bad either way…just preference.
Humbrol and Tamiya…depends what you’re going for. I’ve never used Humbrol, but I hear great things about it, and I’ve got several tins of White Ensign enamels on the shelf, and they’re said to be relatively similar.
Tamiya paints airbrush great once you get the hang of them, but they can be extremely unforgiving too. And they don’t brush paint.
If you’re interested in going acrylic all around you might want to check out Vallejo and/or Lifecolor as well.
Dragon’s 6303 KT is a fairly recent kit and includes moulded-on Zimmerit. Tamiya’s KT kit is at least 10 years older.
Your choice will depend on whether you want more parts and better detail with more complexity in the build or a simpler build with fewer parts and less complexity, but still delivering a reasonable amount of detail. Of the two, the Tamiya kit is going to be quicker and easier and you’re less likely to run into problems.
Tamiya’s liquid cement comes in two flavours - “extra thin” and “regular”.(almost sounds like a feminine hygiene product [*-)])
Tamiya’s “regular” liquid cement is similar to the Revell “Contacta” liquid cement (which comes in a squeeze pack with a needle applicator or a jar with a brush applicator) which is a medium viscosity type which has a welding action plus a small amount of plastic resin for mechanical strength. As far as I can recall, Revell doesn’t have a thin “welding” (only) type cement.
Tamiya’s “extra thin” type is a fairly hot solvent type which acts as a “welding” cement . The greatest advantage with the extra thin is that it will give you a cleaner join compared to a medium viscosity type or a tube type cement. The best way to use a “thin” cement is to hold the two parts together, align the parts to minimise the seam line and then simply touch the applicator brush to the seam. The cement is thin enough that capillary action will draw the cement down the seam. Hold together for about 30 seconds or so and you’re done - no mess no fuss, no globs or lumps. The downside is that this ability to flow along seams and ridges (and panel lines) means the cement can go a long way, sometimes to places where you didn’t intend for it to go, so go light and add more if required and always do a “finger check” to make sure that your fingers aren’t sitting on any lines/ridges which may conduct cement.
If you are restricted to brush painting stick to your Humbrol enamels for the time being, as Tamiya’s acrylics can be difficult to brush-paint smoothly, particularly if you’re not familiar with their characteristics. However, if you have access to an airbrush, Tamiya’s acrylics airbrush very well.
thank you for you replies. I live in australia and at my local hobby store i have access to tamiya and humbrol enamel paints. Now as i said iv use humbrol enamels only and they are a pain in the arse to get working in an air brush. Excuse the language. And to thin them out i use turps, very bad stuff. but i have to get that way where i need to thin it out that much that i get over runs alot. but iv managed very well with these paints. As for acrylic paint i may as well give them a try. but does humbrol paints look better than acrylic? seem acrylic is water based.
thanks again
callum.
I whole heartedly suggest Tamiya Acrylics. They last a long time and are very nice. They spray beautifully through and airbrush and are easy for clean up. Once I started with them I never looked back.
Some Acrylics are alcohol based. Going by smell alone that is my guess as to the base for Tamiya paints. Also, I have excellent luck thinning Tamiya paints with isopropyl alcohol. Also, in my experience Tamiya paints brush fine. They just have to be thinned properly, and you have to be fast.
I have dabbled in Humbrol a little. I find them to be as workable as Testors Model Master enamels if you know what you’re doing. Even if I don’t really care for the packaging.
Note: Knowing what you’re doing in this hobby all comes down to experience. Buy both King Tigers, build both. And decide for yourself which one is best.
Where abouts in Australia are you? I know our choices for paint here are limited, but usually there’s more to choose from than just Tamiya and Humbrol. Many shops carry Testors ModelMaster and Tamiya enamels and Gunze acrylics. If you have a shop which also does model railroads, you may also find Floquil enamels.
If you go with Tamiya acrylics, you can (for airbrushing) thin them with plain old metho. At $4.00 a litre, it’s much more economical than Tamiya’s thinner at $14.00 for 250ml. Don’t be tempted to use water to thin Tamiya acrylics - water is probably the least effective of the available options.
Tamiya’s acrylics can be brush-painted, but it takes a bit of practice, a bit of thinner (for brush-painting you should use Tamiya thinner) and a bit of patience. they’re not good for painting straight out of the bottle, which is why I didn’t recommend them for brush painting (for a novice anyway).
If you opt for an enamel, instead of turps, which is a little “raw”, you may consider picking up a bottle of white spirits from Bunnings (about $4.00 a litre) It’s essentially the same stuff as in most proprietary enamel thinners and is a little more refined than common turps. By comparison, a little 40ml jar of Tamiya enamel thinner is almost $6.00 here. (250ml will set you back about $14.00)
Whichever route you choose, you have to thin it to a suitable consistency for your airbrush and whether it be enamel or acrylic, you may still experience runs. You may need to adjust/refine your technique to avoid this.
Though I love many of the newer Dragon subjects, I see myself gravitating back to Tamiya a bit. I don’t care for an overengineered kit with a gazzilion pieces. I’m not to crazy about indy tracks which sooner or later tend to break. That being said, I haven’t built any of the newer Smart Kits with the magic tracks, so my mind might change after building one. Also, as mentioned earlier, Tamiya’s kits generally cost alot and without some of the added goodies that Dragon gives. Dragon kits are skyrocketing though and Tamiya has added more, so it’s getting closer to preference.
I always buy my kits off of ebay or show, so the savings usually sways me to what’s available at a great price.
to answer your question ‘‘where abouts do you live in australia?’’ well i live in New South Wales near taree. i go to taree to buy my paints and glue from mals toy shop. They sell alot of tamiya products and dragon to. airfix and revel, the list goes on. But they do over price their kits tho. all hobby shops do in my opinion. However i do buy my kits from ebay. Mostly the chinese sellers mainly because their kits are cheaper and they’re the latest ones to. The dragon kit of the king tiger 6303 im buying will set me back 75 dollars but by the looks of it its a good deal.
thanks for the help.
regards callum
I’m with you on the Tamiya kits. Great fit and pretty darn accurate as near as i can tell. Mostly build aircraft now too but did quite a few armor kits as a kid and found Tamiya to be top notch albeit a tad more expensive than Monogram, etc. I also used quite a bit of Humbrol enamels years back but pretty much stick with Model Master enamel and Tamiya acrylics now mostly cause there’s a better selection of them at my local hobby store not because of any problem with Humbrol. Never built Dragon kits of any kind so i can’t comment on them.
Well, you are somewhat out in the sticks then. Your nearest hobby shop worthy of the name would be Frontline in Newcastle, probably about an hour and a half away. They have a pretty decent range of supplies, but I don’t know if they will send paints by mail. They also have your KT kit (Dragon 6303) listed at $69.95 so their prices don’t seem too offensive (by Australian standards anyway) but it appears out of stock at the moment.
Here in Sydney, hobby shops are few and far between and prices of the aforementioned kit can vary between $65.00 - $75.00 depending on the shop.
i have bought kits from frontline before such as ships, planes, etc. they are a very good hobby store in my opinion. and they do send paint by mail. iv bough humbrol paints from them before. I’ve been in there myself, and i’ve never seen so many kits before. Frontlinehobbies is a very good store.
regards callum