Hi all, I am new to this hobby, and so far, I have only used Tamiya Kits, which have been fine. I want to build a Centurion with the 105mm gun. So far, the only manufacturer I can find that does this is AFV Club.
I know nothing about AFV Club. Would you recommend using them, or should I look for another manufacturer?
I have checked the Tamiya catalogue and they don’t have the Centurion listed.
Any recommendations would be gratefully received.
Although I have never built the Centurion my experiences with AFV kits has always been very positive. They can have a few more fiddley parts than some but overall have never put up a fight. There was a time when they were considered top of the line kits and they still stack up well with even the most modern manufacturers.
Of course …
I will second tcoat’s comments about afv club. Great kits that can have fiddly parts.
I have built one of the AFV Club Centurions. They are great kits. I agree that AFV Club is still one of the best makers of 1/35 kits out there. I will take an AFV Club kit over a Tamiya kit any day.
More here: HeavyArty’s Photobucket - IDF Centurion
For a long time Tamiya was the gold standard in kits but I have come to not always trust them. I really check them out before I will buy one anymore just to know what I am really getting. Is it an old, old, OLD mold (not that is bad)? Is it a 40 year old Italeri kit with a couple of new parts? Is it a brand new mold? A while ago I built the “Tamiya” AHN truck kit. As soon as I opened the box I knew it was NOT a Tamiya kit. Turned out to be an old ICM mold.
Tamiya will always be there for me but compared to some of the newer companies like Ryefield, Meng, and even AFV they can be lacking.
I find most Tamiya kits have simplified assemblies and soft details. They were great at one point but are way behind the newer manufacturers like you listed.
Sort of depends on the genre.
They have been cranking out the same base armour kits with a few new parts since the '60’s. The big exception here is there newer 1/48th line that are very good.
They have upgraded a lot of their aircraft kits and have several new molds that are still up there in the industry.
Their ships can be hit or miss but many started life in the '90s so are actually pretty good.
Japanese and race cars are where they really shine. They put out brand new kits pretty much annually and they are still an industry leader in the genre (as narrow a scope as they do).
I just do 1/35 armor, so only have experience with that line of kits.
LOL am multi genred so dabble in everything with no allegiance to any one!
Oh I love doing armo…
As others have said, AFV Club makes good kits, but they seem to adhere to the mantra “no subassembly is too fiddly.” It’s the tiny parts that separate an AFV Club kit from a Tamiya. But AFV Club does not make complicated assemblies for the sake of complicated assemblies like Trumpeter does from time to time, but they can tax the beginner modeler.
I think that’s the important take away - they are good kits but require more patience and finesse to assemble compared to a Tamiya.
Good tweezers are a MUST!
Hello!
Here are your options for a 1/35 Centurion:
One thing worth checking out would be Amusing Hobby - I don’t know the company nor their take on the Centurion, but their release is more than 10 years newer than AFV Club, so it has the potential of utilizing the newer technology.
As to AFV Club one complaint that I heard would be those rubber tires for the road wheels - many people replace them with something - mostly 3D printed or Resin cast tires.
Anyhow, good luck with your project and have a nice day
Paweł