So the big question of the day is who do you feel is the best 1/35th Armor Kit Manufacturer out there and why? A friend and I got hooked on Tamiya kits in the early 70’s (Junior High) and I am just getting back into the modeling hobby again. I have never built any other manufacturers kits for Armor and was wondering how the others stack up in quality, detail, challenge to build, most subjects available, etc…? Or should I stick with Tamiya? [8D] Thanks for your input on this subject, I’m looking forward to your response! GM Joe [:D]
In my honest opinion, considering all the possible factors like quality, variety, accuracy and price…Tamiya is still the best. Dragon would be in 2nd place.
Note: I have only built Tamiya, Dragon and Academy kits so that my judgement is based solely on these 3.
I know Finemolds have excellent quality kits but these are quite rare and expensive.
- Tamiya
- Dragon
- Academy
- Italeri
I hear Trumpeter has some great kits, but I haven’t built any of their stuff.
One day maybe … if they ever manufacture a Sherman
JCon: Tamiya still makes really nice kits , I would say DML and Tamiya are the best out there ,… both are retooling the old kits and making them more accurate( because of the serious modelers out there ,IE competition guys). The only problem I have had on a regular basis with DML is incorrect instruction sheets ( sometimes they have incorrect placement of some parts ) but that is no big deal really .
Dollar for dollar, I will argue for Dragon. Still nothing fits like a Tamiya. Dragon offers lower price, indy tracks and in some cases pe grilles or whatnot. Latley they have been putting far more kits out than Tamiya. If price is no object, than go with Tamiya and the many am and pe parts that you’ll need.
I don’t think you can go far wrong with the big 4, Tamiya, Dragon, Academy and Italeri. Some of the guys are not too happy with Italeri, but I think they’re okay. Tamiya is still probably the best overall, but don’t get too wrapped up with manufacturer, there are a lot of great kits out there now. It’s certainly a better time to model now than back in the 70’s. (when I started).
As far as the newer releases…
- Tamiya
- Dragon
- Academy and AFV Club tie
- Italeri
But when you start comparing older releases, the line gets fuzzy quick.
Dragon/DML have done good things to open up the armor market, but have sometimes missed in details (ex: the original Nashorn, the original Hummel, and most recently the Karl)
Some of the older Italeri kits are actually superior to the older Tamiya kits. (ex: M13/40 and the Semoventi) Also the Italeri Pz I still holds it’s own after many years.
This of course is opinion based, and there will be people to disagree. But it is my 2 cents.
Tamiya & Dragon are BOTH good at the moment, prices will vary from location to location. Over here Dragon is more expensive than Tamiya.
Dragon offers indi tracks & pe parts, some of their kits come without figures though.
Tamiya includes Figures and accessories as well as PE and other parts in the new releases.
I just got the Dragon King Tiger with Porsche Turret, adding Tamiya King Tiger Indi tracks, AM Resin Zimmerit and a German tank crew at rest.
One thing I do not like with the Dragon KT issue is that it is nice to have the gun breach/loading mechanism modelled but when you look at it through the hatches you see an otherwise empty interior, which to me is wasted detail.
So I think it depends on what you are after and how you will display your Kit, Tamiya offers more for me when it comes to Dio. Individual tracks for seem a waste if the upper part of the tracks are invisible due to being covered by a skirt,
etc.
Italeri I was satisfied with, haven’t done an Academy kit in 15yrs due to bad experiences with their early offerings.
Revell also has some interesting offerings, haven’t done a Tristar or Baumann kit so no comment on them neither of most of the eastern europe manufacturers.
i agree from experience that some of Italeri’s kits were better detailed, but generally more finicky in fit. I have the Sturmtiger and looks like a neat kit, even comes with molded zimmerit. I have heard nice things about it. Also their Chaffee was a good overall fit.
Personally I would say Tamaya is the best in detail,fit and quaity.But there are some good contenders to the crown.Revell from Germany,Academy,Dragon and Iterli.
DIGGER[:)][C):-)][:)]
I have built a couple of italeri kits and they have gone together just fine , they looked pretty good after too , built em’ right oob . I built the M110 and paladin SPG nice details on both kits
Quality over quantity, Fine Molds Japanese WW2 tank kits are really nice but they have a limited selection.
(I’m a newbie so I’ve got nothing on these guys but I’ll put my two since worth in anyway.) As far as “real quality” kits in the “Big 4” I have only built Tamiya and Italeri so far. Tamiya rocks but for me is expensive. I love Italeri for the price and quality but their kits tend to lack figures and i like free figs! Also imust add that am not a true armor builder in the sence that i like support vec\hicle and the more unique offerings. that is why like Italeri because they had offerings likethe Hummer Avenger and other unique vehicles that others don’t offer and at half the cost of the Tamiya. It’s all a matter really of how far you want to take the kit. Out od the box or after market parts.
[I know I’ve been building some Hobby Craft lately but I’m not going to even count Hobby Craft for any serious “rivit counting” modeler. They are just dirt cheap models that are for good for practice and blasting in a dio. I don’t lose anything by screwing them up, kitbashing, and experimenting on them. (My HC Bradly sucks and probably should be burned, but I’m going fix it any way [banghead]). Though I heard on one of the threads that the M1 Abrams with mine rakes is good but that was one opinion.]
I’ve only built Tamiya and Dragon kits and I like 'em but I’ve heard Academy and Italeri kits are good too.
My money usually goes this way:
- Tamiya
- Dragon
- Trumpeter
- AFV Club
- Academy
- Italeri
I also buy kits from RoG, Zvezda, Eastern Express and Skif.
Erik, what can you say about Eastern Express kits? They have some subjects that I’m interested in.
Love it. I am a bit the same.
Don’t worry Martian, we could be worse; we could build planes!
I am sure we are still welcome here.
Back to topic, I have had predominantly good experiences with Tamiya, Italeri and Academy, but am yet to try Dragon.
Here in Oz, Italeri and Academy are in the price/quality sweetspot.
Anyone know anything about Maquette?
My choice for armor kit is tamiya & dragon… The new mold from tamiya is just excellent for me and i like from DML kits is that all include with PE parts some have lack decals option. Furthermore i hav a heller kit build in halfway now and the mold look like “coffin” or soft mold for me … [B)] Some other kit that i have is CMK. This one is eastern europe kits, so far i have’nt tried this kit before so i don’t know yet…
I prefer Dragon kits because of the individual track links. The latest kits are as good as Tamiya for detail and moulding quality.
I don’t, however, like the new colour Dragon instructions. The photos make it really difficult to figure out the placement of small parts. I would prefer line drawings for the build instructions, and colour photos for the painting guide.
Cheers
Tamiya - King of the Hill!