who makes the best amor kits in 1/35 scale?
With my experience thus far in the world of armor I would have to say Tamiya, but of coarse only one has not been Tamiya. Got the Acadamy M3 Stuart Honey on the shelf now though.
In my opinion:
Tamiya
AFV Club
Dragon
Trumpeter
Academy
Italeri
Heller makes some interesting subjects (AMX-30, Le Clerc), but I can’t put their 1/35 armor kits in the same category as those from the companies listed above.
Here we go again…
Throw me in with J-Hulk’s list of manufacturers.
Gip Winecoff
Glad to have you on board, Gip!
I was trying to decide if I should include any of the up-and-coming Eastern European manufacturers like Zvezda or Eastern Express, but as I haven’t built any of their kits, I can’t honestly give an opinion about them. A lot of my modeling buddies here love 'em, but say they’re not the easiest kits to build. The same could be said for Dragon, Trumpeter, and Italeri, though.
OK, I’ll stick with original list! [:D]
Brian,
You should try ICM. I just got finished building their BS-3 100mm howitzer. No detail set is needed. The detail is delicate and exquisite. The gun site alone is 8 individual pieces. Fit is superb for the most part. The instructions seem to be the only drawback, and that’s only minor. I wonder if the rest of their stuff is this good?
Gip Winecoff
Just saw your post over in Aircraft, Supmax.
Welcome to Armor!
Quite a selection there. Any comments on the quality?
I’ll agree with J-Hulk regarding manufacturers. Tamiya is up there, because of selection. However, the AFV Club M3A3 is superior to any Stuart on the market by quite a margin… if you want to make a Stuart. AND the Academy Tiger I with interior is a great kit.
Ron.
I have to say I agree with all the threads above; the selection and overall quality of kits in the past ten years has been nothing short of phenomenal. I can remember when our choices were limited to Monogram’s 1/35 and 1/32 kits, and a few Tamiya motorized kits. And aftermarket accessories? Forget it. We track-heads should be bowing to the modeling gods[bow] They have been very good to us.
How about Gunze Sangyo high tech models. I have never built one before, but have some good comments on the quality.
mark956
I have not built many kits (only about 30) but so far, I can say that based on the kits that I have actually built the ranking would be:
1.) Tamiya
2.) Dragon
3.) Academy
4.) Italeri
I have never built an AFV and Skybow kits but they look good to me.
- Tamiya [bow]
- Academy [:p]
- AFV Club [:D]
- DML Dragon [:)]
I have a few by Italeri, Trumpeter and Revell but haven’t built any of them yet.
I’m only going from my building experience.
Tamiya (Best fit)
Dragon (Most bang for the buck)
Italeri (Most eclectic choices)
Of course, just MHO [:D]
This list could change, I have one Academy kit to build .
“It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it.”-R.E.Lee
J-Hulk, Look at Tasca’s Pzr II. I saw it at Jaxcon and was very impressed at the detail. I think its Eastern European. If that was a preview of things to come, there will be a new player in town.
Mike
Fine Molds. Take a look at their various WW2 Japanese armor kits. Superb workmanship. I now own three of them, Type 3 “Chi-Nu”, Type 94 “TK”, and the Type 95 “Ha-Go”. Real small 1/35 scale kits, but packed with sharp detail.
id say
1 Tamiya
<—soon to be No 2 is Bego Tasca (just on looks alone check the link out) http://www.hlj.com/cgi-perl/hljpage.cgi?beg35001
3 Dragon
4 Afv Club
i think Tascas from japan as alot of there workers have come from Tamiya?
Thanks for the link Jon. That model looks really good.
mark956
Oh yeah, the Gunze and Tasca kits are great, too!
It might have been easier to make a list of worst manufacturers! There are so many good ones out there now.
oops ive forgotten to put Tristar on the list near the top
ok they have only brought out Two kits so far and there both a Panzer 1but they come with PE and modelkastin working tracks oh and the kit looks great
Yes! Tristar, too!
They were going to put out a Karl, too.