Did you know that Trumpeter and Dragon both produce very beautifully detailed 1/72 tanks? They all have VERY high part count. In fact, they have almost as much parts as their 1/35 versions! So basically, you can get a very detailed, easy to built small tank for only like 15 dollars. Does anyone else like Trumpeter and Dragon line of 1/72 scale tank? Which one is better? Does it go together without much trouble?
By the way… this is a Dragon 1/72 built out of the box! Can you tell if this from a 1/35 scale model? Look the same to me!
I’ve got just about all of Dragon and Trumpeter’s 1/72 scale kits. Most of Revell’s as well. Many of Dragon’s early kits are not that great like the original Elefant/Ferdinand, original Panther Gs and their Abrams kits. They did get much better very quickly though.
Dragon is probably tops right now with Revell slightly behind. Trumpeter has extremely nice kits but not a large selection yet.
The Italeri Merkava is the 20 year old Esci kit reboxed. Their kits were not bad for the day.
I did Dragon’s 1/72 Abrams, Bradley, and Tiger and aside from some idler/roadwheel fit issues on the Tiger, found all of them to be pretty decent. Their moldings were quite crisp and the fit generally quite good. Their level of detail was pretty decent as well, so if one wanted to make a super detailed mini tank, these would all be good starting points.
I also have done Hasagawa’s M3 Grant. I don’t know if it representative of Hasagawa’s typical efforts at armor, but the best thing that can be said about their M3 Grant is that it looks basically like a Grant, at least from across the room.
I’m loving dragons new stuff. Especially the tanks that come with zim on them. I want to get one of their 251’s but i’m trying not to buy any more kits.
The Hasegawa Grant is a brutal kit, but as you said, it sure looks like one.
The detail on the Mirage kits is better, but it needs a bunch of filling. The biggest difference in the two kits is the transmission cover. The mirage kit’s cover looks convincing.
Nice Abrams! I’ve gone to building more 72nd scale stuff lately than 35th. Leaves me more room in my display case. Revell makes great kits- I’ve built the Abrams, Challenger 1, Marder… all very nice, but Dragons latest kits are unbelievable in detail, fit and value; although some kits tracks are pretty crappy (Challenger 2 OIF). Right now I’m building their T34/76 M1941, and it’s beautiful! I haven’t seen any Trumpeter kits, but I’ve been told that they are as well detailed as their 35th kits. (New ones, that is!). I am at heart a masochist, so I build lots of Eastern European kits-- Omega-K, Ace, ICM. The newer kits are much easier to build. Sometimes it’s a lot of work to make a nice model out of them, but it’s worth the hassle to me. Also, since modern WarPac/Russian stuff is my main gig they are the only way to go for me, since no one else produces modern Russian stuff—although Revell is said to be releasing a 72 scale T-72M1.
If you want to have some fun, try combing the Revell tiger 1 chassis with the dragon strumtiger upper works. It only has one small gap to fill and you get a great looking model with revels excelent running gear.
Hey Crossracer, I don’t mind kitbashing as long as there’s a point in it, but what’s wrong with Dragon’s Sturmtiger in the first place (I was given a built-up one for a xmas present one year).
I’ve a handful of 1/72 Hasegawa stuff, but have found an issue with a part missing in a few of the kits, and in one case it’s the half-track with cannon in tow - the windshield is missing! Makes me sick because I love that German halftrack. The Morser Karl with tender is a really nice kit that’s slowly taking shape.
Overall I’ve enjoyed what I see in the Hasegawa kits, but maybe I’m just easy? And heck, the price is sure nice.
For the price, it’s hard to beat the level of detail and value that you get in the old Fujimi (ex-Nitto) 1:76 armour and vehicles. For instance, with the M-36 Jackson, you also get a Harley Davidson, and you get a Kubelwagen with the StuG III, and a Schwimwagen with the Pzkw II.
