I just started this Dragon Abrams. I know I am redundant and I repeat myself. But my first 3 armor builds were Tamiya, now I am faced with detail that may not quite be evident, these extra pieces of plastic on small parts, and instructions that really leave a lot to be desired. Plus, I have said this for years on the aircraft side, I appreciate the history that Tamiya provides with all their kits. It gives you a place to start. I know Dragon is less expensive, I can see why. I hope I did not offend anyone, but the truth is the truth. I am unlike many people, when I build, I want detail, great fit and great directions and history. I don’t have timne to research all the nuances of a subject, nor do I have time to make mistakes putting pieces on that don’t fit properly. I will shut up now because I know I have p------ people off. I just want to hear what others think.
Some of their older kits suffer from poor fit, but their more recent items are very nice and detailed. I believe the Abrams is a reissue of an older kit. I am sure someone can tell us for sure. Their newer kits such as the Elefant and Panther A/Ds are very nice, well detailed and the fit is usually very good. The hard thing with Dragon is if you want the better fitting kits, you need to figure out if the kit is new or old (and even it is hard, because Dragon has an old NAshorn that is terrible, but their new one is great)
The Dragon Abrams kits were welcomed when they arrived in the early 1990s. Great detail not found on the original Tamiya Abrams and leap years ahead of the Esci Abrams. Having said that, they are quite fidgety to build. When I built my first one, I was fortunate to have a platoon of the tanks at work. It was easy to identify parts with first hand references.
I’ve got several Dragon Abrams tanks, the only thing that keeps me from building them is the memory that they are quite honestly a pain in the butt to build.
You said everything I was thinking Rob , Ive said this a hundred times and I will again, building wise the Dragon Abrams is a real work to be reckoned w/ but when it is built it looks more like the real thing than the Tamiya kit structure wise I dont know what it is , but it looks more accurate the Turrett is a real fit problem, while the upper and lower hull look almost like they don’t even belong together , w/ a little detail work the Dragon Abrams can be a nice build but if you whant the things you listed such as Fit , History , good instructions , you will have to go elsewhere for an Abrams. Good Luck
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Also don’t like not to know well, may be a little of what I am building and don’t have that enough time to research. On your side.