Is there a lot of difference between the old Tamiya kits and the new ones as some of the older kits seem a lot cheaper?
While the old ones were well engineered and fit well, almost all of them were designed to be motorized. Because of this, they had motorization holes, removeable upper hulls for battery replacement, simplified tracks for ease of motion and many details such as sprockets and external fittings (tools, cables, etc.) were molded on because of the handling associated with motorization.
Also these kits were developed in the 70s when accuracy was not as high a priority as it is today. A lot of kits were based off of pieced together museum display vehicles, photographs or drawings. Today there are numerous fully restored and accurized museum pieces that the companies send researchers out to take precise measurements.
Back then, kits were aimed at kids and teenagers. Today the kits are aimed at Baby Boomers with deeper pockets.
Hey Scary,
I can only tell you IMHO that many of the older Tamiya kits, while quite good for thier time, suffer from the usual maladies. Inaccurate, bad fit etc. Some, however, are quite good. Older releases that were crisp and exact when newly released, suffer now from worn tooling.
Tamiya has always held up the reputation of quality, ease of assembly and thier paint lines are very good. Tamiya built and earned their reputation in offering kits that make the average modeler look above average, hence the immense popularity of the name brand.
Steve
Thanks , seems as usual you get what you pay for.
SM
You nailed it, but don’t be fooled by price. Many of todays Dragon kits for example, though cheaper than Tamiya’s newest offerings, are just as detailed and contain more am parts, such as aluminum barrels, pe grilles, and indy tracks.