“With Tamiya, you can open the box, cut open the bags, and dump out their contents. Voila, your kit is already built for you.”
We know this is not true, but there are very few kit manufacturers that for fit and finish are better than Tamiya (even when compared to the 1970s kits).[banghead]
I’ll bet that they are getting ready to make an M-24 Chaffee in 1/35 scale for me. Why not
a pair of cast hull American medium tanks like the M3 or the M4?
Tamiya has always done reissues. It’s called “spotto seisan” (spot production) in Japanese, were they choose several kits from the past, break out the old molds, and crank out a buncha copies for the folks that missed 'em the first time around. Happens several times a year.
This is different than the recent trend of adding barrels, tracks and PE to previous kits, like they’ve done with their Tiger I and SdKfz 222 kits.
with all this complaining about the innacurate kits, reissuing and so on, why do people like tamiya so much? serious question. i’m actually pretty paranoid about buying any of their stuff now that i got their kv-1 kit and read a few reviews of their AT gun kits.
why? check out their T-55 and you’ll see why. they are rapidly losing their spot as #1 kit manufacturer favorites, but as far as ease of construction and fit, they can’t be beat. Tamiya will always be a top 5 company no matter what i think.
Have to agree with you, when I was growing up here in Australia, Tamiya was pretty much it for 1/35 scale (there was Italeri and ESCI, but Tamiya was leaps and bounds ahead in quality). All I ever built was Tamiya until I discovered DML about 10 years ago.
As a WWII buff I have always loved their kits. IMHO they offer a unique range of armour kits. Some of their kits are absolute classics like their Pz IIIL or their 8 Rad or their Chi Ha.
Just like Stevie Ray Vaughan opened my mind to a style of music that I had never encountered before, Tamiya sparked for me a love of building history in 1/35 scale.
THe KV series of tanks was manufactured back in the 70s, and as such is a stupid example to cite as the standard that Tamiya outputs now. They may not have much comming out, but still the stuff they did have in the last few years has been superb. Even the 70s kits, for their time, were quite something. THey were before my time, but i have several, and they do build into OK representations OOTB.
And don’t forget this: accuracy notwithstanding, the old Tamiya kits (like the KV series) feature great fit and low prices, and are perfect kits for newcomers to the hobby.
Even in the States, you can pick up an ol’ M41 for about 10 bucks, no? Cheap! And a great little kit that goes together like a charm!
if they didnt rerelease kits you would moan about the cost of the old kits as collectors start to sell them at silly prices
like they do with Tamiyas 1,24th SU 85, T34/85 and other hard to get kits
Well their new Challenger 2 is actually mostly new and not entirely a rehash of the Challenger 1. Although one of the sprues is dated 1985 (I think something like that - not opening it just to check) it has actually been very nicely re-tooled to bring the road wheels up to modern pattern, they just left the old year on it.
The new turret is pretty amazing one piece molding, they must have spent a lot on the mold for that.
They have also just released a LeClerc haven’t they? That must be entirely new.
So Tamiya isn’t completely out of the game, even if most of the WW2 stuff is mostly re-released
Man we love to complain about Tamiya! Those of us who read/post on AFV modelling DGs tend to be more informed right? We aren’t going to go out an pay $15 for the 1970s era Tamiya Panther A right? No. We read with eager anticipation the info about the Panther Gs and then DML’s ausf Ds and ausf As. We read the reviews, got the kits, some aftermarket accessories and probably – most of them are still unbuilt on our shelves! LOL
My guess is that most readers/posters here are pretty well-informed consumers. We all know about the AFV Club 251 halftracks. We all know about the DML 3-in-1 Tiger Is. Who’s Karl Morser kit did you buy – DML or Trumpeter? How’s that K5 Leopold kit coming along? The rail trucks built yet? How’s that Dragon Wagon or FAMO project coming along?
All I know is that if Tamiya NEVER produced another model kit ever, I would have more work on my hands from now until my modelling days are over with the kits I have already aquired. I congratulate them for their audacious models:
FAMO w/SdAnh 116
Dragon Wagon
Cromwell
Pershing
Type 90 Japaneses MBT
T-55 Soviet MBT
M8/M20 armored cars
GMC 6x6
Steyr cars
Mobelwagen
Marder IIIs
Wespe
retools of Tiger I, Tiger II, Panther, Stug IIIG, Pz III, Pz IV, Jeep, Kubelwagen, Schwimwagen
I see the 1989 release of the Tamiya Late Tiger I as a pivotal point in our hobby. After that re-awakened the moribund 1/35 market, Tamiya continued to put out big money into their releases. For this and igniting my initial passion in 1/35 AFV modelling, I’ll always be a fan of Tamiya – even if she isn’t the prettiest girl at the dance right now.
well if we all noticed i am sure the “insiders” of the industry did before us
they hopefully will take up the slack in areas like the lee /gtanks tanks
the already lead in pzkw ii and iv
the ? in my mind is with a major player out of the running what will the other co. do
tamiya has been laying low in 1/72 scale aircraft for some time now
Got to say I agree with you here. I am old enough to remember building those “old” Tamiya kits when they were new releases. And even given their age some of them are still great kits.