I recently built an Academy 1:48 T-72 and I not pleased with the quality of the model. It has poor molds and not much in the way of detailing at all. I went with a tannish color for the tank in an attempt to make it similar to the Yugoslavian M-84, and I was satisfied with the final overall look of the tank. Details on the AA machine gun, smoke grenade dischargers, wheels and tracks though, were not present and the hull looked as though it was way too narrow. Things didn’t get any better with my attemp at Tamiya’s earlier 1:48 Type 79 as it too sufferred from lack of detailing. I was also supprised to find the same track return rollers in both kits!( I thought Tamiya was above that.) I hope Tamiya gets it right with their newer 1:48th scale models because earlier attemps from modelling companies has left plenty of room for improvement in the 1:48th scale armor model department.
Ross, Have you examined ANY of the new Tamiya quarterscale releases ? If you had, then you would know these kits are not aimed at the “toy” market as the kits were that you described. The new Tamiya 1/48 tank kits have static, multi assemby tracks, and the detail has risen from very good to excellent with each progressive release. You really owe it to yourself to examine a StuGIII, Hetzer, or M4. You can not help but notice the detail work on these little gems is very, very nice. With 50 kits projected by Tamiya in quarterscale, both tanks and softskins, it may be time to give them a closer look.
the older kits were designed for use with wired remote controls. just like Tamiya’s older 1/35 kits that was meant for the same purpose, lacky in detail n fragile parts, just so when people drive around with them, nothing would come off. pick up an old west german Leopard 1 and see what i mean. The new ones really bring you back to the days when the bandai 1/48 kits with full interior set ruled my days … n weekends.
The newer Academy 1/48 modern tanks are unbelievably awful in my opinion. And I’m usually very forgiving when it comes to accuracy! Apart from the generic lower hull/tracks/suspension, the upper hull and turret details are so simplified, inaccurate and crude as to be virtually unsalvageable. The T-72 may be better, I don’t know, but the three kits in this series that I’ve seen certainly match this description! Just compare the details on the mouldings to the kit’s box art and you’ll see what I mean.
I bought 3 of these kits last year - the M60, Merkava and Challenger - assuming them to simply be cleaned-up and reboxed Kitech kits. On opening the box I was so disappointed by their poor quality that I sold them on again on Ebay and made a definite note to avoid them like the plague in future.
The older Kitech/Zhengdefu kits, however, despite also having a generic lower half, plenty of flash, and heavy/crude moulding of finer details such as MGs, are actually generally accurate in terms of upper hull/turret detail. With some cleanup work, additional scratchbuilt details, and a decent paint job, they can be made to look quite good, particularly with tanks that have side skirts covering the wheels/tracks.
The Leopard, Type 90, Leclerc, T-80 and the 8-wheeled armoured car series aren’t bad, they have quite crisp details. The Abrams and AMX-13 aren’t nearly as good, with heavier detail and a lot of flash. As for the others in the series, I’ve no idea as I don’t have them.
Absolutely no idea what the old Tamiya 1/48 modern armour is like, as I’ve never seen or built one. I was interested in the Jadgpanzer Kanone as I’ve never seen a kit for this AFV before, but couldn’t find it in any UK shops.
Of course, as many people have said, Tamiya’s new 1/48 WW2 kits are in a different league altogether - they are the same quality as their 1/35 kits (though with die-cast metal lower hulls, which could cause problems with conversion or superdetailing) only scaled down to 1/48.
Bandai’s 1/48 WW2 kits are also very good from what I’ve heard, many even have interior detail, but (at least in this country) are hard to find and tend to go for high prices when you do find them (generally on eBay). They have recently been re-issued by another manufacturer (Fuman I think) and these re-issues can sometimes be found at model shows.