I keep getting grief by lauding these kits. However, when I build something, I want it to fit. I enjoy painting and finishging, I don’t enjoy wings that are warped in AC or so forth and so on. I am conviced, these are nice kits. I just built their Sherman and now a Willys jeep. I picked up the Tiger and the Pershing. I keep looking at Dragon, how are they and by the way, how is Itelera for armor?
Dragon’s new offering are very nice, but usually have a lot more pieces. That said, they are cheaper and there are usually some PE and other goodies thrown in. I also like Tamiya’s kits and yes, even with rubber band tracks
The Tamiya Pershing was GREAT to build… perfect fit, had a ball… The suspension pulled my chain a little, but it was worth it… Tamiya does have some great kits… I don’t have as much experience with Dragon, but I’m turning down that road.
Tamiya’s latest offerings are no doubt easier to build, they know it and charge you for every penny they can wring from you as a result. Unfortunately, they’ve also chosen to rest on their laurels and aren’t planning any new releases/expansion to their 1/35 line for the near future. They can also give you some nasty surprises if you get one of their older kits and expect it to meet the same standards. They don’t tell you on the box “older release” so do your homework on that regard.
Dragon has it’s gives and takes. Personally I prefer them over Tamiya for two reasons: 1) Price. They will always be cheaper than Tamiya, sometimes as much as 1/3 to 1/2 depending. 2) Value. They are increasingly offering items such as aluminum barrels, figures, and optional parts for different variants and diorama possibilities within the same kit without raising their prices. Combine that with #1 and they have a distinct advantage. Some potential drawbacks: Indy track links (I prefer these and see them as a plus, others don’t), instructions that are prone to misleading diagrams and sometimes outright errors, softer plastic (makes trimming/sanding a more delicate exercise), sometimes confusion sprue labelling (B sprue and b sprue in same kit).
Can’t really comment on Italeri. I’ve only ever built two of their kits, the Pz 38(t) and Crusader III, but both kits built up reasonably well and were a good price.
HTH
Tamiya has been the industry standard it seems and they are becoming complacent. They have lousy customer service and as Bill has stated, they seem to be giving up on 1/35. That being said, they do have some really nice kits, but also some clunkers in there.
I have the 1/16 Full Option Tiger I which is an incredible kit. Extremely expensive, but a very nice kit. I also have the 1/16 Full Option M4, which is a reissue from 1974. How mad would you be if you spent over $400 on a kit and the mold is 30 years old and has less detail than a 1/72 kit? That’s my problem with Tamiya.
Dragon and Trumpeter seem to be picking up the ball and running with it. Dragon’s extras really make the AM parts you’d might want with Tamiya unnecessary.
Trumpeter’s 1/16 T-34 stacks up against Tamiya’s 1/16 Tiger (static kit), even better actually based on the full interior, engine and tranny, for less than half the price.
Finally, DragonCare will replace any part or sprue with no questions asked and no cost to you. Tamiya USA will SELL you any sprue for about half of what the kit costs.
That’s my opinion anyway.[;)]
Tamiya always seem to have the best fit, in terms of anything new. Dragons latest offerings are great, Italeri to a lesser extent. Ultimately, you get what you pay for. Italeri and Dragon don’t have any major problems, and really only thing that generally keeps them down is fit of parts, and cleanup. However, Italeri being almost twice as cheap as Tamiya has it’s good points as well, namely the money you keep in your pocket.
The one main beef I have with Italeri is their rubber tracks. They are stiff as a board and a paint to work with. I can tell you that Testors/Italeri’s customer service is fantastic. IU bought the Chaffee a few weeks back and found I had 2 C sprues and no B sprues. I called Testors and within a week I had a replacement.
I like Dragon kits but I wish they wouldn’t have so many pour plugs on every piece. I recently finished their T-34/76 and wore out a lot of sandpaper on that kit. However, they do have a bigger variety of models than Tamiya and they do include a lot of great extra’s like metal barrels and personal gear.
Tamiya is great and my first kits were mostly from them but Dragon and Academy has recently came up with “great-value” offerings. So I am now more for Dragon and Academy.
I think Tamiya makes great kits, but alas, spendy kits with little to no extras such as aluminum barrels, PE parts, and indy tracks. Dragon offers the extras and at a much reduced price. Secondly they have some offerings that Tamiya doesn’t and is continueing to grow their 1/35 line. Finally Italeri is hit and miss and do offer some very eclectic kits that the other big boys don’t. They are generally affordable, but Dragon again offers too much in comparison.
My selection of kits to build are quickly going from Tamiya to Dragon. Factors being cost and ever nicer kits from dragon. Semper Fi, mike
So with all this talk about Dragon and Italeri no one has made mention of Academy at all. I hear their latest offering are pretty good builds. I myself have been looking at their 1/35 M3 Stuart Honey.
The Honey is supposed to be a nice build, but the interior is inaccurate. Depends on how nit pickey you want to be. Personally, I’d like to build one. Just haven’t gotten around to it, yet.
Hmmmm…I did.[;)]
Tamiya is really not worried about there plastic kit lines as thier bread and butter.Thier R/C line has taken off like crazy.If you notice and I know ya’ll have most of thier 35 scale is made for motorizing.This is the way they are going,but hope is over the horizin just as most of you all said.Adcamedy,accriute models,Dragon,Iterali,Revell of Germany,Marqette and Trumperter are all put some great kits.Some of thier newer ones even surpass Tamiya in quaity which to me some time ago was unbelievible.Digger
I really don’t like the Tamiya models personally. Sure they fit great, but as stated above numerously the price and the extras keep me going with Academy, Dragon, and others. I really like the two Italeri models I have built (M163A1 Vulcan and M923A1 5-ton) as they offer decent detail and good plastic. I have groused and b*&^hed in here about Trumpeter alot, but they are actually an awful lot of fun to build BECAUSE of the work involved.
theres some Tamiya kits that use Italeri parts, and Tamiya sell Italeri kits as Tamiya in Japan
the old Hummer Bushmaster is based on the Italeri hummer kit, i found that out by buying it years ago, i could have bought 5 italeri hummers for the price
Caveat emptor.
I don’t personally hold it against them that they have thier older kits still for sale. And I don’t know of any company that puts a label on the box of its older products that says “this is not as good as our more recent products.”
Very true Larry. The same holds true for any of the manufacturers and you can usually tell an “older” Tamiya just by the price but not much else unless you research the kit. For those judging by the brand name only, it can be a rude awakening as Tamiya is “generally” accepted as the highest in detail for the genre.
It is my personal opinion that Tamiya is like Prince Valium from Spaceballs, he’s all there, but just somewhere else…while dragon and now trumpeter are moving not so stealthily anymore, more, like 3 rambos going in to seize the fortune in the tomb. I love dragon, it is a wonder if i will really ever go tamiya for much anymore, i like everything i have bought from dragon so far, while i am not so pleased with Italeri, as they do have quality, just not much in the box, and a little sparse on details