Ok here I go…I’m not trying to open a can of worms but I am probably showing just how much of a rookie I am to model building with this question!!
I normally buy kits based on PRICE with most of my kits being armour made by Italeri although I do have some tamiya kits…I keep reading reviews on Dragon kits and Academy kits and Tristar kits…etc etc so my question is
which do you consider the best in 1/35 scale and why??
I think my reason for this post is because I am really enjoying building at the moment I don’t do any research apart from the odd picture and I always build straight from the box…but I want to improve my kits and ability!!
Dragon, considering the quality of the plastic molding, accuracy, PE, Al gun barrels, and subjects, they are the most bang for the buck. However, Tamiya, Italeri, AFV, Academy… all have incredible kits available. If price is king, obey the king. Otherwise, I have taken to researching to find the best kit for the subject I am looking for. If it is too expensive, I take the next best kit that is affordable. If you are looking to improve your builds and still be OOB, Dragon.
I agree with Mortar Magnet. All companies have gems and dogs. It depends on the vehicle you are looking to build as to who does the best one. The best bet is to research each kit before you buy it by looking at reveiws and/or asking about them on sites like this. You will get some good info on them. Based on price alone, you usually get what you pay for; cheap price often = cheap in quality.
Best in 1/35 scale? Easy, Fine Molds of Japan, but they only produce WW2 IJA tanks. So if you are into something other than obsolete tin can rattle trap tanks, Fine Molds’ quality does you little good. Plus, the kits are very expensive for tank models that are half the size of a same scale Sherman tank.
For your money, Dragon kits are the best overall value. Extremely well detailed kits that come with photo etched parts (usually) and, on occasion, metal barrels. The downside is that many kits require more experience than an intermediate level modeler may possess. Some of their older kits are not as well engineered and have fit problems. Their original Sherman series kits included the majority of Italeri Sherman parts.
Tasca and Tristar are another pair of high quality Japanese tank model manufacturers. They are a breeze to build but have a limited selection and are more expensive than a comparable Dragon kit.
Tamiya is synonymous with quality. The downside is the cost and you have to be aware of some of their older kits still on the market from the 70s and early 80s. These kits are not as well detailed as current kits, but all their kits are well engineered and go together easily.
Italeri are good, solid models but their line stretches across a 40 year span with old 1960s Peerless Max kits to Italeri’s high water mark kits of the 1980s to less detailed kits of the 1990s and so-so kits of recent vintage (post 2000).
Tasca is creditied with what could be the best injection molded kit ever in their new Sherman.
Regardless, there’s alot better than Italeri out there.
My fav as of late is Tristar, DMl is a close second, although the extra add ons they put in the box would be better left out, not a big fan of their (lionroar) PE. But that’s me and I am nobody.
I’ve built 100s of armor and personnel kits over the past 45 years and found that the ones that top my list are as follows:
1.) Italeri: For detail, selection and pricing. They have many kits that other manufacturers do not have or are over-priced in my opinion, i.e. The Tiger I and the two Sherman tanks (M4 and M4A1), however the troop figures are terrible!
2.) Tamiya and Dragon: these two fill the second place easily. There are too many good things to say about the models from either but the prices are somewhat higher. Tamiya fills in where Italeri leaves off, and although Dragon models are in the top two I get distracted by the individual track links, a problem with the Italeri Tiger I, which I just replaced with the one piece tracks from Tamiya. On a side note here, the 1/35 scale figures from both manufacturers are very highly detailed but Dragon takes the prize when it comes down to selection! What armor dio would be complete without figures?
3.) The old Peerless-Max, these were also very good but I’ve seen better recently.
I have based my observations on experience all the way back to the old, old Monogram 1/35 and 1/32 scale armor kits when the two selections were popular and prior to Tamiya. I’ve built so many of each that I forgot to mention the detailing parts from Italeri used to be better than Tamiya in the Jerry Can selection and when machine guns on the tanks were molded to barely resemble the real thing.
From where you’re comming from, that is a good match between price and quality, I’d say Trumpeter. I started off with Italeri builds simply because of price as well, and I still have a few in my stash. Its a brand I will always love. Trumpeter is my number one choice right now. Definitely will not build as nicely as a Tamiya, and definitely less detailed than DML, but a good model can be had OOTB and at a fairly reasonable price.
After that, I’d say either Tamiya, DML, Revell AG, or whichever other brand you wish, depending on the choice of subject you’re looking for, and the level of detail you want.
I second (third?) the vote for Dragon; between the price (reasonable) and selection (variety), they’re my favorite. They’re the only manufacturer that I know of who is willing to produce “specialty” models, like the German Super Tank “Maus” and the German Super Heavy Tank E-100. It’s good quality and they go together pretty easily (I’m right in the middle of the Maus).
[#ditto] Fine Molds has my vote also. After that for me, it’s the newer Tamiya kits such as the Japaneses Type 90. As mentioned you have to watch for older/“1st generation” kits. They are not as accurate and detailed. But on the other hand they are great placed to start out and learn. It all depends on what your after.
No contest: Dragon. Look at all their newest offererings: Tiger I Late, Marder II, Panzer IV E, 3-in-1’s, Premium & Smart kits, etc. Dollar for dollar and bang for the buck, go Dragon. However, they don’t carry everything, and that sometimes makes a lesser brand kingpin if a certain subject is required.
i’ve always stuck with tamiya, never tried a dragon kit but lately, and from what i’ve read i’d like to give one a go!. by the way whats the difference between dragons normal kits and the premium and smart kits.
Dragon’s Premium kits come with lots of PE, metal barrels, and other extras. Their Smart kits are older kits updated with some simple PE to improve them.
I think you are right. Guess it is a throw up between the two. More parts and PE, or less PE and better engineered parts. Both are good ideas if you ask me.
The 2 mayor thing that needs to be look at in order to determine weather this is going to be a good build or not;
How the sprues look like.
Everything start with the sprues. If they have thick parting line, more likely you have to do more cleaning on the parts. If the parts holder suck (ie; to big or to much for holding a part), you will need more special tools to deal with.
Worse part if you got a miss alight sprue, meaning the top mold and the bottom mold does not alight well, then all the parts on that sprue is useless. Trash bin !
But with today’s technology, this is not happening again.
The instruction.
A bad instruction manual can be as bad as having a sprue with lots of flashes. This is criticall since your final build maybe heavily depend on this. Expecially for vehicles that are rarely seen in the battle field.
The rest of them like details and accuracy, follows…