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AFV - Which are the better brands
willow
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Tasmania, Australia
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Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - 11:14 PM UTC
Hi - Getting back into the game after many years away. As teenager (1980) I always used Tamiya 1/35 kits. Today, I note there are many more brands available.

So which are the better brands?

My research (to date) indicates that Hasegawa is very good for aircraft and that Tamiya, Trumpeter and to a lesser extent Dragon are the way to go with AFV's.

I'm keen to hear what others with more experienced think - BEFORE I spend my money on several kits. Iain
Drader
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Wales, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - 12:08 AM UTC
Depends what you're looking for - if it's German WW2 stuff then probably Dragon, but if it's more interesting things like Russian light tanks, British stuff or other Axis nations than you'll have to broaden your search.

Have a look at the reviews section of this site to get an idea of each manufacturers strengths and weaknesses.

David
jimbrae
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Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - 12:44 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Tamiya, Trumpeter and to a lesser extent Dragon are the way to go with AFV's.



Iain, there are currently several major players in 1/35th scale armor:

AFV Club - Modern, some WW2 U.S. and WW2 German

Trumpeter - technically, not as sophisticated as Dragon or AFV Club but do tend to be much more imaginative in their releases. Their KV series is uttterly brilliant...

Dragon - mainly, as David says, WW2 German although some good Shermans, and the definitive M1s

Bronco Model - a small but constantly increasing range of SUPERB armor models - not the easiest to build, but worth the effort...

Tasca - in a word, sublime. What they've done is simply brilliant.

HobbyBoss - a few 1/35th scale armor kits, several in 1/72nd although their predominant range is 1/48th scale (which, apart from their Shermans) is absolutely excellent..

As to the rest,

Tamiya, still doing 1/35th scale although the majority of their releases are now 1/48th. They suffer from 'Re-Box Syndrome' - repackaging 30-year-old kits with 21st century prices Some nice relases nevertheless...

Academy - glaring/unforgivable mistakes in virtually ALL their recent releases - ask for advice first!

Italeri - a lot pf re-boxes but do some nice stuff. Once again, care is required as to what you're going to buy..

Probably you'd have been better posting this in the Armor Forums?
willow
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Tasmania, Australia
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Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - 12:55 AM UTC
Thanks - some good advice and pointers. Sorry about the wrong forum - only joined a few days ago & still working through this HUGE site.......Iain
sgtreef
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Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - 11:07 PM UTC
As said all counts on what you want to build.

Sometimes two companies come out with the same kit or maybe 3 or 4 might.

Example Academy,Tamiya, Dragon and AFV Club make Tiger tanks .

Now which is the best one to buy?

Well that is where Research and reviews come in handy.

So will be according to how close to the original you want with the kit you buy.

Did that help a little.
Welcome BTW
Sabot
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Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 01:03 AM UTC
If you like WW2 Japanese armor, Fine Molds is a very good company with some superb kits. The kits are sort of expensive especially considering the size of the completed model (most are smaller than same scale US light tanks). Another company that has since gone away but still has some product on the shelves is Skybow. They made a line of softskin wheeled US vehicles like the M38A1 Jeep and Dodge WC series trucks that are superb. They also made a really nice M41 Walker Bulldog. AFV Club has picked up most of their molds, but if you see a Skybow kit, it is a good quality kit.
JMartine
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Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 11:00 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Iain, there are currently several major players in 1/35th scale armor:

HobbyBoss - a few 1/35th scale armor kits, several in 1/72nd although their predominant range is 1/48th scale (which, apart from their Shermans) is absolutely excellent..




what HobbyBoss kits in 1/35 are recomended? Any non-Germans? thanks
Fitz
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Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 12:59 PM UTC
Your like me. I cut my teeth in the 80's, got out of it except for a brief period in the 90's and finally got back in (somewhat) about a year ago.

My formative years were spent with Tamiya products as you probably did as well and which were without doubt the best of their time. Back then Italeri was a distant second, Academy/Minicraft was practically unknown and ESCI and Heller were the also-rans. Compared to what is available today what we worked with then (and were thrilled to have) was a big steaming pile of dog poop.

I still have a soft spot for many of those old Tamiya kits, many of the ones I built as a kid are still available. Their newer stuff is of course much better detailed but more often than not is surpassed in the fine points by (usually even newer) releases from AFV Club and Dragon among others. The beauty of the Tamiya kits was then and still is how nicely and effortlessly they seem to go together. If you want a fun weekend build and don't care that not every single nut and bolt is accounted for it is hard to go wrong with Tamiya.

Where Tamiya was the 500 lb. gorilla 25 years ago today that honor goes to Dragon, who seem to come out with a new piece of plastic every week. Most Dragon AFV kits are highly praised for their great attention to detail and inclusion of extra's. A few however get slammed for grevious errors. Dragon is also notorious for lousy instructions and long build times.

I quite like AFV Club stuff. Their catalog is not nearly so extensive but what they do make they make very well and the kits are a good value to boot. Tristar is another smaller plastic maker that seems to specialize in very high levels of detail and accuracy, though a bit spendier.

Trumpeter is another Chinese brand that seems to becoming ever more aggressive with their releases and marketing. Quite frankly I have no experience yet with their kits since they don't seem to produce stuff that is high on my priority list so I will leave others to comment.

Miniart are a small boutique manufacturer that seems to be doing what Tamiya used to do so well - the "diorama in a box" where you have everything in one kit to make an interesting diorama scene except for the greenery or buildings. I very much like this approach. See their Russian 57mm anti-tank gun and crew #35035 to see what I mean.

Italeri is still around, with a catalog that you may largely recognize though they do have several newer and very nice kits and a few that are so-so. Italeri can usually be counted on for bringing out stuff nobody else will. They also own most of the old ESCI molds and have re-issued a number of those kits in different forms. The Russian firm Zvezda markets a number of discontinued Italeri kits (mostly the Russian subjects) and has a small line of their own kits as well.

Heller is still around - I think. They went through a bankruptcy last year but seem to still be alive. Their 1/35th catalog has not changed much in 20 years other than getting smaller.

Unlike when you started it is far more likely that today a particular model may be produced by more than 1 company. For example, I can't even count how many Tiger 1 kits are out there these days! There are at least 4 company's I can think of off the top of my head making variations on the Sdkfz 251 half-track series. Company D might do one subject better but company A might do another subject better so you can't say "company X's kits are always better".

Then you have the other issue where new versions of the same subject get introduced. For example, in the early 70's Tamiya had a STUG IIIG based on its inaccurate motorized hull. In the early 90's Dragon came out with a STUG IIIG based on Gunze Sangyo's uber-expensive mixed-media kits so Tamiya came out with a new STUG IIIG that was even nicer and sold the old kit molds to CMK (who continue to market the old kit with new parts). Now within the last few months Dragon came out with a completely new STUG IIIG "Smart Kit" that outshines the Tamiya -which I must add is still a very fun kit to build. The lesson here is that it is good to become familiar with how manufacturers number their kits so you can tell which is the latest stuff.

Its a good idea to hunt down reviews of specific subjects if you have multiple-choice of manufacturers for a subject. On the plus side, very few of the kits available today truly suck. The vast majority build up nicely into something with more than a passing resemblence to what they are supposed to be.
willow
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Tasmania, Australia
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Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 03:37 PM UTC
Hi - Yes your conclusion to my modeling experience is spot on. Although it ran from 1976 - 1980 then briefly resurfaced in the 90's and again now. I just wanted to say thanks for your detailed and well thought through reply.

I've bought several kits to play with (Tamiya Hetzer, an old favourite, Dragon Aufklarungspanzer 38 (t), Tamiya 1/48th T34/76, Hasagawa (aircraft) and a Trumpeter KV1 and KV2). I purchased mail order and was ofefred a good discount if I bought several kits at the same time. After inspecting each kit, I feel Trumpeter is very good, followed by the Dragon in detail. Tamiya 1/35th is good, but the detail is lacking in some regions and the Tamiya 1/48th looks really nice!. But, in many cases the paintwork along with the weathering swallows up the detail in the end product. I feel that painting is probably more important than build quality (well at least at the moment).

I've spent quite heavily getting back into the hobby (I always go full hog). Apart from the kits, I've bought a good selection of Lifecolor paints, various tools, and a Iwata tank compressor and Iwata airbrush. The AB is totally new to me - so training is required in this field.

I am totally "blown away" by the number of kits, tools & techniques that I have discovered - some quite technical. In the old days, you just slapped the plastic together and gave it a pleasing paint job. Today, the job appears to be more sophisticated and technical with the results outstripping those of my earlier days. Throw the Internet in for good measure, and you really have to be careful to not read too much & forget to construct & paint.

I'm on my way - thanks for yuor help. Take care.................Iain
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