Hello all! I'm a 52 year old guy who has been modeling all my life,from cars,trucks,rc/planes and heli's and for the better part of the last 15 years I've been modeling wooden ships with projects lasting from 1-5 years in length but I've never modeled military armor ever but thinking of getting into it and was wondering if you could steer me in the right direction on my first tank purchase. My first question is what manufacture makes the best product? Their are so many to choose from! I don't mind spending the money for the best product out there. I would rather spend my money on a well made kit than purchase a cheap one and get discouraged on this new endeavor right out of the trenches if you know what I mean.Any guidance would be appreciated! Thanks guy's & gal's !

Welcome to KMN, Craig!

For first-time AFV modellers I usually recommend Tamiya as the place to start. Consistently high quality kits with good fit and clear instructions. However, they do often sacrifice detail for ease of build. As an experienced modeller, you may want to dive into something from AFV club or Trumpeter. Dragon has good, highly-detailed kits, but as often as not they also seem to have some very frustrating issues either with fit or, more frequently, hard to follow or erroneous instructions.

I found Trumpeter's KV-1S/85 to be a pretty solid kit; not too complex, but with a few opportunties to do a little scratchbuilding to improve the final look.

Welcome to the Network Craig.

The first question is what period of history are you interested in? If it is WW2, do you have a particular countries AFV's in mind?

If it is Germany WW2 you need to look at the Dragon products and refine your search from there. Russia WW2 is Trumpeter, AFV Club and Bronco. Bronco models KV-85 is an impressive model as are HobbyBoss T28 and T35. UK and Commonwealth is Bronco Models and AFV Club; AFV Club has a great series of Churchill Tanks. Italy is Bronco. USA in the form of Shermans is Tasca some of which are now being released by Tamiya.

If you move onto Modern Armour the biggest choice is Trumpeter. Bronco Models has some nice options, particularly if your interests are not tanks in the case of Bronco. AFV Club also has some nice post WW2 armour, with an M60 getting ready to ship out and a series of Centurion tanks. Takom and Meng also have a nice if small selection of armour ranging from WW1 to the current day. the Abrams offered by Dragon are very hard to beat.

Thanks for the info guy's!! I will probably start with a Abrams but I like WWII allies & axis era a lot also,so many choices so little time! I will look into the brands you guy's have suggested. So far I've just looked at the Tamiya products,they have decent reviews on Amazon but now I have more research to do thanks to you guy's,nice to get some help out there,thanks!

Welcome to the forum! I'm sure you will find it very helpful. That is a long project time and speaks well of your patience and determination. I've always had a fascination with wooden ships, but am not ready to invest in a renovation of my tools. Dragon makes excellent Abrams kits. Not the old one, but the M1A1 AIM and M1A2 SEP. Dragon, in my opinion makes the best Shermans for the price and best WWII German armor, hands down. There kits are a little over engineered and you may want to start with Tamiya. AFV Club also produces excellent WWII armor. Trumpeter and AFV Club both produce excellent modern armor. I recommend you decide on the specific vehicle you want to represent and check out some of the reviews.

Thanks for the post Matt! I've been looking at the Dragon kits and they seam very nice! I did find the abrams kits you and others have mentioned and put them in my cart already but I'm thinking maybe I should start with a tamiya kit first just to get my feet wet.

Speaking of my model ship building that you mentioned your right it does take time and patience but they are worth it! It's very rewarding to complete one and the history that goes along with the late 1700's to early 1800's is fantastic and the vessels were just incredible ships built by hand,they are awe inspiring when you see one that has been saved and restored!!

Galleons and frigates have always fascinated me. If you want to "get your feet wet", Tamiya is the way to go.

Craig as you are looking at Tamiya to dip your toes; so to speak. I do suggest you invest in photo etched engine grills at a minimum where applicable.

Ok I will look into those photo etched parts, Thanks!