I've bought three kits since my comeback into plastic modelling. The initial Tiger was a pleasure to build, the PantherIIs' PE was mangled, fortunately I was able to bend it back into battle damage, and now I just trashed the PZKPFW IV. The upper hull was totally warped. I only realized this after I had built the lower hull.
Very disappointing. How is their quality overall? I've got to give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the Late production Tiger. I'm not a very good at scratchbuilding, so who should I stick with until I pick up some scratch skills?

The newer kits are superb. Older kits like their modern armor (especially Soviet armor) are not as good and can be tough builds.

Many of the German kits are topnotch but some are not very good. Generally speaking, Dragon has good quality kits.

Initial Sherman kits like the M4A3E8 included Italeri Sherman sprues. They were eventually replaced by resin corrected hulls and finally by entirely new tooled pieces. Dragon is one of the few manufacturers that routinely goes back to retool their kits to make them better.

It's not a question of who you should stick with. If you only ever get 'perfect' kits then it will be a long time before your modelling skills improve.
Overall, on the later kits, Dragon quality is very good. The parts are not engineered up to Tamiya standard, but with a little care evrything fits together properly. The latest Tamiya kits fall together, but there are not too many of them. The earlier Dragon kits need a bit more in the way of 'adjusting' to go together properly, but can be made into excellent kits. I have no doubt that Dragon kits will soon equal Tamiya as far as engineering fit goes. Dragon already surpass Tamiya in terms of choice and what you get for your money.

Vinnie

I think you answered the question with your own experience. The earlier PzIV and Panther kits were average at best but you've seen the latest potential in the Initial Tiger. They are light years apart. Hopefully they will be putting the same kind of attention into all their upcoming kits regardless of whether it's Axis or Allied.

i havent been modeling for long but my dragon kits came out really nice so i think as long as you stick to the newer kits like sabot says you'll find theyre really good

Each company has some kits that are winners and some that are dogs. Tamiya Dragon Trumpeter and the rest had their periods of poor production.

Just take your time selecting and read a few reviews. Ask around here. Most people will have some experience with one kit or another.

Once you have your skills built up you will be able to tackle anything.

hi Ryne,
I've been building kits on and off for about thirty years. With few excptions, I have found the Dragon kits are the best I have seen. Yes, they are not perfect, but with all I have seen I like them the best. Tamiya, after the Tiger I late came out with some good kits, but Dragon is now outdoing them. My opinion is subjective, but it is from experience. I also do like Italeri(mostly the German softskins), AFV Club, Tristar and Mini-Art from the Ukraine.
But as I said, I do Dragon the most.

Chris

I think you can't go wrong with the new-tool kits...
I'm a die-hard Braille-scaler, but still had to get the Initial Tiger once I saw it live :-)

Cheers,
Tvrtko

i jsut recieved dragons new tiger and iam in lvoe with the tracks and all the pe and aluminum barell and all the rest! compared to tamiya who only gives vinyl tracks and a cheap figures.... dragon is perfect
its my first kti, .so as to fit is concerned, iam no jeenyus yet

Frank

Whenever I venture into a new area of modeling that I am not as familiar with I'll usually post a question as to what's the best (name goes here) kit out. You'll get a ton of responses and several of the guys will break it down to the pluses and minuses for you. I've done it on several occasions and I am capable of overcoming major kit flaws with my skills. But I would rather pay a bit more and work a lot less on basic kit building so I can spend more time enhancing it to what I wanted to portray. I like Dragon kits, but I have been buying only new ones. Sometimes you have only one choice. Dragon is the onlly maker of an M46, Italerie an M47. So you have to deal with what is out there. There are tons of Shermans and Tigers, Panthers, M1's so you have choices. Ask and you shall receive the wisdom of the ages.

I love Dragon kits. OK so every so often I get a bad shot, but overall, the problems are very small. Do a couple of eastern express kits and then compair. I need a new tube of filler and super glue thenks to the KV I was building for 'seeing red' (I changed after I ran out and...).

I know this is a bit side tracked, but there are 2 version of Tiger from Dragon. R they of the same quality?

Well, the truth is, if you're talking about the 'initial' and the 'late' the answer is (probably) yes.. However as the latter hasn't been released yet. I do think that there is so much confidence after the inital, that the answer will be yes..Jim

I don't know if its really fair to question the quality of the manufacturer after only building 2 of their kits. But, as you said, "give them the benefit of the doubt" at least until you've built a few more of their kits.

I've been building Dragon figure sets and the odd AFV since the late '90's and although I've had the odd hiccup it's never been anything that I haven't experienced from any other model manufacturer.




IMHO, stick with DML. You can't go far wrong...

Thanks!

Then they will be part of my mini stash soon!

:-)