Best Model Kits in 1/35th Scale?

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Hi Guys, what with recent releases and such, I am interested in your opinions of what is currently the best model kit of the following WWII German AFVs:

Tiger I
Tiger II
Panther G
Hetzer

All opinions are welcomed!

Best,
~D, the EviL

[Dragunov]

if you're newer to the subject, go Tamiya. easy to build and good quality.

on a similar note (sorry to steal the spotlight, David) which company makes the best models?

cheers,
Dragunov

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Me, new to the subject?

Dragunov, my friend, at 55, there aren't many things I'm new at, except perhaps the secret to attracting young women....

Okay, my take on this matter:

Tamiya's Panther G s a nice, easy to build kit and, with an Eduard barrel and Fruil tracks, is hard to beat.
On the other hand, the new Dragon Panther G has seperate track links in the kit and loads of detail. I don't know about ease of build, but the kit is certainly full of parts.

Hetzer, you have a choice between the older Dragon kit and the new, much more expensive Eduard kit. The Eduard kit has an interior, but there are flaws in the roadwheels.

Tiger II and Tiger I, these are hard ones. The Tamya early Tiger I kit is hard to beat. Dragon tired to accomplish this by loading their Tiger I kit with gobs of metal accessories, so, this is a toss-up. The Tiger II by Tamiya is another good kit, particularly the "Ardennes" version. But Dragon has two Ardennes versions, one with the late style track and, again, Dragon's kits come complete with individual tracks and loads of accessories.

But that's why I asked. Tamiya kits are solid, well-detailed and have many available after-market sets available--especially the one piece metal Eduard barrels. Dragon's approach is to put all of the necessary accesories into the kit itself. Two different approaches and a question of which is better. The Tamiya kits appear to be easier to build, simply on the basis of a parts count.

So, opinions anyone?

Best,
David

[Tom Houlihan]

on a similar note (sorry to steal the spotlight, David) which company makes the best models?

For my money, it's a toss-up between Tamiya and Dragon. Some of the older Tamiya kits don't have fantastic detail (their 4-figure German infantry kit comes to mind), but for the most part they're pretty damned good!

I never did like Italeri figures. All their guys look like "Mungo!" Italeri's best kit, IMHO, is their Blitz. I like building that one. Their Puma is okay. One of these months when I finish mine, I'm gonna post it.

[Commissar D, the Evil]

Hi Tom, Italeri made a couple of really good kits that can stand with any new ones. I haven't seen their two latest, an Autoblinda armored car and a Sahariana scout car. But their Crusader MK. III and Italian self-propelled gun "M-40 75/18" are works of art. These are 70s kits and still in the running.

Unfortunately, the Western desert has never really interested me.

Very Best,
David

[Dragunov]

(sulks)

i'm new, i suck at it (well, sorta) and i can't paint for crap (and that ticks me off the most). and i'm not rich, so the best quality i can get regularily would be revell (not too bad). at least i go to Singapore/Malaysia every 4 years and Tamiya is real cheap there. like $15 for a 1:35 t-34

heck, i've never seen weathering powder being sold at the store i go to! let alone metal tracks, or those fancy photo-etch stuff.

and all the stuff in scale modeler isn't making me feel better either...

[Commissar D, the Evil]

and all the stuff in scale modeler isn't making me feel better either...

Hey Dragunov, sometimes I deliberatey quit going to modeling site because I know I'll never be that good.

So, take it easy, relax and just enjoy what you're doing. You don't have to build for competition, just for yourself!

Very Best,
David

[Dragunov]

of course, i just LOVE having paint on my fingers for a week...

well, i enjoy it... i guess..

[Commissar D, the Evil]

of course, i just LOVE having paint on my fingers for a week...

It beats super-gluing your fingers together......

Best,
David

[Tom Houlihan]

It beats super-gluing your fingers together......

Dragunov, he's right!

[Dirlewanger]

AFV club make some very competitive kitsets and have an excellent Tiger 1 Late that is up to the standard of the Dragon Tiger 1s is cheaper and comes with a metal barrel! .

The vynil tracks for the AFV Tiger are referred to as "adequate" by the tough Aussie reviewer Terry Ashley on his PMMS review site. but AFV has a nice replacement set of individual link tracks available to fit this kit.

Tristar is another kitmaker that has some excellent models that can stand head to head with Dragon qualitywise, are cheaper than similar Dragon offerings, but as they are only new kids on the block the range of 1/35 kits is limited.

Personally, I think Trumpeter is doing very well with their kits and I intend to purchase their soon to released 1/35 Munitionschlepper for the Karl Gerat.

Dragon has caught me again with the announcement of an upcoming 10.5 Dickermax release

[Commissar D, the Evil]

I've heard that the AFV Club Tiger I late kit was a good kit, it is good to hear that confirmed. I don't have anything against AFV Club, although I like Dragon and Tamiya better.

I do note that AFV Club's accessory sets are very good. Often, AFV Club makes accessories that compliment Tamiya kits, which is a good thing, especially their track sets.

Very Best,
David

[Paulus II]

Hi all,

I used to do a lot of modelling 'till the age of sixteen. Dropped it then in favour of women, beer and (a little later) motorcycles but have always remained interested in the hobby. I started painting with oil paints on canvas at the age of 22 so that skill matured over the years but I never built anything again. Until a couple of months ago that is when an urgent need to create something fell together with a total lack of inspiration and I decided to make it easy on myself and create something that was already thought out and finished in part(s).
My favourite model in earlier days was Tamiya's Flak 36 so now I bought.....Dragon's Flak 36 . What an improvement over the old Tamiya kit!
Many more details, many more parts, a lot more enjoyable.
I still haven't finished it but it is coming along nicely though it will take some more time since I got my oil-paint inspiration back. Currently working on a 90x60 cm painting of a tiger of the furry kind.
The modelling is a thing to stay though and I'm sure to build a Tiger of the metal kind someday soon. Tiger I that is, my all time favourite armored vehicle since the age of twelve or thereabouts, never really liked the Tiger II much. I'll probably go for a Dragon model since the experience with the Flak 36 is such an enjoyable one.

Regards,

Paul

[panzerschreck1]

When i was little i had a lot of Tamiya kits (Tiger , Panther, Puma guns, soldiers, artillery etc) but blew them al up around new-years eve with a huge fire works attack , me and a friend would save up all kits one would choose the russian side the other the german... lining up on my backyard , each opponent with a distance of 10/15 meters , then buying fireworks such as roman candles, rocket arrows, strykers(german, those hard banging green or black crackers which we used as heavy artilley, and the roman candles as katyusha's, and several packs of rapid firing little arrows, a expensive hobby but a lot of fun , not for my mom though(and the neighboor's some battles lasted for over an hour before everything was completely destroyed........

[Roddoss72]

I have so many kits that are in various stages of construction but here are my fave

Italeri's Opel Blitz Command/Communications truck, it was a beautiful model to build.

Tamiya's PZ Mk II with extra figures i again this was a very beautiful kit to build i painted it to represent a panzer in a hypothetical unit during Operation Seelowe (i am going to build a diarama for this model).

Also i have completed a Hybrid "What if" i mated the hull of a Tamiya British Cromwell to Tamiyas mighty 88mm gun i have called it coloqually "the Bastard", it is supposed to a rapid mobile anti-Aircraft/Panzer AVF.

I build straight out of the box as i can't afford the many expensive after market kits.

I have one main complaint is the Acadamy's 1/35 Tiger with Interior details the instruction are very second rate and most of the placement of parts is guess work at best and also many of the part are ill fitting, resulting in annoying breakages, plus the road wheels do jam when the track is on, for the amount of detail, it is a very dissapointing kit, i have decided to scrap the kit and to canibalize for other kits.

Plus i am going to junk many kits to the rubbish bin.