Armor?

STOP NOW BEFORE THE MADNESS TAKES OVER YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!!!!!!

Seriously, start off with a Tamyia kit.  They tend to be less coplicated while still offering enough detail to produce a nice build.  The Tamiya Panther is frequently recommended, while the Tamiya T-34/76 is a pleasant, simple build that looks nice when completed.

Some kit manufacturers tend to produce parts for parts' sake and it takes a certain skill level to deal with them.  I made the mistake of trying a Dragon Panther II as my second built after 35+ years away from the hobby.  Fost most of the guys here, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but it was a wrong choice for me.

Just an opinion.  Remember this is supposed to be fun, not punishment.

Welcome to the asylum.

I have another question. From spending quite a long time painting Warhammer models I have accumulated many bottles of paints. They are of acrylic base. Can I use them to paint models?

Yes, most likely.

That is good news for me, now I have to figure out what model I am going to purchase and build.

Great.  Look forward to photos of your builds.

To what Mike said. Tamiya is deffinatly the way to start. As for dragon kits not being a big deal, i have been building armour for over 20 years, and there new armour kits scare the life out of me.

And yes Acrylics will work, just depends if you have the right colours.

The Major is sending you good advice. Older Tamiya kits are a great place to cut your teeth on armor models- the T-34/76, Panther A, M4A3. M41 are great beginner kits. Also have a look at Revell's reissues of some older Monogram 1/32 tanks, M3 Lee, M4 Sherman and M48 Patton. Also good affordable beginner kits. Once you get a few under your belt, then move up to stuff with more parts, fancier engineering and link by link tracks. Or if 1/35 is not your cup of tea, you may want to look at Tamiya's 1/48 line of armor kits. A much smaller selection as most companies dont do 1/48 armor, but I have heard nothing but good things about those kits.

Bish

To what Mike said. Tamiya is deffinatly the way to start. As for dragon kits not being a big deal, i have been building armour for over 20 years, and there new armour kits scare the life out of me.

And yes Acrylics will work, just depends if you have the right colours.

LOL. My first Dragon kit was the JS-2. Went together like a dream. This was my first experience with indie tracks too. No problems. Their Panther G Night fighter was my second and it too is old and went together easily. Both can be had for cheap $$$.

I will admit the older Tamiya kits are affordable and great to start on. They do have their share of pin marks among other things, but the fit is usually quite good. 

Good luck and have fun.

Any of the tamiya kits, I recommend the Cromwell. i was able to put it together in an afternoon and it came out wonderful.

I'll third or fourth or whatever - start with a Tamiya. 

For my first armor build since I was a kid and had no idea what I was doing, I went with Tamiya's M4 Sherman Early Production. Completed main assembly in ONE NIGHT. Paint job is straight olive drab...couldn't be easier. VVSS tracks ran under tension anyway, so the rubber band tracks are kind of fitting. And it was a great platform to learn on.

Also...DON'T start with AFV Club's Achilles. You want to talk about a fussy build...wow. Dragons? Fussy? Not next to that thing.

If only tamiya could see how often we tell guys new to Armour to start with there kits. I  think we get them enough buisness they should throw us the odd freebie now and again.

Bish

If only tamiya could see how often we tell guys new to Armour to start with there kits. I  think we get them enough buisness they should throw us the odd freebie now and again.

They should give us reserved parking places in their lot with our names' on them!

I'd be happy with a carton of multiple kits lost 'in transit' once a year

I could be perfectly content with their new Matilda or BT-7 myself.

Start out with some Tamiya or Dragon kits. They are the most user-friendly. Also, start with some one-color vehicles such as Soviet or early German armor to practice weathering. Welcome to the Dark Side!

I dont think any Dragon kit is Armor beginner freindly. Especially when you take their instructions into account.

stikpusher

I dont think any Dragon kit is Armor beginner freindly. Especially when you take their instructions into account.

Well, maybe, if your a sadist

stikpusher

I dont think any Dragon kit is Armor beginner freindly. Especially when you take their instructions into account.

Well, you know, compared with what?

I'd say Dragon is more beginner friendly than Bronco or Tasca, at least from perusing their parts trees and directions. 

And the one Dragon kit I'm building goes together far, far better than the AFV Club Achilles I'm coming off of.

Still say its hard to beat Tamiya for easing one's way into armor, though.

Compared to the basic Tamiya kits such as their T-34/76, Panther A, M41, or M4/M4A3 75mm Shermans. Those are simple entry level kits. Bronco, Tasca, and AFV Club all fall in the same range in my book as far complexity. Beautiful kits not for the novice. Who wants to bone up a $50+ kit on your initial attempts at armor??? Crawl, walk, then run... Master the basics on affordable novice friendly kits, then step up to take on the Dragon...

I must agree with Stik. I think Dragon kits, especially the newer ones with all there unused parts, indy link tracks, highly detailed areas such as running gear and sometimes awkward instructions, can be off putting for some people new to armour. I am sure some could take to them straight away even if they have never touched a kit at all, but without knowing each individual personally, your on safe ground recommending Tamiya.

Bish

stikpusher:

I dont think any Dragon kit is Armor beginner freindly. Especially when you take their instructions into account.

 

Well, maybe, if your a sadist

Only by request from women

stikpusher

Bish:

stikpusher:

I dont think any Dragon kit is Armor beginner freindly. Especially when you take their instructions into account.

 

Well, maybe, if your a sadist

 

Only by request from women

Now thats for a different forum entirely

Synister

I have always been interested in tanks, I watch the military channel when they have tank shows on or movies involving tanks and military armor. I have been out of the hobby of building scale models (been building Warhammer models) for quite some time. Do any of you guys have any advise for me pertaining to getting started in building armor? Where to start? How to choose my first tank/ armor unit? Anything and everything is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Corey

I find it common for everyone to immediately jump in with suggestions in 35th scale, and that is understandable.

Just the other day I was rebuilding a Brummbar that HE has elected to hurl at a wall in anger (the tracks were driving him insane). It was an older Tamiya kit and had the old school tracks ie one piece things. The tracks were simply too tight in fit. The drive sprocket pins (unsure if you call them something else) refused to go into the proper track holes for one thing. Maybe he should have made the pins smaller. Anyway, it was a Tamiya kit. And it was NOT something a newcomer wanted to experience. The tracks wouldn't go together for him (those pins on the tracks that you weld together with a hot screw driver). So he tried to sew them together with thread  instead. After a lot of swearing he gets them done, and the track on one side snapped at a different locatio n. He freaked out. Bam, off the wall. Thought for sure that kit was dead as a door knob.

But I decided to pick up the pieces and see if it was really dead. Interestingly enough, it was not down for the count. All I lost (couldn't find the part) was I think the antennae mount behind the right side hatch. Otherwise, it was in 'fixable' condition (sorry dear it's my tank now, salvage rights). Still looks a bit ungly to me, as the drive sprocket issue remains (and I am not sure I even care). But I finished it off and put it on the waiting list for some paint work.

But I couldn't call this kit a beginner choice even if Tamiya made it. I think it's the age of the kit. Today things are simply being made better. It seems a lot of my older kits suffer from this problem.

If I had to give you advice, I think I would direct you at Tamiya's newer 1/48th scale armour kits. Yeah they are not as 'big' as 35th scale, but so what. Those kits are sooooo easy to make. The parts are so well molded, the part fit is so incredible. They have all the detail of 35th scale, none of the hell of older stock though. And I like that they use solid link tracks. None of those annoying old one piece tracks. My first one was a Hetzer and I was simply stunned. These things almost build themselves.

And yes, only buy Dragon if you like twice the number of parts :) I have a few waiting for me to get the nerve up to start. I have built a couple of their 72nd armour (was curious to see if they could do this scale). Nice kits, but the guy that makes the instruction sheets sucks. I made a Panther and a Stug IV.

Synister

I have always been interested in tanks, I watch the military channel when they have tank shows on or movies involving tanks and military armor. I have been out of the hobby of building scale models (been building Warhammer models) for quite some time. Do any of you guys have any advise for me pertaining to getting started in building armor? Where to start? How to choose my first tank/ armor unit? Anything and everything is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Corey

I find it common for everyone to immediately jump in with suggestions in 35th scale, and that is understandable.

Just the other day I was rebuilding a Brummbar that HE has elected to hurl at a wall in anger (the tracks were driving him insane). It was an older Tamiya kit and had the old school tracks ie one piece things. The tracks were simply too tight in fit. The drive sprocket pins (unsure if you call them something else) refused to go into the proper track holes for one thing. Maybe he should have made the pins smaller. Anyway, it was a Tamiya kit. And it was NOT something a newcomer wanted to experience. The tracks wouldn't go together for him (those pins on the tracks that you weld together with a hot screw driver). So he tried to sew them together with thread  instead. After a lot of swearing he gets them done, and the track on one side snapped at a different locatio n. He freaked out. Bam, off the wall. Thought for sure that kit was dead as a door knob.

But I decided to pick up the pieces and see if it was really dead. Interestingly enough, it was not down for the count. All I lost (couldn't find the part) was I think the antennae mount behind the right side hatch. Otherwise, it was in 'fixable' condition (sorry dear it's my tank now, salvage rights). Still looks a bit ungly to me, as the drive sprocket issue remains (and I am not sure I even care). But I finished it off and put it on the waiting list for some paint work.

But I couldn't call this kit a beginner choice even if Tamiya made it. I think it's the age of the kit. Today things are simply being made better. It seems a lot of my older kits suffer from this problem.

If I had to give you advice, I think I would direct you at Tamiya's newer 1/48th scale armour kits. Yeah they are not as 'big' as 35th scale, but so what. Those kits are sooooo easy to make. The parts are so well molded, the part fit is so incredible. They have all the detail of 35th scale, none of the hell of older stock though. And I like that they use solid link tracks. None of those annoying old one piece tracks. My first one was a Hetzer and I was simply stunned. These things almost build themselves.

And yes, only buy Dragon if you like twice the number of parts :) I have a few waiting for me to get the nerve up to start. I have built a couple of their 72nd armour (was curious to see if they could do this scale). Nice kits, but the guy that makes the instruction sheets sucks. I made a Panther and a Stug IV.