Suggestions for a beginner armor kit?

David, I remember seeing armor snap together tanks by Revell, but that was years ago.
Sorry I don't have any more information.
mark956

Yeah, as I recall Monogram had an M48 Patton and Tiger I. The Tiger I was re-released as a Luminator kit in the 80's.
Gotta be a few of those floating around on ebay!

Dave:
funny u should ask the question...
over the weekend, i let my little bro (he'll be 7 in December) assemble one of my kits, and he did a great job ! it was a Sherman M4 in 1/72 by Armourfast...
they're designed as quick builds for wargamers; the kit has all of 7 parts to put together (upper hull, lower hull, one piece track/wheel assemblies for each side, turret, mantlet cover and main gun) and it looks pretty good when it's done. the kit cost about $10 (US), and the best part is u get 2 of them in the one package ! so, if u don't have anything against small scale (i know with little kids size does matter), this would be a great way to go !
my little bro' has some fine motor issues , but he had no problem with this kit, so i'm sure it won't be too fiddly... just pick up a tube of non-toxic glue, and ur good to go !
Armorfast is suposedly doing a few more subjects soon, including an M-10, but this was the only kit i've seen so far... BTW, they're a UK manufacturer, as u can probably tell by the spelling of 'Armour" !
best of luck with ur search !
frosty

Awesome, thanks frostygirl!!

I found someone who has a bunch up on eBay at the moment.
HaT Armourfast Sherman Kit 1:72 WW2 U.S.

Looking at the picture, that looks just right for the boys right now. Plus with two to a package, it means one for each (no fighting, no arguments), my daughter can paint my miniatures with me and all will be right in the world (or at least our little corner).

Looks like he has Jagdpanthers, the Sherman, and the M-10.

This is very cool!! Thanks again for the information!!

I think Tamiya makes some $10 Wild Wily Junior motorized armor jeep. I've seen it in Hobby Lobby. It calls for paints too, and is snap together.

Or...just buy them an old cheap Tamiya kit from Ebay.

Frosty, Super idea! I started my kids out on 1/76 scale kits and they really liked the scale. I think 1/35 or larger kits intimidate first time early elementary school age builders.


Ron.

I had taken a look at a 1/72 Hasegawa Sherman kit. It was open so I snuck a quick peek at it. I wasn't sure if it would be too much for them though. I would prefer to be as much hands off as I can. My oldest son will want to do everything himself.

I'm really liking the Armourfast kits though. They look easy enough -- heck, I think I could even complete one of those.

Then when they're done, they'll have more tanks for when they play army.

David, post some pictures of your kids models once finished.
mark956

Hey, if they do good with those 1:72 things, Tamiya has a few simple tanks in their arsenal to build-not snap together, but 1:35, like their Panzer II-that was simple-except for the tracks which I think are a little to short...but you can help them with those probably

Dave- I remember seeing some kind of armor kits at wal-mart that looked pretty simple. Don't remember who made them but they also had an apachee helo made the same way. They were already painted and all and needed only to be assembled.

I think many of the 1/72 would be a little tough for them to begin with. Personally I think Frosty nailed this one right on the money.

Wouldn't want to ruin these future young armour builders by giving them something a little too tough right off the bat.

Dave, Brookhurst Hobbies in the US carries 1/76 armor kits from SHQ and MMS. Those are metal kits that are really well detailed and easy to put together (each wheels/track unit in one part for instance). I'd recommend them. If you do not want to expose yound fingers (and mouths!) to white metal, Roco Minitanks are also great little models (1/87) in plastic, with a similar, if even lower, number of parts. Amazing choice too!