Just to continue this thread about the Sherman. I would agree that early Tamiya Shermans were in fact trash, their Jumbo....well it just isn't well done at all. But when it comes to shaking the box and building a Sherman nothing beats Tamiya's M4, M4A3 or their M4A3 (105). I'm not knocking Dragon's product in the least bit, all I'm saying is that it requires a lot more patience to build a Dragon kit because of the individual track links. Italeri on the other hand has not had a good record of providing accurate W.W.II Shermans. Of the ones that I have built the M32 TRV is a post W.W.II variant as is actually an M32 B1, the M36 B1 has one of the worst turret interiors produced, their Jumbo well it just isn't a Jumbo at all it's a M4A3 (76) W and this list goes on and on. Italeri produces kits that are low cost and not as well engineered as Tamiya. Remember also that a large number of Dragon kits are cross kitted with Italeri (ie: bottom hulls, road wheels). I've built my fair share off Italeri, Dragon, Tamiya and Academy Kits. So here's my breakdown of Sherman kits based on 3 key points.
Accuracy: Tamiya, Academy, Dragon, Italeri
Price: Italeri, Dragon, Academy, Tamiya
Ease of Build: Tamiya, Academy, Dragon, Italeri
All of these companies do have their stinkers. Academy has only come around in the last couple of years in producing good kits. These of course are just my opinions of the various Shermans that are out there. Being a self confessed Sherman Freak, I build them all and it doesn't matter to me who really makes them.
Happy Modelling and God Bless
Robert