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Testors Sturmtiger, how good?

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  • Member since
    April 2010
  • From: Somewhere in MN
Testors Sturmtiger, how good?
Posted by El Taino on Saturday, January 21, 2012 1:26 PM

OK, folks, I finished recently my Chally 2 from Tamiya, currently working on a Mervaka IV LIC. I've been looking at this kit from Testors at my LHS for a while. They knocked down $20 from the original $49.99 price tag and now they are selling the 80th Anniversary Edition stuff for $29.99. Question is, how good is what's inside the box? I'm asking because over a year ago I've got the F-22 Raptor from the Anniversary series to find a mayor disappointment for $49.99.

Your thoughts please. Thanks in advance!

A pixie of the finished Chally 2.

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Saturday, January 21, 2012 2:03 PM

If the Sturmtiger was $20 I would say its a reasonable deal. But at $29 I would say its overpriced. $49 is way overpriced, but then again, so is most Testors Italeri stuff these days. Thye were good bargains back in the day, but not now. Somebody got greedy considering what you get in the box.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA
Posted by tigerman on Saturday, January 21, 2012 2:17 PM

El Taino. Great looking Chally!

I bought the Italeri version which should be the same for $13 on a sale. It's a decent kit with some pin marks and the such. In the end it looks like a Sturmtiger. 

It comes with some molded on zimmerit. I added PE engine grills. It needs some AM ammo hoist or as someone pointed out many years ago, masking tape and string. 

It come with link-and-length tracks, but I was fortunate to receive Tamiya AM tracks from a member.

Her's a pic of my long ago effort.

 

   http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/wing_nut_5o/PANZERJAGERGB.jpg

 Eric 

  • Member since
    April 2010
  • From: Somewhere in MN
Posted by El Taino on Sunday, January 22, 2012 12:45 PM

Stik and Tiger, thanks so much for your usual help. I saw your replies yesterday away from home on my cellphone. Stik, if you consider that $29 is still high and Tiger, you've got one sweet deal, what would be the next best alternative? As I mentioned in the past, I started modeling 1/35 Armor back in the mid 80's. No internet, no references, no magazines were distributed in Puerto Rico by then, not to mention no dedicated LHS and all my kits came from Toy stores and local pharmacies. I relied mostly on the instructions sheet for reference. Testors, MPC, Monogram and Revell was all I could get by then. The photography on those bright yellow Testors boxes sold me most of their models Wink

When I returned back to the hobby 3 winters ago, I got concentrated mostly on WW2 with a preference for Cold War and modern A/C. Now, I've being stung by the armor bug, wife always supportive with rolling eyes and there is a lot more that I can handle with modern mouldings and brands I never heard of. So please bear with me, you will see me around the armor forums more often with silly questions.

Have a nice Sunday.

  • Member since
    August 2008
  • From: S.W. Missouri
Posted by Pvt Mutt on Sunday, January 22, 2012 12:56 PM

You can tackle the AFV Club offering and load it up with AM goodies or build right out of the box.Cool

Tony lee

Shoot Low Boys They're Ridin Ponys

  • Member since
    March 2003
  • From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA
Posted by tigerman on Sunday, January 22, 2012 2:14 PM

Be reminded that all Sturmtigers (to my knowledge) had zimmerit. I think the italeri kit is a bit clunky looking. However, it's the only kit that comes pre-molded.

If you can get the AFV or Tamiya kit cheaply, that might be the way to go. The Tamiya kit doesn't contain PE grills though and I believe the AFV kit does contain them.

   http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/wing_nut_5o/PANZERJAGERGB.jpg

 Eric 

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Sunday, January 22, 2012 3:12 PM

If you're looking for a bargain, $29 is around what that kit cost when first issued in the 90s. Compared to the Tamiya release which was running around $40 at the same time, it was. Not as high in quality, but not as high of cost either. Certainly a case of you get what you pay for. But the re issue for the price you mentioned, is as I said before, overpriced (bigtime in my view) Tigerman definitely got a good deal of the kind you jump on when you see it for under $15 (sort of like I did the other nite on a different kit Wink) If you have no other local options and your funds say $29 is reasonable go for it. As stated above AFV makes a beautiful Sturmtiger, and Tamiya does as well. Both cost more than $29 most of the time. Online is the best place to look for alternatives among those two, but when you factor in shipping costs, will it be more costly that the $29 plus tax for that kit and do you think you need the high end kit or will the Testors/Italeri kit suffice? I am one of those builders who does not turn my nose up at any particular brand of kits 99% of the time and do not have to have all the best bells and whistles in the box for a kit. PE, and resin are luxury items these days for me. I have been having fun lately getting back to old school and scratching my own add on stuff when needed and in my realm of capabilities.

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

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