Too many Tigers

Those are some amazing dioramas...

Don't forget there's also the AFV Club range of Tigers, with their own pros and cons, which lie between the Tamiya and Dragon offerings.

Tojo72

6406 is an older kit,but with many extras including Magic Tracks which are indies.

Yes the Italeri Tigers are pretty nice. When first released they were a good deal being less expensive than the contemporary Tamiya and Academy Tiger kits. Dragon had not gone after the Tiger when the Italeri kits were first issued. But I think nowadays that they are overpriced for what you get in the box. I built the Initial Production version a couple of years ago and it turned out very nice. But you have to do a bit of add ons to make that happen.

Don't overlook the fantastic Italeri Tiger, with the individual tracks and sheet-zimmerit made out of plastic that looks terrific. One of the best deals out there, and a great kit, honestly.

I have yet to build one of the Dragon Tigers. But the folks in our AMPS chapter told tales of certain assembly sequence fit issues when we did our Group Build of Tigers two years ago. Not knocking the kit itself, but again it was a Dragon instruction issue where if one follows them exactly it leads to problems. At least all the guys who built up those kits agreed that was a common issue with those kits.

stikpusher

Basicly if you want a well engineered trouble free build with clear concise instructions, opt for Tamiya. If you want an intricately detailed build, and are good at problem solving fit or placement issues and deciphering occasionally arcane instructions, opt for Dragon.

Stik,

The Dragon Tigers are among their better engineered kits, I'm certainly no expert,but they go together pretty easily.Not Tamiya easy,but not bad and worth the effort.

Anthony

For a quick  build with easy to follow instructions go with the Tamiya kit and Atak Model zimmerit, for a well detail kit with molded on zimmerit than Dragon, but like the others said not the easiest instructions to fellow

Basicly if you want a well engineered trouble free build with clear concise instructions, opt for Tamiya. If you want an intricately detailed build, and are good at problem solving fit or placement issues and deciphering occasionally arcane instructions, opt for Dragon.

There is only a year between the kits, and they will be of the same standard, with the differences mentioned by Tojo. Dragon kit are usually more costly than Tamiya, but as Tojo say's, they are more detailed, but sometimes overly so, to the point were Dragon can provide you with 5 parts when Tamiya will give you one. And they often have lots of unused parts in each kit. I have 6406 in the stash and the instructions are not the easiest to follow.

But Tamiya kits are certainly very nice and build up really well.

Thanks for the info, I just assumed that 6406 had zimereit since it's pictured on the box. Whats the difference between the DS tracks and the Magic Tracks?

 From what I have read  the Tamiya kits come with a split turret... do you know if there are there seam issues with these and do any of the Tamiya kits come with any etched parts?

6383 is the newer kit,it is molded with the zimm,it also comes with DS tracks,one piece.It builds up to a fairly nice build,no issues.

6406 is an older kit,but with many extras including Magic Tracks which are indies.Metal barrel,and PE,the only problem is that you need to add your own zimm to make it accurate.

Dragon is ahead of Tamiya when it comes to details and extras,but Tamiya are well engineered and go together great.

Just depend what your skill level is,both makes are enjoyable and recommended.For more details Google the kit numbers for more detailed reviews of those and others.