Tiger I.. Panther G.. or Pzkpfw IV Ausf H ??

uh-oh!
another a/c modeler feels the pull of the dark side!
welcome to the forums, Audiophile!

all i can tell you is to pick whichever one appeals most.
there will be time to do the others later!
w/ German armor subjects, there is no end of aftermarket stuff.

to tip the scales a bit (and add some USEFUL advice)
check under the group build folder.
there is currently a Pzkpfw IV Group build going on.
that thread, and the builders in it could provide a welth of ideas and support
if you decide to go w/ the IV Ausf H.

I would go with pzIV Ausf H as my first,because you can do so much with it as compared to the Tiger or Panther.Digger

Welecome to the forum, and to the darkside
Seems like you've done enough of soulsearching in terms of which one appeals to you, and as wildwilliam said, you should just go with what appeals to you.
Personally, the Tiger is the crowning piece of German armor, and as such is a key item to have in your collection. However, since the PzIV was a very common sight, I think to start off a German colleciton, I'd go with that, then on to the Tiger and Panther.

I had the same problem and decided to go with all three......at least I bought all three, but working on the Panther right now

yes go for all three this should get you well and truley over to the dark side and

Off to a great start!!! Also consider your finish choices, TigerI with a
solid color would be my 1st project, then either the Panther or PZR IV H,
w. camo . All 3 are great kits, easy to build,& AM galore!!!

Geez ,you can't go wrong. Does it have to be Tamiya? I'd go with the Dragon Panther G Late for less then half the cost. I love the Panther. I'd buy all three online and save money.

Does it have to be Tamiya? For half the cost you can buy a Dragon Panther G Late. You can't go wrong with any of them. I've heard the Tam,iya Panzer IV J is a better kit than the H. I'd buy all three online and save money. Welcome to the forums Audiophile.

Build the TIGER.. Build the TIGER.. Build the TIGER.. Build the TIGER.. ;)

I'd go with an Early production Tiger, all in grey. The Tamiya kits are nice, apparently, and it would be a simple, but classic start.

Welcome to the Darkside! As Tigerman said, if you want a Panther G..go with Dragon. It's a nice kit, well-detailed, cheap and with individual track links suited for the Panther.

Welcome to the forums and the darkside!

Tanks are like Lays potato chips...you can't build just one...

I'd have to agree with Dwight and tigerman, if you want a good kit with a challenge but not too much challenge, go with Dragon. The kits are cheaper in cost and will provide more parts/detail vs. the Tamiya (IMHO, some may kill me for saying that) and will be more satisfying in the end. Since you've got experience with aircraft, complex paint schemes probably don't phase you but if you want to start simple to get your feet wet go with an early Tiger in Panzer Gray or Dunkelgelb.

Panzer IV is a great tank but I would recommend for more experienced armor builders due to the shurtzen. That narrows it down to the Panther and the Tiger. I personally love the Tiger so I'm going to recomend the Panther first (use it as ur test subject). Get ssome experience and than build the Tiger. You will be so happy when that beautiful finished Tiger roles off the assembly line. I have modelled all three and I saved the Tiger for last and it came out to be the best of all. Good luck, I hope you are successful with whatever you decide to do!

QUOTE: Originally posted by panther18 Build the TIGER.. Build the TIGER.. Build the TIGER.. Build the TIGER.. ;)

Isn't that kind of funny, Panther18 says build the Tiger, and I Tigerman recommend the Panther. Okay, not everyone got a chuckle out of that. Sorry

Well, everybody, I will have you know that I am no stranger to the dark side. I know the power.
However, I do not rule any galaxies. Yet.
lol, maybe I can take one over with my Panzers, Tigers, and Panthers. But it would kinda suck to rule over a bunch of people who can't even defeat them.

Anyway....
All - Thank you for the warm reception. Much appreciated Keep the dark side flowing! mwaaaahahahahaaa

Chester - lol, buying all three is not right now an option. Perhaps by the time I reach a decision it will be, and perhaps I will remain undecided until I have enough money to just go ahead and take all three, but for now it is merely a fantastic and ideal resolution. We all know that girlfriends can certainly be expensive luxuries!

Tigerman - Many thanks to you for giving me the heads-up on Dragon's cheaper kit. It looks good. If I go with the Panther, theirs will be my choice kit. I'm not a particular fan of the Panzer IV Ausf J, but I guess it's based on simple bias for the H. Your tidbit on the difficulty differences between the two is duly noted. Also, you're not the only one who found humor in the whole tigerman says panther, panther says tiger affair.

Panther - .. and should I dub it Tony?

Dwight - Whoa now! Tracks - dang, I had totally forgotten. I do not want my first tank to call for track assembly by piecing each link together one by one. What do you mean by what you said?

wbill - ummm ... what is Dunkelgelb? I assume a color, but I've never heard of that term .. maybe I just know it by a different name but what are you talking about? [:0]

MurderDogg - I understand what you mean by saving the best for last (the Tiger I is my personal favorite of the three as well), and have passed that idea many times by now, but like I said - I keep on changing my mind. Now let's see what kind of salesman you'd make. What can you tell me that will have me wanting to take that specific course of action?

Thank you so much for everybody who has contributed advice and information to my little dilemma here. Good bunch of guys. I am still undecided, but thanks again for all your help and keep the feedback coming!

*closes hatch and rolls away* .... only to overheat after a little while and stop for maintenance.

Dunkelgelb is the German word for Dark Yellow. Standard base color from 1943 on.

Dwight was talking about indy tracks. They are standard in all Dragon kits. If they scare you off a bit, you may want to go with Tamiya. Do like me and give them a shot, they are much more realistic and appropriate for making that sag look on certain German vehicles.

Lastly, think of investing a few bucks in engine grilles. They are PE parts that really enhance the rear deck of any tank. Highly recommended.

Tiger Tiger Tiger! It's a little bit bigger, a little bit meaner, and it has an 88mm. There's a half a dozen different varients available from Tamiya. I'm a big fan of the late "Steel Wheels" version. The Panther and Panzer IV are cool, but the Tiger would look most intimidating on your display stand.

Ok, here's my 2 cents!

Start with the Tamiya Tiger (look on e-bay, sometimes they have this one in the mid $20 range!). Get the PE grilles, as Eric (tigerman) said. It's a pretty straight forward build. Then get the Dragon Panther G with the night operations stuff. They give you three full sets of infared equipment molded in clear! You will have to build the indy (independent link) tracks, but they are pretty easy for German tanks. You will have to deal with ejector pin marks on them though. I've found that they really aren't that noticable if you base coat them in flat black before "metalizing" and rusting them.
Finally, go with the Pz IV. I don't know how accurate the Tamiya G is. Some of their IV's are older kits and are typical Tamiya kits of the day. The shurzen can be tricky, that's why I'd leave it to last.

Everyone has their own opinion, and this forum will certainly give them to you!! Good luck with your builds and school/work. Keep us posted as to how it's all going. And welcome to the darkside!

The Final Solution has been reached!
Here's what I'll do --

(1) Build the Tamiya Tiger I Early. Sounds like it's a pretty straightforward kit, so this should give me a good introduction into the world of tank modeling without confronting "indy" tracks. And it's a TIGER!! It should make a nice kit and a cool decoration with my other models.

(2) Build the Dragon Panther G Late. Having done the Tiger by then, I think I'll be able to make a really nice paint job on the hull and what not, and will also have a good learning experience with the tracks ... let's just hope I can retain my sanity through that.

(3) Build the Tamiya Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. H. (Unless there's a better kit out there just done by a different manufacturer - is there?) Having put myself through painting and tricky construction lessons for tank modeling, it should be a fun kit without challenge to the degree of discouragement.

(4) Build my dream tank - the Tiger I Mid!! My tanking skill should be of high enough quality by this time to produce a tank that will make me smile every time my eyes fall on it. lol - It won't be named Tony. I could name it Kampfmeister or something.

(5) Then I'll step into the light and build Allied armor! Shermans and Greyhounds and Pershings oh my!. Maybe I can even gather the courage to do figures with these kits, or a diorama!

Thanks everybody for all the input you have provided. Am quite satisfied with this planned course of action .. rate/critique it if you wish, I'm interested to see what responses I get to this!

Sounds like a good plan to me! I personally prefer kits with indy links over the rubber band type because of the increased realism they usually offer and I like the greater intricacy/time they take to put together. German indy tracks are much easier to assemble and the 1/35 sizes used on the Panther and Tiger, won't present much problem at all.

Still waiting to see what the indy links going to be like for the Kettenkrad w/Pupchen kit I ordered by comparison though...

Sounds like a nice list indeed. I wouldn't mind building the Tiger I Mid. Just all those wheels that have rubber to paint-Yuck! Other than that, I'd be all over it. That's the main reason I built the Tiger Late.

As long as you are doing armor..sound like a good plan to me. LOL.

how can you go wrong with any of those kits , heck buy them all , like he rest of us do !

QUOTE: Originally posted by tigerman Sounds like a nice list indeed. I wouldn't mind building the Tiger I Mid. Just all those wheels that have rubber to paint-Yuck! Other than that, I'd be all over it. That's the main reason I built the Tiger Late.

I do not know these kinds of details .. rubber on the mid and not on the late, things like that. What makes having to paint rubber such a repulsive thing to have to do?
What aspects of the Tiger I late kit did you enjoy while building it?

Painting the rubber isn't the problem in general...it's all those interleaved road wheels on the Tiger suspension that make it a challenge...the wheel rims are very narrow and it's very easy to mess it up if you paint by hand. Drybrushing or using a circle template can help prevent these problems, but it's still a challenge. The Tiger 1 Late had all steel wheels so voila! no problem to deal with. Sooner or later you have to break down and do it though...just look at tigerman's Panther in his sig, it has rubber wheels and it's suspension is nearly as complex as a Tiger I Early-Mid.

Bills' correct. It's just time consuming work. Some modelers just spray the base over the rubber and then weather heavily with mud and whatnot. I boringly spray the base, then do the rubber with a brush. That is the admitted slow way. Like Bill said, you can use a circle template to mask the rim while you spray the rubber. I haven't tried that. Another way which several members swear by is the Sharpie pen method. So instead of painting, you're using the Sharpie like a brush. So to save time I bought the Tiger I Late, plus I got it at a great price. The Tamiya Tiger I Late has always been my personal favorite build, it went together without a hitch. The indy tracks were clean and easy to piece. Highly recommended.

Go with what looks meanest. Tiger Tiger Tiger

While on the subject of indy tracks ... do they need to be assembled into the shape of the track circle (well, more of a trapezoid, I guess)? Or do you just assemble them one at a time in a flat line on the workbench, and then link one end to the other when you're done, or what ... how is that done? Track construction is the aspect of tank modeling that is really frightening me as I prepare for my first tank, and I want to go into it with all the knowledge I can get on the subject of tracks as I can possibly acquire...

Guess it'd be smart to pull out my 1/35 mokey wrench and get down to the nitty-gritty, eh? lol.

Your list/plan looks good to me.

QUOTE: Originally posted by zokissima *snip* Personally, the Tiger is the crowning piece of German armor, and as such is a key item to have in your collection. *snip*

You tryin' to pick a fight?