What is the best Tiger I kit at the moment?

I have yet to build a single Tiger myself. I was looking at all the offerings about a month ago, and I settled on the Academy Tiger I with full interior. The kit looks great out of the box, the sprues are nice and clean, I haven't had trouble with Academy, ever, and well, it's cheaper than Tamiya AND you get a full interior. How can you go wrong?

Neudog,if you want a display model go with Tamiya and have fun with it.If you want to display model with the inter-workings go with the Academy.The Tamiya will be a faster build but the Academy will be a sadisfiding build.For my money thought it is the Academy which I have and have yet to build.Digger

I have built Tamiya's Mid Production Tiger... an excellent build... no problems what so ever... perfect fit and finish... a really fun project... take a look if you are so inclined

http://www3.sympatico.ca/greg.leszczynski/

-Greg

QUOTE: Originally posted by Critr Gitr I But I found it a bit tedious. When this thing is painted and weathered Its not gonna be touched anymore and all that painstaking detail would be for naught. I prefer to detail the parts that will show and can the rest.

Ryan, can't you build it without attaching the hull roof, so the interior can be displayed? Alternately, you can cut away parts of the hull to show the detailing.

I like Tamiya's mid production Tiger. Very clean and it's easy to get a great looking model from this kit.

I thought i really liked the Academy Tiger (early) pro-interior until I was almost finished with it. The completely detailed interior is nice and there is need for the addition of the last-chance ammo boxes on the floor, But I found it a bit tedious. When this thing is painted and weathered Its not gonna be touched anymore and all that painstaking detail would be for naught. I prefer to detail the parts that will show and can the rest. This model as well as the Mid and Late kits would be great as a learning tool for those interested in the mechanics of this great beast. Great Kit, just a bit too much for me.
Ryan

Take a look at the following articles from Missing Links. They are all about accurizing the interiors on the two Academy kits. Even if you don't want to do this, they will give you good reviews of the kits. From everything I've seen, the kits build up pretty spectacularly OOB. Good luck. Oh, by the way, the Academy kits have both vinyl tracks and indy links, I believe. At least my early kit does.

http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/german/jptiger/jptiger.htm

http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/german/mmtiger/mmtiger.htm

I have built both Academy's and Tamiya's Tigers.. And I would say it depends on what you are looking for in a model.. I like them both and the build quality is about the same.. The only real difference is the price.. You can get a full interior TigerI from Academy for the same price as the regular Tamiya.. And you can get the regular Academy kit for 2/3rd's the price of a Tamiya kit..
The only real drawback of the full interior kit is making the corrections to the ammo storage boxes, but other than that,. it's a GREAT kit..

As others have mentioned, it depends on whether you want the full detail on the interior or not. The Academy full-detail interior is just absolutel stunning and a great build that can be done as a cut away display or full exterior with removable panels, etc. The Academy built very easily even with all the extras on the inside. The Academy will also have indy track links where the Tamiyas with the exception of the Mid will all have vinyl if I'm not mistaken.

I cannot speak personally for Academy but I have heard nothing but great things from them. I have the Tamiya Early and it looks great in the box...

I swear by Tamiya's Late Tiger. Best of all..........no rubber tires to paint! Is it the best? That all depends on what you want I guess. Do you want one with an interior? If not, look into the Late.

My answer would be, it depends.

Do you want to build it straight out of the box? Then I'd say the Tamiya initial production Tiger I. A great kit straight out of the box.



Do you want to go crazy on it and give it lots of AM junk? (Like I do? ) Then I'd get the Tamiya Early and buy the Tiger Models stuff for it (corrected turret shape, http://www.tigermodels.com/shop/tmd/10122 mantlet http://www.tigermodels.com/shop/tmd/10126 front plate, etc.) and finally shod it with the World War II Production tracks.

That's just me. If you are going to have the hatches open and not blocked by mini-men, the interior of the Academy kit makes the tank look so much more realistic and all-round cooler. Hell, you can use the super detailing stuff from Tiger Models with the Academy kit too (but I don't know if the Academy turret interior will work with the corrected shape turret -- I'm guessing it would).

My vote is for the academy.I think its a nicer build with the interior, and like phroosh pointed out in oz it is cheeper than the Tamiya.

Academy's Tiger I with full interior is a solid kit, but I would go with a Tamiya offering..especially the Mid Production. It is a very easy build, excellent fit and very easy clean up.

Cheers

Mo

Get the Academy.one. It's just as good as the Tamiya, and costs roughly the same, so you get free interior detail. Great for the spares box, even if you don't use it.

Chris.

The academy kits are actually cheaper here in Oz than the Tamiya's! I think the early has less inaccuracies withthe interior, and no Zimmerit needed!

I'd go with an Early Academy with interior.

If you're not worried about an interior, any of the four Tamiya offerings (Initial, Early, Mid, or Late) are all very good. But for my money, get one of the Academy Tigers with the complete interior.

Enjoy your modeling...