best armor kit in 1/35

Any Tamiya

mabye if you told us a period or erra you wher eintrested in we could be more specific?

Ya know, I never really choose to build a kit by whether it's "the best" or not.

I choose a subject I'm interested in and want to model, THEN I look for the best kit available for that subject.

If I'm not interested in the subject, I wouldn't bother building it, no matter how great a kit it may be. For example, the recent "Karl" from Dragon is supposed to be an excellent kit, but I have no interest in that vehicle whatsoever. Not gonna build it!

My point is, I recommend seeing what the world of armor (or whatever your area of interest is) has to offer, and choose from kits of subjects that appeal to you.

THEN you can ask,
"What's the best T-34/76 kit in 1/35?"

I havn't built it yet.
I mean every kit that I build is different and its a different challange every time.
The quality may not be as good as the last kit that i built but if I choose to add
a photo etch or detail set then it will be better than the last one that I have built.
As for quality of a kit, We havn't seen it yet.
Manufactures are going to one up each other as long as we keep buying kits.
My favorite kit, tamiya's old,T-34/85. Lower grade quality but fun to build and lots of options.
Best quality kit for the buck (just my opinion), AFV club's M-88 Armored recovery vehicle.

Wow, yeah, it really depends on where your interest lies.

I've just finished building M1A1/A2s from Tamiya, DML and Trumpeter. As far as ease of construction goes and overall kit satisfaction, the Tamiya is great. Detail, that's a different story. All three kits have their strong points. The DML and Trumpeter kits tend to have more in the way of surface detail and pieces to add. I like the Tamiya suspension best, but the Trumpeter kit is VERY cool.

I'm really enjoying putting together the FAMO (with both of the Aber brass sets and the Eduard one - makes my eyes cross) and the Dragon Wagon (box stock) - they fit together extremely well, have almost nothing I need to correct, and there's a pretty good stock of references easily available. Any newer Tamiya kit will, with a little care, look very good and be a lot of fun.

I've had a great time building Academy's Tiger I Early Version, the one with full interior details. I really don't know if you want one that complex (over 725 parts, including individual track links,) but it builds into a spectacular piece. Everything depends on what era or nationality of kit you want.

Overall, Tamiya makes some great kits, and Academy is very quickly closing the gap, if not overtaking them for quality. Personal preferance, I guess.

demono69

I think James and the other guys hit it dead on. Its what you want to get out of it that makes it the best. Each kit has its own allure and if there is a variant that you want to build, then which ever one you pick out is going to be the best. You'll put into it what you want to get out of it. The original platform will dictate how much detail you'll have to put into it. But ask yourself what you want to do? Do you want the enjoyment of building the kit, or just throw a tube of glue in the box, shake it up and have a finished model pop out? There are some nice snap together kits out there that I've seen finished up pretty fair.
What may be the best kit for james larson may not be the best for demono69 or too much for renarts. These guys are some of the most knowledgeable I've run into and so far none have turned any astray that I know of. (Accept their dislike of Azteks) But the info that they'll impart will certainly give you a good starting ground. I think its personal preference, and as somebody once told me, the fun is in the journey finding whats best for you.
Personaly I'm a fan of Tamiya, but they have their drawbacks. Because of things I have heard described here by these guys I am certainly going to experiment with other kits and shy away from others. Take an afternoon and peruse the archives and see what they are talking about. Like I said, I don't think they'll steer you wrong and you'll get some great reviews either on purpose or just gleaned from conversation.

Mike

thanks for all the input. i guess i like german ww2, but..... im not to good with the airbrush so that cancels that out. i really like russian ww2 armor, any suggestions on kits for that?

Russian WW2 armor? DML has a T-34 that is really nice and not too expensive, in the mid $20 range. Adding aftermarket to kits will bring your total to the $50 range though. Eduard photo etch runs about $20, any of the various aluminum barrels add $8-20, tracks are another $10-20, don't even mention a Verlinden resin or PE set.

Question you have to ask yourself is "Do I want to build a good T-34 OOB, or do I want to make the best possible T-34?" This way spending $25 on the DML kit is cheaper than buying the Tamiya T-34 for $20 then using aftermarket tracks and Eduard photoetch and having a total near $50.

i quess ill go with the aftermarket it was just my b day so i have about 300$ in my wallet thnks dude. oh ya, any links where i csn buy those products?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Rob Gronovius Russian WW2 armor? DML has a T-34 that is really nice and not too expensive, in the mid $20 range. Adding aftermarket to kits will bring your total to the $50 range though. Eduard photo etch runs about $20, any of the various aluminum barrels add $8-20, tracks are another $10-20, don't even mention a Verlinden resin or PE set. Question you have to ask yourself is "Do I want to build a good T-34 OOB, or do I want to make the best possible T-34?" This way spending $25 on the DML kit is cheaper than buying the Tamiya T-34 for $20 then using aftermarket tracks and Eduard photoetch and having a total near $50.

If you really want something with a variety of versions, choose something in the Panzer IV family. Fairly easy to assemble, the possibilities with different vehicles are very numerous. Wide array of aftermarket parts available for them also. Oh by the way , new poster here guys , love the site, been a long time fan of the magazine, site is awesome as well.

yes, after about 3 years of armor modeling i have realized that! thanks dude!

QUOTE: Originally posted by briantaylor If you really want something with a variety of versions, choose something in the Panzer IV family. Fairly easy to assemble, the possibilities with different vehicles are very numerous. Wide array of aftermarket parts available for them also. Oh by the way , new poster here guys , love the site, been a long time fan of the magazine, site is awesome as well.