best model

What with the quality increase among the different manufacturers, and all the new and different offerings in 1/72, 1/35, and now 1/16, I'd have to say the best armor model "out there" may just be the one you're building! The best is now completely open to personal opinion!
Gip Winecoff

I agree with Gip. If you asked a 100 different people who their favorite rock band is, you'll probably get 100 different answers. Same probably applies to this question. But, from what I have built, I'd answer Tamiya's Late model Tiger I. That's how I can answer it best, only from experience. Who knows which of my unbuilt kits might be better, I just have to build them to find out. That could be a while.

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."-R.E.Lee

I agree with the other T-34. Now if you narrow it down to one or two specific vehicles we can tell you who makes the best kit of that vehicle a whole lot easier.

So what are you looking for and we'll help you find the best one.

Eric

Well, hey, that's easy!
Tamiya 1/16 Tiger I Static model!

Wait...the 1/16 Pershing's pretty darn cool, too...

Then there's the 1/35 T-55...the 1/35 Pershing...the 1/35 Tiger I Early Pro...the Japanese Type 90 MBT...the Leopard 2A5...

...ummm....OK.
Not so easy.

But still, all Tamiya!

Wait, wait!

AFV Club M-41! And M-10...yeah, that's a good one...well, the Achilles rocks, too...so....hmmm.

Two of the best armor models on the market in terms of accuracy, fit and engineering are the Tamiya Leopard 2A5 and the Tamiya JGSDF Type 90. Both of these main battle tanks are superb builds that are about as spot on as a model kit can be. Highly accurate, a dream to build and require no aftermarket parts to build a contest winner. Downside is that neither one is a real "popular" tank that you can model rolling down a war-torn street in some far away country.

As good as any tank model kit can be for a WW2 era tank, a superbly researced modern kit of a current production vehicle is bound to be better.

I'm a BIG fan of INTERIORS!!!! If a subject I like doesn't have an interior, I research and build it... maybe that's why I have so may unfinished kits???

Anyhoo, based on my love for interiors, I'd choose the Academy Tiger I, which can be opened up very nicely. M113's are good little bread boxes and can be changed into innumerable vehicle roles and types, so those are cool too... as is the old Tamiya 1/25 scale Centurion..

But, if I were to choose a lot of view power right out of the box, without doing any scratch building or after marketing, I'd choose either the Tiger or Big Centurion. Nothing like an open hatch with something other than dead space showing!

ON the other hand, I've made more Stuarts (M1-M5A1) than any other kits and have patterns, molds and resin copies of most of the interior details on those. After all, I'm a BIG Stuart fan!

Ron.

I'd have to go with the T-55 as the best out of the box armor kit to date

Revell's 1/72 little gems... Leclerc MBT, Merkava, Pz II, Pz IV, Tigers, Panthers,...

Here are my favorites:

Tamiya T-55
DML T-34/85
Tamiya T-72
Tamiya Panzer IV J
DML Panther A & D

I have been seriously modeling only for about a year now and I have not seen all the kits available. I have done kits mostly from Tamiya and Dragon. For ease of build I say my best tank kit so far is the Tamiya M26 Pershing.

But as they have said, the next one would probably be the best.