Need some recomendations please...

Nice of you to drop in HistoryinScale. I'd say that 1/35 scale is the most dominantly built. It's any easy scale to work with and better detail and aftermarket parts available.

Tamiya is regarded by many as easy builds, because they tend to fit better and are pretty accurate. Italeri are good models and tend to be cheaper than most of the other companies. Dragon makes some fun kits, but builders seem to love or hate the fit. Academy, AFV Club, etc. Just stay away from some of the kits from the old Eastern bloc, they tend to need alot of TLC.

As far as fun builds, this gets harder. You may want something easy to start off with. I reccomend some of Tamiya's older kits such as the T-34 or Bren gun Carrier is a nice little build. There are so many and I don't know your tastes, sorry. Italeri makes a neat Chaffee or Sherman which were fun and easy. Good luck, you'll get plenty more help. Welcome to the dark side.

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

1/35 Tamiya ..... great place to start.

Fun build's T-34, Panzer II, the newer Panthers, Sherman (of course).
For personnel carriers I'd suggest their Sd.Kfz.251.

Oh ..... welcome to the dark side ..... the lure of tracks has brought in another victim.

Ok now let me ask this....do any of the above require me to build the tracks link by link? That was the main detterant keeping me away from tank kits before. I was told 99% of them required you to build the tracks which all the pieces came in a bag of about 1 million parts! LOL Now I think that was an over statement to say the least.
Thanks,
Chris

No. Most of Tamiya's kits come with the one-piece vinyl tracks. They are not as detailed and don't have any sag for tanks like the Tiger. Still if your doing a Sherman, it's not necessary to worry about sag. Dragon's kits are indy tracks. Some of Italeri's kits are vinyl tracks.

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

Well, if you are a bit apprehensive about indy track links many kits now come with detailed one-piece track. You may want to start with that and when you are already confident enough, you can try the indy tracks.

It must be noted however that it is not really hard to do the indy tracks since it is basically just glueing them together using the provided guide pins and pin holes. I think what is needed most is patience.

Oh, by the way...WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE!

Thanks for the help guys...Im already planning a 1/35 Dio so I guess I'll look for something in that scale that I could use. I'll do some looking around and see if I find something that jumps off of the shelves at me. Again thanks. I'll let ya all know what I decided on.
Chris

I would recommend any 1/72 armour kit from Revell Germany. Cheap, exceedingly well enginered and detailed. Can be completed in a couple of days if need be! Try the Pz IV, the StuG IV, the King Tiger, the Tiger, the Crowmell, the T34/85, or the Leclerc MBT or the Merkava III if you prefer modern stuff. Fantastic!

My first build was a Tamiya T-34, and it went together smothly and looked pretty good for a first try, so that would be my choice. It's cheap (by Tamiya Standards) and well made.

Kind of funny that you mentioned this. Finescale just did an article on what kind of armor kit would be a nice weekend build and the popular choice was Tamiya's T-34.

Best of luck and have fun with whatever you pick. Armor is addictive for sure!

What era dio do you want to build? That would probably also have something to do with which kit you'd like to start with.

My first kit was a 1/40 Revell Sherman (with a non-prebuilt gear box for motorization that was IMPOSSIBLE for a kid to make). I think that was 1963 or so. No scratch that. My first build was a Hawk 1/32 scale automobile of some sort. Plastic wheels and all. For five cents, who could ask for more fun!?

Chris;

Most indy tracks aren't too bad. The ones on Sherman are a bit daunting, and the ones on the smaller vehicles can be a real pain. The trick is getting them glued together and set up to the point where they will stay in alignment while still being flexible enough to mold them around the sprockets, idlers, and the proper sag. It's not really that difficult. But, a lot of the Academy kits come with both types so you can try them out. Glue up a few links and see how you like it. If you don't like the result, go with the vinyl tracks.

As for which model to get. The major companies have already been mentioned. Read over the T-34 weekend build article in the latest FSM. It's interesting and you may decide to do one of them. What era do you want to model, and are you most interested in Allied armor or the other guys armor, whoever the "other" guys were during your era you want to model?

Good luck, and keep us informed. Welcome to the dark side!

Bill