opinions on tiger I and tiger II kits

Tamiya's would be a better choice if you are concerned for your skills, smooth construction, and certainly for far superior instructions. But again, if you want an interior, try an Academy Tiger I.

was also contemplating a Stug. III but there are far too many things to worry about in that area lol

im only 18 but if you havent built something in more that about a year or two your skills start to get rusty(i know that from going back and forth from planes to cars). the dragon kit i did was pretty old, i believe it was a panzer III or panzer IV but at 12 it was a little too much and wound up in the trash after too much frustration, broken and lost parts, etc.

i have built 5 of the tamiya 1/48 Military Mineatures tanks (american and german) and they are fun and have decent detail, but i want something bigger to work with and maybe do some diorama work on. but i definetly need something bigger, maybe even both on the same diorama :) but i have burnt myself out a bit on planes and cars(the p-61 is already kicking me in ahe rear) and need a change of pace and since the tigers are my favorite tanks i figured i would start there.

If you want interiour detail, and don't want to go AM, then i think Academy is your only choice when it comes to a Tiger I. I don't think any Tiger II have interioours. Bith Dragon and tamiya do Tiger kits with indy links, thoguh with both makes you would need to check the kit first.

You say you haven't built a Dragon kit since you were 12. Well, i don't know how old you are now, but if that was back in the 80's, there kits have changed alot since the Imperial series. Dragon kits are alot more detailed, but can somtimes be scary if you are not used to Armour. And there instructions can be confuseing to put it politely. For anyone new to armour, i think most of us would suggest Tamiya. Just depends how brave you are.