King Tigers: Dragon vs Tamiya

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

King Tigers: Dragon vs Tamiya

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 7:52 PM

This has probably been discussed before, but seeing as I can never seem to find anything in the forum by searching, I thought I'd just ask.

A friend and I were planning to do a King Tiger each, one porsche, one henschel. Dragon's production turret hasn't quite been released here yet, but mustn't be far away, so I was curious on everyones opinions as far as

Tracks: Do Tamiya's stack up? Are Dragons indys dodgy? etc, etc.
Zimmerit: Do any of them come with Zim?
Figures: Have they got any? Any good?
Detail: Comparable?
Fit: I assume Tamiya's falls together, how about the Dragon?

Any other rants and raves encouraged. Tongue [:P]

Knock yourselves out, I always like hearing what you people think.

Thanks, Matt

Reply
Edit

beav

Member since
May 2003
From: Ft. Sill, OK

Posted by beav on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 8:04 PM

I don't know anything about dragon, and I have seen on Tamiya usa, a tiger2 with zim on it. I built the ardennes version without zim-but it came with a loader, and two commanders

"First to Fire!"

Steven

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 8:37 PM

I am just finishing Tamiya's Ardennes KT, It is a rebox of the previous KT but it includes early and late mantlets, motorcycle and messenger (along with the figs. mentioned by beav). The tracks are rubber band but they look great and the4 kit falls together nice.
Sorry no info on the Dragon.

Reply
Edit

tigerman

Member since
March 2003
From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA

Posted by tigerman on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 8:48 PM

From what I've seen, the Dragon kits come with the indy tracks, Tamiya's doesn't. Dragon's kits come with pe grilles, Tamiya's doesn't. Neither kit is pre-zimmed. The Tamiya kits come with commander ad some crew, Dragon's doesn't. Dollar for dollar I'd go with Dragon. However, I haven't built Dragon's yet, and the Tamiya production turret kit is going together easily. Still, I plan on getting the Dragon Henschell version.

Eric

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 9:14 PM

I bought the DML king tiger porsche turret and the indy tracks are horrible. It needs AM treads. Everything else is fine though, except it comes with no figures. Disapprove [V]

Tamiya King Tiger ardennes is outstanding! 3 Figures, 1 BMW bike, and rubber band treads! Really good. Both have no zimmerit with them though, but I prefer to do it myself...

Reply
Edit

wipw

Member since
January 2003
From: Utah - USA

Posted by wipw on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 10:49 PM

QUOTE: Dragon's production turret hasn't quite been released here yet, but mustn't be far away,

Their first production turret kit has been released. But I understand there is another on the way that has the final turret. Don't know when that's due

Bill ==========================================================

DML M4A2 Red Army ==========================================================

========================================================== -- There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness". (Author unknown)

Reply

Dwight Ta-ala

Member since
July 2003
From: Philippines

Posted by Dwight Ta-ala on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 11:06 PM

Have never seen the Dragon KT yet but have built the Tamiya one.

Nice Fit
Rubber Band Tracks
No PE
No Zim
with Nice Figs and Motorcycle

I presume Dragon would be a great kit with the addition of some PE Stuff.

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 4, 2004 11:45 PM

Well just finished theTamiyas KT and it is a super kit the I have the Dragon henchel and porsche and they look awesome but have not built them yet, as for the ardennes KT mine has 2 motorcycles the bmw anddkw nz350. and the above that has been mentioned. That crappy about dragons indies though but 29 for dragon compared to 49 for tamiya you decide.

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 1:58 AM

I can't compare to the Dragon kit, but the Ardennes King Tiger I've got is very nice and as far as rubber band tracks go, I wish all kits came with the kind like the ones in this kit.

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 2:30 AM

Ok, next question....

Do any of them have any detail for the turret interior?

It's funny how Tamiya shows Panzers with Zimmerit in their catalogue, as I understand none of them come with it applied..... bit mean.

Matt

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 3:51 AM

Tamiya has some interiour detail in the turret, but its rudementary. Verlinden does a very nice interiour for the Tamiya King Tiger..

(item no. 1792)

They also have zimmerite & details:

(item no. 1796)

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 8:08 AM

Gee Michael, can't ask for more info than that! Thanks for all the input, everyone.

Matt

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 8:26 AM

What chassis number do you intend to build? Tongue [:P]

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 10:49 AM

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn

What chassis number do you intend to build?

lol

ive got three Tamiya Kingtigers and there great, im waiting for the Final Dargon Kingtiger (i was going to convvert a Tamiya Ardennes Kingtiger into a final one, im just waiting to see if theres anything missing on it)
I like Kingtigers Big Smile [:D]

all this talk about Zimerit
lets have a Zimerit group build, all DIY zimerit Big Smile [:D]

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 3:29 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by Captain Caveman

all this talk about Zimerit
lets have a Zimerit group build, all DIY zimerit

A grand idea. I'll do a 1/35th scale sculpt of Johann Emmanuel Friederich von Zimmer, the man who invented the stuff -- and I'll use zimmerit putty to sculpt him, of course.

Zimmer made of Zimmerit. I like it!

I'll use the expensive reference guide -- Zimmer, a Man and His Anti-Magnetic-Mine Paste -- the gripping three thousand page saga of how one man touched the lives of thousands of modellers, making them a great deal more difficult.

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 4:08 PM

the dml king tigers are better than the tamiya ones in my opinion because the dml king tigers come with pe sets and indy tacks. the detail is ver ynice on both kits though.

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 4:25 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by hun commander

the dml king tigers are better than the tamiya ones in my opinion because the dml king tigers come with pe sets and indy tacks. the detail is ver ynice on both kits though.

Have you got both?
whats the fit like on the Dragon kit?

basicaly the Tamiya kits been out 10+ years i should hope the Dragon kits better

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 4:50 PM

My question would be, what're the accuracy problems with the Tamiya kit? And does the DML correct them?

Reply
Edit

wipw

Member since
January 2003
From: Utah - USA

Posted by wipw on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 4:54 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn

QUOTE: Originally posted by Captain Caveman

all this talk about Zimerit
lets have a Zimerit group build, all DIY zimerit

A grand idea. I'll do a 1/35th scale sculpt of Johann Emmanuel Friederich von Zimmer, the man who invented the stuff -- and I'll use zimmerit putty to sculpt him, of course.

Zimmer made of Zimmerit. I like it!

I'll use the expensive reference guide -- Zimmer, a Man and His Anti-Magnetic-Mine Paste -- the gripping three thousand page saga of how one man touched the lives of thousands of modellers, making them a great deal more difficult.

Larry, which edition do you have? I found one of the first editions bound in dunkelgelb leather, but couldn't afford it. I finally had to settle on a used paperback edition that had 10 or 15 pages missing out of the middle. It was right at the exciting part, too. I didn't notice the pages were missing until it was too late to take it back! Really a heartbreak for me as I haven't found one since! I hope you did better.

Bill ==========================================================

DML M4A2 Red Army ==========================================================

========================================================== -- There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness". (Author unknown)

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 5:57 PM

Well I just looked at them both side by side and the dragon has PH grills in kit and more detail on the turret topand the rear plate where the escape hatch is molded with a rolled steel look, the skirts where they mount on the hull are slotted with the bolt in a fixed postion the underside of the hull is alittle less detailed than tamiyas not by much the top side of hull has more molding on it such as latches and fittings the weld beads are alittle lacking on the dragon compared to tamiyas, tamiyas fit is awesome cant say anything on dragons....havent built it yet over all it is a tuff one as before dragon kit is almost 1/2 the price and if you add the PE grills to it add 10 more $$ and that is around 55$$.But if you are getting the ardennes Kt then I would go with it it has figures and a motorcycle non of dragons kits have figures.

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 10:02 PM

I have built 2 Tamiya KTs including the Ardennes version and I am in the middle of the Dragon Henschel KT.. It is a really fine kit and compared to Tamiya's, It has MUCH better detail on the exterior.
The kits indy tracks need alot of cleanup so I have used Fruilmodel tracks instead.
The Eduard zimmerit made for Tamiya's KT doesn't fit the Dragon kit, so I will be using Milliput for the zimm..
Overall, I think the Dragon kit is a much better kit for the money. It does need a little finessing on some of the smaller details, but it goes together well..

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 5, 2004 10:42 PM

Here is a couple of links to my "In progress" pics.. The weld lines are VERY good on the Henschel Tiger..

http://groups.msn.com/armorama/hworth18spics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=16666

http://groups.msn.com/armorama/hworth18spics.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=16668

Hope this helps..

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Friday, May 7, 2004 4:16 PM

QUOTE: Originally posted by wipw

Larry, which edition do you have? I found one of the first editions bound in dunkelgelb leather, but couldn't afford it. I finally had to settle on a used paperback edition that had 10 or 15 pages missing out of the middle. It was right at the exciting part, too. I didn't notice the pages were missing until it was too late to take it back! Really a heartbreak for me as I haven't found one since! I hope you did better.

Glad you didn't buy the one in the dunkelgelb leather -- they are not genuine, because the Reichsmarschall fur Lederbuche declared that they cease production of those books on January 1, 2000, and several of them were made on January 2, 2000, so they are obvious pirate copies.

Funny, my copy also had some pages missing -- and, I shudder to mention this, but at some of the more exciting passages (about deciding which pattern to use on which vehicle and so on), some of the pages were stuck together! EEW! Then I realized it was just uberglue that was doing it. Phew.

Reply
Edit

wipw

Member since
January 2003
From: Utah - USA

Posted by wipw on Friday, May 7, 2004 4:36 PM

QUOTE: Glad you didn't buy the one in the dunkelgelb leather -- they are not genuine, because the Reichsmarschall fur Lederbuche declared that they cease production of those books on January 1, 2000, and several of them were made on January 2, 2000, so they are obvious pirate copies.

WHAT?????

You've GOT to be kidding me! I can't believe it. Man, that's like a knife (make that an 88) through the heart. Oh man! To think how close I came to spending a couple of thousand Reichsmarks on that thing. I'm sure glad you told me! I'll have to be watching out for it from now on.

The parts missing on mine were right at the point where they started mixing up the zimmerit for the first time and had that flash fire in Zimmer's plant. The flames were just starting to lap his office door with him trapped inside and....they were telling how some Wermacht dud out in the Swartzwald saw a cookoo pecking the zimmerit off his tank to make a nest. It still gets my blood pumping just thinking about the suspense of the fire. I still don't know what happened to Zimmer or his plant. Or for that matter, what the cause of the fire was!

I didn't have any stuck together pages, but the centerfold of that Tiger II was sure dog-eared a lot!

Have a great time with your book. Guess I'll have to go drag mine out again and refresh my memory of what all happened!

Bill ==========================================================

DML M4A2 Red Army ==========================================================

========================================================== -- There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness". (Author unknown)

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 4:28 PM

Okay, now you guys are in trouble: I've picked this thread as one of the featured links in the May e-newsletter. [:0] And don't be tryin' to sell copies of Zimmer, a Man and His Anti-Magnetic-Mine Paste through the Forum--remember our no selling policy! Wink [;)]

Reply
Edit

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 5:09 PM

I don't mean to be the voice of negativity but I have both the Tamiya and DML kits and by all acounts they are about equal except for the PE in dragons kit and the indi links which I found fine because I like them. ON the other hand and here is where the negativity comes in. Mr Tamiya must have been laughing all the way to the bank when he put the same Suck Censored [censored]

tracks from the 1970s kit in this new 50$ kit. My tracks had HUGE injector stubs on them and crappy detail to boot. They never saw the light of day I took them out of the box with one hand and threw them in the waste can with the same motion. So right off you have to smack on a set of 30 dollar fruils or MKs to cover Tamiya's skimping... Otherwise the kit is superb....

I am looking forward to dipping into the DML kit sometime soon.

My 2 cents...

Reply
Edit

tigerman

Member since
March 2003
From: Rain USA, Vancouver WA

Posted by tigerman on Wednesday, May 12, 2004 5:48 PM

Sounds like a nod for Dragon, Kenneth. Dragon gives more for less.

Eric

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 13, 2004 3:21 AM

Thanks again for the comments people!

I settled the dilemma in an interesting way. I bought the Tamiya production Turret kit for my apprentice for his 21st birthday. I chose it because he likes the Henschel turret, which Dragon are yet to release in Oz, and seeing that he has only just started modelling, Tamiya's famous fit and the one piece tracks will be of minimum discouragement. He is finishing off his first kit, Italeris Chaffee and the fit and nasty tracks bummed him out a bit. OOB, I think he will get more from Tamiya.

I, on the other hand, am going to go with Dragon's Porsche Turret, as I prefer the turret shape, and like Dragon's value, with their PE screens and indy tracks, for less$. We plan on building them side by side to compare and contrast!

Really appreciated the input on this one. And I always love a Zimmerit joke, too.

Matt

Reply
Edit

wipw

Member since
January 2003
From: Utah - USA

Posted by wipw on Thursday, May 13, 2004 8:22 PM

Lawrence;

I promise you that I will not sell my copy of Zimmer's book to anyone for any price! Thanks for having a chuckle with us!

Bill ==========================================================

DML M4A2 Red Army ==========================================================

========================================================== -- There is a fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness". (Author unknown)

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, May 13, 2004 9:17 PM

LETS REMEMBER IF YOU DO PUT ZIMMERIT ON YOUR TIGER II for a ARDENNES FINISH YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN YOUR HISTORY AT LEAST FOR THE GREATER % of THESE Tigers

Reply
Edit

THE MAGAZINE

CONTACT US

RECENT ARTICLES

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT REVIEWS

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT REVIEWS

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT VIDEOS

POPULAR TOPICS

RECENT THREADS

CATEGORIES

NEW PRODUCTS

OUR STORE

CURRENT ISSUE

SEARCH FINESCALE.COM