Looking for cheap first kit

[qscaxz]

Hey guys, don't normally do armour, deciding to give it a shot, don't know a first kit (NOT SnapTite!)

 

[panzerace007]

Personally I would recommend a Tamiya kit. Their engineering is superb (i.e. they go together very well & are great for beginners) I would look through Their inventory at your LHS & see what strikes your fancy. I would stick with 1/35th. I personally haven't built any of Their 1/48th , so I'm not sure how well they go together. If they are like their 1/35th you just can't go wrong.

Also they have a low part count , when compared to Dragon plus Tamiya's Tanks have Poly Caps ! little rubber "tubes" that fit in the tanks road wheels, which translates into - They are easy to remove & paint them & th trax off of th vehicle. So you will also be able to get'r all Muddy on th lower hull with out having to fight around th wheels & trax. ** Just make sure that you Do Not glue th upper & Lower hulls together before you fit th trax ... It's just easier to get th road wheels back on & th trax with out having to fight th Fenders .. If a particular kit has them ( i.e. King Tiger, JS II, Tiger I, Panther, Jagd-Panther) I can't really recommend one particular tank over th other ... I'm partial to German Panzers. I can say however that from building Tamiya's German & some American tanks for th last 20 years Tamiya is th way to go if you are just starting out ... & do yourself a favor ... Leave th P.E. sets alone .. at least for your 1st one.

All of this is of course IMHO.

ERIK

 

[qscaxz]

IMHO?

 

[ScaleModelMadman]

In My Humble Opinion

 

[SWITZERSLAND]

Try a Tamiya T-62A, They run $20.oo USD

 

[scratchmod]

Tamiya, Italeri, ESCI and some of the Trupeter kits are fairly cheap. The Trump KV's are pretty cheap, and so are the very old Tamiya kits.

scratchmod

 

[AKE]

Try some of the Hobby Boss earlier kits like the T-34 or the Sherman. I know they've raised the prices since they first came out, but they use to run around $15-20 US. Nice builds and the T-34 comes with full interior.

 

[Eastrock]

Well, it all depends on the hobby shops in your area. I for one is also building my first Armor, its an Academy kit M18 Hellcat about P720php = $12 usd. you just need to shop hopping, until satisfy what kit you like to buy but Generally Tamiya and Trumpeter are better ones, but for the beginner's much better start with the old model without photo etched, just for familiarization.

just my 2 cents

 

[modelguru]

Re: eastern european

On the other end of the spectrum is eastern european kits. The only rub is they are usually flat kits .....which means the lower hull is usually all flat pieces that need to go together to make the tub. The up side is they are usually cheap have good detail for the money and provide a great oportunity to hone your skills. Not to mention they offer subjects that are often ignored by the big guys

[www.modelmakerz.com our quality is clear]

 

[schweinhund227]

Just let your Wallet do the Talking!

Since it a first Armour kit! Pick something You like! And want to build! Some armor kits have
Quite a few parts! So! Choose but choose wisely! I to, would pick a Tamiya! A little pricey! But a sure guaranty it will come out Awesome! Nothing against any other brands! But you rarely hear someone complains over the Fit of a Tamiya kit!

If you want to start small! Try a Tamiya 1/48th armor! They are as good as their 1/35th kits

Best of luck !

 

[Eastrock]

Best of all you need to choose first the Armor that you like, before choosing a brand, or what is available in your area, if your looking for cheap ones... if you can shell out that would be better.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Try a Tamiya T-62A, They run $20.oo USD

Holy crap no......if you go with a Tamiya kit.....stay away from the T62A....even at $20.....its not worth taking home!!

Depends on what era of armor you want to do, and just how much you want to spend.

While I agree with some of the others, Tamiya kits will be easier to build for a first timer, but I wouldn't say their engineering is at the top of the heap, as they have been surpassed by many companies in the last 5-10yrs. Quality is there, and while their newer kits are better detailed, they still pale in comparison to kits from Dragon, Trumpeter, Hobby Boss, and AFV Club just to name a few. Of course with detail usually comes a higher price, but even then that is not necessarily true.

If I had to pick a Tamiya kit to start out with....why not their T-55...arguably one of the best kits they have ever made, and not completely out there in price.

 

[Eastrock]

speaking of kits, what do you recommend I plan to buy a T-72 tank? what brand is the best? any idea about the color scheme in the agfan war? or T-55 or T-64 would be best?]

sorry to butt in

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

T-72....there really is only one kit worth mentioning, and that is the Tamiya kit.

Having said that, it isn't perfect as they got alot of things wrong on the kit, but it is a decent build, and won't break the bank.

T-55, again Tamiya is the best, although if you can find any of the out of production ESCI kits of their T55 series, they are a good 2nd to the Tamiya kits.

T-64....I am sure there are some out there, eastern European manufacturers SKIF comes to mind, but don't remember if it is still in production. Personally, I would wait for the Trumpeter one to be released.

T-62...hands down, grab a Trumpeter one....great looking kits!

 

[HWR MKII]

How about that new Ocelot from revell germany. Looks pretty decent. simple and well affordable. ECH did a review of it. Id love to do a build review but alas...

 

[Eastrock]

Hi ELM City,

so I should get the T-62 Trumpeter, I'm planning to join a local forum GB, the theme would be Afghanistan war era, for the 80's to latest. My First choice was T-72 but there seems not a lot of picture of it in this war era. Definitely I would buy and stock the T -64, when Trumpeter released it. Btw may I ask how much it cost for the T-62 Trumpeter, so I could have an idea for my budget.

Thanks a Lot!!

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Hi ELM City,

so I should get the T-62 Trumpeter, I'm planning to join a local forum GB, the theme would be Afghanistan war era, for the 80's to latest. My First choice was T-72 but there seems not a lot of picture of it in this war era. Definitely I would buy and stock the T -64, when Trumpeter released it. Btw may I ask how much it cost for the T-62 Trumpeter, so I could have an idea for my budget.

Thanks a Lot!!

The Trumpeter T-62s go for about $50 give or take....I think I had $49.50 CDN on the ones I had here (think I am out of stock at the moment however)

There are 2 kits, T-62A mod.1962, basically the first T-62 released, no AA MG on the turret, and older T55 like tracks. Their follow on to that was the T-62M mod.1972, which added the AA MG on the turret and had the upgraded T-72 tracks.

Along with the T64A and T64B, Trumpeter has been rumored to do 10-12 variants of the T-62, so far they have 2 on the market, with the two T64s coming at some point, but no other word on other variants.

 

[Eastrock]

sound reasonable, need to scout it first here locally to avoid additional shipping fees. I saw also on the web that MiG productions has also released a T-62 conversion kit to Taliban T-62.

Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

sound reasonable, need to scout it first here locally to avoid additional shipping fees. I saw also on the web that MiG productions has also released a T-62 conversion kit to Taliban T-62.

Thanks for the heads up!!

Yeah, the conversion is as much or more than the kit is worth however....but alas that is the normalacy of conversion kits like that. I recently picked up 2 Legends kits for the Tamiya T55.

One to convert it to an Iraqi Type-59.....

And one to convert to a T55 Enigma.........

Got the conversion kits, now just got to get me the donor kits for them!

 

[Eastrock]

That's Wicked!!!

anyway I find it hard to find a T-62 Trumpy 1972 ver. I'll already visited 3 stores out 9, only 1 had a stock of 1962 ver for 1000 php = almost $23 USD. I still got 6 stores left scout for the 1972 ver, or if I got lucky a T-64, that would be a sweet surrender.