Global Scale Modeller

Hey there, fellow modellers!

I need your help: A friend of mine has a dad who retired recently and now wants to start building model tanks. He built a couple of ships and cars like 20 years ago, so he's not a complete noob but I guess his modelling skills are quite rusty... Anyway, so my friend wants to give him a Tiger kit for Christmas and asked me what to get. Since I haven't built a Tiger so far (shame on me! ) I'm asking you:

Which Tiger kit would you recommend for a 66-year old who wants to get back into the hobby?

Let's help an old guy to a nice modelling restart. Thanks!!!

In my humble opinion I would say go for a Tamiya, they're good quality, large selection, mostly straightforward to build, not too expensive giving you a good result. I'd say perfect for someone who's not built armour before.

Hi Kev,
Thanks for your quick reply and your help. I was thinking about Tamiya but then I found out that their Tiger Kits from 1990s to now all have link and length tracks. Wouldn't that scare off a novice? Any experience with a particular Tamiya Tiger kit?

All tamiya 1/35 tigers come with vinyl tracks as far as I know. Maybe youre thinking of 1/48?

localjedi wrote:Hi Kev,
Thanks for your quick reply and your help. I was thinking about Tamiya but then I found out that their Tiger Kits from 1990s to now all have link and length tracks. Wouldn't that scare off a novice? Any experience with a particular Tamiya Tiger kit?

RonBurgundy wrote:All tamiya 1/35 tigers come with vinyl tracks as far as I know. Maybe youre thinking of 1/48?

That's my understanding all the Tamiya 1/35 Tigers I ever made had vinyl.

Well, RFM Tigers have workable tracks.

Yep, definitely vinyl tracks. Tamiya do some link and length releases but not Tiger 1s. Their Jagdtiger and Elefant TDs both have link and length tracks but I think that's it.

i have recently built 13 of the beasts in 1 35th scale.
Tamiya are the easiest to build due to the much lower part count but you have to purchase aftermarket tracks as they are inaccurate - solid guide horns. So the model becomes expensive.Also you might want to add a metal barrel.In addition if you want a mid or late version then for Tamiya you have to add
your own zimmerit.

The easiest Dragon kit to build is probably the late version with zimmerit. It is also one of the cheapest Dragon Tiger's.I would say give this one a try.
Also with a late the wheel assembly is so much easier and you don't have to worry about adding the feifel air cleaning system at the rear.
My advice would be to stay away from the Dragon 131 and Whitmann kits until your skill develops.

Cheers,
Richard

Thanks for all your help, you guys!!! From what I've researched on scalemates.com, all Tamiya 1/35th scale Tigers from 1995 to present have individual track links. The vinyl tracks are only in their very early 1960s/1970s kits. You can check out the history here:
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/133016- ... 94-tiger-i

Anyway, still thanks a lot! Also I remembered that Adam (manloon) made a Tiger kit comparison video on youtube a while ago, which also clarified many questions I had. So after watching that and after talking to my friend about it, he decided to go for the Dragon late Tiger w/ Zim. Might not be the easiest kit, but it seems to be a very nice and detailed one. Hope it's gonna be a happy Christmas for an old codger...

Good choice. I have done the mid production version w/ sim and that went together really well. The late version just pips it according to reviews

Dragons Late w/zimm 6383 is the best option out there. Easy build, falls together like a breeze, lots of marking options, and DS tracks for quick assembly. I think you cant go wrong with that one.

An older Tamiya Tiger with rubber or vinyl from eBay may be a better choice then doing a Dragon as a first kit after 20 years

Dragon kits are complex and very advanced with sometime iffy instructions, I am even reluctant and I have built for many years.

It could be frustrating and counter productive for a noob

My two rubles

localjedi wrote:Thanks for all your help, you guys!!! From what I've researched on scalemates.com, all Tamiya 1/35th scale Tigers from 1995 to present have individual track links. The vinyl tracks are only in their very early 1960s/1970s kits. You can check out the history here:
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/133016- ... 94-tiger-i

Anyway, still thanks a lot! Also I remembered that Adam (manloon) made a Tiger kit comparison video on youtube a while ago, which also clarified many questions I had. So after watching that and after talking to my friend about it, he decided to go for the Dragon late Tiger w/ Zim. Might not be the easiest kit, but it seems to be a very nice and detailed one. Hope it's gonna be a happy Christmas for an old codger...

Tamiya 35216 and the Tunisian kit both come with Vinyl not individual links. The late and Sturmtiger come with indie for sure. I think the Dragon Late with Zim is great. I did replace the vinyl with workable, but that was preference. Glad my video could help, and if you need anything just shoot me a message on YouTube as I don't come around here too often.