Global Scale Modeller

Are you a Tamiya or Dragon man for your armour?

For me its Tamiya. I know Dragon as more detail but i think the Tamiya kit goes together easier and the instructions are clearer.

What about yourself, and why?

Hmm I like both but I think the dragon kits have it for the extra detail, although the tamiya Jagdtiger take some beating, awesome kit

I love dragon kits.
The more complicated the better.
I love all the detail and options in the builds.
I also love AFV and TASCA for the same reasons.
If I want something simple that I can slap together in a day or two I'll buy a Tamiya kit.
Often times they cost about the same and they offer a lot of the same subjects (in WWII armour).
I find that Tamiya tends to be less detailed and thus a bit toy like. They have surprised me once or twice though.
Dragon kits however are more difficult to modify if you need to alter a part. They're thinner and more delicate.
Dragon tends to produce more kits in more varieties and make corrections faster than Tamiya.
Both are great manufactures, but they aren't the only ones.
I've discovered that Bronco makes a few really nice kits too now.

Mhh! Good question. I guess I don't really care either way. If I find a model I want to build and they have different brands then I guess I would go with Tamiya but for no real reason. Bit like the Canon Nikon question for me at least.

Cheers
Jim

Just read a magazine with the Bronco M24 chaffe. Looks a nice kit. Might get one of these! The M24 and Hornet are the only 2 bits of armour I'm missing to have the collection.

In my opinion, tamiya is not bad and the kits are in a good price, and dragon is really good but expensive.

I like them both, it all depends on the vehicle i want to build, not all types of tankes are available from tamiya and dragon. overall i like dragon a lot because of the detail and tamiya for its fitting accuracy and simplicity to build.

It seems to me you have to compare apples with apples and not with pares.

Do either Tamiya or Dragon make the same model in the same scale?

Wouldn't it be interesting if Tamiya and Dragon made the same kit and it was a fit for the Group build....two members picking one each?

arnakke wrote:...Wouldn't it be interesting if Tamiya and Dragon made the same kit and it was a fit for the Group build....two members picking one each?...

That would be very interesting indeed.

Cheers
Jim

arnakke wrote:It seems to me you have to compare apples with apples and not with pares.

Do either Tamiya or Dragon make the same model in the same scale?

Wouldn't it be interesting if Tamiya and Dragon made the same kit and it was a fit for the Group build....two members picking one each?

They make a lot of the same type armour models yes, would be a good idea that too side by side. I would even be tempted to build the same model one from each manufacturer side by side to compare.

Never considered building a dragon armour kit but the tamiya ones are excellent so I have to go with tamiya

Paul wrote:

arnakke wrote:It seems to me you have to compare apples with apples and not with pares.

Do either Tamiya or Dragon make the same model in the same scale?

Wouldn't it be interesting if Tamiya and Dragon made the same kit and it was a fit for the Group build....two members picking one each?

They make a lot of the same type armour models yes, would be a good idea that too side by side. I would even be tempted to build the same model one from each manufacturer side by side to compare.

That's a good idea Paul. Could even do axis and allies! Tamiya/Dragon Tiger, and the same for Sherman.

Nige99 wrote:

Paul wrote:

arnakke wrote:It seems to me you have to compare apples with apples and not with pares.

Do either Tamiya or Dragon make the same model in the same scale?

Wouldn't it be interesting if Tamiya and Dragon made the same kit and it was a fit for the Group build....two members picking one each?

They make a lot of the same type armour models yes, would be a good idea that too side by side. I would even be tempted to build the same model one from each manufacturer side by side to compare.

That's a good idea Paul. Could even do axis and allies! Tamiya/Dragon Tiger, and the same for Sherman.

I'm thinking tamiya/ dragon Jagdtiger

Like all model manufacturers, the earliest series always have teething issues. The early Dragon kits are full of fit issues (same could be said for Tamiya). I like them both, but I must admit that I have a strong lean towards Tamiya, as they have great instructions and I seem to have less fiddling problems. Interesting thread. Thanks for posting.

I much prefer dragon as you usually get load of extras in the kits, you do pay slightly more, but I think you get a better kit.

Up until recently I had really only used Tamiya kits, but saw a Dragon Panzer 234/4 that looked really nice, so bought it. I must say I really like both kits and for pretty much the same reasons as already posted - Dragon for the detail and Tamiya for the fit. The Panzer I started about 4 weeks ago and it's still a way off from being finished, but in the same time I have completely built and primed two Tamiya kits!

One thing I have noticed though, is that the instructions with the Dragon kit are shocking!!! I did read somewhere that Dragon actually commission the same company to draw up the instructions that do the assembly instructions for Ikea furniture. Might have been a joke, but I'm not sure!!

For armour kits I've only ever built Tamiya, but that's mainly because back when I was building, my local shop only sold Tamiya and Italeri 1/35 and Tamiya were miles better back then. It was before the internet too so I had no choice really. They did do after market bits like PE and a lot of Verlinden bits n bobs which was awesome though.
I would not just stick to Tamiya when I'm up and runing again though as Dragon seem to have loads of nice stuff available now.

I don't have much depth in Dragon kits, the only kits I've done that they made was a few modern American figures kits. Those kits were plagued with huge mold lines.

Tamiya on the other hand, seems to always be nice, easy, and simple to make. Which I don't personally like; in other words I remember the kit during the assembly and paint. I don't like having tons of finished easy and simple kits on display. I'd rather have a few kits, that I know I put my heart and soul into. Which is why I tend to buy extensive kits and then put big difficult aftermarket kits onto the kit.

It's weird as I m yet to build a bad dragon kit

im steaming in woth the dragon team..i think tamyia are good but they sometimes look a bit simple

for me it is defently dragon
i think the detail just cannot be matched by tamiya
so that is the reason aswell on top off that there is the numner of vehicles they make
but dragon has 1 big down side PRICE they cost more then most brands
and a plus for tamiya is that they offer some smaller vehicles: truck cars and motorcycles

Paul wrote:

Nige99 wrote:

Paul wrote:They make a lot of the same type armour models yes, would be a good idea that too side by side. I would even be tempted to build the same model one from each manufacturer side by side to compare.

That's a good idea Paul. Could even do axis and allies! Tamiya/Dragon Tiger, and the same for Sherman.

I'm thinking tamiya/ dragon Jagdtiger

Paul, that would be one hot build!

I have the Dragon Jagdtiger and I find the surface detail on the rolled steel parts really amazing.

I've seen the Tamiya Jagdtiger - Otto Carius version and loved it too, but I bought the dragon kit.

I like both brands, but I would have to go with Dragon, to me it's the best kit for the money.

Interesting to read. I have yet to try a Dragon Kit ... on the to do list. Grown up with Tamiya mostly.

It would be interesting to have a overall ranking of manufacturers in each genre based on members votes, ie Armour, Aircraft, SciFi etc...

I prefer dragon for the detail. Tamiya for me are a bit expensive fof shat you get imo. I do use them but i will always pick dragon first.

I prefer Tamiya, not just because of the price or how well the kits fit together, but because of their diverse product line. What I mean is, Tamiya has covered almost all genres of scale modelling: Automobiles and such, Military vehicles and figures, aircraft in large or small, ships in large and small, and has a complete line of tools, paints and applicators(brush/airbrushes), and books about modeling. Dragon, to me anyway, seem to focus more on their 1/35 armor, more specifically German WW2 armor, than anything else. As in, they don't put as much care and attention to their other products (Ex: 1/32 P-51 had deep and wide panel lines all over). I love Dragon's armor, but it takes me a long time to complete one kit, and even then I feel like i'm walking on eggshells whenever I transport the kit from the 'building desk' to the 'paint desk', but that's just me.

Maybe I', a little biased because my first kit was a Tamiya 1/72 Spitfire and then I got a Dragon "red box series" 1/35 Jadgpanther for xmas and the way the track links had the sprue gates, was on the area where one link joined to the next, which required very careful filing.

It depends - most Tamiya kits fit really well, some don't, some have great detail, some (*hkm* *cough* Panzer II GB *cough* *hack*) don't, and it's the same with Dragon.

Overall, I find Tamiya kits relaxing and easy, and Dragon kits challenging but well-detailed in the end. I prefer Dragon though, as I like challenges. I also only buy their 'smart kits' for some stupid reason.