Best 1/72 scale armor models?

H

HOA_KSOP

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What company produces the best 1/72 AFV line? I have not built models in years and would like opinions from long time builders.

Thanks ahead of time

HOA_KSOP
 
Dragon's are pretty good, but you can take pretty everything that is recent (Italeri, Zevzda, Trumpeter). I'd advise to stay away from Revell-Monogram, though - their models are rather simple in design and the older modles are of mediocre quality; plus, they often just reissue old molds from about 20 years ago to save money.

If you want to make really sure, google for kit reviews and then decide what you want to spend your money on.
 
I don't know how Zvezda makes it's 1/72 (never seen it)....but if they are making 1/72 like 1/35 that must be good....
 
The kits I have made recently in 1/72 have all been Matchbox...and nearly all their kits are these days produced by Revell. The Matchbox kits I find nice and easy to make.....the Sdkfz 243/2 Puma and the Sdkfz 9 + 75mm AT + motorcycle were Matchbox.

Hasegawa do good 1/72 kits, I know that from past experience. The Daimler AC I did was Hasegawa and it went together like a charm. Did half a doz of theirs in my late teens.

Esci were pretty good...Booties Panzer 1 was an old Esci mould purchased by Italeri.

Although I haven't built one, Dragon will have first class details. They tend to over-engineer their products I feel...never have one part when five will do.
 
Hasegawa has pretty old molds, though, bad the older kits have abyssmal detail. If you began building models in the 70s, Hasegawa is fine, but the old stuff isn't up to current standards. Revell-Monogram has quite old molds as well (at least for some stuff), but their details are much better.

Every model company has good and bad modles, no matter at which you look. Question is what you want to do with those and how accurate you want them to be. Currently I'm very much leaning towwards buying wargaming modles only, because those are comparatively cheap and very nicely detailed. You'd have to switch scale, though.
 
Earl of Grey said:
Hasegawa has pretty old molds, though, bad the older kits have abyssmal detail. If you began building models in the 70s, Hasegawa is fine, but the old stuff isn't up to current standards. Revell-Monogram has quite old molds as well (at least for some stuff), but their details are much better.

Every model company has good and bad modles, no matter at which you look. Question is what you want to do with those and how accurate you want them to be. Currently I'm very much leaning towwards buying wargaming modles only, because those are comparatively cheap and very nicely detailed. You'd have to switch scale, though.
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All very true. I just picked up a P-51 by Revell/Monogram in 1/48 scale and I was very pleasantly surprised with the amount of detail. Of course, the jury is still out on how well it will go together, but I am cautiously optimistic.

What scale are the majority of wargame models?
 
ACSpectre said:
What scale are the majority of wargame models?
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Depends - there are different suppliers and each more or less has its own scale. there's so-called "micro armor", being 1/285 scale; then there's "Flames of War" being 15mm in scale (there are other 15mm scale models, too); there are 1/56 (28mm) models from 'Die Waffenkammer' and many more.

I have only trid 'Flames of War' modles so far and can say they're very nicely detailed (for their size), comparatively cheap and are half as big as 1/72, allowing you to build twice as many modles in the same space. :biggrin1:
 
Depends what you're playing. A popular scale for WWII is 1/100, or 15mm, which is used by Flames of War and Rapid Fire. A lot of Napoleonics and Ancients also used 15mm...so I suppose I would have to say 15mm is the most popular scale.

Warhammer and Warhammer 40k are 28mm...but seem to be a bit bigger than that.

There is a fair bit of 1/300 wargaming. In ships, 1/1250 or 1/2000.
 
Thanks to you all for the recommendations and opinions.

I am going to hit the web to see what's available for what I am looking for. Can anyone recommend a good M-10, M-36, M36B2, An Achilles,Sherman Firefly and Sherman "Jumbo" kit in 1/72? Also, do any of these companies make accessory pieces like, say, for example Marsten (?) matting, tank traps?
 
What's everyone's opinion of Fujimi? They have a M36 TD I'd be interested in.

HOA_KSOP
 
I've not heard anything bad about Fujimi although I have never purchased any of their kits. If the price is right, I'd say buy it.
 
The Fujimi kits I've made were twenty years ago, so hard to comment on current kits. For what it is worth I remember them as well fitting well detailed kits.
 
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