Recommend me a Tiger and Sherman?

[Raven Morpheus]

Hey all

I don't usually do tanks but I have this urge to at least buy a 1/35 Tiger I and Sherman. I only have a budget of about £20-£25 for each though.

Are there any decent Tiger/Sherman kits that build nicely oob (although I'm not a rivet counter) in that price range?

TIA

Edited April 4, 2016 by Raven Morpheus

[redcap]

As a non AFV builder and with that budget you cannot go wrong with Tamiya in 1/35. The Tamiya Tiger 1 "Early" "Mid" and "Late" is a very nice kit and easy to built however for strict accuracy, the 'Mid' and 'Late' will need zimmerite. Likewise, their WW2 Shermans are very nice and simple builds with not an excessive number of parts. If you can get a 'Firefly' at that price, that's the old Tasca mold reboxed by Tamiya which is superb and you would be getting one hell of a kit for your money.

Dragon (recent mold) kits are very nice but lots of parts so subject to your own experience / skill you may want to give them a miss. Also their old "Imperial" series Shermans were quite 'iffy' fit wise and used individual link tracks which were very fiddly to assemble and pretty pointless given Shermans had a tight 'live track'.

Hope you get sorted out.

Gary

Edited April 4, 2016 by redcap

[JackG]

As a first time for building armour, do as Gary suggests and stick with Tamiya. Dragon do nice kits of Tigers, and although the parts court is larger, it's their instructions that can be a major headache for the uninitiated.

As far as the zimmerit goes, some early mid Tigers were produced without, but you are looking at researching the detail differences as well as what units equipped them. See the description as laid out here, referenced from the author Jentz:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1137953774

regards,

Jack

[fidgeh]

Is the Academy version (Tiger) not worth considering, especially at around £22?

Edited April 5, 2016 by fidgeh

[Dads203]

The Tamiya Sherman's are really nice kits , the new tool easy 8 is the best but the older kits still build up well

My current build which is on hold at the moment due to being away from home.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234997677-tamiya-m4a3-75mm-sherman/

With some basic skills builds up nice.

Dan

[Troy Smith]

Raven

a look at some of your posts shows an interest in 1/48th Aircraft, so you may wish to consider 1/48th armour?

Tamiya do a series of 1/48th armour that is rated as being a good compromise between detail and ease of assembly.

there are reviews of most of the Tamiya kits here

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/48/tamiya/tamiya.htm

Skybow do a 1/48th Tiger which can be got cheap

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/48/skybow/tp4801.htm

and Hobby Boss do a series of 148th Shermans, these have accuracy problems, depending on version picked

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/48/hobbyboss/hobbyboss.htm

Just a suggestion.

[Stuart Wilson]

If you're not bothered about them being exactly contemporary with each other then I'd recommend Tamiya's early Tiger (no zimmerit needed!) and their new M4A3E8 Sherman.

This is also a match for the duel in the film Fury as the tiger used in that is the one Tamiya based their kit on.

Anyway some early tigers showed up near the end of the war as they were taken from training units.

If you can get the Tasca Firefly in the Tamiya boxing that has been said is a great kit.

Stuart

[Dads203]

I think fury is actually an M4A2E8 that's been passed off for an M4A3E8, fury has a Diesel engine in the film , the rear

Deck differs from the more common petrol A3E8.

Been reading up on these things recently

Dan

[Stuart Wilson]

I think fury is actually an M4A2E8 that's been passed off for an M4A3E8, fury has a Diesel engine in the film , the rear

Deck differs from the more common petrol A3E8.

Been reading up on these things recently

Dan

Yes you're right it was an M4A2E8 from the tank museum.

[JackG]

Is the Academy version (Tiger) not worth considering, especially at around £22?

Never built one myself, but have read they do have fit issues and detail problems:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1459806670/last-1459891680/View+Thread

regards,

Jack

[Raven Morpheus]

Thanks guys. I had a feeling the answer was Tamiya. I came across their Easy 8 kit on googling the other night, it does look good and I like the look of the bigger gun, the standard M4A1's armament just looks puny compared to the E8. Same as the early Panzers look with their tiny guns, especially compared to the Panzer IV!

Raven

a look at some of your posts shows an interest in 1/48th Aircraft, so you may wish to consider 1/48th armour?

Actually I have all sorts of scales in my collection, mostly I choose 1/48 because it's a nice size for most subjects, not too big and not too small, but I have a rule which kind of goes like this - if it's going to be massive (in size and/or cost) in 1/48 (like for example a CH-53 or F-14A Tomcat) I'll get it in 1/72, if it's too small in 1/48 (like a Bell 47) I'll get it in 1/35. Although that rule has bitten me twice now - once on a 1/72 H-34 which I should have bought the 1/48 version of and the other time on my 1/43 X-Wing which I'm starting to think I would have been better getting the Bandai 1/72 version of...

At a general rule of thumb of 6" x 4" for a 1/35 tank I think that's a good size for me. What size is a Sherman or Tiger in 1/48 - I make the Sherman to be about 4" long by 2" wide, which is a bit tiny imo?

Edited April 6, 2016 by Raven Morpheus

[JackG]

Yeah, 1/48 Sherman is small, comparable to a Tiger II in 72nd scale. The Sherman V hull is a scale inch longer longer, coming in at 5" - not counting the gun.

The Tiger I at 1/48 is roughly 3"x5".

Here's a couple shots of a Tiger I and Firefly at 1/48 scale.

regards,

Jack

[Raven Morpheus]

Thanks. I also don't like the idea of the way the 1/48 tracks are made. I've been looking at the 1/35 tanks and they appear to have tracks that are made up of individual links, I think the term used is "workable", rather than a few pieces with all the links moulded together. Whilst tedious to put together I think they look better when finished.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Raven Morpheus

[JackG]

I hear ya about the 1/48 tracks. Found some very good ones for the Tiger from AFV Club - the individual links just click together.

The Sherman type was another story. I tried two different resin brands offering individual links, but the casting quality was worse than the ones provided in the kit.

regards,

Jack

[bull-nut]

Not built either the 1/48 Sherman or Tiger from Tamiya (I know, heresy) but I have build the Crusader III and Panzer 38(t), and have a bunch of others in the stash, and found them great little kits. The link-n-length tracks work fine as long as you plan ahead and follow the recommended build sequence for them. If practical, build up the entire running gear as 2 separate assemblies, using the lower hull as a jig to keep them straight and true, and fit them last.