At the risk of appearing to be throwing red meat to the dogs - more armor kit opinions for you. [All the comments posted previously have been extremely helpful and greatly appreciated]
Italieri
#269 M163A1 Vulcan Air Defense #273 HMMVW #249 M928 HMMVW #271 Deuce and a Half #264 M-901 Hammerhead #284 M-925 5 Ton truck #292 HEMTT
ESCI
T-55 T-72
Tamiya
T-62A Su-122 Su 85 Dragon Wagon
I'm guessing the ESCI and Tamiya Russkie's are similar to the earlier ones posted. ;-)
TIA,
WmB
Dave
Not bad. Different wheel pattern than Academy's (smaller "donut" stamping with larger rim bolts). Most seem to prefer Academy version.
Italeri's first Humvees were preproduction versions without the indented stampings in the body sides. Tooling has since been revised to include this. Several variants, like the "Desert Patrol Hummer" were proposals only, and never entered service. All Italeri Humvees have terrible tires with fictional tread patterns. Resin replacement wheels are so pricey you'd be better off just buying the better Academy or excellent Tamiya versions, or crosskit them if Italeri's is the only version available (like the antiaircraft vehicle).
Good kit. They've previously offered it with open or closed cabs. Depicts the steel Budd cargo body vs the wooden body in the Tamiya kit. Original tooling, not a repop of the Peerless Max kit.
Okay. Features the less common road wheels as with the M163.
Lots of corners cut, but it's the only game in town for a US 5 ton. Eduard PE set will help. Big Foot version has incorrect tread on tires, but the version with the dual tires on the rear axles has accurate, non-directional tread. Shelter body for cargo bed is very simplified with no interior at all.
Very simplified but again, the only game in town. Lots of aftermarket parts out there. Italeri didn't want to pay a licensing fee, so the prominent "Oshkosh" logo stamping is missing from the front sheet metal.
Mediocre kit re-released by Italeri recently. Can't decide if it wants to be a T-55 or Chinese T-59. Go for the Tamiya kit.
Dog, bears no resemblance to the real vehicle. Worse than Dragon version.
Dog. Overscale with poor wheels and totally misshapen turret. Wait for the new Trumpeter kit instead.
Based on their T-34, with all of its weaknesses. Overscale chassis, motorization holes, side armor on rear compartment has wrong side angles, engine deck and cooling grill misproportioned. Only game in town, though, and a dedicated comverter could saw off the fighting compartment and mate it to a better chassis.
See above.
Amazing, excellent, wonder to behold, etc. Gerald Owens
I've got the Dragon one in the stash, but I'm thinking here lately I'm going to pare down my post WWII armor subjects to US only.
Yeah I'm kind of figuring out how that works with Tamiya - unfortunately Google is not your friend here. Searching leads to nothing but commercial links - who cleverly put product reviews (empty of course) into their keyword search tags.
I was hoping - I bought it a couple of years ago and never unsealed it. I usually at least open them but for some reason I wanted that one to stay sealed. Based on the responses I rec'd I will be buying and building the Dragon M4A3 to load up on it - first.
Thanks for the remarks Dave.
Anybody have an opinion on those Italieri kits? I don't think I ever saw the correct deisgnation for the HMMVW on any version they list. That usually doesn't bode well. I have the ancient Tamiya M113 that is in serious need of replacing by something from the 21st Century.
WmB
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