Howdy Y'all
After discussing the merits of building out of the box versus using AM, PE or scratch built parts the next question that has been floating around in my mind (it hurts) is
"What is the best OOTB armor kit you've built?"
Please let us know your actual experience, not something you've read about in a review or a friend told it is so. The best OOTB armor kit I've built:
Tamiya's 1/35 Char B1 bis
I may have used a little bit of PE on my build but it didn't really need it.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Made or are making?

If making then the GWH P-61 "The Last Shoot Down." Kit number L4810

Maybe the Tamiya Leo 2A5, only used AM mesh for the turret baskets and radiator screens. Close behind, the Tamiya IS2, only added Friuls and a metal barrel.
I see a pattern already....

So far, the smoothest OOTB build for me has been a Hasegawa aircraft kit. There have been some relatively easy armor kits, but overall for me it was the 1/32 Ki61-I Hei Hien Imperial Japanese Army fighter. I did scratch some extra wiring inside the cockpit, but beyond that I added nothing and everything came together so well. No gaps to fill, no uneven fuselage seam to sand down, no rescribing...just great. I am looking forward to the dozen other Hasegawa kits I have accumulated. So far they beat the ass off of any other aircraft kit I've built.

Maybe except Bronco's V-1 kit, but it had less than two dozen parts (most of which were the transport dolly).

I think a few years back, many armor modelers said it was the Tamiya 1/35 JGSDF Type 90 MBT closely followed by the Tamiya Leopard 2A6. The fit on those kits are near perfect.

As the starter of the OOTB thread, I like the start of this thread, also. But, unlike my thread, I do think that this one DOES require some qualification, such as was identified in the quote above. I believe that the truly analogous question with respect to 'best', as compared to my thread, would have to be, which is the most accurate OOTB build. The reason I say this is because the reason that most of us do aftermarket parts, primarily photo etch, is to make the model more accurate, possible better detailed, but really, in essence, more accurate. This isn't my thread, of course, but I might prevail upon the starter of this one to clarify that the intent of 'best' in this case is, which is the most accurate (and throw in to a lesser extent, detailed) OOTB build you've ever done. If Lakota disagrees, please chime in!

One point I want to make, though. Unless you happen to be the often disparaged 'rivet counter' type of person, most of us would have a hard time being able to really say how accurate a model is. I know I can't. I can say what I think LOOKS most detailed, but that's opinion, whereas, most accurate should have some level of objectivity to it, in terms of dimensions, how many smaller parts are there to represent detail ( for example, I just learned this last week, from a post in Armorama, that Tiger 2 tanks had 2 fuel tank vent lines with tubing that ran over the side of the hull, which I'd never heard of previously, so a lack of those details wouldn't have been something that I even knew was adding to inaccuracy).

My vote for best OOTB kit would be the Tamiya Cromwell, a real gem.

Cheers,
Rick

For me it's the chieftain mk5 from takom! Beautiful kit!

Greetz

The Airfix 1/32 M3 Lee. For a 40 year old kit it even had the light wires, the proper taper on the M2 gun and other things. So you have to rebuild the storage boxes. Every other Lee kit got them wrong too. And modify the tracks but Airfix bothered to put the end connectors in the right place a dozen years before Tamiya figured it out. And it went together like a dream. Academy sort of copied how the superstructure went together, except theirs didn't.

Really a pity Airfix never did any other large scale armor.

Please Hornby, if reading this re-issue the 1/32 Lee and Grant!

Up until about a handful of years ago the Italeri Crusader, M47, Leopard 1A4, M4A1 Sherman were beautiful too. All the hand holds were seperate, the Sherman had details Tamiya still has yet to put on any of their Shermans and outside of stiff tracks joys to build right out of the box. Their Pzkpfw IV F/G is also a personal favorite.

Tamiya 1/35 B1 bis. Beautiful kit. Great detail, great fit, instructions easy to follow, tracks snap together perfectly.

Without taking the accuracy of the kit into consideration:

Zvezda T-90, went smooth and easy
Italeri Stughound kits, except the AA version
Hobbyboss M26 Pershing kits
Zvezda MSTA-S

Accuracy considered:
Takom Chieftains
Tamiya Leopard 2A5
Meng Leopard 2A4
Trumpeter Tiran 6 (needs fuel lines and some research)

I built that trumpeter bmp1 OOB although I did replace the tracks and there were no real issues.

I also recently finished the bandai 1/144 scale uwing and it went together perfectly although I didn't use the decals: I chose to paint the exterior with my airbrush

It's still in the box ......

Completely agreed. Nevertheless, the kit I had the most fun with it is the Tamiya 1/48 Komatsu IJN bulldozer: an ingeniously engineered, well detailed, perfectly fitting little gem that can be built with one hand looking excellent OOB.
I admit, I do love those Tamiya 'Shake N'Bake' like kits, even if they're sometimes not the most accurate and a bit soft on details.

For me, it was Tamiya's 1/35 French Armored Carrier UE. It was my first kit with link and length tracks. No problems with the build, painting, or decals.

Howdy Y'all,
I'm leaving the definition of "best" to you. As you can read in the post, some of us still add AM to the "Best" OOTB kit they've built. No problem, it's your "Best" kit. Interesting posts, thank you and keep it up.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

AFV Club's 1/48 Tigers, beautifully engineered gorgeous well thought out detailing which rivals and often surpasses many 1/35 offerings

I must say that my most recent OOTB build that was both fun and accurate was the Tamiya Mk. IV Male WWI tank. It was a very enjoyable build, no putty needed whatsoever and the parts are included, but not mentioned in the instructions, to change the inaccurate motorized version into an accurate static version. A very nice model, I highly recommend it.

Stephen

Tiger Models Nagmachon. It practically fell together, great build enjoyed it alot.

Takom Maus so well engineered that you can assemble the running gear without glue & it will work without falling apart, (not the tracks)!

It is so well engineered that if you pre-paint like I tend to do it the parts won't fit untill the paint is scraped off.

At 650 parts for the track (300+!!!) & running gear alone, & about 20 for everything else, it reflects the German prototype well!

I only replaced the barrel becouse of user-error clumsiness though... so 99.5% OOB!

Forgot about that one, I built it almost 10 years ago, only added Friuls recently. It IS a gem, zero fit issues, and as far as I know, accurate. And gee whiz, add Tamiya's recent Tiger2 kits, both the Henschel and Porsche turreted versions, once again only adding Friuls, and maybe a barrel on one of them.
And I've built several Tamiya Pershings, one OOB except for a barrel, which wasn't needed and the kit part is excellent.
Matt, more Tamiya kits. Hmmm.....

I have to throw in the Hobby Boss M1070/M1000. It has to qualify as the most complete OOTB kit I have ever built. Thousands of plastic parts, 11 frets of photo etch, vinyl tubing and wiring, and did i mention, lots of insanely small parts? Despite the high parts count everything fit and it was a really fun build, and my metal bending skills are better for it. As far as kits that are detailed, accurate, easy and fun to build I have to go with any of the Tamiya 1/32 scale aircraft kit, especially the newer ones, the zero, spit, mustang, corsair, mosquito. Anybody who has built one knows what I'm talking about. High level of detail OOTB, fit like a glove. The decal are usually the worst part of the kit being too thick.

I really enjoyed Mengs T-90 excellent well designed kit that I added nothing to.loved the workable tracks

Also Dragon's original King Tiger with zimm #6303
The original kit had mesh screens plus other PE,metal barrel,Magic Tracks,mold on zimm,I didnt add anything.

It's so funny that you mention this particular kit, as I am working on this exact model right now, and I have started another thread about the problems/concerns I am having in finishing it, but only because of the aftermarket items, primarily photo etch fenders, and their delicacy. I'm wondering, after that model gets painted and weathered, whether all the painstaking I have given the aftermarket stuff, will really have added to the model in the end. I guess I won't know until I'm done with it. I agree 100% that if I'd have built the model OOTB (save, perhaps, for the tracks, which I almost always think are worth upgrading, just my personal opinion, of course), it would have been a relatively quick and easy process, and I'm sure it would have looked great, too!