Brett Green has posted a very interesting Review of the Italeri Staghound which bodes VERY well indeed:

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/britain/italeri6459reviewbg_1.html

I have Bronco's so maybe i will get this one also

Wow,how about that.

The sound you may hear in the background as you read this is probably me eating crow.

When we were first shown photos of the first built-up display model of the Staghound I was relatively vocal in my condemnation of what was shown and, with appropriate caveats because it was a display model, I hoped that the real kit wouldn't look anything like the display.

Well, it doesn't. While I haven't gotten out my drawings & calipers, this kit certainly looks the business. It has none of the flaws visible on the display model and I can happily say that this looks very, very good, at least on the screen.

I don't know where Italeri found him, but it seems that the guy who developed a lot of their "Golden era" kits is back on the job. From the photos, this certainly seems to stand up well against the Chaffee, M4A1 and M47 kits, which are argueably amongst the best kits made in the 70's & 80's and still hold up very well today. The addition of the PE, barrel & reference booklet only sweeten the deal. I'll be ordering mine very soon.

Paul

Oh, and if you are interested, in this case the crow tastes partiuclarly good...

Paul, Yep, I remember, about a year ago, getting a tweaks-list from you and passing it on. So, more than likely, you're one of the people we have to thank..

Of course, being available from Italeri means it should be more available than the Bronco one. I just hope they're going to keep the price down though, Italeri can get damned expensive sometimes...

Hi Jim,
at jadar Italeri's Stag is about one third cheaper than the Bronco's version so the price shouldn't be a problem this time

Cheers
Greg

Excellent! Thanks Grzegorz

Well, I don't know if I'd go that far, but thanks for the nice thought.

Paul

Well, I don't mean to get into a battle about this, but I just bought the Bronco Stag from Hobby Easy for US$28 versus the $38 for the Italeri kit on the Jadar site. Buying the Bronco kit locally can be expensive, but if I was going to buy via mail-order, I would and did go to the place the Bronco kits are made, China, to get the lowest price. I'll probably still get an Italeri Stag, if only for the partial interior.

Really, it was pretty ridiculously cheap. I bought two Bailey kits, two Stags & a Humber (all in the $28-29 range) and, with surface shipping, it came to ~$175. The Stag alone at the local shop is $55 and the taxes on anything bought locally would be about the same as the shipping from China. The local guys just can't compete with this, I'm sure.

It's unfortunate, but there's no way I will voluntarily pay double if the opportunity exists not to.

Paul

Paul

i hear you loud and clear!!

Darryl

Hi

For the UK I checked a UK based internet model shop and they have the Broncho listed at £20.69p reduced from £22.99 and upon checking my local model shops web site they have the Italeri listed for £20.99 reduced from £24.99.

So with the price not going to swing it in either companies favour I think it will be down to personal preference. When I heard the Italeri one was going to be expensive and going by reports of the previewed model at the show last year and the Bofors gun I thought Broncho was going to be the best choice, but now it's neck and neck.

I guess those who can't decide will get both, lucky devils

Good old Italeri, got a bit of a soft spot for them.

Funnily enough my kit list for Santa (who's on a very tight budget this year) has all Italeri kits on it. The Chevy truck, Opel Blitz, Demag D7 and now I've slipped in the Staghound, all at good prices in my local model shop. Just hope I can get off the naughty list in time

Alan

Something that you should be aware of regarding prices of Italeri. When I bought the Bronco kit (from HLJ) It was more or less the same price that Paul paid for his. However, in the past, (apart from the cheaper postage) Italeri isn't such a bargain from Hong Kong or Japan as Bronco, DML, Tasca etc. I mentioned this to the owner of of one of the bigger on-line stores and he confirmed this. I won't be buying from ANY dealer here as the minimum (around $15) postage they all seem to charge is excessive. I've also NOT been the happiest camper with Jadar (their postage can get heavy) I use them as there are items which I can only get from there and, with the Polish books which I buy, the saving is enormous...

The moral of the story, don't expect a bargain -

Hi

As added information to my post regarding buying this as a UK based modeller, Lucky Models price including shipping for the Broncho to the UK would be £19.22. I'd rather buy from and support the LHS for the small difference in price.

I see no point in searching out the Italeri model to be sourced from the Far East as I'm sure this not coming from a Chinese model manufacturer the Italeri will be more expensive, unable to compete with the internal buying capabilities of China based manufacturers and their China based consumer outlets.

Alan