What would be your choice between Itareli (IT 6449) or Dragon (DR 3531)?

Hi Mathieu without a doubt it would have to be Dragon for a number of reasons
1) better molding
2) added extras
3) better sprue layout
4) more easy to follow intructions

the only thing the Italeri offering has got going in it's favour would be the price is cheaper than Dragon's but ultimately it's upto you personnally i'd but both and use any spares from the Dragon kit on the Italeri one

The new dragon M1A1 AIM/ M1A2 SEP kits are the best but beware they are a pretty involved build even though the detail is great
Evan

Thanks for your reply, I guess I can't go wrong with Dragon, not to mention that both the Itareli and Dragon one end up costing the same from luckymodel. Now all I have to figure out is the paint job, NATO camo or desert color, tough choice.

Be warned the Dragon kit is not an easy build, and I have two of them to build. some stages are a PITA to get right.

You do have to watch the fit in some areas on the Dragon kit. Like fitting the rear bustle rack to the turret and the fit of the upper and lower hulls but I think this kit is more than worth a little elbow grease. Dragon hands down. Thumbs up.

For sheer rarity value I'd go for the NATO scheme. Every bugger and his wife, and his dog, seems to do the M1 in desert colours. You'd think there'd been a war on or something.

I notice you didn't ask about Tamiya's M1A2...

For me its no competition, the dragon kit, even if it is very hard to build. As for camo, do what ever you want, its your model after all
Cheers

Loobes

Just for information- the new Dragon kit are #3535 and #3536.

The one you asked for- #3531 is an old mold kit. I have doubts that this kit is better than the relatively new Italeri kit.

Thomas

Dragon kits by far are the best, especially the latest SEP version that came out 2 years ago.
As with anything, there is room for improvement on them but overall they are the best base simply because of the accuracy and the moldings.
Like one poster mentioned, not the easiest build.

I know he was talking about the older Dragon kit but I suggested the AIM/SEP instead of both
Cya
Evan

hi mat ,, as has been said its the dragon kit ,, hands down ,,, without any doubt , its accurate and nice to build ,,, straight out the box you have a fantastic model ,, all thanks to dragon forr this one ,, aim and the sep m1's

Even though the later Dragon kit are very good, the Tamiya one still builds into quite a respectable M1A1 certainly if you get the "operation Iraq freedom version 35269 as it has the options for the us army and the USMC version all in the same box.

Having never built the Italeri version I can't really comment but I have always struggled with there tracks as they are usually way to hard and inflexible that they are a chore.

cheers

Keith

Bear in mind that the Dragon kit mentioned in the original post is kit # 3531. This was their older tool USMC version.

As a USMC version it has added parts for the USMC style smoke dischargers. It also has additional parts to provide the bustle rack APU. Unfortunately it doesn't include the APU adaptor (which should sit alongside the left blow-out panel). Nor does it include a bustle rack extension or MCD. The kit does, however, include partial interiors for the turret and driver's station.

The moulds for this kit are showing their age and parts need extensive and careful cleanup. In some areas (eg. spare roadwheels) ejector pins in the tooling have broken or otherwise vanished, so instead of ejector pin marks, you have columns of solid plastic. In the case of the aforementioned spare roadwheels, these columns of excess plastic are recessed in the "front" of the roadwheels, making cleanup difficult..

It does require care in assembly, making sure that you test fit everything and constantly check the alignment of parts, but a moderately skilled builder can produce a very nice looking model when finished.

Though the article is now somewhat dated, since the release of the newer Dragon offerings, Pawel's comparison of Abrams kits is still relevant to the two kits being discussed here.




Hi Keith,

The Italeri kit contains link-and-length tracks (not Italeri's trademark chunky vinyl), as does the aforementioned Dragon kit.

DONT BUY THE ITALERI ONE!I bought one a while ago, bad fit exceptable detail, fidly parts too much to name. i wouldnt recommend it. i was and while building that kit.

I've built almost all of the M1 kits out there, starting with the first Tamiya M1 thru the new Dragon kits. While with a little work, most can be made into a good representation of the subject, the new Dragon kits are by far the best. They are very complex kits and not for the beginner modeler. They are also a bit pricy. The only ones that I don't recommend are the Trumpeter and the Academy kits, and I wasn't real happy with the Italeri kit. I bought the one with the resin engine. I feel it is over priced. While the early DML and Tamiya kits lack some or the detail of the newer Dragon AIM ans SEP kits, they were fun to build and looked the part. Hope this helps. Jerry

Yea, what he said.

Jeff