Just wondering if this kit is good or not. If not then I won't buy it, or if it is, I will order it from my local hobby shop.

Thanks!

~Chip

I never made a Accademy tiger, but a think it's a nice model, like the others accademy models.
If you have an accademy model try to do before, after if you like it ,buy the tiger.



My website dedicated to the military scale model, tanks and dioramas
http://www.tankfive.net

It's supposed to be a good kit missing lynx have a bit on it the gun mantlet isnt quite right but how many onther ones are? some of the interior isnt right either it's from an early prod
model as the have just reissued the interior for it it also comes with pe grills as well and for the money is excellent value is £30 here the same price as a tamiya tiger just dont use the
figure it's crap but as for the details inside once you build it up no one will really notice it
go buy it loads of sprues to sit and drool at..........or is that just me #:-)

Chip,

which version of the Tiger is it (as Academy has four versions) ? I have seen people argue that the early Tiger (with or ithout the interior) is the best kit around, if looking for value for money. Supposedly in the early version even the turretshape is correct (asymmetrical). Supposedly the mid-version is not as good. On Missing-Lynx there is an article how to easily correct the interior of it, as there are some (major) flaws in it.

I do have the midversion, with interior, and it looks quite nice... might try to go the Missing-Lynx article route, as it would be a good intro in some scratchbuilding.

I have the Tamiya Mid Production, and just wondering if Academy tigers are good. I will take a gander at that article on Missing Lynx. Thank you guys!
~Chip

Sorry, the turret is not correct on the Academy early Tiger. The only Tiger kit with a correct asymmetrical turret is the Tamiya Initial version which is also the same as their Afrika version.

PH

I thought Academy only had three Tiger I kit's ? I have the early Tiger I ( #1386 Exterior only ) but I haven't built mine yet. According to an article in FSM article about a year ago, maybe a bit longer, the Academy kit #1348 ( with Interior ) was said to be the best quality 1:35 Tiger I kit on the market at that time

Academy #1348 - German Tiger-I Early Version ( Interior )





Academy #1386 - German Tiger-I Early Version (Exterior)




Academy #1387 - German Tiger-I MID Version ( Interior )




- ralph

Well Chip for my 2 cents worth , this is a good kit i built the early tiger with interoir . Its got its flaws but what kit is perfect ? for the price you cant beat it . Go price a verlindin interoir then add the price of a tamiya to it . I say build what you want to , but i do recomend this kit . Mine was in rivet review a while back

I'm building an "exterior version" of their Early right now.
Nicely detailed and pretty much perfect moldings, but some part attachment points at the sprues are a bit maddening, making for tricky parts removal.
One drawback is all the seperate parts that make the hull deck - due to this being the interior kit without the interior. Careful dryfitting needed to prevent gaps.
The brackets for the turret smoke grenade launchers just flat out don't look quite right - due to having no strong definition for placement.
You'll have to work at getting the two turret halves to mate while still "trapping" the mantlet parts in place.
The result is that the turret roof seems a bit out of alignment. If I had it to do all over again, I would have paid closer attention as to how the roof fit in relation to the turret halves.
If you go to use the track links on the turret sides, you'll note that they are missing the lower bracket mount points. I understand the same problem exists with the Tamiya kits too!
Quite a few extra parts on the sprues from the "interior version".
Five figures look OK to me.
One piece vinyl tracks seem almost Italeri stiff, but not as bad as Heller trax.
Be advised that the instructions have some inaccuracies as to the decals to use - bad numbers for the Carrius Early for example.
The instructions also completely miss how/where to install the rear S-minen launchers.
All in all, I'd be tempted to build this again - but with the interior. But just for variety, I'm planning on doing the Italeri Initial and Tamiya Mid, just to know for myself what's what.

Chip, I bought the early Tiger 1 with interior years ago, and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!! Too many people nit pick about minor things. If you want to be perfectly accurate, scratch build if you want a kit that is fun to build, looks absolutely fantastic, won't break the bank. this is it!

I used the mid-production Academy tiger with interior for the detailed work I am doing. I had a chance to compare this kit to a tamiya one before I started and I decided to go with the academy kit. The reasons were for because I just thought the academy kit had a better look and feel to it. The detail in some places on the tam kit was better but worse in others. As most of this was to be scratched anyway I wasnt too bothered.

The interior kit is quite poor in places but again it depends on what you want. The reference on ML on how to correct this is also wrong in a number of places - make sure your references are right if you are going to go to town on it. To make a decent interior I would recomend at the least the Ryton Tiger & Sturmtiger book and print out EVERY page from David Brydons site as this material is invaluable.

I have to agree with blaster76 above and say it you dont like what you have then build it from the ground up. Also PaulHanson makes the valid point that the turret on this kit is not the correct shape - so what? As is currently being talked about in another thread at the minute - if it looks right and you are happy with it then just go for it. To My personal way of thinking if I end up detailing the turret as much as I have with the hull and then some smart*ss comes along and says 'wrong shape turret man' I will just laugh. It wont be me who looks the fool.

At the end of the day, as I have stressed here before, build for YOURSELF, if you think it looks good then it will be good. .. and getting back to the subject for my moneys worth the academy kits are ok!
Lee

I finished Academy's Early version with Interior about 6 months ago and it was really worthwhile. As for the detail discrepancies mentioned by our fellow modellers, these can be rectified by referring to the missing-lynx.com articles submitted by Matt Mesmer for converting Academy's Mid-Tiger & John Prigent's conversion of Academy's Early Tiger I to a more accurate one. Overall, this kit by Academy was worth every cent. I still can't stop admiring the details of the kit up to now. Highly recommendable!

Have to agree with Fairfax a good kit for the money . Have the early one without interior looks pretty darn good better then the Italeri one real close to the Tamiya one.
Now if we could get Dragon or Trumpter to get one going then maybe we could have a winner with all the detail. On the turret one first ones are the ones that were different right as the gun was not in line with turret axis,so they alinged the gun to turret causing the right side looking down to be longer then left side.
My 4 cents worth have to figure inflation in somewhere.
Onik oink












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For me it´s a good kit. I built one and I´m happy with the result. Fit is good and it has fine details. Here are some pics:

i am working on that kit right now and i think overall it's a fairly decent kit but i noticed that alot of parts do not fit together nicely at all. there are wide gaps between them and whatnot. i kinda wish i had that $55 back.. but hey, that's me

Anyone else have trouble getting the front edge of the hull roof, vertical mg/visor plate and the horizontal lower front hull roof plate - over drivers and radio/mg operator's legs- plates to line up and lie flat?

I've got the mid w inteiror, which I made NO corrections to, but did add generic Cavalier Zimmerit and have been VERYpleased with the overall effect up to this point where the various hull and roof plates will not lie flat.

I know there are too many places it could be for anyone to diagnose the problem from there, but just wondering if anyone else had this problem.

Mike

i have the Academy tiger 1 early version kit number 1386
it looks like a nice kit i have not built it yet
one day i will get to it

Mike / MLD,

what you might experiencing is a problem with the transmission... If you go to this Track-Link article , or this Panzer-Modellbau link . Go to "Bauberichte", then "Archiv", and when you scroll down you will find an article about the construction.

Harm

Thanks for the link. Now I've got Tigers on the brain and might have to pull the kit out and take another look.

Mike

MLD that's where i'm having trouble that plate won't lie flat.

I took the kit back out and think that even though the directions show th hull roof sitting up on the 'lip' of the front plate, now I wonder if they should just butt up against each other.
If so, the hull roof fits flush all the way around.

I posted that very question, but have not heard a confirmation that is how it is to fit.

I'll try to remember to PM you when I hear, but this is a REALLY busy week coming up.

Mike

I am currently building the Early "full interior" kit and it seems like a very good kit for the money. I was told at one time this was the BEST Tiger kit on the market.. I have built 3 Tamiya Tigers and I have to say that the Academy Tiger is at least "EQUAL" to the others I have built, if not better..

I am currently building the Academy Tiger with full interior, and despite the "short comings" i am enjoying this immensly. It is, in my opinion, only just below the level of a Tamiya Tiger, but is way better value for money considering all the interior that you get.

Later
Hawkeye

Start fitting your upper hull plates from the back engine area and work your way to the front of the hull. There is supposed to be a "lip" - or splash shield - on the front verticle armor plate (with the MG, drivers visor) that is raised above the surface of the front hull roof - driver and radio op positions. It will fit, just work it.

These gaps between upper hull plates are what I warned about in my post last week or so - they are there so that the hull plates can be easily removed to expose the interior. Fine if you are building the interior version, not so fine if your building the exterior version.

A tiny gap is OK, as there plates are intended to be movable on a real Tiger.

Take extra care in dry fitting and sanding to get the front-end parts to fit, **especially** the upper glacis plate where it butts up against the front armor plate (with the MG, drivers visor (and that lip)).
Else you will have a gap between the upper glacis and the front armor plate. And it is in such an awkward position, that filling that gap will require some extra fine stretched sprue snuggled down with liquid glue. BTDT.

To me, the only visible drawback was my not being more careful to align the turret roof to the turret walls. If I had it to do all over again...
There is a "join line" where the horiz roof plate is butt welded to the sloping front plate of the roof (over the gun breech). That join line should mate with the turret walls exactly where it looks like it should - the point where the edge of the turret walls go from horiz to sloped, to match the slope of the roof...

You may find it easier to tube glue the turret roof to one turret wall first - to align this point, then after a bit, glue on the other side of the turret wall. You may end up with a gap at the back of the turret (easily filled and partially hidden by the stowage box), but at least the junction points in the turret roof and the turret walls will look OK .