New to the hobby after a break of over 30 years! Got my bearings having completed a few basic kits and thought I'd try something a bit more challenging! First got the AFV Club M10 Tank Destroyer ... hull tub and upper superstructure both badly warped and no amount of hot water will re-shape them. Then splashed out on the new Dragon M7 Priest - fantastic kit but the instructions are absoloutely rubbish. Noticed a few mistakes along the build until I got to the gun assembly. Total waste of time/money - the instructions are so poor that assembly is a combination of guesswork/hit and miss. Feel like I've wasted close to £70.00

I feel your pain, but everything is a learning experience!
There is no such thing as an unbuildable kit, just some kits require longer to ... rest!

Tamiya kits are generally an easy build, (the higher the box no, the newer the kit)

Google the next kit you want to try for reviews, Perth Military Modelling site has good ones, & these may guide you

Definitely sounds like you need a Tamiya "shake and bake" kit to help cool down. Their later kits are nicely detailed and easy to assemble. Their latest Jeep, Kubelwagen, and Schwimmwagen kits are very nice or maybe their M26.

Paul,

Don't give up too easily. If you can reference the part numbers and instruction steps, I'm sure that someone here can help you sort out the problems with the Dragon kit (and maybe the AFV Club kit too).

In the mean time, maybe you'll see something here that helps:

Dragon Priest Kit Review

Dragon M7 Priest Review

AFV Club M10 Review

Explain the problems you have. Somebody here'll be happy to help.

Hi

The main problem with the instructions for the Dragon M7 is that they are a direct re-print from the kit they sold of the gun on its own so can lead you down a wrong path when building it for the M7. There are quite a few build blogs of this model on the varius modelling forums that show the error and how to correct it.

I found the M7 to be quite an easy build once I had sorted the errors in the gun build. but then again the M7 is not the only Dragon kit with building error in the instructions, it is quite often pointed out when kits are reviewed, and should realy be there on a kit costing the price that Dragon and their dealers ask for, which is why I buy my Dragon kits from the Far East as they are then half the price that dealers ask for them here in the UK and then the instruction problems don't seem to bad.

For the time being I would stick with Tamiya and anything with a number above 35200 (Not that there is much wrong with those earler kits though) will give you a very nice easy to build model that will allow you to enjoy your hobby.

Paul

Paul,

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. That M10 sounds like a case for contacting the distributor for replacement parts. As for the M7, I reviewed it here and started a build log too. It is definitely a tricky beast, especially if you want to paint it in sub-assemblies. Dragon's instructions are hopeless at the most critical points, so I hope the pictures help.

Seeing as you are in Wales, have you thought about getting in touch with the Welsh branch of MAFVA? The folks there can offer help with tricky builds, and are a great source of general info on armour. Just go to the "branches" section of the website.

Hope this helps!

Tom
(Chair, Essex branch of MAFVA)