I am a figure painter but my club has selected an armor tank for a entry by each one of us !! who makes the best m10 kit in 1/35 ??? Detail and fit is important also has anyone built that m10 by Eduard extratech if so any info would be great.

First, welcome to Armorama.

I built AFV's M10 and its sweet. No fit issues, nice interior, and made to order for additional sandbags, boxes, crew gear etc on the outside. Also a dry brushing dream with the raised bolts.

Good luck on whatever you decide and keep us posted as you build it.

Steve

Cool! "A must build tank for entry." I like that idea. We should start that here...

I liked the AFV Club's kit better than Academy's M10. It just seemed to go together better.
Don't misunderstand, the kits from both companies are very nice. Both have their own pros and cons and accuracy shortcomings.

Keep in mind that there are a couple versions from both manufacturers.

Academy has the M10A1 Achilles (British version) - kit # 1392, and the M10 GMC (Gun Motor Carriage) - kit # 1393.

AFV Club offers the M10 Tank Destroyer - kit # 3524, and the M10 Tank Destroyer Late Production - kit # 35s07.

There are also lots of AM items for each kit too. If you go HERE, you can click the various links to see the kits themselves - some have review links - and to see all the extra goodies you can fill the kits up with.

PS: Welcome aboard Hazmat! Glad to have you here with us.

I disagree, Ken. I think Academy nailed it better than AFV.

I got the AFV Club kit first and never finished it. No ammo for the open racks in the turret, hull bolts misplaced, turret obviously too wide, errors in the kit sides (look where the front fender "seams" line up -- not good). The metal barrel is nice, but the recoil mechanism is unneccesary. I could go on ...

The Academy kit is not perfect -- turret looks too narrow! -- but it is MUCH more accurate otherwise. Plus, you get a ton of leftover goodies for your Sherman/U.S. vehicle parts box.

Edit addition: Check out my Academy M10 ( and some of my other stuff) by clicking on "My Selected Link" at the bottom of my post. Aside from a few finishing issues, pointed out by Gunnie in another thread, I think it came out pretty good. Of course, this is not "out of the box." I 'tweaked" it a bit with some PE headlight guards and some styrene bits, plus my own homemade tiedowns made from copper speaker wire. .. OK, and a bit more. See if anyone can spot the "major surgery" that is really a simple part swap ...

Bob, I definetly agree with you on the "accuracy" problems with AFV's, I just liked it's "ease" of building more than Academy's. There's something about AFV's plastic that I like working with.

Hazmat, I have no personal knowledge of the ExtraTECH M10, but I did locate this Review on the kit.

Ken: I don't really see any adventage of the AFV plactic over Academy's -- maybe a bit softer? One thing I left out is that I like the design of the AFV bogies, though I wish they'd replace the rubber suspension spring parts with styrene -- seems like unnecessary work fixing something that really doesn't add anything to the finished model (like the recoil spring).

I will say that AFV got a few details that Academy missed -- I used a few AFV detail parts inside my otherwise Academy M10..

What is the MSRP in U$D for that ExtraTech kit? I'm not terribly impressed, but I'm curious. Both hulls, with and without bosses ... hmmmmmmmm. Tracks look cool, as does the PE set.

Greatmodels lists the Achilles IIC kit for $29.70!
You do know that the kit is 1/72 right?

I'n currently building the Academy Achilles. So far no major problems, perhaps the instruction sheet could be a little clearer, I can honestly say that i'm enjoying the build a lot. This is a massive kit with loads for the spares box and I will be building another. I haven't built the AFV club one so I can't compare the two but i'm very happy with Academy's effort... Jim

In my opinion, even with it's problems, the AFV Club kit is the best.

No, I didn't Now I really AM impressed!

You know, all of this talk makes me want to get an M-10. I am seriously thinking about it!

~Chip

:-)

im in the process of building the afv club achilles, and it great.
definately one of the best kits ive built.
i cant comment on accuracy but fit, detail etc is all excellent.
id say its easily as good, if not better than any dragon kit ive built.
id recommend it to anyone.

oh yeah and the british make the best M-10, the achilles!hehe
cheers
joe

Thanks for the input guysand I will now hunt for the best deal on one and yes I did know that the Eduard kit was 1/72 ..... the contest is for any scale at my club..
Thanks again
Hazmat

Heh heh - is it too late to chime in in favor of the AFV Club M10?!? Got 'em both, but the AFV Club kit edges it out for me...

Gunnie

It's never too late Gunster, err Gunnie.

I must say, as Bob has noted, if you're after accuracy, your best bet would be to build an M10 using both kits.

Bob, for a 1/72nd scale kit, it sure packs alot of detail. Truly is an impressive lil' model. And, thirty bucks for a brail-scale kit is up there.

Glad you put this up as I was going to ask the same question need to do one for contest next year! (++) (:-)
Thanks

I've got the AFV Club one, but only because I won it at my first IPMS Patriot chapter raffle for $1. Won't buy another since one is all I need and I see the M36 Jackson coming that I would rather add to my collection.

I think in the Braille Scale circles that I frequent, there's been some good things said about the ExtraTech kit. It is expensive though. I have a few of their 1/72 scale photo etch sets and they do some nice work. Real little stuff.

After completed both kits, AFV Club is far more detailed than Academy's offering. I do enjoy building Academy more since it's simpler to build. In terms of material, Academy is harder than AFV but less easy to work on. The difference in turret shape is noticeable and none appears to match exactly the line drawing I have on file. Just bought the Tamiya M-10 and will report back once getting it going.

Thirteen year necro???

Well, ... after all it IS about a vehicle fielded more than 70 years ago .....

I built the AFV Club M10 years ago and there is just something wrong about the front of the turret. From the side it looks (to me anyway) unlike any photos I've seen of M10s.