Hi, my first kit that brought me back into modeling to test my latent skills was the Matchbox/Revell 1/72nd scale Jagdpanzer IV L/70. I was amazed at how the track "material" broke apart so easily. I know some manufacturers have better kits in the same line. But am looking for over all quality and detail. What kits in 1/72nd scale did you enjoy building the most? Thanks, Rocco.

Hi Rocco, I just finished a Zvezda 1/72 88mm gun comes with four crew nice little kit good detail, check this forum for their Panther a chap just blogged it outstanding. Revell are very good I built a couple of their kits Dragon are very good more pricey but good detail I purchased a Airfix 1/76 resin building of a French cafe very nice detail photo etch window frames and some acrylic window panes.Sorry no photos I have been on this site since 2002 and still cant work out how to upload photos.

Revell and Hasegawa make nice kits, in 1/72. Avoid Esci. Dragon is pretty good, as well.

Revell and Dragon have some very nice kits and some not so great kits. Other companies that come to mind are Maco. Zvezda is starting to release some really nice kits with a greater emphasis on figures. Dragon who was once prolific with 1/72 scale has slowed down their kit releases and is rehashing their current line. Dragon also seems stuck on paper panzer releases. Itellerie has released some really nice kits recently. Esci's kits are hit and miss. A new company S-Models has been releasing some really nice kits of some unusual subjects and some very common subjects. An example is S-Model has announced an M274. The really nice thing about S-model is you get two kits in one box.
Charlie

Rocco,

Firstly, welcome to Armorama and the Braille Scale Forum. Subjectively, the main rivals in the small scale arena have been Revell and Dragon. Both have quite a variety of subjects and decent detail. However, Dragon has slipped somewhat in not providing PE alternatives and also reverted to having tools moulded on as opposed to them being separate pieces. You should avoid the Dragon kits with the metal hulls as the metal is prone to disintegrate (zinc rot) over time.

Trumpeter and Academy also produce some nice kits and the newer Airfix offerings have really shown improvement. Zvesda has some very nice kits and as Charlie mentioned, S-Models, is really showing some promise. Perhaps the best way to get an idea of a kit is read some of the reviews here on Armorama. For a start, just click on the "Profile" button under my name and you'll see a list of my reviews that are all Braille subjects. Most reviewers here will show sprue shots and build reviews will give you a better idea of what you will be getting. And of course, feel free to post questions about a kit in this forum.

Cheers,
Jan

Nice to see someone ask this very basic question.

I too was wondering, I've got a couple of Trumpeter kits, one built (jagdtiger) and a kv-1 and also have a t-34 from Dragon (the German army model). I plan to use them to test techniques and materials. All seem fine to me however I am just looking for quick and easy builds not worried about the shortcomings Jan has mentioned, though they are very noteworthy.

I have started to look at the 1/72 line for kits that aren't done in 1/35 or 1/48 (or just not done well in those scales) and it isn't as easy to determine what companies are decent and who just have the odd really good kit with the others being poor.

Enough rambling but just to add to the question - are Ace (ukraine I believe) good? They have a few kits which interest me but not enough being said about them..

Sorry to hijack the thread! Should be relevant though.

Alex,

IMHO, you aren't hijacking this thread but adding to a general discussion about kits. As for Ace kits, they are usually mid to upper quality with fair to good details. They have some very interesting subjects but are rather short run due to the type of mould material they use. As a consequence, the earlier production run kits are far better than the ones that are produced as the mould is aging. There is one modeller in a local club that has experienced some great kits that all but build themselves but has also gotten a few bad kits that require more putty and sanding than plastic (ie-not the best quality control).

Another option for kits would be ICM. They also produce some interesting and unique vehicles and are about on a par with earlier Revell kits, although some newer ones can approach rivalling Dragon.

Cheers,
Jan

Thanks for all the great replies. I actually model other scales as well, but like the challenge of the smaller kits. But at 58, 1/72 is the smallest I could build!

'Best' is always hard to define since everyone has a different idea of what it means, fit, accuracy, detail level, cost, subject, etc. I'd give Dragon and RoG top marks for ease of build, detail and general availability. However Dragon's recent kits have moved more towards wargaming and have simplified a lot of detail but are even easier to build. Some don't like their DS tracks, preferring L&L that often come with Revell kits.

Check this site out, it was more than anything the most valuable resource for me when I got back into 72nd armour a few years ago. There's not much available that you wont' at least find mention of there.

http://henk.fox3000.com/

I would also say Dragon, but only their earlier 'Armor Pro' kits which included P/E and lots of parts for great detail. Their Pz lll, and lV series of AFV's are particularly good. So are their Shermans. Recently Dragon have gotten cheap - eliminated the P/E, reduced parts count, and have been molding on tools and tow cables. As has been noted, they're becoming high-end gaming models.

If I may add Rocco, when building in this scale take care of your eyes. Had a bout of that problem myself and couldn't do it anymore because of eye strain. So, got some Bifocals, a large magnifying loop and I'm back at it again!

Dragon and Revell do have the best detailed kits in 72nd, even though Dragon's are getting really shabby lately. Stick to their older releases and you can't go wrong!

Hello, and welcome to armorama.

The question you ask has more than one answers really, it depends on the price, quality, theme, skill level required, available after market parts, etc.

My guess is that you will be content with Revell, Dragon and Trumpeter for start as they are the best all arounders (though Dragons latest releases cost as much as 1/35). As you build more models you'll understand better what's suited for you.

P.A.

Jan, I see what you mean about Dragon kits. There is a VK-4501 Tiger kit I like, but it has molded-on tools. Can you get tools as separate pieces from another manufacturer? Mike, thanks for the "henk" link, that is a ton of info!

Unfortunately it's pretty common to have tools moulded on, it's an extremely annoying aspect of this scale. The only company I can think of off the top of my head that makes a tool set is Maco, you have to order them direct I think.

http://www.mc-modellbau.de/html/maco.html

my fave kits are Revell's famo and Panzer 4 kits for one Dragon Panzer 4 you can buy 2 better detailed Panzer 4's from revel and have some money left ... in saying that Dragon's Sherman kits are pretty hard to beat

Roden makes a few decent 1/72 kits.

Dragon - come with PE

"Used to come" with PE

A partial inventory of my 1/72 stash is a Hasegawa Churchill Mk.1, Esci Panther & Italian Semovente and Revell of Germany Leclerc tank. I picked up the Leclerc at a local flea mkt. and checked ebay to see what they sell for and didn't see any!? So it might be scarce, I hate using the word rare...Rare is a 1:1 running Tiger tank! You lucky Brits!

I may start the Semovente kit next. It looks much more detailed than the "Revell/Matchbox" of the US Jagdpanzer IV/70. I finished it this weekend, and it looks great from 5 feet away I'm hoping my next one will be better!

lol- nice animation.
I have a bunch of dragon 1/72 laying around. I had a new T-34 that was missing the tracks!! Talk about sickening!
I also have a PST KV-1 - so so kit.