Tom puts the new Academy Starship to the test.

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Thanks!

Nice Review. I think this surpasses some people's expectations - they kit eschews the poly hubs found on earlier Academy releases. It's also nice to see an actual build review as opposed to a history lesson, an appraisal of the packaging, and a speculation as to how it should build up.

Thanks! I couldn't find a decent review elsewhere, so thought I'd fill the gap. Now we wait for the promised DML and AFV Club contenders...

Excellent review Tom!

I'm really enjoying your build-review. Much better than these "theoretical" reviews. You know what you are talking about. Great work.

Thanks for sharing your experiences during the build.

cheers
Walter

But Tom, surely you should have mentioned how stout the box is (and critiqued the box art) - and where is all the detail of which finishing products you used, with photos of them?

This is dangerously like the sort of review that concentrates on what is actually in the box, how accurate it is and how well it fits together. Didn't you know that such things have no place in reviews these days? And you even cited some references - what is the world coming to?

"Finishing"? You mean some folks actually manage to finish their kits?

But for the record the box is very sturdy, and the artwork almost makes the tank look effective...

Thank you for what should be a benchmark for future reviews

Hisham

Added a small update about the markings.

Nice review and the kit sounds like a good foundation. I think I will wait to see what AFV delivers...

Why would ANYONE want to know about what is actually in the box, how accurate the kit is, and how the parts fit together?

I'm going to wait for the AFV CLUB and DRAGON M60A2 kit reviews before I make any reckless leaps in buying mine.

Nice review I was looking at the Dragon Release and the one thing that kind of puts me off is the lack of Pe shown in the cad drawings on the box art if this is the case I would prefer to go with the AFV club kit or this kit itself I'm not into spending an extra 10 dollars on Pe screens when they realisticly should be included.

Cheers Ben.

Hi, Ben! Well, there are a few different schools of thought (not to say that you're wrong) as far as aftermarket PE sets + Resin Updates are concerned, one of which is my own philosophy:

I wait on building the best kit available, because I like to buy the best aftermarket PE sets, Resin Updates/Corrections kits, Metal Barrels etc on the market, then I glean the best of the aftermarket bits and pieces out of the various aftermarket kits, and use them on my model. Expensive? YES!!! But, I wind up with a model that meets my own personal standards. Again, I must stress that that is just me- In NO WAY do I imply that your or anyone else' way of building models is wrong. Quite the contrary! I'm just ridiculously OCD when it comes to my models!

Great review, very thorough, thanks Tom! I have built the Adler conversion on a Esci hull (with your 3D printed air cleaners), and wrote a build blog on a French forum. I'm in the process of reviewing the Academy kit as well, waiting for the DEF Model update set to get started on construction.

Cheers,

Christophe

As a former crewman,I still see some room for improvement.
The CBSS bulge is off a bit.The rear grill doors,had their lower edge extend over and slightly down past the bulge,and those bolts for securing them were there. It looks like the bolts for holding the back deck on,at the rear, are still tiny.I recall them as being 1 1/16th " bolts.The grenade launchers are soo much better! All they will need, is a small handle for securing the caps in that notch between the tube and the turret. The long sponson box ribs are correct,2 shorter ones in the middle. I am glad sandsheilds were provided between the rear fender and the armored boxes around the tail lights. Bonus points for the lifting hooks for the cupola. The missing anchor points for the torsion bars should have been engineered into this kit. Lastly, on the top grill doors, the point where the rear of the aircleaner enters the hull, that section should be rounded, not flat.

Carl, your input is spot-on! All your corrections stem from Academy's use of their terrible Tamiya-clone M60A1 hull, when they really ought to have cut new 21st-century tooling. I'm sorely tempted to put the turret onto an Esci hull and bin the Academy parts...

Tom,
I will eventually build all of the new releases, good or bad, just to compare and contrast what each manufacturer has gotten right
( Academy's capped grenade launchers) or horribly wrong
(Tamiya's 2 fuel fillers, side open air cleaners ,poor searchlight /mount...)