I will be starting my first tank, a Tamiya Early Sherman, tomorrow and after that I want to do a German tank in 1/35 an am wondering which would be the best one to do.
I want a 1/35 scale good fitting kit that I can paint in the all gray color scheme.
Thanks.

Hi Dale

Welcome to the hobby.

It depends on what your preferences are, as to what recommendation to make. If you are a beginner are you concerned with detail, accuracy, the cost, etc?

You chose well with Tamiya the first time around. Whilst older kits and not as detailed, they are generally reasonably priced and have a name for quality and fit.

If you want fewer parts, good fit, and a tank that looks like a tank, try Tamiya's Panzer IV Ausf D. It is a very old mould so, if you want to up the ante a bit, Tamiya's Panzer 3 Ausf N may be a better option. More recent and it does come with an aluminium barrel and a little photo etch if you want to try your hand at that.

Dragon's Panzer 3 Ausf J may also be something to consider.

Dragon has also partnered with Platz to produce the IV D in a "fewer parts, lesser details, lesser (slightly)cost' product too. Their earlier IV kits have a LOT of parts, and can be a bit finicky to build, but again, if you want to stretch yourself, you can try them - any Panzer IV Ausf A, B, C, D or F1 would fit your grey colour bill.

I suggest you look at a few reviews online and use them as a guide

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/tamiya/tam35290.html

Stug option?:
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/tamiya/tam35281.htm

Hi,
Any of the Tamiya Panzers in Gray box art will be nice, easy builds. The older Pz. II, III, and IV all go together nicely.

Really, it's hard to go wrong with Tamiya.

German tank in 1:35, Panzergrau, easy to build, well engineered, good details.

I recommend either

Tamiya's early Tiger

or

Dragon's Panzer IV Ausführung D

Welcome to the wonderful world of AFV's! You said the Tamiya Sherman would be your first tank build, but is this your first kit build ever? I'll chime in with the others guys and say Tamiya is your best option for starting out. Easy builds, clear instructions, and decent accuracy. I'd avoid any Dragon kit until you've gained experience with armored stuff. Dragon makes fine kits, BUT, they have l-o-t-s of parts(many of which you won't use), and their instructions have a rep for being confusing and sometimes flat-out wrong. You can often find Tamiya kits on e-bay for less than half of what you'd pay for other kits. Post some pics of your Sherman. You'll find lots of folks willing to help on this site.

I agree with Tamiya but I'd go with the Panther any variant. Tamiya ease of build with fairly decent detail.

The original poster said, quote

"that I can paint in the all gray color scheme."

so that would exclude the Panther as it was produced after the change of colours.

I would have to agree with Gary. But my question is, "How much of a beginner are your skills?" Tamiya kits sometimes can be a little more price-wise. I would recommend any kit that you can pick up inexpensively on EBay or a swap meet. The important advice we could give you is, "Build it." The best kit is the one you finished. Look at the parts count by researching on the internet, the less parts the more likely you are to finish the kit.
If you built Tamiya's Sherman you are on the right track to enjoying the hobby. Good luck and I hope we hear from you in the future.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Yeah, I forgot that part.

Tamiya's instructions tell you to paint that kit grey, for one of the decal options.
But I'm pretty sure they are wrong.

David

Although technically, panther tanks are out of the question, please do not get the Tamiya Panther ausf A kit. Just simply the worst but popular 1/35 kit extant IMHO.

A nice safe option would be Dragon's Pz III E/F. It has seperate track links, all the colour options are Panzergrau, it even comes with some figures (kit No 9111, a Cyber hobby Orange Box option). There are quite a few parts due to the tracks,but not too mad and it builds up nicely.

FOr a beginner I would not be doing a DML kit, they are masterpieces with numerous parts, excellent detail etc but their instructions are confusing and construction challenging needing good skills. For the beginner I would go with any of the following Tamiya Kits:
Tigers (Not the 70's release)
King Tiger (Not the 70's release)
Panther G's or D
Jagdpanther (Not the 70's release)
Pz III M/N
Pz II (Not the 70's release)
Stug III
Pz IV J or H (Not the 70's release)
JgdPz IV/70
Pz IV D
Jagdtiger (Not the 70's release)

These will all result in a nice kits and will not frustrate the builder as would most late DML kits
Al

Pzkpfw II Ausf B or C, Pzkpfw III L or N are the only real grey painted Tamiya options unless you want to do the Tiger I fruhe.

If you want to go open topped there is the Marder III or Wespe. The Pzkpfw IV D is ancient going back to 1974 or so. There is a Dragon simplified assembly Pzkpfw IV D kit but I'm not sure which one it is other than the most recent release? It was done as a entry level kit for Girls und Panzer fans who were balking at the standard Dragon smart kit.

The older 1990s era Dragon Pzkpfw III like the Cyberhobby orange box Ausf E/F is a straightforward kit and an easy build but not necessarily for a beginner accustomed to Tamiya.

Honestly, I'd go for the Tamiya Tiger fruhe and go with the grey one, scheme accuracy be damned. Do what you want and have fun but don't bite off more than you can chew. All too easy to get frustrated in this hobby.

If you're not dead set on grey, Taymiya's Pz IV J is a really nice kit. I enjoyed it a lot. There is also a Pz IV H that has the schurzen side armor.

LOL, Dustin! Never throw a man straight into schurzen. I hate those dang things.

Gaz

And zimmerit!

As you can see you get a lot of opinions here, and most follow the same pattern, often repeated in some way. However the consensus for you is - Tamiya.

Jump in, have fun and be proud of whatever you achieve.

Lol, the J schurzen wasn't bad and I didn't add the zimm

Yup.....agreed.....Tamiya. Panzer ivd, panzer iif/g or early Tiger in panzer grey.All have excellent fit and are easy builds. And cheap too. Great to practice on.

Tamiya Pz. III.

I agree with Bill. The Pz. III was a fun build.

Dale if you want an easy but decent build of a panzer you can paint grey go for either the Tamiya II, III or IV. Tamiya's kits fit together nicely, their instructions are clear, they're cheap by comparison to a lot of manufacturers and they're easy which as a beginner is what you want. Don't buy something like a Dragon kit despite what some have suggested, as that will cause you problems as a beginner and has the potential to put you off the hobby. They're nice kits in general but the instructions are crap, there are often fit issues and the part count can be quite high. You need something straightforward that's not going to give you a headache. Once you've got used to building and are more confident about your skills maybe then. Tamiya is where most of us started out and I still occasionally build some of their kits as they're enjoyable and with a bit of work can turn out looking great. That's what I'd do anyway. Go for a Tamiya kit as there won't be any problems for you.

The Dragon kit in this post DR6873 is the Dragon/Platz simplified kit. Look at the link. It has all the sprues pictured. If you want a nice simple Pzkpfw IV D in grey This is the kit

A beginner can easily do this kit and it's far superior to the old Tamiya Pzkpfw IV D. Click on the link and it's this specific Drsgon/Platz kit.

Anything else by Dragon is not for the beginner.