I have never built any of these manufacturers kits. Is one be better than another for tanks?, whats your opinion?

I was impressed with the Academy box art tho, but never broke the seal on one...

Any help is appreciated

Newer Academy stuff is really good. Most of the earlier stuff is tamiya copies. they have some nice stuff at the moment. M10 with duckbills has gotten great reviews and the stuart honey is another i would love to build. Their M113s are supposed to be the best. As with most manufacturers, they have taken some shortcuts and a quick look around the net will yield answers as to what needs fixing. but overall stick with the later stuff and you will be alright.
Italeri is a mixed batch. Although they are one of personnal favourites, I cant stand their tank tracks. Usualy very tight ... 2 pieces per side ... lousy detail and when building an Italeri tank, AM tracks should be added into the equation. They have a great range and lots of interesting vehicles. Most are nicely priced, but they usually need a little more work and attention to come up nice.
Maybe it would be a good idea to ask about a specific kit or kits so you get a more defined answer. What are you planning to build??

Well I guess the best way to start is to say that both companies make some good and original kits ..Now which company is better ? They both have their hits and misses..Early Academy kits were knock off of already old Tamiya kits...but have now come into their own with some nice kits ..The Tiger kits are pretty darn nice with the interior to boot! Their series of vehicles based on the Sherman are very nice . As for Italeri some of there old stuff was even better than Tamiya's at the time ...Now the kits are a little simpified but can still be made up to look great ...The Dukw and LVT's are the only game in town and can hold their own ..You have to give thumbs up for going off the beaten track... They may need a little more TLC but you can make a show stopper out of many of their kits....If you were looking at which tiger kit to buy ..between both I'd go with the Academy kit 100% for sure .

Rick

Italeri kits are great at the small detail parts, very fine moulding. Sometimes a bit simplified, excellent value for money. New Academy are fine, but some detail is a bit soft. Usually lots of extra parts in the boxes.

Persomally I think the newer Academy ktis are awesome but you pay the price. They are rather expensive. The Italeri kits are less detailed but are usually much less in cost. Plus. as mentioned before, Italeri makes some kits that are the only game in town. The DUKW and LVTs are not overpriced for being the one and only plastic kits, which is refreshing.

Sometimes I like the Italeri kits because they are cheaper. I mean why pay $30+ only to replace half the kit with aftermarket? I would rather pay a little less and waste less parts when I upgrade.

Just my limited opinion but it seems to me that the Italeri kits are more difficult to construct than the Acadamy kits. That is the parts breakdown does not seem very logical to me in that they are more complicated and ill fitting that they could be.

another short coming on Academy are the instructions, they need a little more presentation and information on their particular model(like color guides), something I think Italery is not as bad. I just got a couple kits from each of these manufacturers, but none of them are new.
something I disliked of the Academy is that the paint instructions actually said to reffer to the box art for decals and camo pattern!, now I could use a little help from instructions on what the colors on the ambush pattern are(they don't look very clear on the box art). if I contrast this kit with the italeri it actually had different camo patterns for different companies, and the decals that go with it.
so this, even though is not vital, it is something to consider, to have some reference handy for it.

Head to head competition I would say Academy hands down. Italarie does build some fine kits though and if you're looking at price Italerie wins

Italeri is good for soft skin vehilces. Like support vehicles, truck and ambulances because they go into detail with the underchassis. You can have it in a diorama upturned and it would still look good. The problem I alway have with Italery tanks are the tracks. Most of what I have have already broken off. I tried to fix these with staple wires, but then it break on another point.

With Academy, take the other guys word for it. I only figures from them which is also in my opinion are excellent because of the posed and extra stuff that they have on the sprues.

Other folks have spoken more genreally, I'll be specific.

For the M113 series, Academy wins hands down!
The Italeri m113 has softer detail and not as much detail overall, for example tie downs.

The Academy kits are very nice but have their flaws.
Sometimes the color picks get oddly translated, and there are sometimes large ejector pin marks. In the 113 series, there are pin marks in the rear ramp and doors.

Mike

hi i recently built a 1/35 warrior which is an acamady kit it was easy to build and very detailed there are pics of it in my gallery, i have used italirei kits before but i find them good for stuff like barricades,fences,jerry cans,barrels and stuff like that all other models in my gallery are tamiya as personally i have found these the best although as stated earlier they are pricey but you get what you pay for i always think, hope this has helped

Thanks Guys:

As far as what I bought, I purchased the Academy Panzer IV Ausf H with armor (seems like a new kit packaging) and the Italeri Tiger I (early version) and the question came up, cause I got both at about the same price from squadron, and when I look at the boxes side by side...I could see..the tamiya influence in the Academy product.

John

Yep you are right about that Prop...That's one of their early models that happens to be a copy of the very old Tamiya Pz IV H .. As for the Italeri Tiger ...well I guess the final product does look like a Tiger... Is it the early or the late tiger kit? ...The late is better.

Rick