What are the best kits out of the Pz I, II, III, IV, V, VI? I know that some selections are limited and others are plentiful.
I have the Italeri Pz I Ausf. B (#222), ICM Pz II Ausf. L (#35121), Tamiya Pz III Ausf. M/N (35011), several Pz IV's like the Italeri Pz IV Ausf. F1/F2/G (#217), and Tamiya's Pz IV Ausf. D (#35096), Italeri Pz V Ausf. A (#270) and the Italeri Pz VI Ausf. E/H1 (#286).

I definitely think I need to hunt down the Academy Tiger.

Hi there

The recent Pz IV releases from Tamiya are nice (they have the H and J). I have the PzIIIL from Tamiya (35215), which is also a very nice kit. Don't forget the DML kits either! Their PzIII and Pz IV kits are very good indeed. Lots of parts though!

Do it Rob, you won't be sorry. I believe the new Academy Tiger 1 kit is one of, if not the best Tiger 1 kit available. I have one of the Tamiya Panthers right next to the Academy Tiger and the detail surpasses the Tamiya by quite a bit.

Tread.

BTW, they make the kit with interior set, and without. Not being an expert on the Tiger interiors I didn't know if the Academy version was accurate enough to make it worth buying so I opted for the one without. You may feel the interior kit is worth the little extra pesos.

The Tamiya panzer II is a lovely little kit which with some super-detailing and Accessories thrown on the back can form a lovely piece from the early part of the war!
Panzer III ausf.L again from tamiya is as usual superb!
Both highly recommended!

Let's see--- only my opinion.......
Italeri/Zvezda PzIB - only game in town (also get the Panzer IB Command tank)
ICM PzIIL - nice kit
Tamiya PzIIIM/N - get the DML kit
Tamiya PzIVD - nice kit, but don't forget motor holes + one on each side
Italeri PzIVF1,F2,G-builds a good 'G' model - get DML for F1 and F2
any Italeri Panther - use for practice
haven't seen the Italeri Tiger kit open
IMHO for any model of any tank on the PzIII chassis (except for the IIIL) including the early Stug III's, get DML, but you have got to like individual link tracks.
The Academy Tiger I, with or without interior, builds into a nice model. They even have the starboard offset of the main gun. I wasn't too hapy with the kit vinyl tracks, so I got the Academy single link set.

I have the new Tamiya StuG III Ausf. G and I see it is a nice kit. The Italeri Tiger looks good, nice clean kit. Panther is still sealed, I picked both up at the Ft. Lee PX for like $10 each. Too good a price to pass up on almost any Italeri tank kit. I did buy DML early Mk III/IV single link tracks, but haven't decided on whether to use them on the Pz III, StuG III or one of the Pz IVs. I do plan on doing the Italeri as an Ausf. G. Thanks for the views.

Rob,
The DML early tracks are not accurate for any PzIII after the "G" model. They are accurate for your Tamiya PzIVD, but nothing after. The early tracks were 360mm wide(full scale) and the late tracks were 400mm wide. And the real late PzIV tracks had diagonal ice grousers on each track cleat.

The Academy Tiger is a great kit, and at around $30, quite a bit cheaper than a Tamiya. I'm thinking about picking up a second one myself. I have a Tamiya Panther G Early coming in the mail, it looks like a pretty good kit -better be for the price!

I will add just finished a Italeri PZ IV AUSF F2 and really did not like it.. I think some of the parts could have been molded better on Tank. Also some of the road wheels had holes and had to get some sent from Testors to replace them with. I also think Italeri plastic is to thin in some places. Overall I would give it a 5 out of 10 stars.

PS nice avatar their Rob

Rob,
My next project gonna be an Italeri PZ IV G (the G is the only accurate version for this model among F1, F2 and H), and I like the Italeri kits in overall....I do have a Tamiya PZ IV D (short barrel cannon!) and the kit seens to be ok, despite it´s an old model, it has a lot of room for improvements...
HTH

Ron, the set I have is kit #3811 40cm Early Version Track (Type Kgs 61/400/120) and the side of the box shows that it goes to a StuG III and Panzer IV (does not specify which Ausf.), but has a picture of their Pz IV Ausf. J Late #6022, which I assume the track set is from. The sprue is marked "Panzer III/IV Tracks".

Of course I don't have any real knowledge of German WW2 tanks, so I was taking the box top at face value.

You're OK with the 40cm tracks!

The recent Tigers from Academy are good kits (from what I've heard). The interior is available with the Early and Mid versions, but is only accurate for the Early. David Byrden's www.tiger1.com site is the source for a lot of Tiger info.

Folks on Missing Links have often complained about the fit of one of the Italeri Tigers. The axis armor group over there is full of kit opinions!

Cheers
Andy

I completely agree with everyone on the Academy Tiger I kit. It was my first armor kit and I wasn't dissappointed at all. I liked it so much I went out and got the Academy Panzer IV Ausf. H/J and you talk about a night and day difference. The Panzer IV kit was horrible to say the least.

Thanks, great news.


Andy, thanks. I have the old Military Model Preview and it says that the other one, the one with zimmerit, has fit problems due to the addition of zimmerit to the molds.

Here we go... the Panzer top 10 -

10. Pz I - well... you've already got the best on there... the italeri is from the old days, when they were at the top of their game

9. Px II - Not much to recommend here. The old tamiya kit, needs a lot of work. The Alan kit needs tracks, tools, road wheels, made a spare Wespe laying around????

8. Pz II L - The Luchs from ICM is an OK model, it just needs a little attention... besides the smallish turret and the bow armour, and the one piece inner roadwheels it's not that bad.

7. Px III - The Tamiya kit is also nice... your options are limited to a later model vehicle... The old M/N is well typical for old Tamiya not bad... just not that accurate.

6. Px III - Well, I have to say that DML does the best ones here. The DML kits have better tracks try to find the Command tank version it's quite nice

5. Pz IV Early Models - The venerable Tamiya D still builds into a nice kit

4. Pz IV Later Models- Tamiya does a very nice H and J though you'll have to research very carefully the options that are correct to apply.

3. Pz IV all models D and Later - Here again, I'd say DML wins the race in the long run but not by much... The Tamiya kits are definitely very nice... but DML has the correct link to links in all their kits of the Pz IV and some of them even have a little photoetch. The old Tamiya kits and the Italeri kits just don't compare anymore.

2. Panther G - Tamiya wins for selection of options, DML wins as being perhaps the Best Overall value in this countdown. The DML Night Fighting Panther is one of the single best buys in 1/35 scale... list price is still around $20. For a G model were really lucky to have so many optons. Other Panthers - just give DML a few more weeks (months maybe??)... the A is coming and the D can't be far behind.


1. Tigers - Tamiya wins for breadth and depth of selection. In short, they make them all. And do the best job of representing the details that changed during the production run. I have built the Italeri kit. its not bad... it just makes somethings harder than they need to be.

I have to disagree with the others about the Academy kit though... the Academy Tiger I with Interior is really not that nice. I have tried to build it twice with the interior and just gotten fed up with all the corrections that are needed... so now, I use them for parts. The Academy Tiger is a model that is deceptive because it builds rather nice at first.. the parts fit well and the details seem to be there... but then you compare that interior to the photos and well, it just don't look much like a Tiger anymore. So, stick with the "exterior" only models... you'll enjoy the build...

The Italeri Tiger kits need very careful attention and some details... like the engine deck and the sprockets just need to be replaced... the early model kit is not bad... The Sturmtiger is the best one of the Tiger related kits... you still get that molded in Zimmerit... but that's nothing a little 200 grit can't cure.

Later,
Tim

P.S.
Maybe we could have a poll to "iron" this one out... it might be a good way to capture this information.

Sorry, Rob. When you said "early" I thought you had the 36cm tread.
The 40cm track is accurate for the PzIVF and later. Including Jagdpanzer and StugIV and PzIIIH and later and StugIIIF and later.

OK Tim, I bid and won the Night Fighting Panther on eBay for $19.99, luckily I also won a Osprey New Vanguard Light Panzers and was paying $5 shipping on the book any way (high I know, but the books was only $5.24) so the Panther shipping was free. Hopefully this will be a good kit to build.

I would also be interested in the Academy Tiger I with interior kit...but I have seen the picture...it's got everything...if only Tamiya can offer it...my experience with Academy is that their instruction is quite difficult to follow...

Rob,
I have built three or four of these, and for the money it really is the best Panther. And it comes with a nice collection of spare parts.

Later,
Tim

I do agree that DML kits always seem to have "extras" on their sprues. Get a couple of their Panzer III/Stug III kits. You'll really add to you parts box.