Hey,

I'm thinking about building an Abrams (1:35) but haven't decided on which model kit to purchase. Is there anyone who can help me out ? Between those three, which one will be the best buy ?

Thanks,

Phips

It all depends on your skill level, money you have to spend and your preference on accuracy, ease of build and level of detail.

Of the three kits, the new Dragon AIM is the best overall. It will be a more difficult build but is most accurate and has an abundance of detail. It builds into a US Army tank OOB, but some kit bashing with other Abrams items can produce a Marine tank.

The new Tamiya M1A1/A2 builds into one of three versions. It will make a US Army M1A2, US Army M1A1 or USMC M1A1. Easy to build, fairly accurate, relatively expensive. Some of the parts are carried over from the 1982 original M1 Abrams kit.

The Academy kit is an update of their poor copy of the Desert Storm era Tamiya M1A1 kit. It adds some updated OIF details, but is still a rather poor kit overall. It will be cheapest and an easy build.

I've got all three, and currently building the M1A2 and the Dragon M1A1. If you are looking for the best bang for your buck, grab the Dragon. Options for it span from easy build, all the way through some minor photo-etch.

Academy's offering is my last choice to build, and I'll probably use it to backdate to an earlier version of Abrams.

Jed

I'll second Robin's comments--they are dead on. I'm currently building Tamiya's M1A2 (the one in your first picture) and have the Dragon M1A1 AIM in my stash. The Tamiya kit literally falls together on its own--I didn't have to use any putty or trim any parts to get things to fit nearly perfectly. For example, the turret bustle rack, which in the old Dragon kits was a nightmare to build, took almost no effort at all. The Tamiya kit does, however, come up far short on detail compared to the new Dragon kit.

Just for a bit of context, I'm probably what most modelers would consider an advanced beginner--I know the basics but still have a lot of room to improve. The Tamiya kit did not tax my skills at all, but I expect the Dragon AIM will be a challenge for me, so I'm planning on building two or three others before I tackle it.

I'm in too The AIM kit is amazing, but it is not a beginer's model even though I had no fit issues. Just a LOT of parts(at least 3 times the Tamiya's kit parts). Definately the best kit.

If you do not have a lot of experience though the Tamiya kit would be the better choice.

I built a Trumpeter M1A2 Abrams a little while ago. It was cheap on eBay and looked pretty good to me. It came with both one-piece tracks and those multi-piece tracks. It gives you another option.

I'm building the Trumpeter model (because it came with Mine Plow) and it is terrible - I've had to clean flash off almost every part and modify quite a number of parts - just so that they would fit!

I've built all three. I'd have to echo Sabot, et al. The Dragon AIM, followed by the Tamiya kit, then the Academy.

I've got the modern Dragon AIM, the Tamiya -A2 and an older Dragon kit all in various stages of build. I've added AFV Club tracks to all three (I love those things). The Tamiya kit is very easy to build, but the new Dragon kit really isn't too bad. The new Dragon kit has by far the best detailing.

I've characterized myself as an advanced beginner for thirty years....it's tough moving up the ladder given the competition shown here