Tamiya 1/35 vs Dragon 1/35 Poll/Discuss

[Heer]

Hi,
I want to know which model company, dragon or tamiya makes superior model kits overall. I want to know if their overall kits are easy to construct and if they have crisp details.

I also do know that tamiya is made in japan while dragon is made in china, so I'm leaning towards tamiya, but dragon's kits seem to be getting a lot of attention as well.

Any and all comments welcome.

[plasticgeneral]

Are you asking, WHO MAKES BETTER ARMOR?
TAMIYA is great because, they are a little more simplified than DRAGON. No nonsense. Dragon is too obsessed with over engineering everything! I bought a DRAGON "PANTHER" once, I had to connect every link to the track, what a pain in the ass! Not to mention, they expected me to apply WING NUTS!!!! But in their defense, NOBODY beats DRAGONS 1:35 Figure kits!!

When all is said and done, I prefer "TRUMPETER" BY FAR the COOLEST WW2 subjects on the market and a perfect balance of detail and engineering. Come on, ARMORED TRAINS and German "What If" ARMOR?!! Keeps me BUYING$$

PLASTIC GENERAL

[tparkhere]

More than 20 years after I had built the last plastic model, recently, I have built 1/35 Tamiya and Dragon WWII German soldiers. As "plasticgeneral" has stated, Dragon wins! Dragon sodiers look like a shrunken version of an actual soldiers. However, Tamiya soldiers look smaller, skinner and lot less detailed.

As far as WWII German soldiers are concerned, I vote for Dragon.

[plasticgeneral]

In truth "MASTERBOX" has the best figure sculpts in the business. The secret to 1:35 figure kits, is to NOT follow the instructions.
Build your own awesome battle poses. I'm an artist so it comes easy for me, it's too bad I don't know how to post photos because the figs. I build would make you run to the hobby stores!

[ram04]

My take on this is that Tamiya are easier builds, really decent details and fairly straight forward, Dragon models are very detailed, almost to the extreme, the few I have built were very time comsuming, but the detail is museum quaility ( if some one other than myself was doing the work ).

I like Tamiya myself, but since I got into 1/32, I haven't bought much 1/35, in fact I gave some new in box models away, just my two cents

[MG-42]

* I chose Tamiya ... They've been doing it + around longer. Dragon's sort of the new kid on the block. I do like their figures though but I also like Tamiya's too. Some of Dragon's model kits are just too complicated to me unless you're a Super detailed custom model freak w/ experienced skills.


- MG

[B17Fortress]

I started off with Tamiya armour and figures, then recently switched over to Dragon.

Tamiya armour are more easy to make, especially the one piece track. I made those for a few years until a friend gave me a Dragon T-34, and I was hooked on that. The Smart and Premium kits are great for detailing right out of the box, and the instructions are easy to follow. My hobbyshop carries the cyber-hobby sets that contain one vehicle and a corresponding figure set, all for about $40-$50 CAD. Tamiya does similar sets, but are far more expensive. I give Dragon the edge on Armour.

The better company for figures depends on the modelers skill and quest for detail. Once again, Tamiya makes simper figures that come with some good looking gear, but have some funky heads and spindly legs. Dragon's Gen2 sets have taken it to the extreme, and I love them for it. 18 piece for the body of a figure may sound daunting, but given the patience and skill they really turn out well. The only downside is that some earlier sets (pre Gen2) come with a casting block in the hands, and is dog gone hard to remove.

Tamiya means ease, Dragon means detail.

My $0.02 (CAD)