A tank with a face only its mother could love! It almost looks like a full-sized Toon tank…
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Interesting, which two new Zvezda kits would be best candidates? I’m planning on pick up a Zvezda kit of some sort soon just to give Zvezda a test run.
The 1/72 Hind any is the best hind in any scale. Not sure about about new 1/48 lack of rivets at scale is not great. The new t-34 series (76/85122) is good (I recall a few built here) and @Newtonk built this beauty here. Zvezda Kamaz 5350 build log
That reminds me - though nothing whatsoever to do with the subject matter - I try and avoid questions like that as they just go on for ever(!)
Anyway, I recall how much Dragon’s Conqueror was derided especially over the moulded on handles on the rear engine decks when it came out; I think Amusing Hobby came in for the same amount of flak on their Conquerors. The thing is, on the real tank the handles were all countersunk into their own recesses. One then often encountered build articles stating that the best remedy was to replace them all with wire handles or suchlike.
I sometimes feel sorry for the manufacturers.
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I built both the BMPT Terminator 2 and the T-15. both were awesome to build. Planning on getting the T-90 soon. and for the price you really can’t go wrong.
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I’m new to this 1/35 scale AFV stuff. So can I have an opinion? (I’ve been building stuff, trains, for 40+ years.)
Isn’t the answer a question? Like why are you doing what you are doing? Answer that question before you answer the first question.
FWIW I’ve jumped in the deep end. RFM interior kits. Not easy but I love the challenge. Miniart because of the subject matter. But then I never build anything straight out of a box. I always have to do something a bit extra.
bruce
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Armor Buff phrased an answer that really summed up what I was thinking. He chose 4 tiers with Tier 1 as being the best. That was a better answer than I was thinking originally. A company can advance up or down the tier levels depending on the work they currently are willing to put into their product. Your thoughts as to a tier 1 company may be somewhat different than mine. This list is a generality because a tier 3 company may have produced a kit that was the best at the time and my still be while many of their other kits are not. So it is not inclusive of all of their kits, just a measure of their overall work.
Reboxing of a kit does not count. I am not firm on this but… I will take Tamiya for example. I am not sure why they rebox another companies kit. The kit they choose to rebox is not a bad kit. Why not just make a new kit? Obviously it is cheaper to rebox but why would you do it?.Is the company a little less financially stable and this allows a low cost release? I may be wrong but I do not feel that Tamiya fans were clamoring for them to rebox another companies kit. I do not see newer rising companies doing it. RFM is not reboxing an older Revell kit. If that were “the way” to do it why not start a company that only reboxed kits? I know you are thinking Polar Lights or Mobeous but they are tier 4 companies. I do not think reboxing helps your companies reputation.
The answer to this question is quite subjective, and greatly depends upon subject material. If you’re looking for common stuff, i.e. Panzer IV, T-34, or M4 Sherman, certainly some companies are better than others. If you’re looking for more specialized interests, which may be more numerous in actual production, but are not as “popular” on the sales market according to the producers, then your choices may be far more limited. Want French, Italian, or Japanese AFVs? Very narrow choices for companies, and the above Tier system does not exist. You get what you can and like it. Cold War NATO or Soviet subjects? A bit more selection, but still far fewer players on the board. You like amphibious AFVs? Oh boy, whittle it down…
Whose the best? The company that makes the subject that I want, in my preferred scale, and for a price that I can afford.
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Academy have the 2nd best Panzer III in 1/35 scale 
I think the tiers still works. If Linberg (tier 4) is the only one that makes a large scale destroyer with moving turrets then you have to live with tier 4 quality if you want the subject. Being the only one that makes a kit of a subject does not improve their "tier"standing, it just gives the buyer a heads up on their purchase. The tier idea is generality based on what the company is doing today. If you try to filter in kits from 25 years ago, that’s another story. Tamiya would undoubtedly be the king because their earlier kits were better than the competitions early kits. I agree with you about the subjectivity issue. However You would agree your expectations of a Meng kit would be much higher than from Linberg.
@JoseCesar67 José, thank you for mentioning the new Academy Pz III. I didn’t realize they had released it. Looks pretty sweet in the build video I just watched. I’ll have to break over and get an Academy Pz III to add to my Pz III build thread.
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Who has the best?
I sure would. But then again there is a price difference too. And to a certain extent, you usually get what you pay for. Meng’s kits cost a good deal more, I sure had better get something more for paying more. But yes, for the most part, Lindberg’s quality is pretty mediocre to poor. Especially their old original moldings such as their ancient M46. But, it is a product of its modeling era. Their late Cold War tank molds of the late 80’s, T-80, T-55, & BMP-1, were obtained from a start up company that folded before the kits ever hit the market. At that time the T-55 in that batch was the middle grade kit of the three available 1/35 T-55s: Tamiya’s ancient kit- yikes!; Lindberg’s - needs help, but not too terrible; and ESCI- not perfect and needs help also, but hands down the best of the three… Fast forward to now, and we have all sorts of T-55 kits available to us in 1/35. Some are mind numbingly complex and detailed, and others more ease of assembly friendly.
I guess my view of models is colored by knowing the vintages of the kits and how the quality has evolved over time, both in detail and complexity. Again, a very subjective viewpoint on my part.
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I’m enjoying every Rye Field and Meng model I’ve gotten. If I wanted the perfect model company, I think I’d mix Tamiya engineering and ease of assembly, Takom/AFV Club details, Meng and RFM engineering and choice of armor subjects, Italeri for their trucks and Revell Germany for their fire trucks.
Agree wholeheartedly! If it ain’t fun, you’re doing it wrong and need a different hobby.
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My expectations of purchasing a Lindberg kit?
Most suspected Alien Abductions 
are actually Lindberg kit purchases gone wrong.
Straight my sources in Area 51
About 1 out of a 100 Lindberg kit purchases end with the styrene gawds becoming angry at the blasphemy. Sinkhole opens under the modeler’s feet and he or she disappears into the Abyss to never be seen again.
Stop blaming these guys 
Wink
This question comes up regularly and goes on like this for what seems like an eternity because there is no “Best Armor Kit Company”.
Every company has good and bad kits. It is subjective and depends on: availability of the vehicle you want to build, your skill level, what you are looking for detail wise, cost, favorite company bias, etc., etc., etc…
The better question to ask is who makes the best model of X vehicle? Again subjective, but it will get you better results to choose from than an open-ended question without a definitive answer.
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everybody makes good kits and junk. You love to rag on the Academy kits, but few have looked at there newer kits. They’re good to great. I like Tasca / Asuka about as much as anything. I have not bought a Dragon kits in close to a year. Just don’t think they are worth the price (they are good kits for sure). I buy mostly RFM and Takom with a few Mengs tossed in there. Yet my favorites day in and day out are still the Tristar kits (and the Hobby Boss new ones). AFV kits are very good most of the time, but are also scarce around my part of the woods. Bronco at least has the idea to market the odd ones that so many seek out. Yet can be a beast to build at times.
gary
The Academy Hetzers are nice.
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