Why So Cheap?

Edited & updated.

Takom kits look fantastic in the box normally or at least the half dozen or so I bought did. They also get generally favorable to very favorable reviews by the establishment and the YouTubers.

However while the models do generally look good to excellent after building the actual build process of a updated. Takom Blitz kit is something of a mixed bag in many cases.

I’ve build probably 200 armor kits over the years and found Takom’s Blitz Pz.Kpfw III N to be a very unpleasant build experience. The kit was dirt cheap for an almost new release. The small instruction sheet, sloppy imprecise suspension, large amounts of parts clean up needed, amazing amounts of excessive flash, road wheels that required sanding on the inside so they could actually fit together and so on made for a doable but unfun time consuming build. The Build Experience Sucked even though it was easily within my skill set. Below is a link to the build log.

three-amigos-takom-tamiya-dragon-neo-panzer-iiin-build-log

Fixing up and detailing an old Tamiya Panzer III N kit based on a mid 1990’s hull & turret was far more fun and took less time in my experience. Others might feel differently but I suspect a lot of modelers dislike Takom’s half baked approach to kit design & engineering despite the model building up nice when completed.

Much of my frustration with Takom Blitz is probably due to I like to PAINT far more than I like to BUILD. I want a shake & bake build and to actually spend the bulk of my time on the project doing painting & weathering not dealing with 2nd rate kit design and 2nd rate engineering and 3rd rate instruction sheets.

After my one Takom Blitz build experience I refuse to purchase Takom products unless Takom kits are on a half price fire :fire: sale. I’m a very unforgiving modeler when it comes to new kits some manufacturers deliver a great build experience and some don’t. Takom Blitz in my opinion falls short in that area.

I will refrain from judging Takom proper kits until building one.

My Takom Blitz Pz III N

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