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Forums - Modelling / Kits |
The kits forum is for the discussion of model kits. Typically questions on availability or certain subjects and quality of existing kits are posted here. Short reviews are good here too. |
| Topics | 1239 |
| Messages | 7570 |
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| Subject: | Re: Academy Minicraft was a poor copy of a poor Tamiya kit |  |
| Date: | Mar 17, 2006 |
| From: | Gerald Owens | |
Unlike many other manufacturers, Tamiya always had a stringent policy never to sell their molds. The Academy Minicraft kits of 1989-1990 had a different parts layout on the sprues, but the parts themselves were obviously pantographed from Tamiya originals, since they faithfully duplicated Tamiya's parts breakdown, (as well as all of Tamiya's errors--and they usually fit very poorly, to boot). In any event, the kits usually competed directly with Tamiya's and underpriced them by a wide margin, so clearly they weren't doing the Japanese firm any favors. Later, Academy altered their strategy, starting with Tamiya subjects and changing them into different variants, notably their LVTP7 Amtrac, which backdated the Tamiya kit to the first production version. In more recent years, Academy finally took the plunge and created their own original kits.
Trumpeter also started out this way, doing kits that looked suspiciously like motorized adaptations of existing Tamiya, Heller and Dragon kits, but very quickly altered their approach and now quietly offer world-class, fully original armor kits about as good as recent Tamiya and Dragon items (their older stuff sometimes reappears under the Wasan or Minihobby label). |
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 | Academy M4A3 size question - Bill Goodrich - Mar 17, 2006 |
| . . . Academy Minicraft was a poor copy of a poor Tamiya kit - Roy Chow - Mar 17, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: Academy Minicraft was a poor copy of a poor Tamiya kit - Paul A. Owen - Mar 17, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Academy Minicraft was a poor copy of a poor Tamiya kit - David Nickels - Mar 17, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Academy Minicraft was a poor copy of a poor Tamiya kit - Roy Chow - Mar 17, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Academy Minicraft was a poor copy of a poor Tamiya kit - Gerald Owens - Mar 17, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Academy Minicraft was a poor copy of a poor Tamiya kit - Damon Agretto - Mar 17, 2006 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Yeah they do/did sell molds - David Nickels - Mar 18, 2006 |
| . . . Re: Academy M4A3 size question - Richard Munoz - Mar 19, 2006 |
| . . . . . . Re: Academy M4A3 size question - Bill Goodrich - Mar 20, 2006 |
| . . . Re: Academy M4A3 size question - bryan tan - Mar 19, 2006 |
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