Tamiya
1/35 Scale

Kit comparison by Terry Ashley
Tamiya Dragon
Kit No35254 Kit No. 6032

The Dragon T26E3 (Kit No. 6032) has always been regarded as a very nice kit and rightly so, it features some very nice detailing with suspension you can pose as you wish and individual T81 track links.

So how does it compare with the new Tamiya M26 kit, or should that be how does the Tamiya kit compare with the Dragon M26, let’s have a look.

I won’t go into a piece by piece comparison, but pick a few significant assemblies to examine.

The Upper Hull:
The Tamiya kit has the fenders included with the upper full while the Dragon kit has separate fenders as well as the rear section of the hull separate.
The Dragon kit also has the fender bracing turnbuckles for the rear fenders while the Tamiya does not.
The detail on the Tamiya hull is noticeably finer and the cast finish more textured as well as some casting numbers including. The most noticeable difference is the shape of the extractor fan housing between the hull hatches, the Tamiya appearing more correct here.
Again the hatch hinges are more detailed on the Tamiya kit with the separate outer panels.
The engine bay doors are also separate on the Tamiya kit, not that this is has anything to do with the details on the parts.
The crew hatches are more accurate on the Tamiya kit with the correct curve while the Dragon has a marked bend, the Tamiya hatches also feature nice cast finish, while both have the periscope guards included.

Lower Hull / Suspension:
The Dragon kit has separate axles which can be positioned in any way while the Tamiya kit features workable suspension which can be easily articulated.
The Dragon kit has separate track links while the Tamiya has continuous length vinyl track. The Dragon drive sprockets don’t have the lightening holes while the Tamiya does and the Tamiya road wheels have finer hub details.
On the rear hull the Tamiya exhaust is hollow while the Dragon is solid with only an indentation for the openings.
The final drive housings on the Tamiya kit feature the large flanges on the lower hull join while the Dragon kit is bare in this area.

The Turret:
The surface texture on the Tamiya kit is again finer and better textured while the Dragon kit has more accurate contours on the bustle behind the crew hatches. The overall details on the Tamiya turret are finer and again include the casting numbers.

So what does all this mean?

Overall the Tamiya kit would take a points decision but by no means delivers a knock out punch. Both kits will build into an excellent representation of the T26E3.
The individual track links on the Dragon kit take the points here while the suspension of the Tamiya kit nudges out that of the Dragon kit.

Hull details | Turret details | Other items

While the Tamiya kit has overall finer details the Dragon kit will build into a very nice kit as Steve Zaloga has shown with his excellent article in the June-July issue of Miltary Modelling magazine (Vol.30 No.7).
The final decision though is up to the individual modeller's preferences.

Picture below reproduced with the kind permission of Steve Zaloga
M26



Page created 3 July 2002

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