M109A6, Italeri 372

David Suhadolc
Wow, great job with this kit. Love the scratch built signs and cola boxes. How did the build go? I heard a lot of bad things about this kit, so I purchased the AFV Club Paladin instead. Check out my completed projects to compare.

Van Lee
I went great. Everything fit perfectly and no issues whatsoever. I think that some people trash a kit based on the brand and nothing else. I had been looking at this one and the Academy one. Turns out they are the same exact kit. Even the instrictions are identital other tuan the brand name. And it turns out the Tamiya M109A6 is also the same kit. I had also looked at tje AFV kit, but it was twice as much and would take 3 weeks to arrive. Your build looks great and I would love to do an AFV Club piece one day or a Meng build, but those brands are usually out of my budget, though I think I am going to have to make room for the Meng AUF1. That kit looks sweet!

Bryn Crandell
Very nice looking M109A6. Weathering looks great.

David Suhadolc
Van, yeah the Italeri, Tamiya, and Academy kits are all made in the same location which is Italeri's manufacturing plant. Not going to lie though the AFV Club kit was challenging because all of the handles and tie downs have to be glued separately. I believe the kit has close to 50 more parts over the Italeri, but at the end of the build they look nearly identical. What drew me to the AFV kit was the inclusion of a metal barrel.

Van Lee
Yeah, that is one thing I didn't like about the Italeri (and in turn the Academy and Tamiya) was the two piece barrel. Even if it is plastic, being such a wide barrel, a one piece would have been better. Maybe have the tube one piece and then the muzzle break and flash suppressor attach. I hate having to blue lots of handles, the carpet monster is bad about eating them, LOL.