I have the Tamiya (Italeri) 1/48 JU-87B2. I've also heard good things about the new tool Airfix JU-87B1 that was recently released. Has anyone out there been able to examine both of them? I can sell the Tamiya rendition on eBay easily but would probably lose a little if I bought the new Airfix afterwards. I've certainly found out that the better kit is worth extra money. But the Tamiya (Italeri) came out in 2010 and it has been nicely reviewed. Any advice on whether whether buying the Airfix would be getting the better kit - or not - would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Eric

I haven't got the Airfix Stuka, yet. From what I have seen it is a very nice kit and I will be getting it.

Surely it is up to you as to whether it is better than the Tamiya kit or not?

Someone on Flory has built both of them and said the Airfix was tops in every way - especially fit and ease of construction. That's the kind of information I was looking for. If the Tamiya Stuka had been made by Tamiya I'd own it with no questions - not so sure about Italeri. Why not ask someone who has direct experience?

Eric - You can find reviews of both kits on this site albeit not by the same person.
I have just purchased the new Airfix release and while everything is still bagged it looks very good indeed - it is a product of current technology and if price is to be considered the Airfix Kit is considerably less - same Internet retailer has the Airfix for just under $30 while the Italeri lists for $46 . I couldn't agree with you more about buying the Tamiya Stuka if Tamiya made it - but alas they didn't.
My money went to the Airfix kit without actually seeing either Airfix or Italeri.

Good luck- Richard

So there is your answer, the Airfix kit is better, just as I figured but as I don't have both kits I can't actually decide that? The only person who can decide which is a better kit is you, no one else? and you would need to have both kits to make that decision. Flory may have said that the Airfix kit is better(and I believe him) but that is his decision?

I hope I'm not wrong, but the tamiya one is basically the italeri kit?
I've built the Italeri one, and it was sort of disappointing in case of quality. Didn't like the canopy at all.
The airfix one has a few but good reviews though

I havent built either but my money would go to airfix. Although on the review here the only issue that might be a pain are the ejector marks.

Holdfast, I don't get your point. If the decision concerning the quality of a kit is mine alone, why would I ever read a kit review? What is personal is preference. For me I put heavy emphasis on good engineering, proper fit and a clean build. I will pay more for that and sacrifice detail if need be. But I'd be crazy not to ask the opinion of other modelers for judgments on kits I'm not familiar with. Mind you, a reviewer might praise a kit for reasons that would not sway me - in general I prefer Tamiya armor to DML (especially new Tamiya stuff) even though sites like Perth or Missing Lynx will almost always emphasize level of detail. But their reviewers are fine builders and their comments are always valuable. And if a good builder says that the fit on a kit is poor and one should be sure to remember your filler, that's something I'm glad to know before I buy the model.

The Tamiya kit is based on a pretty recent Italeri tool. It has a bomb loading gizmo as a diorama extra. Tamiya doesn't make it a practice, but they have reboxed other companies' kits and added some extras. They don't hide it though - Italeri is quite obvious. They also for a short period marketed a Tasca M4 "Easy Eight" before replacing it with a new tool version of their own. In the last year or so Tamiya has released some splendid new tool armor kits - the SU-76, M-10, Panther D and Easy Eight. All are priced under DML equivalents and I'd take Tamiya engineering over a DML heart attack any day even if the detail and part count is higher in DML equivalents. I've got two of them and the new Tamiya kits have splendid detail. They've also got a new tool KI-61 Tony for $35 - Tamiya's planes in the last four years have been trumps and this one will be too I'm sure. (Just sold my Hasegawa Ki-61.)

Hi there

The ejection pin marks in Airfix's new kit certainly are irritating, but I hope I was just unlucky with the sink marks in my kit, because otherwise it looks a very nice.

All the best

Rowan