Is academy part of tamiya?

[Alan 45]

I got the academy release of the stug IV sd.kfz. 167 and I already have the tamiya sd.kfz.163 and decided to compare the kits


This is what I found View attachment 112719

View attachment 112720

View attachment 112721

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View attachment 112723

not only are the sprues very similar but the moulding on the parts is identical

So could academy be a part of tamiya or have they just stole the plans lol

 

[eddiesolo]

IIRC Academy use Tamiya moulds, or have some old ones. The quality comes from the finish and the plastic.


Si

 

[Alan 45]

Oh right , I've made a couple of kits by academy and I have bought the tamiya release before and they seemed very similar , I do think that academy should be putting the tamiya logo on to let people know it's the tamiya mould as I've thought if this is good the tamiya version must be better


Which version is it though , there are no difference in the parts but the academy says it's the 1/67 which I think was the first version which got changed to the 163 when production started

 

[eddiesolo]

The 163 is a Stug IV.


The 167 is a Stug IV but has changes to the gun IIRC-F models onwards.


Just slight variations, the armour guys will put me right and should know more.

 

[Alan 45]

That's my point the parts are identical so really it's a 163


I might do both on the same dio and do one knocked out , I have a tank crew with a couple of them injured and being helped by crew members while the commander is covering there escape , the other stug could be coming up in support

 

[PaulTRose]

theres a lot of simularities between those spures but they are not identical


makes me think academy have 3d scanned the tamiya sprues then rejigged as they want


i once did an academy MUTT that was incredibly similar to the tamiya one i had done a year earlier

 

[Wong Ryan]

I read from somewhere, occasionally, Model Kits companies have some sort of agreement to use each other mould.

 

[Alan 45]

Both reasons have possibilities, that's are identical the only thing I can see that's different is the sprues are back to front and I think there is one extra part on the tamiya kit other than that it's the same kit

 

[stona]

I read from somewhere, occasionally, Model Kits companies have some sort of agreement to use each other mould.

That is true but Academy don't re-box Tamiya kits (as Italeri do, and vice-versa. Italeri is a serial re-boxer), they just copied them.


I don't know where Tamiya have the plastic moulded, it might be that Academy bought from the same Korean injection moulding company for all I know


Cheers


Steve

 

[flyjoe180]

Academy are known for reverse engineering and making changes to established kits. Many of their aircraft are suspiciously much like Hasegawa kits. To avoid copyright infringement, if I recall correctly, they have to make at least a 15% change to the moulds. They've also made some very nice kits of their own. The sprues in the pictures you supplied are subtly different Alan, if you were a mathematician you could probably work out 15% from the changes.