Which kits are best?

[Guest]

Hello all,

Which manufacturer gets the biggest thumbs up from you all? I have only done a couple of Tamiya's so far to cut my teeth on and they seem really good. But I keep seeing Dragon, Italieri, AFV and the like popping up over the forum and wondered, which one is the best?

I understand there are many variables to this one, but people usually have a preference for a reason. I will be doing Armour mainly to begin with, so is there a particular company that does brilliant Armour models but the planes aren't so good?

Look forward to seeing what you all think.

Steve

[Guest]

I think the answer would be whoever makes the "best" kit of the model you want at that particular time. Just because company "A" has made a really good armoured car doesn't mean they will make a good fighter bomber.

Decisions on "best" could be based on price, accessories available for that kit, extras included with it, scale, complexity, simplicity, detail levels, or many other criteria.

Even things like where the company is based could be a factor.

My personal first choice would be Airfix, for three reasons. Firstly for nostalgic reasons, secondly it is a British company and thirdly because of cost.

It all depends on what you are looking for at that moment.

[AlanG]

Much like what Terry said above really. I love Tamiya kits as they are nice to build and well detailed. But Dragon kits are more detailed and also more expensive too. It all depends on your budget to be honest. I sid i'd never pay the prices Hasegawa charge for aircraft kits but i soon realised that the quality/detail of the kits is worth the price (for the most part). But that said Revell are starting to bring out really good kits and well detailed too for alot less money

[Guest]

Talk about a can of worms, what a difficult question

If I see a kit I like the look of I try doing a search for reviews to get an idea of what it's like, if it doesn't sound like utter pants I go for it but then I'm not a rivet counter, so long as the finished model "looks" OK I'm quite happy

Saying all that, most manufacturers make some excellent kits , Tamiya, Dragon & AFV Club are generally more consistently top quality in my opinion

[Guest]

Iam a huge Tamiya fan, always have been but i have a fondness for trumpeter, miniart and italeri take Trumpeter now their more modern kits i think are excellent especially when it comes to detail and what you get in the box pricey but worth every penny, as for Tamiya i cut my teeth on these and i love em. However Tamiya don't really bring out much thats new and different in my view and are still a little pricey for what you get, where as all the other manufacturers i've mentioned have been adding to their catologues regularly. Miniart is ukranian company and the detail in their kits are second to none even if they do make you work harder e.g if you've ever built a miniart building you will know what i mean as for Italeri in my view just as good as Tamiya except they are cheaper at the end of the day i think that is what it mainly comes down to price first and what you like second, manufacturer in my view comes third and space comes last. All model manufacturers have their plus and minus points and in the end it is what you are used too.

scott

[stona]

Most manufacturers produce some new mold kits which are very good. Most also produce or rebox kits from older molds,sometimes more than thirty years old! Look at reviews of kits for subjects you want to model or ask here. Some reviews are decidedly biased. I've built two 1/32 Revell Ju88s and all the reviewers seem to have built an entirely different and better kit!

Someone on the forum who has built a kit can at least give an honest opinion.

Cheers

Steve

[John]

I would say Tamiya are the best but a very close second would be Hobbyboss, this is only based on doing a few of their kits but I was pleased with how they fit together, not quite got as much detail Tamiya and some others but they aren't expensive and well worth a look

[Guest]

in my case i go for revell based purely on the cost,they are the cheapest, i work on a very tight budget and get most of my stuff off e-bay or lms and revell always seem to be cheaper, i have tried a hasagawa plane and the fit was just pefect,needed no filler at all...............whatever you do,NEVER,NEVER,NEVER buy i kit made by a company called starfix even if it only costs a penny,cos it would be a waste of a penny.also like airfix cos i used to build em as a kid.have not tried tamiya yet although i have a tank in my very small stash.

[Guest]

I knew it would be a very diverse question but it really has helped me. I have really enjoyed the Tamiya kits I have done, albeit only two of them. But there are so many kits out there I want to build it's untrue. I think I will stick with Tamiya and maybe try a couple of Revells before I invest in some more expensive kits, it would be a waste of my money until I have the skills to do them justice.

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate it.

Steve

[Guest]

I've been wondering about this too - and often find myself Googling things like "Best Mig 25 kit?" to see if the intertron has any collective thoughts.

On a few occasions I've run possible Revell (military airplane) kit purchases past my mate who is currently acting as my model-making muse and I've been getting surprised at the variability of his responses depending on kit. It seems that even within one brand there is a variety of quality of fit etc - I would love to know *which* Revell kits (for example) are the ones to go with and which to avoid. Presumably any "new toolings" (is that the correct term??) are the better ones or is that a generalisation too far?

[AlanG]

New toolings are generally good. Some older toolings are also great. To be honest i try to find out about a kit before i buy it. Websites like IPMS, hsfeatures, armorama, swannysmodels and aircraftresourcecenter are invaluable for researching kits.

[stona]

New toolings are generally going to be kits with a better fit. They are designed with CAD and the molds are then cut with technology that simply didn't exist thirty years ago. Whether they will be a good representation of the subject is another matter altogether. The Trumpeter Bf109F is a well fitting,new tool kit but is an appalling representation of the subject aircraft,much more like an early G.

Cheers

Steve

[Ian M]

A place I often check things out on is Modelingmadness.com loads of reviews sent in buy loads of different people. Most of the review kits are self paid and there is very little "we got this for free so its a good review" sort of thing.

Another thing to be aware of is cross boxings. It is often seen that a firm that no longer wishes to sell a particular kit, will either sell the tool or swap it with another firm for some thing else and sell them under their name.

I dont think that you would get a bad kit from AFV as they have specialised in Armoured Fighting Vehicles; hence the name. They also do some of the rarer things in kit form.

Accurate Armour also make some wonderful if rather expensive resin kits.

I have no real favourite make, but I do have a soft spot for Airfix and the new tool kits from them are excellent.

Ian M