There’s been more than a few posts slamming one manufacturer and another out there, Hobbycraft Canada is one that gets slammed quite a bit, sometimes I think unjustly.
I was going through some photos and found these few from a few years back of Hobbycraft’s 1/48 DeHavilland Vampire FB.9 that I built. With the exception of a new nose wheel from my spares box and a slight cutting down of the main gear legs to give it the proper tail down attitude when parked. This is straight from the box.
Like all kits, it could benefit from a bit of extra detailing, but straight from the box she’s not a bad representation of the plane and I still have her in my collection.
I’m not trying to sell anyone on Hobbycraft, just giving an example of what can be had from their kits. This kit dates back to the mid 90s, after Hobbycraft cleaned up their act and started puting out some decent stuff.
I appologize for the low picture and scan quality. I had a different camera back then and the scanner I’ve scanned with could be better.
Usher up an opinion if you like, if not, just enjoy the pics.
I built the vampire NF 10 a couple of years ago, not too bad. like you say, detail could be better, but I’ve built a lot worse, a certain Tamiya sea Harrier comes to mind, one of my first from them, oh, was I disappointed!
Still, thats why scratchbuilding & resin was invented!
Pete
I agree. I am working on an old hobbycraft kit now and am happy with the kit overall - tho a bit basic when compared to some of the manufactuer’s kits out there, it’s still a viable solution.
i have nothing against them, i think they’re a great company. i have a 747, night hawk, and a cf-18 that all thuned out good, 1 have an avro arrow, and a mi24 hind unbuilt (hind group build in helicoptor section, everyone free to join) i haven’t tried any of their armour yet, but some say it is bad. Hobby craft appeals to me in 2 ways: cheap price, and canadian models.
I think that Hobby Craft makes some very nice basic kits and have built several. And I say “Basic” - add some aftermarket and/or scratch work and you can have some very nice models.
Agree with all of the above. Iv’e built several of their kits and they aren’t all that bad. Clearly not in the Elite class, but fairly simple builds, and you can detail many of them with aftermarket resin/photoetch to achieve the detail level you want. They also kit some of the more obscure AC that the big boys ignore. Hawker Sea Fury & Bell P-59 come to mind. How long do you want to wait for Tamiya or Hasegawa to kit those?
