Beside the high model quality, the customer service of the original Accurate Miniatures was legendary. Accurate Miniatures is now under new management with the full line re-issued and some kits were also re-released under the Italeri name.
(1) Is the NEW Accurate Miniatures up to the standard of the OLD Accurate Miniatures, or better?
(2) How is the Italeri release compared to the new Accurate Miniatures and the old Accurate Miniatures?
(3) In the past three years, is the old Accurate Miniatures standard matched or surpassed by other manufacturers in the 1:48 scale? If yes, by who and what model.
We all know that the 1:32 has had some drastic developments. Is the new features down flowed to 1:48 scale yet?
Are there any web publication discussing the above topics yet?
The new Vindicator is every bit as good as the kits they produced under their original ownership. IMO, their quality is at the old standard.
I haven’t seen any of the Italeri reboxes of AM kits, but I have seen their rebox of the Dragon Me-262. It was the same kit, but the decals were much lower quality.
Each model is different. Even Tamiya has a mold or two that isn’t quite as good as a kit that came before or after. Tamiya and Hasegawa are both in the same league with AM, but I’d be hard pressed to saw which one is the overall best. There are also some individual kits by other makers that are excellent. Revell has released some very nice kits, but other kits in their line, even of the same vintage molds are not as nice.
In a lot of cases, the 1/32 scale kits are copying the best of 1/48 and scaling them up. The Trumpeter 1/32 TBF is an example. It is very similar to the AM TBF. That isn’t a bad thing, it’s one of the nicest 1/32 kits out there, but it didn’t go much beyond AM’s TBF.
I’ve been a bit disappointed with Hasegawa’s new 1/32 scale kits. The quality and fit are outstanding, but the level of detail is about the same as a 1/48 scale kit. I like my 1/32 scale kits to have complete engines and expect more detail than with a 1/48 scale kit.
If you hear about any, let us know. I haven’t heard anything.
I purchased a B-25C/C Michell, #3431. It comes with a Microscale decal sheet, expect to be very good quality. But it missed the instrument panel decal as mention in the assembly instruction.
I wrote AM to their General Manager, Joe Myers. I got a reply within 4 hours. The missing decal showed up in an envelope in three days. No complaint about the customer service.[:D]
I had the exact same problem with that kit, and had the exact same excellent customer service! I plan on building most of the kits AM has available, and I truly hope that they are going to expand their line. They will certainly get my business! Merry Christmas!
hmm… I smell a rat. I bought not one, but TWO of the F3F kits by AM and both were missing the IP decals as well! [;)] I just scratched it though… I want to do another one so maybe I will call on that one… just to see the difference…
IMHO the AM kits are heads and tails above their counterparts for the exact same kits in the same scale… The interiors are to die for. I have done almost their entire SBD line and the cockpit is a model unto itself!!! In fact I spent maybe 10 hours on the interior and 5 on the exterior! I have the B-25 and I am anxious to start that one… I have seen a few buildups on here and they interiors are once again nicely done…
The F3F is the same, PE, finely molded pieces, good decals… all OOB!
I would have to agree with tho9900 i built there sbd helldiver and it even being and revell pro modeler kit it went togeather vary well the only problem i had was with the bomb bay doors. i will build another AM kit.
I noticed that the new Curtiss SB2C Helldiver kit (1/48th) that Accurate Miniatures just put out is actually the old Monogram mold. Why is Accurate Miniatures doing this? I thought that they were dedicated to their own kit designs and molds, which is what made them better than the rest in the first place. To use old molds from other companies doesn’t sound too good for Accurate Miniatures as far as being in the black goes. Maybe they’re trying to get out of the red by issuing reboxed kits from other manufacturers? Just a thought…
The Accurate Miniatures kit is based on the R/M Pro-Modeler SB2C. That being said, the ProModeler kit was one of the nicest models R/m has ever released, and AM has made it better.
Don’t be confused with the Monogram SB2C from the 1960’s, because it’s not the same kit.
This SB2C, or the ProModeler one if you can find it, are very nice.
True, they are good kits, BUT, why is Accurate Miniatures doing this? Are they having money problems? Why use someone elses molds when the ones that you make are far superior to just about anything else that’s out there? The biggest reason I like Accurate Miniatures is because of their engineering quality. Is there something amiss at thier headquarters that would make them want to re-use old molds from other companies? Not angry about it, just wondering…[?]
To answer Question No. 1, we don’t know yet. The Vindicator was virtually complete by Bill Bosworth before he left the company. Only time will tell if they continue with the old AM quality.
No. 3, I think the recent Tamiya P-47 series is as good as it gets and surpasses them all.
Now it Tamiya would only make a P-38 series and a P-40B/C, I would NEVER complain again … fingers firmly crossed!!