I want to buy five 1/48 scale WWII prop and very early jet kits to build this winter.What kit/kits do you think are the best for scale,detail,and fit.Thanks for your opinion.
1/48 Acc. Min. Avenger, any variant.
You can start with an article “Playing Favorites” by Matt Usher in the January 2002 issue of FSM where the readers voted the 20 best kits in the last 20 years. Yes, the article is old, but most of its votes still apply. There are quite a few 1:48 scale aircraft kits there (11 of the 20). The article is downloadable.
I will add the Revell Promodeller Sabre Dog F-86D and the Tamiya P-51D kits. Both have excellent quality and fit. They appeared on the market after the 2002 votes.
Let us know which five that you ended up choosing.
Tamiya P-47 and P-51 are very good,also the Tamiya Me-262’s are really nice,and are great builds with no hassle.Also Hasegawa P-40.
it depends on what your interest is. Tamiya would be best for fighters and what not, while Revell has nice bomber kits
Depends on what aircraft you’re looking for, and what style of kit you like to build.
A few I’d recommend:
P-51 - Tamiya, any variant. I’ve built the B and have the D in the stash, and they’re great. Fall-together fit.
P-47 - I’ve heard nothing but absolutely glowing things about the Tamiya jugs.
Wildcat - Tamiya for the F4F-4, Hobbyboss for the -3s and the GM-built FMs
Hellcat - Eduard. Have the kit in my stash, and it’s the best looking kit on sprue I’ve ever seen.
Corsair - Tamiya for the early models.
FW 190 - The Eduard kits looks pretty stunning. Will wait for someone who knows Luftwaffe birds better to chime in.
BF 109 - The Zvezda F-2 is supposed to be the best. Can’t say so for sure, but I picked one up today and it looks very pretty. For the other variants, Hasegawa.
La-5/5FN - Zvezda
La-7 - Eduard
Other Russian aircraft and Japanese aircraft…I’m not as up on those. If there’s a specific plane or planes you’re eyeing, post them up and that’d probably help a lot.
Monogram/Revell… All of them…[t$t] 9.00 to 20.00 dollars for single-engine and twins here:
http://www.modelexpo-online.com/search.asp?SKW=cat1_ap%20revell%2048
I buy from these guys all the time, w’ nary a problem…
As far as early jets, Revell has the F-84G and F-86D. I think these are Pro Modeler re boxed kits. Both are not expensive and have beautiful engraved panel lines. You can add some inexpensive Eduard PE detail sets but its not really needed since both kits have some really nice detailed pits and wheel well details. Even the decals are very nice for both models…
If you got the cash, then by all means the Tamiya kits are nice, Hasegawa is nice, but try to find it on sale because they are proud of them.
If you are on a budget and have to think of the supplies needed to build and finish them as well as the kits thier selves, then Revell-Monogram is the biggest bang for the buck.
Personally, I would mix it up a little.[Y] Get one each of several different brands.
I don’t get this whole “Tamiya/Hasegawa is expensive” thing. Sure, with some kits. I don’t for the life of me understand why Tamiya’s Fairey Swordfish is like $75. But I got both my P-51B’s for $23 each. Got my P-51D for $20. This week I snagged their F4U-1A Corsair for $18 and an Eduard Yak-3 for $13. And Zvezda’s 195-piece beast of a BF-109 for $23.
The Hasegawa f-86s are very nice, I don’t remember what I paid though
Classic Airframes & AFV club both have RF-5s both are extremely nice, thought the Classic Airframes is a short run kit & has lots of resin in it… [if you can even find one!]
Accurate Miniatures makes some of the nicest kits for prop driven stuff… Avenger, Dauntless, Helldiver, B-25, Stormovik - Which you can also get the same tooling from Italeri for a few bucks less, the Avenger & Stormovik
If in doubt, you’ll have a hard time missing on nearly anything from Tamiya
-sean
Tamiya Mosquito FB Mk. VI / NF Mk. II. Absolutely incredible detail.
I opened mine today, thinking I was going to start it. Then I saw the amount of detail and craftsmanship and decided that, in order to really do it justice, I’m going to add some AM parts. Looks like it’s going to be my “big” project, for this year.
-Fred
Hasegawa Fw-190 A-3 was probably the nicest kit I have built.
Never ever Monogram.
It seems to me like Tamiya has two price tiers, one in the $15-30 range and one in the Hasegawa range. I’ve built a few of the cheaper Tamiya kits and they were the nicest kits I’ve built, as good as the Hasegawa I’m working on currently.
Agreed Hun Hunter. IMO, some of Tamiya’s more expensive kits make sense, as they’re physically larger aircraft. The P-47s or Mossies, for example. But the prices they’re asking for some of their Zeroes and the like strike me as a bit silly. Still, they appear to be the exception rather than the rule.
Blasphemy! [:@]
Monograms Me-109G10 is a sweet kit! Inexpensive, fits well, and you are hard pressed to find a better bargain. And their latest new mold releases such as the F-84E/G or F-15E rival anything out of Asia for half the price.
I have to say Revell/Monogram kits are a great value, BUT if you’re looking for “the best” kits I think you’re going to be looking to other kits. They’re fun and easy kits though, clean up really well.