Are these Academy kits any good? How do they compare to Zoukei-Mura?
The academy kit is really good. It is far more accurate than the ZM if you care about that sort of thing. You also get outer pylons and MER/TERS. The upper one piece fuselage is much easier to deal with also. Only things the ZM kit has the upper hand with is slightly better surface detail and more detail in the cockpit.
They build up nicely, but I’ll echo the sentiments above: The Academy cockpits are nowhere near as detailed as the ZM ones.
On the other hand, they are not nearly as fiddly as the ZMs. Depending on what kind of experience/outcome you are looking for, there’s nothing really wrong with the Academy offering.
Installing the landing gear mains is a pain.