Again, that depends upon the kit. None of the Tamiya kits in my stash come with precut masks, nor have any that I have ever built. The one kit that did have real rubber tires had them split on me. So that is not a major selling point. Their decals- adquete at best, certainly not the best in the business. And yes they do cost an arm and a leg. Tamiya nowadays excells on engineering, ease of fit, and on some kits, detailing, but again, that has not always been the case. The one place where Tamiya does set a sterling example in my experience is customer service. And their instruction sheets are pretty good as well. little to no ambiguity or mistakes like certain other companies who shall remain nameless.
Both kit makers are nearly the same .Bad fitting,raised panel lines,bald cockpits , barely visible canopy frames and so on.Kit makers like that are only good at re-boxing products.The only good thing about those kits is that w/ lots of work it will make you a better modeler and super detail scratch builder.well,I remember when the modeler John Vojtech won his second I.P.M.S. National title w/old testors models like the C-130 and the B2Flying Wing.
If you are throwing Monogram and the newer Revell in that bunch then I have to disagree with you. You cannot generalize as such. I do agree that Italeri is mostly ok and can use some TLC in the cockpit and wheel wells.
The old Monogram 1/48 Century Series Jets have one of the best molded details in both cockpits and wells than any other I have seen IMO. The raised panel lines is no biggie to me. I like the older Monogram F-100 to the new Trumpeter hands down. The current Revell releases of the 1/48 F-15, FA-18E and the latest being the PT-17 Stearman are quite good in overall details. Revell of Germany keeps putting out winners such as the 1/32 Arado, Uhu. Bf109G just to name a few. Not to mention their beautiful Type IXC and Type VII/C U Boats in 1/72.
I would say that it’s hit and miss depending on the kit as with the Revell release of the 1/48 Skyraider AD-5 (A-1E) being a re pop of the old Matchbox kit that has gotten terrible reviews for lack of just about everything.
You should try a kit from Wingnut Wings. They blow Tamiya out of the water. …and yes, I can say that because I’ve built my share of Tamiya, and 4 of the Wingnut kits (am currently on my fifth), and they surpass Tamiya in every way. Rarely do you see them mentioned on these forums however, as not many here are into building stringbags. If more were, they would see for themselves just how good these WnW kits are and most likely take a more realistic view of Tamiya’s quality.
WnW no doubt has some gorgeous kits. But unless you are into large scale WWI aircraft, you are SOL. They are highly specialized in one subject area. Mind you there is plenty of variety to be had there, but it is still quite specific at the same time. Just about every other model company, for all their roses and thorns, caters to a wider taste of subjects.
I second ruddratt’s assessment of WNW. The first time I opened one of their boxes I was blown away by the exquisite and rich details they pack into their products.
Have heard nothing but excellent reviews of WnW kits. Perhaps they will take on more popular WWII subjects after gaining loyal customers? It would raise the bar for all manufactures to step up their game or quit playing.
I am building the new release of the Revell PT-17 Stearman. I have started on the engine and the molding is terrific. I have never seen such fine cooling fines on a styrene engine! It is fully as good as any aftermarket resin engine I have bought. No need for an aftermarket engine on this kit.
I recently picked mine up at Hobby Lobby with the 40% discount coupon and tax came out to $10.59. It is really an amazingly detailed little gem. May get a couple more to make in different markings. Any other manufacturer would be selling it for at least $30.
WNW would have to massively expand their subject area, production, and marketing for that to happen. Seeing as how they are only taking a corner of the market that pretty much all of the major kit companies worldwide have ignored, they are not impacting them directly.
Plus, one would only have to take a look at Mr. Jackson’s company, The Vintage Aviator, to see which era of aviation his passion is truly directed at. Before WnW came along, there was Academy and Roden if you wanted a large scale bipe from that era, and while good kits those are, WnW has raised that bar a mile higher.
Wow Falcon - what gives? Your first post you say Tamiya and Hasegawa are the worst and Revell is the best. Now you come back and say Tamiya dn Hasegawa are good quality kits and you now avoid Revell.
I think Falcon was being a wiseguy early on… shades of somebody else who used to run amuck here…
Revell also did a handful of large scale WWI aircraft in 1/28 scale way back when. But I don’t recall those being issued since the 70s. At least by Revell USA.
Quickest path to being ignored is useless flippant responses.
Very few manufacturers make only bad or only good kits. Most have a good kit in their line.
Stik
ROG re released the 1/28 DR1 and the Spad. These actually build up as decent models with lots of scratch building and help from Tom’s Model Works PE sets still available at shows. The Spad needs more work to get it to look good. I built the tripe a while back and did a ton of scratch building on it. FSM purchased my article but has yet to publish it. The decals are from an old IPMS Convention sheet they did for the 1/28 Spad, Camel, and DR1.
(http://s385.photobucket.com/user/plastikjunky/media/003_zps85a5c05e.jpg.html)]
I’m getting that feeling stik. Thanks.
I’ve done various kit brands through the years depending on the subject. I mainly like to shoot for Tamiya, Hasegawa, and other a couple other brand kits for aircraft. I’ve done some mid-range kits such as Fujimi (not sure if they still exist since I returned to the hobby) with surprising results. This year, I can’t wait to build Hobby Boss brand. My goal is to try Eduard kit or two as well. Should be interesting builds no doubt. During the 70s, Revell and Monogram were my kits of choice for aircraft and armour.
The one and only Hobby Boss kit I’ve built was the 1/48 MiG-17F. It wasn’t all that impressive fit-wise. Might just be an anomaly however.
Gary
PJ, that is beautiful indeed. Remembering those old Revell 1/28 scales sent me off on a tangent last night and I went hunting for the “Great Waldo Pepper” kit online, then had to lookup the movie as well… I had not thought of those things in decades. Now I want to see if I can watch it again.
Thanks stik, glad you like my tripe. I also have the Camel in the stash which will make a nice build. The Great Waldo Pepper with Robert Redford, now that’s one great movie!