I apologize if this has been covered before, but the search page is still down, apparently.
Which manufacturer have you guys/gals found to be the most accurate as far as their depiction of a/c? I’m finding that while some of the Revell, Monogram and Testors kits are very good, they don’t always represent the real a/c very well (especially the older kits). What have you found?
To me Academy seems to be pretty accurate.
Hmmmm, good question,
I would have to say that (and this is IMHO) that based on references and photographs that I have,I believe Hasegawa would be my answer. But I think some builders will disagree just for the simple fact that I have not been around fixed wing aircraft that much. ( I used to pump gas for Army helos’ in the OK Guard a while back) Strangely enough I have yet to buy a helicopter kit. I was around mainly UH-1H,OH-58’s,CH-47’s and OH-6’s and on occasion a Blackhawk and Apache.Anyhoo [:-^] that’s my [2c]
I’m a broken record on this subject, but for all-around best research and accurate rendering of a/c, gimme Accurate Miniatures any day. The problem is, they aren’t geared for, nor do they have the kids’ dollars, like, say, Revellogram. And though they are expensive imports, geared toward adult modelers in this country, Tamiya is another Revellogram in Japan, like Hasegawa. Much as we dislike their prices (which the importer bears some responsibility for) Tamiya, with their huge catalogue, has to be at the crown in accuracy and availability of diverse subjects to model. But then, imagine the size of their research and engineering departments in comparison to AcMin. I’d say those guys down in Carolina do pretty well by us modelers. This debate is old, as you point out, but it never GETS old because as manufacturers come and go and change as they do, the debate changes as well.
It’s hard to say on a complete brand name. All of them have their good and bad kits It is easier to pick a subject you want to build and then find out which company makes a better kit of that subject. Say you want to build a1/48 P-47, then IMHO it would be Tamiya. For a 109 it would be Hasagawa etc. I wouldnt stick to one manufacturer for everything. Just check around on the kit you want and see what other modelers like or dislike about it.
Dave
[#ditto] Yeah…what he said![:p]
[#ditto][:D]
I’m with these guys!
Although I must say that Lindberg is somewhat conspicuous in it’s absence in the previous listings…[;)]
I just flat out love Tamiya. Nice plastic, good instructions, great product availability. What more can you ask for. While I do love accurate miniatures, I find them cumbersome to do. Tamiya is right to the point. Now I realize there are different levels of us out there. There are some of you guys who could take a Revell and make it look incredible with all your tricks and scratchbuilding and after market accessories. I don;'t have time for that nor can I readily find the secrets in such a way that I can do what you talk about. So, give me a Tamiya anyday and let the pieces fit as they always do and giveme an incredible build. I will pay the bucks for a model that is not going to sit on my shelf and collect dust. I currently have about 10 unbbuilt kits and not a one of them is a Tamiya.
I’m a fan of hasegawa kits , I find them to be very accurate in kit detail , however tamiya is also another fine maker of kits which I recommend for accuracy .
Hey A68, not to hijack the thread, but no offense was taken by you mentioning Channel 4 in your email the other day. If you are in norman, then maybe we have passed by without knowing it. I occasionally visit the HobbyTown down there. I get my model mags from them along with other things(1/32 P-40 and some others)
Knight667, the Detail & Scale books have a modeler’s reference section in the back of each one which evaluates all the known kits of the subject in each scale. I’ve found them to be very helpful and informative. But bear in mind that the information is only as recent as the printing of the book.
Paul
My vote would have to go to Tamiya for out of the box accuracy… I would also vote for Hasagawa as well, especially because they tend to include PE, resin, and white metal parts with some of their kits. I’ve heard that Accurate Miniatures does the same but I haven’t picked one of their kits up as of yet because they’re kind of pricey. Next half-off sale at Hobby Lobby I’ll have to grab one.
My vote would go for Accurate Miniatures, Trimaster/DML, and Eduard. I really don’t like Tamiya’s kits, and I’m glad to say I have none of theirs to build !
Gee, Pix, going kinda hard on the ol’ T there, aren’tcha?[;)]
Respecting your opinion as I do, I have to ask: what exactly don’t you like about Tamiya kits?
I’ve gathered from previous posts that since you enjoy a chance to flex your modelling muscles (i.e., you enjoy a challenge), you don’t like kits that “build themselves,” as most Tamiya kits invariably do with their excellent fit and ease of assembly.
I believe you have also mentioned that you find Tamiya detail to be simple and lacking.
Other than that, what don’t you like?
Y…Accurate Miniatures…of course
imho…without a doubt.
I really like the Accurate Miniatures stuff as well. Unfortunately they only have about 5 planes to choose from. Wish they had a larger selection.
Dave
Well, as I said, AcMin is a pretty tiny outfit and it takes a lot of people and money to research, design and make molds, build hundreds of test kits and make the necessary changes from that experience. Imagine writing one of their instruction booklets starting with nothing but a blank page and a box of parts? I’m not being defensive about my favorite manufacturer, but I think we tend to forget how the kit sprang from somebody’s idea all the way to becoming a nice, shiny box on our LHS shelf. I wish AcMin had a bigger catalogue too, but we almost lost them entirely to financial problems, and I don’t want that to happen again. And I don’t want their accuracy and challenges to suffer because of pressure to make more kits appealing to more people having less skill and dedication to craft than hard-core, adult modelers like most of us, let’s face it, happen to be.
I’ve never built an Accurate Minatures kit, but I’m seriously thinking about trying one of their B-25 kits. They make a B-25H, do they not?
I know they make a C/D and a G, but I am not sure about the H. I don’t think that they do. Shouldn’t be that hard to make the C/D into an H.