What are some good Revell / Monogram kits?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
21

Yes they do. It is actually originally a Revell molding from the late 1970s. Way ahead of its time and probably the best 1/48 single engined fighter Revell made pre merger. It’s a late war G-10 so marking options are limited. Eduard does a nice little zoom PE set for it for under $10 so even Von Hammerstein cant complain about the costs. I certainly recommend the kit since there are so few 109s to be had for under$20 in 1/48 these days. I built the original Revell release as a kid, and have a Monogram re issue in my stash.

http://www.revell.com/model-kits/aircraft/85-5253.html

here is the Ju-87, which I built in the late 90s… missing fiddly bits (antena mast, rear guns) are due to a few marauding cats that liked to use my dresser top where it was displayed as their high ground perch, and my ife moving things when I was mobilized and deployed for 18months once upon a time…

and the A-1 which I built in the late 80s. 20+ years of dust show even after clean up…

22

The P-38 is not really that bad. All P-38 kits (any twin boom for that matter) can be a bit of a challenge when fitting the booms. Swanny has a great technique on his website. The nose on the P-38 kit may be easier to do opened up, sometimes the gun cowlings don’t fit well but there are ways to get troublesome one to behave if you want to model them closed. I have built 5 or 6 of these over the years and have loved every minute!

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the 109G-10 is nice also.

24

I love the 109, Stuka, and the P-47s. I also have two P-61s, a F-80, and a He111 sitting in the stash. Many of the kits were purchased at Michael’s using their 40% off coupons. Hobby Lobby seems to carry nearly the same stock as Michael’s regarding these kits and also provide a seemingly endless stream of coupons via the web. Both are great sources for these kits.

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My favorite kits were the old 1/48 Monogram kits with all of the working stuff. I also like the old 1/32 P-51. I did like the B-26, P-61, B-25, C-47, both B-24s, B-17, and the B-29

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[dto:] Can’t wait to start on mine!

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A good place to find kits is at a model show/contest, usually you will find some vendors selling someone’s stash of older kits at about $5 to 10 each. Also looks on craiglist for local guys selling their stash.

28

Gee, Gig, what did you expect? After all, this is the home of the Monogram Maf-, er, uh, I mean, the Monogram Legitimate Businessmen’s Club [:D] Just teasing, of course. It’s a good question!

Surprised that Hammer hasn’t posted yet (I don’t think I missed it).

From me, I’ll say the PV-1, and then go right to the classic kits that were developed by Monogram. My picks are:

the large bombers and transports: the B-17G, the B-24J and -D, the B-29, the C-47, and in 1/72, the B-36 and B-52

the B-25, B-26, and the P-61, acknowledging that many find fit issues with the latter

the TBD, the P-39, the P-51D and P-47D, both the razorback and bubbletop

the P-40B and the P-51B, even though they do show their age

the P-38, the Typhoon, the Fw-190

the F-80 and F-86

in 1/72, the old F4B-4, the F11C, the P-6, the P-40N and P-51B

Now, some will be able to find issues with any one of these kits, fit issues and such, but I think that every one of these is a good kit, which can be built into a decent representation of the real thing, with not too much effort. and into really great models, if you’d like to try your hand at superdetailing.

The older 1/48 kits, like the USN birds, the Me-109 and Zero, are fun to build, and also can provide the same satisfaction and opportunity to superdetail, but even I concede that there are newer kits of those subjects that are probably better to build for the builder who doesn’t have the skill or the inclination to go nuts with a kit.

29

Take a look at this thread for lots of good finished RM builds.

/forums/t/134679.aspx

30

Just thought I’d bump this back to the top, because I’m going to take a look in Michael’s in the next day or so, and I wanted to be able to reference this thread before I go over there. Toys R Us has nothing in the w ay of models, anymore. They list a few on their website, but the store is completely devoid. I guess if it isn’t pre-built, or make noises, or do all of your thinking for you, kids aren’t interested [:(] .

-Fred

31

I’ll throw another vote in for their old P-51 kit, it cleans up really nicely.

I’m going to start on Revell’s new 1/32 line in the next couple of months, good prices and from what I’ve heard they’re really good kits. The idea of an HE-111 in 1/32 makes me smiles, and I’ve seen the Arado and it’s a beauty.

32

I just had to add in that thye P-38 kit by Academy that offers multiple variants is vastly superior to Revell. It might be my favorite kit to build that isn’t by Tamiya. I’ve done the regular fighter plus the Pathfinder, Droopsnoot, and Recon version. So when looking for a P-38 look Academy.

33

don’t forget their 109G-10. one hell of a kit. and it doesn’t have raised panel lines.

34

Revell/ Monogram kits are not bad.Just Handel the raise detail and do some scratch detail and your done.Also they have some detail sets for that kit on the market.I won top honors in a contest for the monogram p-61.Best a/c and detail.The award was so heavy that I needed a tractor trailer to transport it to my show room.

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Handel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7vJ2UFbeXA