I did a search and most of the info there turned out to be 3-4 yr old threads, so I figured I’d raise the subject again. I have an Italeri 1/48 TBF/M Avenger in the stash, and I’m also interested in their 1/48 Saab Gripen, and their 1/48 Mirage 2000 kits. Anybody built these? What did you think of the quality on these particular kits. I’ve read good and bad on Italeri’s stuff so far, so wasn’t sure. All comments welcome.
Thanks!
Chris
The Avenger is a re-box of the Accurate Miniatures Avenger, don’t know about the rest tho.
Little O/T, but speaking of the AM Avenger, there’s one at my local Hobby Lobby for about 39.00 bucks… What was the price of the Italeri version, if y’all know?
Italeri’s stuff is hit or miss. Some are great others are horrible.
[#ditto]on that! I think alotta Italeri kits were the old Testors molds. While not being the most user friendly kits, they do have some subjects not found elsewhere in certain scales.
I’ve also heard here somewhere that the Italeri Kit of the F-22 is not accurate dimensionally in 1/48 scale. I know that isn’t one of the kits in question, so I’ll concede to those who know better.
But my $.02- if it’s the Accurate Miniatures molding, than you should be good to go![tup]No clue about the other 2 though…
Hans, mine ran about $35 or so.
Thanks… Reckon I’ll wait for another 40% coupon, lol…
I have had no real issues with the four gripen kits I have built. There is also a ton of aftermarket available for them. I don’t go to the lengths of scale measuring my kits, so all I can say, is it “looks about right” next to the others on my shelf!
//soap box//
I have found recently that Italeri kits seem to all be re-pops of other companies kits…
Esci- Mirage 3, Mirage F-1, and the Mb-326… all now being marketed by Italeri.
their supposed T-6G… is the old Heller kit… which is in fact, a re-pop of an older companies mold.
After having built Tamiya kits for years… I have to say that I’m not that impressed with the Italeri kits I have built so far (although they are all re-issues from other companies). I feel that if you are going to re-issue some else’s kits… maybe add something new to it, or add details…especially in this day and age.
//soap box//
The quality of Italeri kits, as with most manufacturers, varies.
First, you need to establish if the kit’s an own-mould, or someone else’s re-pop. This is especially true in 1/48, where re-pops of ESCI (Italeri bought their tooling when they went out of business) and Testors (for many years, the firm that owns the Testors brand was Italeri’s importer into the USA) and Accurate Miniatures and AMT/ERTL are frequently encountered. The occasional Occidental (Spitfire IX, T-6G) and Dragon (Me.262, FW.190D) kit can also be found. Relatively few of the 1/48 aeroplanes (as distinct from helicopters) in Italeri boxes are actually their own moulds, and most of these are modern jets.
Of these latter, they tend to be OK in shape, but somewhat oversimplified in detail. This is especailly true of their cockpits. OTOH, you do have to look at the competition (Airfix 1/48 Tornado and Hawk, anyone?), and the price is usually right.
There are fewer re-pops in 1/72, but several MPM (the Wellington, FW.189, and Hudson come to mind) and other Czech and Russian (especailly Zvezda, but more so in armour than aircraft) come to mind. Again, there are several moulds of ESCI origin, some of which are excellent (Sea Harrier FRS.1) others less so (Tu.22 Bounder). They’ve also re-popped the very large AMT/ERTL kits such as the KC-135, XB-49, XB-70, and B-52G recently. If you do your research on the web, these are easy to spot.
Many of the 1/72 WW2 kit date back to the 1970s, but are none the worse for it. These often cover transports and/ or Italian subjects not done by anyone else. A number of their recent-ish WW2 subjects have accuracy and fit issues (the Spitfire Vb and IX come to mind, as do the Bf.109F and G) but can still be built up into more than passable replicas. As ever, do your research, and you’ll get a fair idea of what you’re getting into.
It used to be that Italeri kits provided excellent value for money, and many still do. However, in recent years, they have incresingly been charging Dragon/ Tamiya prices, especially for their military vehicles and large-scale patrol boats. Too often, however, they have not been providing Dragon/ Tamiya quality in return for these prices.
Choose carefully, and there’s some excellent stuff out there. But beware the occasional turkey, and, with their new-mould stuff, keep an eye out for poor value-for-money. As an example of this, their new 1/35 S-100 Schnellboot is a similar size, and has a similar number of parts, to Revell Germany’s new 1/144 Fletcher-class DD. The former sells for £99.99 in the UK, and doesn’t even come with crew figures ( aseparate set is due to be released next year, and is likely to set you back another £12). The latter retails at £39.99. Also, Italeri kits tend to be significantly more expensive in North America than they are in Europe, but that, I think, is more down to the importer than the producer.
Italeri kits are the third-most numerous in my stash after Airfix and Revell Germany. I do, however, note that of the 47-or-so kits that I’ve acquired this year, less than 5 were Italeri, and of the 25-or so that I’ve completed,only one was (and that was their 1/35 M47 Patton, which came in a Revell Germany box).
Cheers,
Chris.
No arguments with what has been said so far.
I build mostly modern subjects and exclusively 1/72. This limits my kit choices. An example is the F-15C. While it was offered by Hasegawa (excellent kit) and Academy, now I can only seem to find the Italeri kit. This kit is not bad, but they took several shortcuts on details that are disappointing to say the least (notably the over-simplified exposed exhaust workings). Their F-16 is a story of FAILURE. Inaccurate shapes, missing details, poor fit, etc.
I avoid their kits whenever possible. If I do buy one, it is with the plan to add plenty of aftermarket parts to make it look good.
I have to agree with everyone here as Italeri kits are seriously lacking in quality however, if your willing to spend some extra money on aftermarket detail sets they do build up nicely with patients and a little effort.
A lot of Italeri’s modern jet stuff in 1/72 leaves a lot to be desired, but since there are better - if not always cheaper - alternatives available, who cares? If you want a F-16, try the recent Revell Germany ones. Their 1/72 A-10, F-104G/ S, BAe. Hawk, A-7 and Sea Harrier are actually pretty good. And Hannants currently list three different versions of the Hasegawa F15C, so there’s no lack of availability there.
Cheers,
Chris.
I have always found Italeri’s strength lies in esoteric Italian subjects such as the Cr42 and the Semovente.
I’ve built both of these, and while not perfect are good, relatively inexpensive kits.
I also built their re-pop of the old AMT Tigercat a couple of years back, and really enjoyed that.
As others have said, it comes down to doing your research.
Karl
As a “senior novice”, I’m probably not as experienced or accurate a builder as most of you. I have built Tamiya, Academy, Revell, & Italeri, however, but I didn’t think this Italeri T-6 was too tough or ugly.
Ken