All the old big Monogram kits got raised panel lines and don’t fit as well as the newer Asian kits. Overall the Monogram kits have good accuracy.
How could the P-40 kit get the best of you? Did you try to scratch build an interior and landing gear well for it?
not sure if the question was for me but i took the easy way out and bought an interior resin kit. the gear well will have to do. this solved one problem and i may be able to live with the other.
joe
How did the P-40 kit get the best of me? Easy! I tried to match wits with it and I lost! LOL! I think for me it was just a combination of a lot of things. My kit suffered from bad warps, the pilot was attrocious, wing-to-fuse joint was something to cry over…yes I know all these are easily correctable but at the time I just didn’t feel like dealing with it. I really like the sound of that aftermarket cockpit! I love working on cockpits (unlike when I was a kid and couldn’t stand them!) and if I had known at the time that there was an aftermarket kit then maybe I would have kept it. I must have been in one of those moods where I just didn’t feel like dealing with it. Funny. There have been other kits with worse issues that I stuck with and finished. You learn something new with each of life’s experiences I guess.
Best wishes,
Eric
I built quite a few of the monogram modern planes such as the old f-14s and such. I didn’t find them the best. The one thing I really don’t like is the fact that they have raised panel lines. That will be a huge problem when it comes to rebuilding these models, as I’m planing to do. They were all learning models for me, so I guess maybe that’s not the best way to judge, but I had fun with them. They are definitely not perfect, not nearly so, but the price of the kits is not bad. They’ll definitely require more work than tamiya. I don’t know anything about hasegawa, as I’ve never built anything from them.
DO NOT BY REVELL’s SKILL LEVEL 2 KITS. I’m warning you, I tried the 1/48 P-40 and F-15 and the wing halves or the fuselage halves dont even fit to together.
BUY AT OWN RISK shound be printed on the box
Nice to see that Airfix isn’t getting dumped on for once! Most of the problems we have with these kits is age related. The age of the kit, I mean. Modelling technology has come on in leaps & bounds, some of those Monogram kits are 30 years old, as are a lot of Airfix kits. the Tamiya ones may only be 5 years old or less. I built the Monogram Mosquito recently, designed in 1965. Whoever worked out the scale sizes must have been on drugs, bits of it varied between 1/45th & 1/55th. Compared with the Airfix Mossie, designed in 1985, it was hopeless.
But I persevered, scratchbuilt & filled & it was a great challenge, the end result was worth it. Compared to the Tamiya kit, they’re probably both hopeless, but I don’t like Tamiya prices, so I struggle on, but I enjoy that more than a shake n bake kit!
As for why do we buy them, develop our skills, then go onto easy kits. Remember your first few cars? were you forever fixing them? I was, nowadays I can afford a decent car, & if it goes wrong it goes off to get fixed. So the answer is probably, Money!
Pete
I haven’t built any Monogram kits in a long while, at least 15 years, however I have built a number of Revell Germany kits recently, and have been very impressed with the quality.
I am also working on a couple of Dragon kits, one reboxed by Revell, the other by Italeri, and both have required a large amount of corrective work, to get things like fusalage to wing joints to look right.
For the money, I have no issues with Revell, as their 1/72 190 retails at £4.00, while the Hasegawa version costs £7.50, with Tamiya coming in at £10.00.! The irony is the Revell kit is newer, and IMHO better!
If there weren’t kits with construction issues out there we would never develop any skills other than glueing and painting!
Karl
point well taken.
joe
Revell Germany is among the best… Monogram was a leader and still is the best “Bang for the buck” Most of the younger modelers who responded poorly to this question want “Shake the Box” models that take no imagination or added challenge to build. They like many of my peers are spoiled by overpriced & overrefined models… I have much more appreciation for the Older kits at shows and they do affect my judgement when I Judge at shows… Hasagawa has been over rated and overpriced… Their 1/72 P51 B is a prime example…Monogram’s 40 year old 1/72 P 51B is a much better kit…Go figure… I wonder how many of todays builders would stay in the hobby with only Frog, Monogram Revell, Airfix and Heller kits to build??? Or a real treat like Aurora, and Hawk kits…
you make a good point butchy. again everything is relative, if i had started out with only those kits that had terrific fit and awesome detail i would think revell/monogram and the like were garbage in a box. the overall of a revell/monogram kit is very subject specific. my oldest boy has just glued the halves together on his revell p-47 and it looks good without filler. my youngest boy put the revell f-15 together and the kit seems to have fit probs (though not as many as the p-40). both actually look good and will make good first a/c builds for them. my revell 109g has a good look and required very little filler.
joe
I am glad to hear that you all see what kind of skills you can build with these kits.I have always liked Monogram,for the money they are great kits to parcitice your painting and modeling skills.They are fun to do too,also the Revell kits push you past your skills to a newer levell.The pride you get from building these kits is out of this world.It is shorta like someone telling you that you can’t when you know you can.Digger[:)][C):-)][:)]