I have recently got back into the hobby after a very long hiatus and I am overwhelmed with all the choices that are available. I was just curious to know what your thoughts were on your favourite model manufacturers. I grew up building mostly Monogram and Revell stuff due to the fact that they were the only ones that I had access to and seemed readily available. Now with the internet and Ebay it seems there are just tons of choices out there. I have recently bought a few Tamiya WWII planes and I am very happy with their product. I was also looking at some Hasegawa stuff to buy. Who are the biggest players as far as aircraft go (specifically WWII aircraft)? What are your favourite brands and why? Thanks so much for your input and I look forward to your responses…
Well, this is a wide open field here! I’m sure you will get lots 'o input and opinions. Being new to the hobby myself I have not had alot of experience with all the brands. However, I’ll give it a shot. My list starting with my fav’s:
Accurate Minatures- outstanding kits with great fit and detail, not a lot of subject matter, pretty pricey
Tamiya- great kits with great fit and good detail, variety of subject matter,some kits are pricey, some are reasonable
Hasegawa- great kits with good fit and good detail, lots of subjects, same price range as Tamiya
Academy-good kits with good fit and not much detail, good amount of subjects, pretty reasonable
Hasegawa, I build mostly luftwaffe stuff and they make the best around overall.
Tamiya, like wulf excellent fit, sometimes miss little details hasegawa pick up on. There real new stuff seems to be just as detailed as the hasegawa stuff.
Trumpeter, usually produce larger scale kits, Good fit, detail, some have accuracy problems.
Dragon, just becasue I build luftwaffe stuff mostly they have subjects that others don’t. Highly accurate, very highly detailed models. Getting them to go together is a different story. In general for experienced modelers. Some of there newer stuff is getting better.
Bang for the buck.
academy, hobby craft, airfix, fujimi. All fairly good kits, Accuracy usually suffers and fix is less than I would like most times. Good for trying out new things, weekend projects, tight bugget, or that kit bash project.
My favorite model manufacturer is any 1/48, 1/32 scale kit that I can afford which mostly means Revell-Monogram, Italeri, and other like kits that wont break the bank. I’m perfectly happy buying R-M and other cheaper kits inspite of thier obvious flaws.
Anything in 1/72nd but I love the old kits from my youth. Like to use the skills I 've picked up over the years to make gems out of the old Airfix, Frog etc…Price also comes into play. Have hard time spending 20 bucks or more on a kit, when at a hobby show can pick up a couple of old classics to keep me happy.
I have to agree with Andy here, but with the caveat that I include Hobby Craft and Eduard as well. It all boils down to what level of detail you want and how much $$$$ you wanna spend. All the above manufacturers are top notch, but each his it’s faults. Probably not the decisive answer you hoped for…[8D]
Like other have said I like who ever makes the subject I am interested in as well, but I tend to like a few more than some others. They seem to go in this order.
Tamiya (ease of fit, great quality, good subjects, later kits have great detail)
Accurate Minatures (Good quality, subjects, level of detail)
Hasawaga (Great quality, subjects, ease of fit on some kits)
Academy (Good quality, ease of fit.)
Edward (Great quality, level of detail)
Revell/Mongram (Who doesn’t love the classics?)
Trumpeter (subject matter, qualtiy, level of detail)
Classic Airframes (interesting subject matter, level of detail)
From the list at the end of your post I can see that you are doing 72nd scale kits. I also work in this scale most of the time. I’ll only speak about kits I’ve built…
I’ve been very impressed by the recent kits that Academy has put out. I can heartily recommend their Corsair, P47D Razorback & SB2C Helldiver. They are typically much less expensive than Tamiya or Hasegawa kits (at least where I live). The Helldiver is probably the nicest kit I’ve ever had the pleasure of building. Very detailed for a 1/72 scale kit.
Some of their older kits are not as nice - but you can usually recognize them by the fact that they’re among the cheapest models on the shelf. (Wildcat, P-40)
Revell of Germany has a very fine Hawker Hurricane.
[#ditto] I would add to the academy list with the P-51 series, the Stuka and the Me 163 is awesome. The decals for Academy are usually their acheilies heal, however, they have improved. Aftermarket decals for their older kits are highly recommended.
Revell Germany is another 1/72 kit manufacturer that I would highly recommend. Their recent releases are highly detailed and reasonably priced to boot. I built the Ju 290 and they have released a new Fw 200 Condor and their He 177 is awesome too. They rebox a lot of older matchbox and other kits so do some research before you buy or ask on the forums if you are not sure.
Tamiya and Hasegawa: If you can afford them you rarely can go wrong. Hasegawa have been releasing a lot of newer tooled kits (Lancaster, He 111, Ju 88, B-25, B-26 etc.) lately which are great but they are also very pricey.
Gotta go with Eduard here as my favorite. High quality, almost Tamiyagawa level, outstanding detail, and unmatched bang for the buck make them an excellent all-around choice. Can’t wait for their new 1/48 Bf-110 and Avia B534. New tool releases from Revell of Germany are also excellent quality and value. As mentioned, Tamiya and Hasegawa are traditionally considered the quality leaders, but their prices are significantly higher on average, especially after Hasegawa’s recent double-digit percentage price increase. If you wait for a sale from the usual internet vendors, though, you can still pick them up for decent money.
The above answers reflect exactly what the market bears today: There are a wide variety of manufacturers who each have their own appeal.
My personal favorites are Eduard, Hasegawa, Accurate Miniatures and Tamiya, but if I had to pick one it would be Tamiya, with Accurate Miniatures as a close second. I’ve briefly read about the history of Mr. Tamiya, who started in wood modelling and then becasme a true example of “if you can’t beat them, join them”, switching to plastic, where he excelled. I’ve heard about the Tamiya A-10, but every kit I’ve built of there’s has been top notch in fit and ease of assembly…even the beloved raised panel line A6M2 builds into a winner.
I am not sure if they were the FIRST, but I remember the new innovative acrylic line of paints that came out in the late 70’s, early 80’s…you maye have heard of them…they’re called acrylics. Wthere or not they pioneered hem I don’t now, but I do rememver the Tamiya paints I bought in the early 80’s.
While “best” or not is of one’s opinion, I think most agree they are top notch.
I’d have to agree, which is why lean heavily towards Eduard (they’ve almost cornered the market on WWI aircraft, my favorite subject) and Tamiya for most everything else I enjoy building.
I gotta say, seriously, that while I enjoy 'em all, Airfix to Tamiya, Revell to Hasegawa, the ones I would like to see a ton of are the Eduard Weekend Edition kits. Engineered like AccuTamigawa, priced like Revfix… can’t beat that with a stick!
I have got to say I found academy 1/72 kits havent wanted to build anything else since…but then again I just got back into the hobby and went from revell to academy. so its kinda like being trapped alone on an island starving and eating grubs and moss for years and then finding out there is a well priced steak house nearby
Thanks for all your input guys! I realize that it was a really open ended question but I found the responses to be really interesting. Everyone has there favourites. I tend to lean toward Tamiya but I’m finding that the prices are getting a little hefty for some of the kits that I want. With your guys’ input I think I have a few directions I might try. Thanks again!