At squadron they have two brands in 1/48 scale.1st Maquette.They were selling a Yak for 4 bucks.Why is it so cheep is it poor quality or what?Same goes with Smer.[%-)]
I have never eyeballed a Maquette kit but I can tell you Smer is absolute junk! They are reboxed Artiplast kits from the 50’s. They are not even 1/48 scale they are 1/50 scale so they do not shelf with any other models you might have. The panel lines and rivets are horrible. The wheel wells and radiator openings are empty holes, cockpit detail is basicly a rear firewall floor and seat. I did build there Fiat G55 as and experiment to see how much I could improve it with my limited skills. I sanded of and rescribed all the panel lines {poorly I might add} Added wheel wheels homemade air intake and radiators and scratch build new cannons. I also sanded down the super thick and distorted canopy and futured it. Here are a couple of pics.
Soulcrusher
As a general rule, you get what you pay for. The cheap kits tend to have inaccuracies, fit problems etc. The accuracy issues only matter to us detail nuts, as far as I’m concerned as long as it “looks” like a such and such, then it is. Although when it comes to Bf109s and other planes and tanks that I know very well, I tend to be a lot more picky and the accuracy and details matter to me.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t make a great model out of a cheap kit. It makes it much easier for our younger modellers to get into the hobby as it makes it affordable to them. And sometimes that off the wall kit from Russia or somewhere in Eastern Europe is the only one available for that particular tank or airplane.
I’ve been eyeing Zvezda’s and Maquette’s (I think those are the two brands) ISU152 kit for a while now. Been watching someone else’s build of that tank and I think I may have to add one to the stash.
Often times too, some of the cheaper kits are from ancient molds that have raised panel lines, which aren’t for everyone. But again, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a nice build from one of them. The best thing to do before buying one of those kits is check out a couple websites that have kit reviews, and read up about the kit before you buy it.
For example, this site http://www.modelingmadness.com/ has great reviews and previews of kits and decals.
Hyperscale has reviews http://www.kitreview.com/reviews.htm
feature articles http://hyperscale.com/features_air2004.htm and a
Gallery section http://hyperscale.com/galleries_air2004.htm which can be helpful when deciding if you want to get a kit or not.
Cybermodeler http://www.cybermodeler.com/mainmenu.shtml also has kit reviews, previews etc.
If you can’t find a review of a kit at any of those sites, just google a kit, for example do a search on “Classic Airframes Bf109A review” and you’ll find more information.
Some of the more expensive kits usually will have extra goodies like photo etched seatbelts and parts, resin cockpits, aluminum barrels etc. So it definately pays to do a little homework when kit shopping.
I’ve only gotten picky about that stuff over the past couple of years. When I was younger I’d build anything I could get my hands on, and be totally happy with it. [:D]