Do You Have a Favorite Plastic Model Mfr? Why?

If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand...

Bandai

Their kits are beautifully engineered, fall together like a dream and are very nicley detailed.  they are on the expensive side though, but you do get what you pay for.

I haven't seen Bandai kits for some time....

they used to produce some 1/48th scale tank kits with interiors- engine, fighting compartments, the works.

Monogram.  Their kits can be built into nice models out of the box, and I grew up on their airplane kits in the 70s, back before the term "aftermarket" had even been coined.  And you can still get the classic kits from Revell-Monogram, or on eBay and elsewhere, for those that are no longer in production.

Nice interior detail, which you can super-detail if you like, and great figures along with the kits.

The 1/48 scale multi-engine aircraft, and the 1/72 B-36 and B-52, are still great kits, that impress with their sheer size.  And they still represent the only kits available, for some subjects.

Even Monogram's 1/72 kits are decent kitsthe P-36, for example, and the P-40N.

I know it will go against the grain with some here, but I would have to say Trumpeter or Tamiya - range, subjects, fine detail, reasonable fit, decent decals & accessories.

Since coming back to the game I have only really sampled the above two, Airfix, Revell GMBH, Italeri & Heller - some of them have been far from impressive.

All said, I look forward to eventually getting my hands on an Eduard kit?

I'm much like you, subject, scale and most influential, cost. If I had to narrow it down, I'd have to say Revell. They've been puting out some great stuff (PBY, F-15E, ME 110-410, JU-52, just to name a few) at very reasonable prices. I feel those kits can rival any Tamiya/Hasegawa, especially when you factor in a price tag that's about half of the competition.

I like my kit's shake+bake,not too many problems.My order:

1.Tamiya

2.Hasegawa

3.Dragon

4.Trumpeter

Overall, Revellogram. Back in the day, they were the cutting edge who set the standard especially Monogram in 1/48 aircraft. And their more recent releases have kept pace at a lower price than the competition. My only beef with them is AFVs. In that area Tamiya is tops.

revelogram.  i love those old clunky aircraft kits.  i sorta like the historical aspect of building something with a date stamp from 1960 or so on it.  sometimes i don't sand it down. 

I like the Revellogram kits.  They are cheap enough that if you want to superdetail them it won't break the budget. 

I like Tamiya kits because they are well engineered and have plenty of detail out of the box.

Hasegawa kits are nice because they are a little more challenging but a little bit expensive.

There is my 2 cents.

Count me with the Monogram group.  I grew up building their kits and have always loved them. 

Tamiya, Accurate Miniatures, and Hasegawa round out my list of favorites.  But my heart will always belong to Monogram.

Eduard for WWI and Tamiya for everything else.

Having a favorite in an industry as wide as the model manufacturers is very narrow minded.

Company A may make the best model of Subject X, but Company B may make the best model of Subject Y. So if you want a kit of X and Y you may have to buy from two different companies.

I also look at price, but sometimes the cheaper company may make a kit that's a bear to build. I'd rather pay the extra bucks to build a kit I will enjoy building. That's not saying I don't enjoy beating an old dog of a kit into a contest winner; I've done that before and it tends to be a labor of love. But since time is often fleeting, I'd like to spend my time building a well engineered kit rather than cutting, filing and filling parts on an old kit all while cursing the kit under my breath.

Rob I disagree some, see reason number two for why, but otherwise yeah I agree.

I have two favourite Brands

Number one by far is TOMY (ducks for cover), Why? The one and only maker of the Konigwolf :P

My second favourite brand is Matchbox. Why? Because I grew up cutting my teeth on them, the only kit I could get. I still cant smell humbrol enamel gloss paints or see a matchbox kit without a rush of fond memories .

Beyond those two I couldnt give a hoot. I have started to look for what I want in a model (ie subject) vs price vs availibilty at time wanted. My last 4 purchases based on above were academy, trumpeter, AFV Club and Kinetic I can say I am as happy with the $12 academy kit as I am the $60 trumpeter kit and will enjoy building both (well the academy decals are tolereable with alot of Microsol so I have found LOL)

Dragon by far.  As I build mostly tank type thingys. They have a  huge selection, and great detail.  I think I have every armor kit they have issued.  Tamiya is great, but they only release a couple of new armor kits a year.  But for aircraft in 1/48, Tamiya is my favorite.   

No favorites, but Tamiya and Hasegawa are always a pleasure to put together.

Rob Gronovius

Having a favorite in an industry as wide as the model manufacturers is very narrow minded

     Having been told on more than one occasion from reliable sources that I'm so narrow-minded that my scratchpads are only an inch & half wide, I'd like to set the record straight once and for all..  It's simply NOT TRUE... My scratchpads are actually 3/4 of an inch wide...

Rob Gronovius

Having a favorite in an industry as wide as the model manufacturers is very narrow minded.

With all due respect, sir, reiner Unsinn!, which is so good as, "Pure nonsense!"

I don't think you mean to assume that each of the posters means that he buys and builds only kits made by his expressed favorite?  No, my favorites are Monogram, but I have Accurate Miniatures and Classic Airframes kits in my stash.  I've built Eduard's P-39Q and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I like Eduard's figure sets as well, and I'd buy more Eduard kits.  I've got Academy, Hobby Boss, Special Hobby, and so on and so on.

And even for nostalgia kits, I've got a stash of Revell, whose 1/72 kits were almost unrivalled, back in the day.  I've got Aurora and Lindberg--after all, Monogram never made the F4B-4 or F11C in 1/48.

And that's only to speak of aircraft kits.  While I have a spot in my heart for Monogram's armor, I built Tamiya in my first modeling phase (ie, before college), and today, there's a kaleidescope of choices available.  But I think I'll buy the re-issued Monogram kits, too.

Now, if only they'd commission Shep to produce some new diorama brochures...

Oh, and I left out Hasegawa, Fujimi, Trumpeter and Hobby Boss for 1/700 ship kits, too.

And I didn't even get into the metal figures and toy soldiers that I collect and paint.

Hey, how about Airfix?  I'm just finishing up the Airfix 1/32 17 lbr gun. A real trip down memory lane.  Yeah, back in the good ole days Airfix was HUGE.  Especially for the little 1/72 planes.  My ceiling was covered in Airfix.  I had a B-17G with Luftwaffe fighters all around it. Monogram and Revell gave their best as well.  However, in the present , my favorite is as I stated previously, Dragon.

I did literally tonnes of Airfix 1/72nd kit when I was a kid , quite a few Matchbox, some Revell & some Hasegawa. Back then I didn't really take them that seriously, if the kit had a problem if was hard cheese & it was the kits fault, not mine - all the Major problems were part & parcel of the kit & remained un-repaired - I though filler was something only the dentist used. 

However when I was just about at the end of my first shot of the styrene merry-go-round, I bought a Tamiya kit. I do remember when I handed the cash over thinking "wow that was expensive", but when I got the kit home, opened the box & scratched about - I was more blown away with the quality, content, instructions & decals than I was with the price.

Airfix has played a huge part in my styrene life, just not so much now!

I don't pretend to know much about the airplane kit field, but in the armor field, you are constantly seeing members who are re-entering the hobby and grabbing the uber expensive ancient Tamiya tank kit from the shelf of the local hobby shop (hey, they were the best 20-30 years ago and still make some outstanding kits today) and bypassing newer kits of the same subject by Dragon, Trumpeter, Academy, etc.

Then they lament about how much detail is lacking in the Tamiya kit compared to seeing build ups of the Dragon (and other) kits.

Bottom line, if they weren't hung up on assuming every (insert favorite kit manufacturer name here) kit is the best, they would stop and look and see if that Fine Molds IJA Type 97 Chi-Ha is as good or perhaps better than the 1970s era Tamiya kit.

I, like Tankboy51 and Milairjunkie, enjoyed building many Airfix 1/72 aircraft and the 1/600th scale ships as well as some Aurora and Lindberg and Revell 1/72 aircraft.

Unfortunately, as I grew older and acquired more resources for improving kits( primarily Airfix and Scale Models 'zines ). The added information accented the accuracy faults.

When better kits started appearing in 1/48th scale - mainly Monogram- I abandoned Airfix and just haven't seen much in their kit range that convinced me to return.

Looking at my stash, I'd have to say that I'm partial to Revell/Monogram kits as well, with Tamiya kits as a close second and Eduard kits behind that.  I like the RM kits cause it brings me back to what I used to build with my dad.  Tamiya kits are just flat out well engineered, and most of my Eduard kits are Hellcats (I've got 6 of them..)

I guess I'll be the odd man out here but my favorite is Moebius! Their prices are good and their models are top notch! My 2nd choice is Monarch.Their a little slow with getting products out but thats because the company is mainly a one man operation but the products they put out are well worth the wait in my opinio