Model Brand Recommendations

I don't understand how anyone could be a beginner with advanced skills but who am I to judge. If you want a challenge try one of Dragon's Tigers or one of their Abrams tanks. Lots and lots of fiddly bits to test your patience that will build up into a very accurate model. Another fantastic kit with a huge parts count is Trumpeter's Leopold Railway Gun. But really any of the major mfgs. today produce some great and some lousy kits. Rather than ask for a particular mfg. try asking about a particular model. It's a lot easier to answer that question. Good luck.

I don't have a particular brand I'm loyal to. I've done tons of brands, Revell, Hasegawa, Tamiya, academy. MPC. Monogram. Zveda, etc... The list goes on and on. If a kit fancies your interest, what difference does it make when it come to the brand you choose.

ahh, I have the "high number of parts" deal for you

a 1/48 scale Hasegawa Tomcat,,,,,,and for honorable mention, the 1/72 scale counterpart

other people, including Hasegawa's older tooling, were able to do it in about half the parts count

as for "best brand", I am sorry to say that there is no blanket "best brand", not even if you narrow it down to one genre, such as "best brand of 1/72 model aircraft"

here's a short list, going by the fact that I wanted the "best model" of each aircraft type listed here

F-4 Phantom,,,,,,,,Hasegawa, out of all the many, many manufacturers

now, that makes you think that you should buy the Hasegawa Crusader, Intruder, Skyhawk and Corsair II to go with it, right?

Nope

Best Crusader,,,,,,,Academy

best Skyhawk,,,,,,,Fujimi, Esci, and Airfix

best Intruder,,,,,,,,,Fujimi again, with Italeri a close second

best Corsair II,,,,,,,Fujimi again  (grafting an Italeri nose onto the Hobby Boss body is okay, too)

best Skyray,,,,,,,,,,Tamiya,,,,,,trick question, though, Hasegawa never made one

best Cougar,,,,,,,,,,,Hasegawa,,,,,,,another trick question, Hasegawa makes the only one

you will find some of the same things happening in 1/48 and 1/32 also, and in Tanks, Ships, Prop planes, whatever

Rex

Technical assembly would be several, detailed parts, subassemblies that would fit together with mixed medium.

Try http://www.mirror-models.com/Products.html 

The, US Diamond T969 Wrecker, may be what you're looking for. They make two types. 

I'm waiting for the: USA D7 7M Tractor and the D7 7M Bulldozer from this mfg. 

If you want a plane to keep you busy for a while, pick up one of Eduard's Profipacks.  Very little aftermarket is needed since they include so much stuff in their kits.  The canopy alone on their 1/48 BF110D has like 16 pieces including PE.  It's a caffeine drinker's nightmare!

If you find something you like, head to that specific forum and ask about it's specifics there.  To TarnShips's point, I knew about the nacelle problems on the aforementioned 110D when I bought it but didn't know that Eduard had corrected it in later versions.  If I had, I would have bought the newer version. Same manufacturer, same plane but quality differences between versions.

Don't count out scratch building a few components either.  Some of the guys on here are wizards at that stuff and are always willing to share their knowledge.  And if you're looking for something to keep you busy, scratch building will do it!

Para, You've gotten plenty of good advice here. The only thing I'd add is if you're looking for a brand that has a good reputation for quality and that generally manages to pack a lot of parts into their kits, I'd say take a look at Trumpeter. This doesn't always hold true, as others have noted, but generally speaking, they seem to meet your criteria. Personally, I think some of these makers go out of their way to break their kits down into extra parts that in the end only add to the work load, not necessarily to the outcome. That said, though, if lots of parts rings your bell, Trumpeter is a good starting point in general. There will be differences of opinion, though, and likely, some to follow shortly. :-) Happy building. Barrett

I agree with Rex on the Corsair II by Fujimi. That was one of my first A-7 kits. Wonderful kit no doubt. I guess it's all about trying the brands and try another to make your first impression.

cwalker3

another fantastic kit with a huge parts count is Trumpeter's Leopold Railway Gun. 

yep 1/35 over 1000 pieces. starting one of those in january. i suspect the 2 1/35 trumpeter steam locomotives have the same number. most warwheels, especially modern have complete chassis so lots of stuff no one sees but is fun to build.

i don't think eastern express makes planes but they would not be my first choice in a kit.

Eastern Express does make planes, but, you are oh so very right, Wayne,,,,,,,,,,they wouldn't be anyone's first choice.

Rex

One brand that certainly belongs on any such list is Wingnut Wings.

It's a small company located in New Zealand. I believe it was founded under the auspices of Peter Jacksn, the movie director. Wingnut Wings concentrates on one general topic: World War I aircraft. And one scale: 1/32 (which to my notion is just about ideal for these particular subjects). It also only deals by direct mail order (no wholesalers or retailers). Its service is amazing. My SE-5A arrived less than a week after I ordered it.

Building a Wingnut Wings kit is like taking a course in aviation history. Everything about the kits is first-rate: accuracy, detail, instructions (complete with reference photos and color shots of preserved planes and modern replicas), decals (four or five color schemes per kit) - name just about any aspect of kit production; Wingnut Wings does it as well as, or better than, anybody else.

Very highly recommended. The link is www.wingnutwings.com .

I find model ships, especially sailing ships seem to have the highest parts count of what I build. I am building Heller's big Soleil Royale, and it has over 2000 parts!  However, I am currently working on Revells London Bus, and that sure has a high parts count too!

i suspect the 1/35 DORA 800mm railroad gun has a few parts.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

I don't have a particular brand I'm loyal to. I've done tons of brands, Revell, Hasegawa, Tamiya, academy. MPC. Monogram. Zveda, etc... The list goes on and on. If a kit fancies your interest, what difference does it make when it come to the brand you choose.

Sometimes the same subject is produced by more than one company. More often than not, one company's kit is superior to the other company's kit. In this case, the brand matters greatly. Sometimes the same exact model is boxed by more than one company. One company may charge more than the other or perhaps one company provides better decals. Again, the brand matters.

I've often thought the question as to the best brand of model to be one of the more useless questions. This is because it is too general and there in't one brand that makes only great kits. Every company has a kit or more that isn't as nice as another company's kit.

For example, Tamiya is often considered one of the top model companies. But if you wanted the best Vietnam era M48A3 Patton tank, you'd be advised to chose the newer, superior Dragon kit. If you wanted the top Hetzer kit, the Tamiya one is superior to the Dragon one.

If you wanted the best Staghound armored car, you could chose between the Italeri kit and the Tamiya kit, but inside they are the exact same kit. The only difference is Italeri includes a metal gun tube and Tamiya includes a set of figures and stowage.

That's why I always suggest asking "who makes the best ___?" Making sure to give any additional information like scale, level of complexity, price range, your level of experience, desired accuracy and other items like this.

The answer to who makes the best ______ would be useless to the person asking if the kit was way out of their price range or beyond their experience level.

waynec

i suspect the 1/35 DORA 800mm railroad gun has a few parts.

And a pretty hefty price comes with that part count as well. Would love to afford it though, it looks very intense.