Anything else as good as Tamiya?

In my opinion Hasagawa was good before Tamiya was good. I think you'll find Hasagawa to be of excellent quality. I believe you'll find different opinions from different builders on which is a better kit. Accurate Miniatures was an awesome product. But they are out of business and becoming hard to find. From reviews I've read each new release of Trumpeter products is better than the last. They have some 1/48 offerings out there (I think) that may be worth looking at. Academy makes some good stuff, and some bad stuff too. In general as new molds are made the products seem to improve. I would take some time and read reviews on the kits. There are some good sites on the web, and good reference books such as detail and scale and squadron publications.

In overall engineering and ease of assembly, it's hard to beat Tamiya. Hasegawa makes excellent kits, but they fall a little short of Tamiya's recent standard. Revell-Monogram's ProModeler series are also good kits, but are often trickier to build than Tamiya's. The general quality of new releases throughout the industry has improved so much since the 1960's era when I really got into it as to be astonishing. To find new releases as bad from the point of view of accuracy, fit and ease of assembly as some of the old kits is really difficult. The bad part of the quality revolution is that the cost of the new kits prices some younger modelers out of the market, and the low quality of the old re-released kits turns off some new modelers. Please don't take this as an insult, as Airfix, Frog, Revell, Matchbox, etc. were certainly up to the demands of the market when they were produced in the 1950s and 1960s, but the hobby was a branch of the toy industry then, and it shows.

Its obvious that some manufacturers are making the effort to bring their quality up from a few years back.

Airfix's older stuff can be questionable sometimes, but in recent years they've certainly picked up the slack. If they can keep up the quality thats apparent in their 1/48 Lightnings, Buccaneers and late model Spitfires from a few years back, then thay are certainly in the league with Hasegawa and Tamiya.

Depending on what you're looking for, ICM is another company to look at, they released a series of 1/48 Spitfires a few years back that I think anyone will have a difficult time topping for some years to come, I've also heard very good things about their 1/48 razor back P-51 Mustang.

Reviews are your best bet before putting down your money, even the best manufacturers can release a bomb of a kit from time to time, where your left just shaking your head wondering "What were they thinking when they engineered this kit?"

Tamiya are usually excellent kits to build but sometimes inaccurate in details. No manufacturer is perfect in either regard. In my opinion, Hasegawa kits are in the same class as Tamiya most of the time. Depending on your subject, other excellent WWII kits are available from Accurate Miniatures (OOP, but still findable ), and Eduard (Bf-108, P-39, Hawker Tempest are the best). Some of the new Eastern Europe manufacturers are really showing improvement and are nearing Tamiya/Hasegawa quality (Check out the new PZL-11 from Mirage or the Gloster Gladiator from Roden, for example ). I have built over 200 1/48 scale aircraft and about 40% are Hasegawa and 30% Tamiya ( Hasegawa has a broader choice of subjects ). If Either manufacturer makes your subject, you can't go too far wrong.

stoopidfish, what exactly is your project? What aircraft are you after? Because it sounds like your doing a very similar series to what I am doing.
I too, am enormously fond of Tamiya's product. Every single kit has been superb, I have built many Formula 1 cars, aircraft and smaller street cars and the quality is amazing.
Anyone seen the Lancaster 'Dam Buster' with actual engines which have all four engines operating by switch, amazing kit!

I have lately been buying the cheaper Airfix and Revell 1:48 models, and up until now, they have been quite satisfactory. The Mark 2 Spitfire from Revell is a shocker of a model. None of the parts fit, it sits far too high on the undercarriage, the tailwheel, gives far too much clearance over the tail section, the left wing has a significant droop in it. I have fixed all of the above after much hassle, except for the drooped wing, which looks close to undisplayable! Not sure how to fix it yet...

Tamiya is undisputed number 1 I believe.

I recently purchassed my first every Tamiya, the 1/32 scale F-4 Phantom. WOW is all I can say. I have been a devout Monogram modeler most of my modeling career (great kits, good quality, great price) but you get what you pay for with Tamiya (spectacular kits, excellent quality, high priced).

Actually, I got the best of both worlds with my Tamiya 1/32 Phantom. I got it for $33 because they had mistakenly placed it on the wrong mark-down shelf at the Hobby Lobby!

I think Mongram is a good value for the price. Lots of detail. But the fit can give me fits. I was complaining to my wife about all the sanding I had to do on Mongram kits (esp. on 60's era kits like the P-38). She remarked that it was a good way to improve my modeling skills.
I built the Tamiya DO-335 and loved it. But my wallet is a lot lighter!

After growing up with Revell and Monogram and staying with them when I returned to modeling in my twenties, I feel like I am cheating now when I build a Hasegawa or Tamiya kit. It is so easy sometimes, it can take away some of the fun for me. I was so used to hours of flash removal and fit problems, then puttying and shiming before I could paint, those things became what modeling was all about. With Tam. and Has. it is just too simple. I can assemble a kit so quickly that I don't feel a sense of accomplishment (and I'm just talking about the assembly, not paint or detail). All of those hours spent cursing at wings that didn't fit fuselages wondering why somebody couldn't make two pieces of plastic fit perfectly, have been answered.

Be careful what you wish for--you just might get it.

Hello, I'm a new member.

Anyway, I live in the Philippines and I've been in the hobby since I was 12 (I'm now 28). Back then, kits were hard to come by since not many people are into this type of hobby. Nearly all of the stores selling models carry only those made by three manufacturers: Tamiya, Hasegawa, and Revell.

It was only these past few years that I began to see Dragon, Academy, Italeri and other manufacturers' products because more and more people are becoming hooked to modelling. Yet, Tam., Has., and Rev. are still my top three choices. You could say, 'we grew up together'. :)

Side note: A number of models in Tamiya's product line is being manufactured here, so I guess that helps in keeping the cost low for those living here. For example, I recently bought Tamiya's 1/35 Soviet KV-IB for P680.00 ($12.60) and the 1/72 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1 for P350.00 ($6.48)

If they are, I haven't seen them. Every brand probably has something that stands out, but on a consistant basis, you just can't beat Tamiya for fit and finish. The couple of Dragon models I have are really close in quality and go one up on Tamiya and add seperate track links, thus saving after market pricing. Tamiya sure beats the pants off Italerei(Which I will never buy again).

Cant help but agree wholeheartedly with nwilliams above comments, - i fell asleep last time i tried one - woke up with it stuck to my forehead.......... if you look down from a Tamiya pedastol on all the others you wont find much - just more Tamiya.......you did ask for an honest opinion

To answer your question...NO!!!

Tamiya gives you a platform from which an outstanding kit can be had. Instead of getting burned out trimming, filling, sanding and fitting...you can spend more time on detailing, scratchbuilding, conversions or whatever else one may want to do. Just my opinion.

Darren

I'n my opinion, Hasegawa is great, particularly the newer stuff.
Heck, the old stuff's great, too.