What is the best model kit ever?

my count is 1001, I have F-15s,16s,18s,117s, 101s,102s,104s,105s,106s, and much more.

Merry Christmas everyone.

raptordriver

Manny- your antenna wire is too thick.

I think the best kit I have ever built is the Hasegawa Fw-190A-3

My favorite Monogram kit is the Typhoon. I bet I have built more Monogram kits than anyone else on the forum.

My Monogram aircraft count is around 1000 1/48 kits since 1966 with about 100 Revell and other manufacturers-types thrown in for aircraft... Only about 10-12 Monogram armor kits, and about 50-70 Monogram show cars (I built just the "Red Baron" 10 times, with yet one more in the stash, lol..)

I know I built the B-17G at least 7 times, along with the B-24D/J at about 6, the B-29 four, and the B-26 five, and also the B-25H/J at 8, and the P-61 at 6, with at least two more copies of each of the above recently purchased through the ol' HL 40% coupon sales and Ebay...

You probably got me beat though, but only if you're at least 10 years older than me and started with Monogram's wood kits... But I built a LOT of 1/72 scale Monogram airplanes (priced at .39 cents each and getting blown up with firecrackers, then run back up to the dimestore and buy a couple more, only to blow them up  too...)

Manny- your antenna wire is too thick.

I think the best kit I have ever built is the Hasegawa Fw-190A-3

My favorite Monogram kit is the Typhoon. I bet I have built more Monogram kits than anyone else on the forum.

And Trumped-Up-eter dropped the ball on beating Monogram's C47 both in price (by far) and not having any paratrooper figures included...

Agreed.  The Revellogram kits of those WWII bombers still set the standard for best overall value.  Great Detail, Simple and fun to build, and very inexpensive (relatively).

Hans von Hammer

However...

If I were to say... "The Monogram/Revell 1/48 B-29 is the best 1/48th scale B-29 Kit Ever..", no one could argue with me..

Same with their 1/48th B-17, B-24D/Js, P-61, and B-25H/Js...

ya.. that translation doesn't translate well either... part V23 does not go on part D47...and if your not carefull the translation has the rotor upside down..

Ps.. I'm with the Hammer.. never said Revellogram is the best,, I think it was my best,, also from childhood memories as being the only gig intown,, untill Italeri showed up..

I heard that Leonardo Da Vinci's original helicopter kit was very accurate, but a little off-scale and the instructions are only in Italian...

Yeah, I agree Hans, Revellogram kits aren't all 'crap'. Are they the best kits? no. But they certainly are not the worst kits either.

DoogsATX

Hans von Hammer:

However...

If I were to say... "The Monogram/Revell 1/48 B-29 is the best 1/48th scale B-29 Kit Ever..", no one could argue with me..

Same with their 1/48th B-17, B-24D/Js, P-61, and B-25H/Js...

 

Or their OS2U, or...

Not that there aren't some great kits in there, but that's kind of like running for office unopposed.

Whatever it takes...

Hans von Hammer

However...

If I were to say... "The Monogram/Revell 1/48 B-29 is the best 1/48th scale B-29 Kit Ever..", no one could argue with me..

Same with their 1/48th B-17, B-24D/Js, P-61, and B-25H/Js...

Or their OS2U, or...

Not that there aren't some great kits in there, but that's kind of like running for office unopposed.

However...

If I were to say... "The Monogram/Revell 1/48 B-29 is the best 1/48th scale B-29 Kit Ever..", no one could argue with me..

Same with their 1/48th B-17, B-24D/Js, P-61, and B-25H/Js...

Just for the record, I never said that Revell/Monogram kits were the best kits ever...

I simply was responding to the "They're Crap" remark...

I have no idea what the "Best Kit Ever" is... I haven't built all of them, and I take no stock in what kits are said to be so by reviewers...

If I bought the "Best Kit Ever", it'd be a "Monday Kit", with warped/missing/broken parts forcing me to burn down the manufacturer's offices...

I haven't nearly built enough kits to even venture a comment on 'best ever'. I can tell you the best model kit I've ever made. That was Fujimi's 1/48 A-4 E Skyhawk. Great kit, not a lot of detail, but didn't give me any problems.

I do however agree with DoogsATX. I would be hard pressed to say a Revellogram kit could be the best ever. Yes, you all certainly produce some fine looking finishes but I don't think that has any thing to do with the quality of the model. There is a difference. I don't mind buying Revellogram kits, as they are cheap, easy builds and good for scratch building practice. But the amount of correction that must some times go into them, in my opinion, eliminates them from the running. But as I said, I've not built every Revellogram kit available, so there very well may be one that stands out, just not the ones I've done.

Hans, fermis, p38jl - those are some very nice builds, and they certainly illustrate that, in the right hands, Revellograms can come off the bench in stunning form.

But that still doesn't make them the single best kit ever. 

fermis - I've seen you do some truly incredible things with some truly troubled kits...but I think that's a testament to your skills, not to the quality of the kits. 

It's like dropping Michael Schumacher or Ken Block in a Toyota Corolla and pitting them against an average driver in a Porsche 911 GT3. Just because they'd embarrass the person in the Porsche doesn't make the Corolla a better car. It just means they're the better drivers.

I stand by my original take. In general, Revellogram kits offer pretty good accuracy and pretty good fit (and varying degrees of detail depending on vintage) for a really great value. They're fantastic platforms for scratchbuilding. But in terms of fit, detail, engineering awesomeness, etc, no, I personally would not nominate a Revellogram kit as the single best kit ever made.

more "crap" Revellogram...

the much maligned,, often cussed.. P-38M

:

Impossible to answer but two aircraft kits do come to mind:

Accurate Miniatures TBF Avenger...which I have built...

...and the very recent release from Great Wall of the 1/48 Fw189, which I haven't yet built but based on the kit itself that I just received and the reviews it looks to be one of the best quarter-scale a/c offerings OOB in a long while...

By the way, I've seen the TBF voted on as the best kit of all times in a couple of modeling polls...

Sorry Fermis... Was still adding images when you replied..lol..

Few more "Crap" Monogram kits for ya to bash, P-man906...

Here's a couple of Fermis's "Crap" kits...

A "Crap" Revell P-51B kit from Vetteman42..

A "Crap" Monogram kit from the Baron:

"Crap" P-61 from Shep Paine:

"Crap" B-17 from, B-17 Pilot:

If "Shake & Bake" kits are your thing, then yeah, you need to stay away from Revell/Monogram, but if you have a few modeling skills and an eye towards fixing what ain't "right" instead of complaining about it and bashing them, then they're really quite good...  

I could go on, but I feel that I've sufficiently ventillated your Six regarding Revellogram...

And a crap, Revell TBD, took first place with it at the last show, against all the "great" Tamigawas.

And the already mentioned P-61...2nd place!

Tough question... And impossible to answer...  Each kit is subject to the builder's skill-level, ability, imagination, and dedication ... Give a beginner a 300+-part kit and he'll tear his hair out, and likely leave it in a pile... Give an Advanced or Master Modeler a Lindberg, HAWK, or Monogram kit from the 60s, and he'll blow you away with it in competition...

personman906

...Yes, Revell/Monogram is crap...

That an opinion, or a fact? If it's a fact, please elaborate, and please be specific...  Personally, I find that the Revell/Monogramkits are some of the best out there, in fact, several subjects in 1/48th aircraft are the only game in town, and they're quite good kits, especially in the price area...  No manufacturer anywhere is going to release a 1/48th B-29 for 26.00... Where you going to find a 1/48th P-61 for 16.00? Got a line on a B-24J for 24.00 anywhere?  How about a 18.00 B-25H/J? 

Other than raised panel lines or a lack of cockpit/engine detail on some of the kits from the 50s and 60s, what exactly makes you feel the Monogram kits are "Crap", P-Man906?

I mean, here's a "Crap" Monogram kit...  You gonna call my build "crap"?

C'mon, Tell me... What's "Crap" about this one?

personman906

Yes, Revell/Monogram is crap, but Revell of Germany makes some good stuff. Sure, it might be a bit soft on detail, but there are many detail and upgrade sets for these kits.

Whoa, whoa, GINGA (As Kramer would say) Thems fightin' words.

Expect Hammer to dive at you out of the sun, on your six, anytime soon.........

Personally, I'd rather have 4-5 Revellogram on the shelf, than one Accurate miniatures/ classic airframes that would cost the same amount.......

While I don't think it is possible to answer this question accurately since no one has done every model ever made, the best I can come up with is what in my Opinion is the best model I have done.  And by best, I mean the one that gave me the most enjoyment, but not necessarily the finest in technical terms.  My personal best is the Monogram 1/48th. scale B-58 Hustler.  I love the detail, I love the plane and it is a really really fun kit to build.

Rich

Yann Solo

I don't know if that question have been asked before but I think it could be interesting to know in your opinion which kit is the best ever.

No matter if you like doing armor or ships or aircraft, which model did you like to most.

Personaly I like big scale models for the level of details. But you, which kit did you enjoyed the most and why?

Tell me which kit will be the next that I buy.

I can't decide between the AM TBF or the Tamiya Mossie.

The one that in am working on now .the one that is next . The one that you can afford All kits are the best if they are the one you like.Ron

I have a majority of Luftwaffe subjects in my display case and stash, but I enjoy building just about anything. And as far as kits go I'm not really stuck on any manufacturer although I usually stick to what my LHS has in stock, usually in the Hase / Tami / Academy labels. He's started carrying more Revell lately - he never did before because WalMart etc carried the same, but they have since stopped - and I picked up an ICM Spifire a few weeks back.

(BTW, that ICM Spitfire looks to be a really nice kit for the money - once I've finished up my pending GBs, it may be the next build.)

DoogsATX

p38jl:

wow... you Revellogram naysayers... lol..

Personally... a Revellogram always works out well. especialy for the $$$.... they never let me down..

 

I was waiting for this thread to devolve into the usual "Tamigawa vs. Revellogram".

My take: Revellogram kits usually represent a fantastic value and a good canvas for scratchbuilding. But that's different than the single best model kit ever.

it devolved before I replied.. I was just remarking mostly the Revellogram naysayers,, someone above mentioned the Monogram B-25 with the cannon nose was his( I think )... It all will depend on your experience when you built it.. it might be the one you havn't built yet..

It might be the last one you built..

it might be the TamiHasacadmey P-5184861B model you built last year..

One will never know untill they build it..

the parameter of the question is bit to broad,,,

but my answer is Monogram P-38.. I am biased.. lol,, but we are all in one way or another...

p38jl

wow... you Revellogram naysayers... lol..

Personally... a Revellogram always works out well. especialy for the $$$.... they never let me down..

I was waiting for this thread to devolve into the usual "Tamigawa vs. Revellogram".

My take: Revellogram kits usually represent a fantastic value and a good canvas for scratchbuilding. But that's different than the single best model kit ever.

...Zuiho...

I think that'll change depending on your personal experience with the model. One of my recent kits comes to mind. Tamiya's 1/48 Storch - more $$ than I usually spring for, very well detailed, very well engineered but if you made any mistakes it became more difficult... it actually put a lot of "don't screw this up" pressure on me... Happy with the final product, I'd consider building another, but it kinda stressed me out!!

I think the best kit ever is probably "the next one!"

wow... you Revellogram naysayers... lol..

Personally... a Revellogram always works out well. especialy for the $$$.... they never let me down..