Best quality models???

I offer Tamiya.

 Mike

Every manufacturer has kits ranging from "gems" to "dogs" and there's no way to simply pin a quality award on one manufacturer's entire line of kits. My best advice is to research prospective kits online before making a purchase.

I will echo Robert's words. "Best quality models" is a useless forum topic that appears on a monthly basis. An old company like Esci made the best M60A1/A3 tank kit, but most every other modern armor kit stunk. Tamiya makes the best HMMWV model but their M3 Grant/Lee tanks are old dogs.

The best way to ask the question is "Who makes the best ______ in 1/48 scale?"

Or "How is the 1/48 scale Revell F-14?"

Do not rely on the brand stated on the box. Many companies today rebox one another's kits. The "new" Revell of Germany T-72 is the old Dragon kit, which is also boxed by Zvezda. The "new" Revell of Germany M3 White Scout Car is a 40 year old Peerless Max kit that has been reboxed by Italeri, Testors, Zvezda and now Revell of Germany.

Revell merged with Monogram in the 1990s to become Revell-Monogram. Because of this, many of the older Monogram kits now show up in Revell boxes. Revell also took over Renwal kits in the 1980s so every once in a while an old Renwal kit shows up in a Revell box. Monogram took over Aurora kits in the late 70s. Even some old Monogram kits and old ex-Aurora kits have started showing up in Revell of Germany boxes (Skipjack nuclear sub for one).

Ditto the above.

The definition can be very subjective from modeler to modeler. The definition of quality can involve someone's view of the subject, the model company, the fun they have with it.... stuff outside of the actual engineering. I'd probably rank Revell/Monogram and Airfix higher than many would if you sent me a Quality Survey, simply because I'm more forgiving on them from a nostalgia standpoint. I know that there are better Spitfires out there, but I love Spitfires, I have great love for Monogram and Airfix from my childhood, and so what most people might be pretty harsh on, I see as "Yeah, they ain't bad." I have 2 built Spitfires and 12 unbuilt- 1 R/M, 1 Hasegawa, and 12 Airfix.... (yes, I know, it's a sad sickness I have.... LOL)

I like reading kit reviews at places like Aircraft Resouce Center, Cyberscale, Hyperscal IPMS Stockholm and Modeling Madness. They tend to give you a good feel for a model- though even there you can find one site that may trash a kit, and another give it a thumbs up.

 

Just to hammer the point home:

The quality isn't in the kit, but in the hands.

I, for one, can muck up the best kit!

Revell is good because is made in Poland.

Most of my stash is Revell.  I don't really mind the ill-fitting parts.  Yes it can be frustrating, even downright maddening, but i feel it gives me more experience for when i do some of the "good" kits.  I'd rather muck up a Revell F-14 learning how to do puttying for example, then to try this technique on my Academy SU-27 that cost me $$$.  Revells are cheaper in price so it's a trade off.  I'm learning more about modeling working on my F-15C with all the ill-fitting seams and such that when i do start on the big boys, i'll not worry as much.

Hate to break it to you, but the 1/48 Revell-Monogram A-10 is still one of the best kits around. The old Tamiya is an inaccurate prototype, and many modelers have dismissed the new Italeri kit as average at best. There's a new A-10 being done by 'Hobby Boss' which is getting good reviews, but it does not even have an import company to bring it into the U.S. yet (it will also be almost double the price of the Revell kit).

Andy

 

AH1Wsnake wrote:

Hate to break it to you, but the 1/48 Revell-Monogram A-10 is still one of the best kits around. The old Tamiya is an inaccurate prototype, and many modelers have dismissed the new Italeri kit as average at best. There's a new A-10 being done by 'Hobby Boss' which is getting good reviews, but it does not even have an import company to bring it into the U.S. yet (it will also be almost double the price of the Revell kit). Andy

But even this simple statement can be refuted. Before Revell and Monogram merged to become Revell-Monogram, each company released their own 1/48 scale A-10 kit. The Monogram kit was the best of the bunch followed by the Tamiya and Revell one and a distant fourth place was the old Esci/AMT/Ertl kit.

I'm not sure where the Italeri kit falls into the above rating. I am also not sure which kit is currently being sold in the Revell-Monogram box (Revell or Monogram), but I've read that the R-M one is the old Monogram one. A quick search of rec.models.scale (granddaddy of all internet modeling forums) had a quick list of distinguishers:

Some simple ways to tell the old-Revell (only) kit from the old-Monogram (now Revell) one: 1.  The kit has Mk.20 Rockeye but no Napalm or CBU-52/58. 2.  Also an old ALE-39/40 'canoe' expendables pod for station #1 and a slightly dated ALQ-101V10/119 on #11. 3.  The kit has decals for the cockpit.

The above list is characteristics of the old Revell kit and is from August 2000.

as most of you have mentioned "REBOXED" kits

i think that in SOME cases  for example the peerless max scout car

the original boxing is(probably) best and as the mold passes on from one co to the next (because of age) the later co product is (maybe) a fraction less in quaility

Most of my kits are revell, some airfix, testors and tamiya. Ive only built one tamiya and that was the 1/35 SAS pink panther, good kit, great detail. My first kit was a revell 1/72 F-14 tomcat and that was a great kit to do, i always recomend the revell 1/72 f-14 as a first kit.

I have a few airfix kits, which i really dont like. Especially the 1/600 bismarck as it just doesnt fit together. Thats put me off airfix, not getting anymore airfix. Though saying that i just got the 1/72 ac-130 Spectre gunship as ive wanted that kit for a few years now.

 For me id need to say revell is the best ones ive done so far.

i see 2 ways of looking at BAD kits

and 1 way for a good kit

[ acccuracy aside for the moment]

 

a bad kit can be used for practicing your skills

or if you have good skills then it ain't a bad kit

------

a good kit    is good for people who are a bit lacking in the skill dept

Honestly though, if you keep running from kits that have some problems, where's the fun in building?

Tankmaster7 wrote:

Honestly though, if you keep running from kits that have some problems, where's the fun in building?

Totally agree with u tankmaster, does give u some skill. But when u pay big $$ for akit, u expect it to fit together. Im not exactly an expert at kit building yet ;) so one that fits properly is just dandy for me :) though the bismarck will be a "challenge" which i appreciate. 

It's probably not an accurate opinion, but my impression is that the Revell kits seem to be more detailed than they used to.

   When i was in my early teens, i had built 2 f/A-18s in 1/48 scale. Both were kinda poor builds given my level of experience, but i still remember the quality of some of the details. But recently i picked up the newer F/A-18-E in 1/48 by Revell, and when i opened the box to inspect the parts, my jaw dropped! I was pretty overwhelmed on the level of smaller details in this kit-especially in the wheel wells! Being that i am just coming back after a 10 year haitus, my first thought was that maybe i got in a little over my head on this one.

My