Best kits and poor fits

I think it's ok to generally state that Tamiya and Eduard, etc., are going to be better fit than some companies, but to make a general statement is too broad a brush for me. I look at each kit on its own and read the reviews if it's from a manufacturer I don't recognize and trust.

Even Tamiya is boxing Italerie kits (like the 1:48 Stuka), and I'd hate to miss a stellar offering from Revell or Airfix just because some of their kits in the past haven't been as polished as, say, the Tamiya P-47 or F4F-4.

Speaking of which, I can't wait for that Airfix Hurricane to come out.

-BD-

There's no silver bullet. There are some great fitting kits, and dogs in every manufacturer's catalog. Even great fitting kits won't be if you don't observe due diligence in the build (speaking strictly from my experiences [flub ups] in building kits). Keep working at it, and don't let fit issues limit your choices in subject matter. Some of your most prized builds will be the ones that fought you to the end.  

Newer doesn't equal better, btw.  I built a "newer" 1/48 Kinetic F-16C Barak and the fit was amazingly terrible.  I'm currently beginning a 1/48 Kinetic (Italeri boxing) E-2C Hawkeye and the fit so far is atrocious....I mean scratch your head atrocious.

There seems to be a few manufacturers out there who routinely get bad reviews...like Kinetic and Kitty Hawk, for example.  That doesn't mean that you can't build a nice model from their kits...that F-16C Barak I built ended up being one of my best builds.  But be prepared to put in alot of extra work with these brands.

Other brands, like Hasegawa and Tamiya, have reputations for going together with little or no hassle.  The 1/48 Tamiya F-16C practically builds itself.   Great Wall Hobby is coming out with some amazing stuff.  I have two of their kits in my stash...the 1/48 F-15C and Mig-29.

And of course some brands have a mixture of great kits and PITA kits at the same time, like Trumpeter.

Of course there's no official documentation of what kits are the best, as that's a subjective answer.

Let's not forget Airfix kits has been making waves as of late.

CaptainBob

Second, after reading many kit reviews, it appears as though many kit manufacturers never even build a completed model based on comments such as "canopy doesn't fit, vertical fin is wrong, wing root needed surgery," and on and on. I know this is ridiculous but so are many of the kit builders' comments about the unnecessary work that had to be done to build a proper model. How can a kit be so poor? And doesn't the manufacturer see these defects?

Bob

It's no different then a car for example. Every single car has it's quirks that "should have been addressed" in R&D.    But a lot of it comes down to money.  Well engineered molds cost A LOT of money -- as does the R&D.      

I'm sure it's much more involved, but in my opinion, that is the basics. 

Strictly speaking about airplanes, I have found that Tamiya has "the best fit". Most of their models I've built went together without any putty.

Hasegawa is good too. Some of their models have been around for a very long time, like the P2 Neptune I recently built. That one was difficult.

With respect to your second question, kits are not really a single source item. They box parts, decals, instructions and the logic (?) in the instructions outsourced from a collection of vendors. The box too, for that matter. A lot of the better ones do respond to problems that become subjects of conversations. I've known of a few that even took back the original, or sent out replacements.