Best manufacturer of Aircraft models.

You can't go wrong with Hasagawa and Tamiya. You will pay a little bit more for their kits but their quality is second to none. Monogram makes some very nice kits but their quality is not up to par with Hasagawa or Tamiya. It comes down to what you want in a kit. You really can't go wrong with any of the three.

Academy.
Not as flashy as Tamiya, but they make a darn good aircraft model.
I'd rate them:
Academy
Tamiya
Hasagawa
Hobbycraft
Revell

For sure Tamiya and Hasagawa. They have the most consistant quality. The out of business Accurate Miniatures were very good too. I hope another company bought their molds.

AJ,

Here's a link to an earlier thread in which I gave a rather long but pretty thorough evaluation of most of the major aircraft model manufacturers, sticking mostly to 48th.

These days it's sometimes tough to know what's good and what's not so good. As an example; just because it says 'Hasegawa' on the box doesn't necessarily mean that it's a Hasegawa kit in the box. They've boxed kits by several other manufacturers over the years and, in many cases, have retained the rights to do so to this very day. And some of those kits ain't the best; the Secter Fiat G.50 being a perfect example. It's a decent model, but not up to Hasegagme's "usual standards".

If you don't feel like reading the novel I wrote in that other thread, my personal picks are:

Tamiya
Hasegawa
Revellogram/ProModeler (newer molds)
DML/Dragon/Trimaster
Accurate Miniatures
Eduard/Gavia/Flashback (newer molds)

And once AMtech gets rolling on releasing more original stuff, I think they're gonna be up there with the Big Boys. But at the moment I'm kinda sick of their re-hashes of less-than-stellar kits.


Fade to Black...

Blackwolf pretty much said it all................although sometimes the best manufacturer of a specific aircraft may be the ONLY manufacturer of that aircraft type - then you haven't much choice, do you?
I've found that you can't go wrong with a Tamiya kit - of any type.............
Academy
Accurate Miniatures
Hasegawa
Fujimi,
They're all pretty good - but I'm sure there are heaps of manufacturers I've missed because I've not yet built any of their kits.
Cheers,
LeeTree

Hey Blackwolf is back where ya been? The forum has been a tad off since you laid low!! I have to say the Japanese kits really kick a#$. If you construct a Hasagewa kit and then go to a revell.... ya swear alot more.

Wroper11

In my experience, it all depends on what you want out of the build:

Quick and painless with decent detail: Tamiya
Same as above without tearing off a limb to pay for it: Academy
Great detail, but a bit of work to fit: Hasegawa

All great kits, all of which I would swear by.

demono69

Thanks for all the help guys,

I'm get getting back into the modelling scene after about a 12 year hiatis and back then I wouldn't have known a Tamiya from a Revell if it bit me on the ass.

I was pretty sure that Tamiya was a good bet, but I had not heard much of Academy or Hasegawa.

Thanks again.

Well I could give a list of the kits I like to build but I think the important question is - what do you want from a kit. If you want the kit to do all the work, spend alot of cash. If you want to test your model skills, spend a little cash. My advice is to pick a subject you like and a level of craftsmanship you want to invest and go from there. Having said that I would like to warn you away from Lindberg and Starfix, two big stinkers! Hey Steve-O!!! I missed your ever present cyber wit and sage advice. You coming back to Scalehobby soon?

Gotta agree with Blackwolf; the list he presents are currently the best of breed. AMTech may be added to the list soon. Hey, Steve-O, what's up? Long time no hear. Glad to see you're still hanging in there.

I tend to stick to 1/72 but most of the obove opinions apply. Tamiya, Hasegawa, Academy, Fujimi with a qualifier: their detail is generally good but the fit tends to be dismal. You even have to worry about reboxes with Tamiya too. The US market has gotten some Italeri reboxes meant for the Asian market. Academy's quality/price ratio makes them worth their weight in gold.

Sparker, Accurate Miniatures is back in business. Releasing all the kits, and some new ones as well.

James

For my meter for the best is
1,) Tamiya
2.) Hasegawa & Dragon/DML(Tied for 2nd)
3.) Revellogram (the newer releases)
4.) Accurate Miniatures
5.) Academy
6.) AMTech
7.) Arii(old Otaki)
8.) Italeri
I've never had the pleasure of building an Eduard kit so I can't rate them
Ugly Butt Deadly Effective Hawgs
Cuda

There is an old saying about Tamiya kits.....
Open the box, squeeze in a tube of glue, close the box, shake the box a little, open it and you have a perfectly built kit!
Thats how well they go together!

Hasegawa, Tamiya, Dragon. The best stuff comes from either Korean or Chinese moldmakers. You just can't go wrong with those guys.

R/M ProModeler's earlier stuff like the Me-410, Ta-154, Ju-88, etc, which were originally going to be DML kits, are spectacular. But their recent stuff is just reboxed Hasegawa and older Monogram kits. I can't trust buying a kit from Revell or Monogram any more since they started reboxing other peoples' stuff (including Svezda & Italeri) - you just can't tell where it came from.

HobbyCraft's earlier stuff was crappy, but they got REAL good as time went on. Their series of 109s, P-35s and 36s, etc, are very fine kits.

Eduard went from a "experienced modelers only" limited run company to producing kits easily comparable to Hasegawa's. Their P-39 and Bf-108 kits are superb.

Trumpeter is up-and-coming. Their Savoia SM-79 is top-notch, their 1/32 A-10 (originally made for Tamiya?) is phenominal. I just got their 1/32 F-105, and I'm equally stunned.

Accurate Miniatures is out of bidnizz? Man, I didn't know. Better start snappin' 'em up. Anyone have a link to news item, etc?

Accurate Miniatures out of business ? Funny - I was just at their web site !

Jim

What about Airfix and Heller kit. Are they stinkers too as Lindberg and Starfix?

I'd put Airfix and Heller at just slightly below dead center, 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. If your looking to build an obscure french plane Heller is a good place to look. Ditto for Airfix on a less than mainstream british bird. They are far from stinkers, but of the two Airfix is a little better. IMHO

Sparker, Accurate Miniatures is still very much alive:

http://www.accurate-miniatures.com

In fact, we have a staff meeting tomorrow in advance of the Vegas show next month. I'm gonna try and talk management into a 1/48 UC-78!

Tom, didnt Accurate Miniatures go out of business and then was bought and resurrected?

Why is this thread getting so long?
The best manufacturer of plastic model kits (aircraft included) is obviously Tamiya. Nuff' said!

you don't need to be a modeler to figure that out. When I was a RC guy, I didn't even know anything about scale modeling. But when I walked down the aisles in my hobby shop, the only scales models that caught my attention was the red white and blue boxes with some Japanese on it. It stood out because I could notice the quality just from the box. I didn't about scale models then. But the word "TAMIYA" stuck to me.

Sorry Folks,

I didn't know Acc. Min. was still producing. The last I'd heard of them was 2 to 3 years ago. Their website at the time said that they were closing up shop and looking for someone to buy their stuff . I thought that it was a bummer since I live fairly close to their location. I'm glad to hear that they're still around though. Thanks for the info.

The only thing that gets my goat about hasagewa is why would they put that D#$% seam down the middle of a canopy!!!???? UGH!!!!!
Wroper

I built a He-111 Airfix 1/72 scale and had alot of problems with it, The fuselage halves were way out so was the tail wing. I am now building a Revell 1/32 scale Corsair and so far it seems alot better.

Have just built the following Revell Germany kits:

Heinkel He177
FW190A8
Arado Ar555

All were excellent with high levels of detail, inside and out. The He177 is a lot of kit for very little money in the UK, and only Revell would bring out a full range of Luft46 type models. The Ar555 is bizarre but stunning, mine's just awaiting paint.

Also building Academy's Komet. Stunning kit, absolutely tiny, and the tractor unit just cries out for a diorama!

That seam in Haswgawa's canopies is so they can get the correct cross-section. It's all about accuracy. Plus it's easy enough to polish it out. far easier than fixing a bad fitting body seam.