Model Manufacturers

Hey mate, welcome back to the hobby and to the forums.

First, I use this site all the time for my kits and supplies

http://www.scalehobbyist.com/index.php

their prices are very good.

As far as what to stay away from well... it depends on your skill.  Trumpeter and Academy have some nice variety of kits but there can be issues (im always finding issues) like gaps and such, that require alot of work to fix. 

Tamiya are nice, there simple kits, most stuff is molded on and the part list is normally low and there not that difficult but they dont look as good as a better quality kit.

Dragon kits are very good for plastic kits, close to top of the line if not, tons and tons of parts tons of subjects, photo etched, etc.  The figure kits are some of the best you can get without getting resin.

I haven't done or looked at any NEW Italeri but I the old ones are alright though there not the most detailed and require a good bit of work.

Cant attest to Mini art either, though I have done their buildings and there the most frustrating thing (there vacuform, the vehichles are not) but after the work the finished product is always beautiful.

Master Box is alot of different types of vehichles, havent built one of their vehichles, but their figure kits are gorgeous, very nicley sculpted and the poses are dynamic and unique.

For Revell I would throw them in the same category as Italeri, except I have nothing but bad luck with their kits (even though there the old ones)

Cyber hobby is on par with dragon for vehichles

I only have one kit from bronco but its a nice kit, comes with a few Pe parts which was suprising for the price I paid for it.

as far as supplies it depends on who you ask.

For brushes I just go to Michaels or AC more and buy one of those 6 packs of brushes and they work beautifully for me.

I love Tamiya acrylic paints. 

I like model master paints but sometimes there not the best, but there good paints for Enamel. 

Testors is alright but there not the best at all, and they dry up fast. 

Humbrol is an odd type, come in little paint can like things but I find their colors to be very nice.

For primer I would suggest Tamiya extra Fine Primer, if you can find it.  Every site I look at has it discontinued but its the best I ever used.

Testors primer is alright but it can sometimes come out to thick, even after letting it soak in hot water and shaking it thoroughly to mix it up.

I suggest using a laquer for dull coate or clear coat, or any kind of sealing.  It allows you to use enamel thinner if you need to do more stuff over top, like washes, without hurting anything under it.

On that note, use laquer thinner to clean your brushes, it eats enamel acrylic and laquer and will even clean artist oils off of your brushes.

I cant give much advice on airbrushes, I have a badger 200 NH (new head model) I dont recommend it, I have had nothing but issues with it.

Squadron white putty is great for filling seams.

While on filling seams lets talk about glue

testors red blue is what I use when I have seams I need to fill, it melts the parts it touches allowing them to dry together as a whole, which allows for easier puttying and sanding, meaning there is no gap anymore, not just some glue between the gap.

for places you dont need to fill seams OR small parts I recommended Tamiya Extra Thin Cement.  I swear by it.

I get my super glue from the dollar store, and its super glue brand super glue.

If im forgetting anything I add it later, hope this helps

First of all, throw out all your notions about brand names and leave that to teenagers who need to have the right labels on their clothing in order to be cool.

Many of the names you remember from years ago that were good or bad, may not be the good or bad manufacturer today.

The best way to get the right kit is to ask about that specific kit in question (how is the Tamiya XYZ?), or if you must, ask a general question like "what's the best early war Tiger tank kit in 1/35 scale?"

Almost every manufacturer makes a good kit and also has a couple of stinkers in their lines. Almost every tank model is made by two, three or more different manufacturers. Sometimes the better kit is a toss up based on personal perferences (Skybow M41 vs AFV Club M41), other times one company makes a better early version and the other company's later version is better.

Google is your friend. There are dozens of sites that review kits and place these reviews on the web. Some review sites are better than others. Some concentrate on specific areas, like Sherman tanks. Others are very general sites reviewing kits from A to Z.

A very popular question.

For brands I'd recommend

• Dragon- Widest array of German subjects with the most AM goodies to make a complete out-of-box build. They even have zimmerited kits. Void the #9### Imperial Series if possible and stick to the Smart Kit lione or Premium ED.
• Tamiya- The old standby. Stay with the 90's and above releases, otherwise you might end up with a dog. Doesn't give as much for the dollar, but generally are considered easier to build with good detail
• Tristar- Considered quite accurate, alas spendy, but provides indy tracks and PE. Limited line of kits though
• Tasca- Ditto the Tristar and are considered the best Sherman kits on the market.
• Bronco- Limited line, but has some nice off-beat subjects and provides indie tracks and some PE and such. Has the Comet and some French tanks which are hard to find from other manufacturers.
• AFV Club- Good variety of artillery subjects, modern armor, with some WW II as well. From my experience with them, I found the directions a bit confusing and parts over -engineered.

The only ones I'd really void are the Eastern European ones such as Alan, Maquette, Eastern Express. Some of the new Mini Art and ICM kits have gotten decent reviews. I wouldn't really go with any of the Italeri releases, for some of been released with newer tooling. Italeri can still trun into nice kits with some TLC, but consensus are the tracks are terrible.

I got a nice compressor from Bearair for a good price,and of course they sell airbrushes.I order kits and supplies from Spruebrothers and Greatmodels,both have good service and selection,with spruebrothers being faster and greatmodels a little cheaper.Freetimehobbies has also been good for me.

Welcome!!

Rob gave you a gold mine of advice. I will add only ....go slow and enjoy. Once I cam back to the hobby I slowly built up my tools. Paint, I prefer acrylic (Tamiya, Model Master Acrylic) but it becomes a personal choice of each modeler.

Like Rob stated, pick something out you want to build and ask questions. You will also find odd ball places become your favorite as you find uses for items.....i.e a good paint bottle opener in Bed Bath and Beyond and lets not talk about the dentist office!!

Enjoy....we are here to help

Rounds Complete!!