I only have experience from that list, in armor, with Heller, and only a couple of kits. Certainly build able, and a subject that no one else kits. I don't think they've had a kit in a long time.

Zvezda in other subjects like ships and aircraft have been selling a lot of stuff recently that is derived from pretty basic sources like eastern Express, old Novo/ ex-Frog.

All of those types of kits take a lot of work, but if you pride yourself in overcoming obstacles, and find a subject you like, it's hard to say no to any model.

One model company that is back, and I still do not like at all, is Lindberg.

Zvezda and Heller have improved their kits as time went on. The other two, no. I don't think either one of those companies has put out a new tooled kit of their own in well over 10 years.

GMorrison

One model company that is back, and I still do not like at all, is Lindberg.

Thats true, and their website has a lot of interesting stuff. I recently bought both the Lindberg President Wilson, and the "Q ship".

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Zvezda has really improved over the years.  I have their T-90 kit, and although according to the experts it is "fatally flawed" by having a too tall hull, the molding and detail are superb.  Their new IL-62 airliner is also a beauty, as I have had a peek into a friend's kit.  They seem to focus more on aircraft than armor, which may explain their re-boxing of other manufacturer's kits.

Heller seems to be stuck in the past, as I have not seen a recent tool kit from them.  Their Leclerc from the 1990s was a turd!  To be fair, I built the 105mm AMX-13 back in 1980, and thought it was a good kit with the exception of the stiff rubber band tracks and crappy figures.  Too bad Heller can't reinvigorate themselves like Airfix, and focus on unique cool French stuff.

Thank you. Being an amateur, I need kits that are relatively easy to build (Tamiya) with good detail (Dragon has the detail thing down pat but the sea of parts...)

Yes, you really can't go wrong with Tamiya.  Even their old doggy kits are easy to build.

Heller came out with some wheeled French APCs. The VAB 4x4 and VAB 6x6 that are probably their newest tooled armor kits. Although I would estimate both if those to be probably nearing the 10 year mark on release date now.

Zvezda also modified some of the older Dragon Soviet wheeled vehicle kits. The tires are better than the original Dragon soft rubber ones that would split after a few months. And they put some later turrets on the BTR kit(s).

But for engineering ease of assembly in armor you really can't beat Tamiya. But also have a look at Italeri's older 1/35 armor kits too. Their Sherman's, Panzers ( I, IV& 38T), Crusaders, and

M13/40 & Semovente kits are all good builds. As is their jeep in all it's various guises...

I think the first armor kit I built (2.0 phase not counting all that Renwal stuff) was the Italeri Panzer 4. A really nice model.

Yes, the Italeri Panzer IV family has held their age quite well. Beautifully detailed kits straight OOB. Get some Academy indy link tracks and you still have a great bargain priced kit.

My first 2.0 armor kit was the Tamiya M-3 Lee.  I had never heard of Tamiya nor knew what an M-3 was, but dad filled me in on the Lee.  The packaging, kit and instructions told me all I needed to know what Tamiya was all about.  I was hooked.  I also stretched my first sprue antenna with this kit (with dad's help of course, what with matches and fire being involved).  That was back in 1976!

I also agree that Italeri's Panzer IV series was great for its time.  The part breakdown was very fine, more so than Tamiya.  As a small kid though, Italeri's hard, brittle plastic made the old "twist & snap" method of part removal impractical.  I think that was one of the reasons that prompted me to start using cutters.

Lol, my first 1/35th armour kit was that same Italeri Panzer IV (F,F2, and G version I think) back somewhere around '86-'87.  

I am building the Alan Waffentrager , and its a nightmare , go to be one of the worst kits I have ever built , nothing fits , more filler then plastic , but I am going to do my best .

I chose the Lindberg "M-46 Patton" (more appropriately known as "M46 Patton") as my re-introduction to the hobby because of its low skill level requirement. Yes, it may be simple, but I definitely got a refresher course on cleaning up flash, mold lines, ejector marks, and filling in gaps with putty!

The kit is definitely NOT 1/35 (more like 1/32 or larger since it's a re-issue of an old motorized kit), not historically accurate, and not great. That all being said, it's not horrible either and I enjoyed building it. If I could do it over again, I'd buy the CyberHobby M46 instead.