Best Sci-Fi kit manufacturer???

Fine Molds makes some superb Star Wars kits. I have two of the new 1/72 scale X-Wings. These kits are made to the same standards as new Japanese jet fighter kits.

I concur. Fine Molds is the best "pure" sci-fi model company. Although you could argue Hasegawa's Macross line is tops as well. The biggest problem is that the major kit manufactures don't see enough money in a market for these kits to be worth doing them. And I would have to agree with them.

But on a happier note, the garage kit industry in America is getting much more sophisticated than it was 20 years ago, using the same technology to to it with as well.

For Star Trek fans Starcrafts models aren't bad, with quite a few to choose from. Ravenstar Studios produces nice kits, too, and released some nice ones lately.

Hey Coby, have you ever done any work on that big Excelsior? Just curious.

The new Polar Lights TOS Enterprise is sure nice looking. Gotta get one.

QUOTE: Originally posted by claymore68 The new Polar Lights TOS Enterprise is sure nice looking. Gotta get one.

Riiiiiiiiiiggggghht. What's a cubit?

Anyhoo, I looked the LM kit over and have some great ideas how to improve it. That requires quite a bit of scratch building.


Wrong quote.

Okay, it seems the real action is in Japan. Not surprising; they usually turn out top quality products. I have picked up two of Hasegawa's Macross kits this year... YF-19 and YF-21.

I've had a tough time finding any stateside retailers who carry sci-fi kits like those from Hasegawa and Fine Molds. Does anyone know of a reliable US firm that carries these but doesn't charge an arm and a leg for shipping?

That's a tough one. I would suggest Hobbyfan.com if you want to buy from the States. They carry the Hasegawa kits as well as the Bandai ones. But they have to pay for the shipping from Japan just like everybody else. The best place to get these items is still Hobbylink Japan.

Check out the Five Star Stories kits by Wave, or the starship kits by Alba Creates. These are well done and well outside of the mainstream. Also, Nitto is still making many of their SF3D kits, which have a Luftwaffe '46 meets Gundam flavor. Finally, has anyone built the Space Jet Glador from the Parry Rhodan series by Revell Deutschland?

If you are going to be looking at FSS kits you really need to look at Volks and Workshop Cast FSS kits. The Wave kits are great but they are just glorified Bandai kits.

Volks: http://www.volks.co.jp/c_goods/fss/led_in/index.html

Wave: http://www.toyspress.co.jp/wave/what/what01221/fm001.html

I have been very impressed with the fine-molds kits. I have one of the x-wings and a tie-fighter. Both are small, but the detail is superb. I will have to take a look at these other products listed above

Ban Dai makes good kits if a bit pricy. I just seen their kit of the Enterprise NCC 1701-E Soveriegn class and it looks good. I also like the Star Wars kits that MPC produced.

Ok, here is the scoop from over here:

Fine Molds:
Does a lot of AM parts for non-sci-fi stuff and similar their SW kits are not the ONLY things they produce. They started with some Porco Rosso(Gibhli Movie) planes and than moved into the SW range.

Bandai, Imai(now gone), Arii, Aoshima, Takara:
Make cheap and fairly low-quality plastic models. Nuff said, as their main-business is toys not plastic models.
Bandai used to make some great Plastic models, but traded it now in for the snap-together range of kits. Their big bonus is that they own a LOT of licences and thus can produce plenty anyway they want.

Wave:
Is one of the bigger Resin Kit producers in japan their FSS kits are normally in 1/144 scale and their they are second only to Kaiyodo(no longer making theirs).
Some of their new Plastic FSS offerings are good but do not stand to to the resin versions of them.

Volks:
Got plenty of money? You will need it they are the top resin kit manufacturer in japan, know it and charge accordingly.
Most of their Kits are in 1/100 scale and are very good.

Some of their larger items come with a repayment plan, like for the 1/8 scale Scopedog (1.200USD) or the Twin Tower FSS Kit (2.000USD) which stands 1.68 meters tall.

Yellow Submarine:
Also has some very decent Resin kits on offer.

Modelkasten, Silicone Tribe and others:
Offer Resin upgrade and pure resin kits of SF3D Material, very good and pricey.

Argonauts:
Owned by Aoshima at times does re-issue some kits, like the 1/4 T2 Endoskeleton they recently did.

Halycon:
Gone.

There are also a LOT of small kit makers that hardly ever advertise and usually only sell on a very local scale.

I got a 1/100 Macross Fighter Pod from one of those and the quality is as good as the big companies.

In order to find the really good and high-quality kits in japan in the Sci-Fi range you will need to leave the plastic market behind as they are normally done by Toy-makers until Hasegawa and some other companies stepped in.

Looking on the Web it looks like the Sci-Fi kits worldwide have all gone over to the Garage/Resin kit scene, meaning that it will be available but cost you some money, time and effort to get them.

I second (or whatever) Fine Molds. The quality of the toolings is near perfect and what the do right that aircraft manufacturers get wrong is the engineering. I have the the Tie fighter and X-wing. The parts of the X-wing just fall together. That kit is designed to be fool-proof to build. Few other kits seem to have the builder in mind.

Actually, Bandai has the right idea. They produce kits that future modelers like (kids) that can be made into beautiful models or just slapped together for fun. I certainly wouldn't call them low quality. They also offer them in a decent price range.
Finemolds may be nice, but their price is a bit steep for what you get.
The problem I see with most sci-fi modelers is if they can't buy the kit, shake the box and come out with a professionaly finished model, they call it junk and bad mouth it to oblivion. I've seen many awesome looking old Ertl X-wings and many poor looking FM X-wings. Not too many want to actually take the time to learn model and are just after instant gratification. I say buy a kit and don't expect it to be great, make it great!

QUOTE: Originally posted by MadModelFactory Ok, here is the scoop from over here: Fine Molds: Does a lot of AM parts for non-sci-fi stuff and similar their SW kits are not the ONLY things they produce. They started with some Porco Rosso(Gibhli Movie) planes and than moved into the SW range.

Yes, I have several of their clear periscope sets for Tigers, Allied tanks and PzKpfw III/IV. I also have three of their 1/35 scale Japanese WW2 tanks. These are by far some of the finest armor kits on the market today. They've cornered the market on the small Japanese tankettes and pound for pound their kits are better than Tamiya armor kits.