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rate the kits

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  • Member since
    July 2013
rate the kits
Posted by DURR on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 6:17 PM

looking for your opinions on this

in 1/700 scale  rate the following co.

tamiya   hasagawa   mid-ship   trumpeter fujimi  aoshima   dragon   and   skywave

from best to worst

and why

 

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Seattle, WA
Posted by Surface_Line on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 6:48 PM
Can't do it, man.  Unless you ask about specific kits.

Each company you list (except Midship, which has produced only two distinct sets of moldings so far, of roughly similar quality) has produced a range of quality and a range of accuracy, as well as a range of "fineness", indicating how thick the edges of the exposed bulkheads, masts and gunbarrels might be.

In some cases, the range goes from good to great in one measure, but one of the other two goes from poor to pretty good.  And any individual kit is only a specific data bit on the graph.

So if you crave thin edges and don't have much of an eye for accuracy, one kit might be your favorite, but another from the same manufacturer might mot meet the same quality standards.  This is ESPECIALLY true with the latest Trumpeter kits where quality is random - some great and some not, and Dragon, with a few rubber parts - what's up with that?

You tilt the scale if you know the age of the kit - many of the oldest 1/700 kits don't stand up to the current standard, even Tamiya's oldest.

Old, original Hasegawa cruiser kits are generally accepted as junk - the newest Hasegawa cruiser kits from a couple years ago are accepted as the best kts made.  There's no rule you can follow - you have to go kit by kit.

Another measure of "good" is the number of additional features included in the kit.  Can you build it as a different version?  Different rig?  different aa suite?  etc?  Some people get excited about padding the spares box.  With one kit I realized I was filling my spares box with parts that were too crummy to be used on future projects.  That was a hollow victory...

Aoshima?  The oldest were the worst you'll ever encounter, but along the way, they upgraded a few. nicely.  And they reboxed a few with no improvement at all.  You'd better figure out which is which, because the prices are all increased.

I do love 1/700, but they don't make it easy for us, and the fact that your question doesn't have an answer is exactly why it is difficult.

Good luck,
Rick

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Canberra,Australia
Posted by death on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 8:04 PM

You left Italeri off, mate! Their 1/720 HOOD is the best kit of her in that scale (IMHO!!)

Cheers

Mick

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Thursday, August 24, 2006 8:03 AM

Agree with Rick (Surface Line).  

Add to the mix that some of the products in one company's line were originally done from molds of  another.  

For example, the 1:700 scale Tamiya Gato, Onslow, and Z-class destroyers were originally done by PitRoad/Skywave.  

Midship Models and PitRoad have a cooperative production and sales agreement as does DML/Dragon and PitRoad.  

Your question may be better asked:  Which is the best 1:700 Fletcher kit among the offerings by: Matchbox,  PitRoad (i.e. green box),  Skywave/PitRoad's USS Callaghan,  Tamiya's USS Fletcher,  Tamiya's USS Cushing,  or the Trumpeter USS The Sullivans?     What are the pros and cons of each?

Which is the best Spruance:  Skywave, Dragon, CCLee ...

Which is the better Bismarck ...

 

  • Member since
    July 2013
Posted by DURR on Thursday, August 24, 2006 8:24 AM

ok following your lead Edgrune

japanese destroyers they all seem to have the same class destroyers even under different names  rate them

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