Are Tamiya and Minicraft models worth it?

Silver

Take my advice .Tamiya will take you above the rest every time.

Tell that to their 1/48 Sea Harrier or 1/35 Panther A... Let's just say both need copious work to be "above the rest". All that glitters Tamiya is not gold.

But like Karl just said, if it is a kit you truly want and build it as best you can, OOB or smothered in AM or scratch mods, then it's worth it.

A model is "worth it" if you have fun building it and display it proudly. That's all you need to know. :)

Getting back to Tamiya and Mini Craft models.............................I admit to spending " beaucoup bucks " for the expensive Tamiya 1/25 scale armour kits so they must be worth it for me; I build car kits and the Tamiya kits are the same scale.

JeffWard

Dear Sprue,

Just to be on the safe side (you may already know this) but, these days, the St. Charles, IL Hobbytown is located very close to Route 38 and Randall Road..

Jeff

Thankfully,  they must have moved only a few weeks earlier as a notice was on the door regarding the new location across from Meijer.

At least the old hardware store location next to Hobby Town has a new occupant- though the recent proliferation of charity/ second hand stores in formerly well-to-do neighborhoods does not seem to be a good indicator for the health of the Illinois economy.

Dear Sprue,

Just to be on the safe side (you may already know this) but, these days, the St. Charles, IL Hobbytown is located very close to Route 38 and Randall Road..

Jeff

JeffWard

Dear Sprue

Not to worry. Though most of the armor and ships are gone, they still have pallets full of aircraft left. Jeremy is simply putting out a little bit at a time. Thus, there will be plenty of 5 to 15 dollar kits when you manage to get there!

Jeff

I will check Hobby Town while in the area.

Shame about the armor and ships, though...........

Dear Sprue

Not to worry. Though most of the armor and ships are gone, they still have pallets full of aircraft left. Jeremy is simply putting out a little bit at a time. Thus, there will be plenty of 5 to 15 dollar kits when you manage to get there!

Jeff

JeffWard

Dear All,

..................

As far as my decision on which kits to buy, ironically, a few weeks ago, my local (St. Charles, IL) Hobbytown received several pallets of scratch and dent models. They were mostly Revell, but I did manage to grab some Tamiya too. In the end, I ended up picking up about $1,000 in kits for just $250!

So when you add those to the ones I already had, I could probably open my own hobby store. In other words, I better get building!

Jeff

I usually visit that store when I stop by the American Science and Surplus store in West Chicago, but my recent work schedule kept me close to home over the last few months.

Hi Jeff !

     I forgot to mention earlier a subject for which I will probably get stomped . You've seen LINDBERG , Correct ? Well I bought their close to 1/350 and larger Bismarks to see what the fuss was all about concerning TAMIYA'S and TRUMPETERS versions .

    I got a familiar surprise ! They were still poorly molded and full of supposed weld lines . BUT , They made a great start for building the ship to a specific time period .This way I didn't have to carve up a couple of hundred Bucks of TAMIYA or TRUMPETER plastic !

    As to planes , Well , Lindberg , for a while , here where I live , was the only one with a F-100 - F and an F-104 - J in 1/48 scale . Not great but a good base to do what I wanted which was to build two glass smooth versions of my favorite planes for the office ,  Minimal detail and they look sharp anyway ,In my typical  Home-Made Foil Chrome . !

Dear All,

First, as a former newspaper columnist and current political blogger, I almost forgot what life was like before trolls. Not only am I gratified by the longevity of this discussion, but I love the variety and timbre of all the responses.

As far as my decision on which kits to buy, ironically, a few weeks ago, my local (St. Charles, IL) Hobbytown received several pallets of scratch and dent models. They were mostly Revell, but I did manage to grab some Tamiya too. In the end, I ended up picking up about $1,000 in kits for just $250!

So when you add those to the ones I already had, I could probably open my own hobby store. In other words, I better get building!

Again, thank you to everyone who waded int here!

Jeff

I'll add my  here

Over the few years that I've been into modeling , I found out that I get enough stress from work that I really don't need that into my favorite hobby.

So instead of struggling trying to build a very cheap kit I much prefer to pay a little more and get a nice, well engineered kit, like those genuine Tamiya ones.

I fully understand the difference between a challenge (fun) and an exercise of frustration (not fun), even to the point that my wife will almost encourage me to pay more and get a Tamiya kit, because they are so much fun to build and paint. She's saying that when I'm doing a Tamiya kit, either an aircraft or a tank, I don't spend half my time swearing, and I'm all showing her my progress, with a big grin on my face.

And I found out that when I'm building a cheap kit, I'm less inclined to be extra cautious, careful and attentive as the fit and the accuracy is really bad.

Let's not forget about Airfix. They're banging out great quality kits as of late.

It depends on what kind of detail you're looking for.  Minicraft are good, however lacking very much in detail for the most part.

Current bike is 1985 Honda VF500C (V30 Magna). I got it in 2010 with only 7,200 miles on it, now at 38,000. It sat for a while after I bought a 2002 Kawasaki Concours in October 2012 but alas, I crashed that one in May of 2014 so the Magna was pressed back into service. I am seriously considering getting that Honda NT700V, I miss having the shaft drive and lockable carrying capacity, as well as wind/weather blocking body work.

PWB, What are you riding ATM ?  I have a Honda VFR800 Interceptor, and a BMW K1200LT.  The Honda costs me next to nothing, do my own servicing, and very economical.  The BMW has been a money pit for me, in the past 5 years, $1500 to recondition the rear shock and stiffen up the spring, $3000 to replace the burnt out starter.  Now I'm looking at $1000 as the ABS unit has failed.  Come to think of it, if I sell the Beemer, I'll have more money for models .....

Well, it all boils down to personal taste as the last two posts above point out. One calls Tamiya's new 1/32 single seat aircraft "obscenely priced", while the other calls them "a drop in the bucket". While I will gladly debate the fit and quality of their older kits with anyone here, I will agree that their new tooled kits over the past 25 years are great stuff. Especially in armor kits. Their stuff in that subject field is a refreshing break, usually competitively priced and far better engineered for trouble free assembly with clear directions when compared to their competition out of China. While I often find their kits priced too high for my wallet, I have no or few complaints about any of their new kits that I have gotten ahold of.

I've not ever done a Minicraft so I can't speak to them, but I wholeheartedly think a Tamiya is worth the money. I've never been disappointed with them. The quality of the kit has always been first rate, they are well detailed, and they go together like a dream. They also seem to have a good feel for their clientele, shown by their new releases in 1:32 scale. They accurately see the aging demographic that is their customer base and are catering their offerings to appeal to them (us).

Kit prices don't bother me, I have the disposable income and am more than willing to pay out for a top level product. Given the expense of my primary hobby, motorcycling, models are but a mere drop in the bucket.

I thought that when Tamiya released their newly tooled 1/32 Spitfire a few years ago, it was obscenely priced.  Saw some examples in Australian hobby shops between $130-$150 retail.  For a 1/32 prop driven WW2 fighter ?  No way.  Put me off Tamiya for a while.  I do have some Tamiya kits (Where else are you gonna go for a 1/48 Lancaster ?)  But I mostly head for Revell these days for half of the price.

Minicraft has been all over the map. For many years they partnered up with companies such as Hasegawa and Academy as the importer of those lines.  And releasing some boxings of those kit lines under their own label, boxed in the USA for a lower price and with Scalemaster decals. Then they parted ways and seem to have gone off on their own in recent years. At first their kits seemed to be modified knock offs that were affordably priced. Now, not so much. And some of their modified "clones" are priced way higher than they were when introduced just a few short years ago.

But Tamiya has been over the past 10 years or so partnering up with other model companies such as Italeri, ICM, Fine Molds, and Masterbox, and combining their sprues with those companies kits and releasing them in Tamiya boxes. Not all that Tamiya glitters is gold...

Hi JEFF :

   I have found that with MINICRAFT you do have to be selective . In other words Know the origin of the product . They've done many reboxing efforts over the years .

  Now Tamiya , on the other hand is making their own product and there-in lies the quality factor .To my knowledge I don't think MINICRAFT Ever made a kit of their own .

     Now I could be totally wrong here , but I remember MINICRAFT kits in the seventies were re-boxing of kits from behind the Iron Curtain !

Tamiya kits are worth it depending on what you like and they are on the pricey side.  Instructions can be found on their site with the kit to view.

I'd love to get my hands on the 1/48 scale Fairey Swordfish (both torpedo and floatplane versions) but the price is on the high side for me. Would it be worth it for me? Definitely, but not now. :))

CaptainJack

...As for Tamiya, I researched building a 1/350 model of the Bismarck and after looking through reviews and scouring photos I decided against Tamiyas version of the boat and instead went with Revell of Germany's version. RoG's was far more detailed in my opinion and overall looked more accurate in scale to me than Tamiya's.

These kinds of questions are what the www is for.

Use scalemates with a grain of salt; I've noticed sometimes one kit is listed as a rebox of an older kit when it in fact has no relationship to the earlier kit except for being of the same subject.

I will echo what CN Sports said about www.scalemates.com.  I've used the site quite a bit recently when looking at different manufacturers of kits as well as finding after-market upgrades for kits.  It is a very informative site.

I too grew up mainly with Revell and Monogram kits with a few AMT and Lindberg kits thrown in there.  I have expanded my selection now to several other manufacturers to see the differences.  Zvezda does a great job with their airliner kits.  Hasegawa is know for their selection of F-4 Phantoms.  I've only tried one Tamiya kit, the K1A1 tank and I thought it was horrible; however, I've heard that their aircraft kits are really nice.  I've also got a couple Italeri kits and a Skunkworks Models kit which I believe is actually a Kinetic kit reboxed.

I got to say after a hiatus myself I discovered Revell of Germany has cranked out kits in 1/32 that I dreamed about for years AND they are awesome in detail and the price is very affordable

NOW if only they would produce a 1/32 ME-410 and a DO-335