OPINION: More expensive Kits "worth it"?

A lot depends on what comes with the kit. Sometimes it xtra parts or decals justify the cost.

Bob Gregory

Ruining one kit at a time

I will agree that as a general rule, yes, they are worth it. However, I only very occasionally build a higher quality/brand/price kit, as a nice break from the usual more inexpensive but challenging kits I build. To me it goes in the same category as our once-a-month- family restaurant night out.

Chris

Rudy i have 2 question for you

1 do or will you buy a more exp kit if the kit's subject really interests you

2 do you use or buy aftermarket parts (decal, photo-etch,or resin) to add to the elcheapo revell-o-gram models? and IF you do those can bring the costs up to the trump. dragon levels ,and those kits many times come with alot of those type of extras which would/does warrant the additional cost

joe

I must agree with Stikpusher on some new kits.

I've avoided many new kits due to the combination of high price and errors in the kit.

Instead, I have opted for attending swap meets; buying older kits that received good reviews at the time of introduction. 

Once in the display case, it is difficult to discern between a well built Monogram Do-335 and the Tamiya Do-335 kit.

A "highly charged" question.    It's been brought up here before with rather highly charged opinions, so let's just say that it is relative to the modeler.  I don't mind building cheap kits.  I find it nostalgic to build something I did when I was a kid, and see what I can do with it now.  On the other hand, I look at an expensive kit and think "I better not screw this up!"  So, maybe, perhaps, the less expensive kits come with less pressure.

True, they sometimes may be a pain to work on, but at least you can throw them in the parts box with little regret!    I always figure that no matter the expense of the kit, in the end, they'll probably wind up being thrown out in the trash or given to some of my relative's kids to destroy who haven't a clue what they represent.

YMMV.

Gary

Like all the other folks here, yes, and no. A new tooled expensive kit that has been already kitted by Monogram for a fraction of the cost is not worth it to me. Especially if the new expensive kit has flaws, as the usually do, which the old Monogram kit does not have. On the other hand, if the original kit is past a certain age, or very lacking in detail, yes the new kit may be worth the much higher price to me, depending upon the subject. There are some new F2H banshee kits due out soon in 1/48. No doubt in my mind that they will not be affordably priced for me. But the only other game in town is the ancient Hawk kit reboxed by Testors some 30+ years ago. Yeah I want one of the new kits. But I will have to find it at a serious bargain price most likely. And as I have mentioned numerous times on other threads, there is nothing like a nice 80's onward Tamiya kit, built straight OOB, for recharging your model building batteries after a particularly involved or difficult project. Just add paint and glue and boom, your done with minimal fuss and have a good looking model.

Not all the time,but like anything you usually get what you pay for.Price is not always the end all,you could also pay good money for junk.But I don't mind paying good money for a Dragon kit with extras included,or a good fitting a Tamiya kit.

Age is a big factor, and whether that impacts price (usually) is a variable. I recently built the Monogram M48 A2, cost me $ 18.00. But it's so basic and lacking in detail that it cannot ever be top shelf, next to a $ 40.00 Tamiya kit.

One of the things that make this a difficult question to answer is the recent leap in manufacturing technology that Revell, Airfix and others are going to that makes the molding quality super high in their new kits.  The detail molded into the new kits used to require resin parts, but now is found in die cast styrene.

This of course only applies to their new kits, but changes the game as far as comparing the big guys vs the smaller kit manufacturers.

One other warning that results is that these companies are making their parts finer, and hence sometimes fragile, though better looking than before.  This means that the mfg's recommendation of skill level required must be considered more carefully.  Newer kits embodying this technology and rated as requiring the higher skill level are not for the ham-handed,

I agree with Baron when he says that it depends on the subject.  I personally would spend more $$ on a Hasegawa Superhornet vs the Revell Superhornet simply because the Hasegawa has a bit more detail, the shape is a bit more accurate, but most importantly the control surfaces can be positioned.  You have to cut them out on the Revell kit.  That alone is worth extra money to me.

It depends very much on the subject and kit, but I can think of a couple of examples of new kits of subjects covered by older manufacturers, new kits that I don't really care to buy because the original kits are good enough.  Those are Trumpeter's C-47, and Great Wall's P-61 and TBD.  I have no interest at all in buying the Trumpeter kit, when I have 2 of the old Monogram kit in my stash.  I could see buying the P-61 and TBD, if I find them on the second-hand market for a fraction of their retail price.  But I'm happy with Monogram's kits in those cases, too.

On the other hand, for ships, I don't mind paying ~$30 retail or so for Trumpeter 1/700 kits, because they are generally pretty good, out of the box, and I find them better than old kits of the same subjects