what is your preferred model company?

[Bruce]

Just a quick poll to see what your preferred model brands are - obviously the choice would depend on what you are building, but in the hypothetical situation where your intended subject is available in any brand, which would be your choice?

[Dave Homewood]

I voted for other because you've missed Tamiya, who make the best aircraft kits imho (followed closely by Hasegawa and Accurate Miniatures) How about Dragon who make very good kits too

Ah, that's right, you model in 1/72nd and haven't discovered decent accurate kits yet ;D

[Bruce]

Yeah sorry Dave, I guess I havent come accross them in 1/72 but I have heard they are really good.
I've voted for Pavla, which is a czechoslokian company. My Oxford is made by them, and I have just brought a Tiger moth. These kits are fantastic (the old Airfix tiger just isnt within sight) in terms of accuracy and molding quality. They come with resin details and Vac formed canopies (even the Tigers blind flying hood) and awesome decal sheets for 3 or more versions - keep your eyes open for them....

[Bruce]

Lets see if the airfix rivet man gets any votes....

[Dave Homewood]

Ah yes, the Phantom Riveter

[Bruce]

Just spent a heap of time removing the surface rivets from my Airfix Hudson

[Craig Sargent]

Revell gets my vote at present. And to clarify that is Revell Germany not Revellogram (technically Monogram no longer exists - they are now Revell). Their current releases in 1/72 blow away anything being done by Hasegawa or Tamiya. The new tool F-16s, Hunters, Typhoon IIs and Tornados are superb. I would place Hasegawa a close second and Tamiya a not so close 3rd (in all scales).

[Dave Homewood]

I've been away from modelling too long, I had heard Hasegawa has improved pst Tamiya but wasn't sure. Yes some Revell is also very good.

Is it true that Matchbox no longer exists? And what's the story with Esci and Italeri, are they Revell now too?

[Bruce]

Duh.. a couple more I forgot to put on my list - must have had a brain fade....
Others are Heller and Fujimi.... maybe I need to repost the poll?
I have to say my Revell NH90 was the first Revell kit I had done for a long time, and I was really impressed with it. I've always like the Italeri kits too. I'm not sure if theyre still around as I buy most of my kits off eBay now, the model shops never stock the rare stuff I'm after nowdays. Matchbox are long gone, which is a pity because although the kits were a little scarce in internal detail, the moldings were good and they were externally accurate - with a little kitbashing they came up quite well. The Academy stuff is pretty good too, and they make some interesting variants of thier kits.

[Dave Homewood]

The real laugh about all these manufacturers these days is all the best injection-moulded kits are tooled by the same people at the same tooling company in Hong Kong, and you have Tamiya, Hasegawa, Revell, Airfix... all in the queue

So really there shouldn't be much difference in the standards of kit, The problems occur earlier when the kit companies do the design work I suppose

[Calum]

My limited Experience I voted for Hasegawa. Although Tamyia and Academy are close seconds. Airfix range from generally terrible (the Buccaneer) to excellent (The EE Lightning) But they are the only choice for British jets in 1/48.

Revell have done some nice kits re badged Hasegawa stuff which means you can get the same Kits for about 2/3's the cost of the Hasegawa Boxed ones

I have notice Italeri are doing some nice stuff now and Have released the Accurate Minutes TBM-1F with Kiwi markings. The AM kit here is over $60 but the new Italeri one is around $40.

My biggest problem with all the manufacturers, but particularly HAsegawa and Tamiya is the limited range of new kits. I mean do we really need another FW-190 or BF-109.... Likewise the F-4, F-16, F-14 and F/A-18, these have been done to death IMHO.

That's where Italeri, Revell and to a less extent Airfix will get my money as they do some other subjects apart from the stables.

At the on back on a jet theme, moment my wants are (in 1/48)
A new TA-4
a good Tornado GR-1 (I've heard Italeri one is OK)
A Good Jaguar GR1 (I've heard the Airfix one is OK though)
A good Buccaneer in 1/48, (Yep the Airfix one sucks, but hey I like a challenge)

Here's some shots with the Neomega Cockpit, I have the fuselage together now and the Fuselage warp isn't to noticeable. needed a bit of filler around the Exhausts.

[mumbles]

I'd second the Fujimi recommendation. Their 1:72 A-4's are the best around, by a long way. If it was a moulding alone basis I'd vote for Hasegawa and Tamiya, although I've found their colour callouts to be occasionally poorly researched or just plain wrong.
Airfix's new toolings are good. Their decal options and painting instructions on their newer and re releases I've seen are great, it's a pity the older moulds don't support them.
Revell are good. The big Hunter is a great kit, and I hear the new 1:72 release is just as good. Only downside with Revell is the decal sheet for the Hunter was a nightmare to apply; even the smallest items breaking, silvering aplenty.

[kiwichappers]

I plump for Kiwi resins as they make kits I am interested in building.

A couple of points.
The question whilst fun is in the same league as whats the best beer, fastest car, etc.
For me there is a distincting between modellers and assemblers.
Certainly Tamiya, Fujimi, and probably ICM [whatever they are currently called] should be included in the list. Which company to choose is partly dependant on the choice of subject. Tamiya is hard to beat for moulding precision and quality although their research falls down occassionally.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, Kiwi Resins make not only superb subjects, but the quality of the model I just received (1/48 Miles M2 Hawk) is superb, especially for a small manufacturer.

Some manufacturers are great in their imagination, bringing forward subjects no-one else dares do. Airfix and Matchbox were bold enough to do British aircraft and AFV's. They were just usually of dubious quality. Nowadays none of the big manufacturers make British stuff of much note. It annoys me that the modelling public is forced to thing WWII was all Germans vs Americans.

I am totally sick of seeing new releases of Bf109's and Fw190's hitting the market from manufacturers every year. There are millions of versions of both aircraft. Not one manufacturer seems to get them right to the total satisfaction of the pedantic Luftwaffe fans, and so more are made. I wish they'd just get over it. The Germans lost the war, the Allies won. How about some Allied stuff? And by that I mean British and Commonwealth, all the US stuff's been done infintum.

It's good that Kiwi Resins and a few smaller manufacturers have the imagination. But why don't Tamiya and Hasegawa and Revell and Fujimi and the big players realise the potential of the market they're ignoring?

[phil82]

Try as I might, I cannot register on Photobucket. The registration is not as shown in that Robbo post, and you're presented with a code number to type in but when you press 'next' all I get is a recycling with yet another code number. Every username I've eneterd, including some pretty weird ones, is shown as 'not available'.

Any suggestions?

[corsair67]

I don't know what's going on there then. I had no trouble registering as Corsair67; but I might just have got lucky? ;D

When you go to www.photobucket.com did you then click on the red bar "Sign Up Now" to set up your account?