What model manufacturers should i stay away from??

After reading a good deal of the posts i have realized that Tamiya is a prefered brand. Are there any other companies that make good kits??

Tamiya are by far the best.

Fujimi are meant to be good but i had a bad run with the one i done which i hope was just a one off.

Most kits from Japan are not to bad. They are a lot better then most.

Revell/airfix has to be one of the worse. The end resuilts can be good but it takes a lot of extra work to get them looking good.

If your just starting out, get a nice basic Tamiya kit to get you on the way

so i geuss i should hold off on getting this NSX-R :(
http://www2.hlj.com/cgi-local/hljpage.cgi?TAM24126

Originally posted by CRX_SOON
so i geuss i should hold off on getting this NSX-R :(
http://www2.hlj.com/cgi-local/hljpage.cgi?TAM24126

Go for that.......would be nice to do

as a first model? I am going to hit up my local hobby store tommorrow and see what they have. I really don't wanna have to order somthing from accross the pond.
I live in California by the way.

I would maybe say get pick up a few Revelle kits first. Yeah the quality can't compare to a Tamiya, but the price is alot better than a Tamiya. Here they run $9 - $12 for pretty much any kit. I have done four Revelles, and still have a untouched Tamiya kit here, and I will probably do a few more before I move on. I want to make sure I know a little bit about what I am doing first, before I move on to the Tamiya. From the looks of it, the Tamiya seems to have about double the parts of the Revelle, and the quality is noticably better.

I have bought a couple of Revell-Monogram kits and I'm SOOO disappointed...

'53 Corvette: huge amounts of flash and about 1.5 mm high mold lines.. Rear of the body looks like it has melted a bit... can't fix it without heating it and then trying to get it right... I'll probably never start this kit...

'69 Pontiac GTO Judge: quality is much better than Vette but the instructions are almost unreadable. Also, no paint codes of any kind, just name, for example 'Light Blue'. Okay.. how do I mix Pontiac engine Light Blue.. :eek:

Generally the painting instructions leave a lot to desire... could someone tell me what color is the engine bay of '53 Vette, since there's not a clue in the instructions :rolleyes:

Btw, the comments are for the Monogram kits, Revell-Germany kits aren't nearly as bad (the ones I've seen, anyway)

Originally posted by CRX_SOON
I live in California by the way. Where in California? I know a bunch of shops in the SoCal area. :D

I concur with the "buy a cheap practice kit" method. Pick up a dumb kit at WalMart for $5-10 and then you won't worry about wrecking it. :D

Also, I have the NSX-R kit, but I haven't built it yet. However, it's almost exactly the same as the regular NSX kit, which I just finished. The differences on the NSX-R are: racing seats, different sterring column, extra piece to hide the radio & a/c, different engine cover with mesh window, no foglights & special Enkei wheels. You can read more about my NSX here (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t7912.html). ;)

in a little town called Vista in North County. Its on the 78

oh and if you need help with your photography i am majoring in it at Palomar Junior College and can help ya understand it better. :D god knows you and rest of the guys are going to return the favor 10 fold.

If your interested take a look at my photopoint account (http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=1349166)
its not working right now but it should be back up sometime today.

Originally posted by Mikke
I have bought a couple of Revell-Monogram kits and I'm SOOO disappointed...

... could someone tell me what color is the engine bay of '53 Vette, since there's not a clue in the instructions :rolleyes:

Btw, the comments are for the Monogram kits, Revell-Germany kits aren't nearly as bad (the ones I've seen, anyway)

I've seen several '53 bays, all of them are black. I've got pictures (but not a scanner) if you need me to tell you what any of the other colors are.

jay...it will let me go to the edit post sreen, but when I click save changes, it won't change the attachment:confused: I accidentaly used a thumbnail, so here is the bigger one...I have more of the interior, if you need them, PM me

Originally posted by CRX_SOON
in a little town called Vista in North County. Its on the 78Dude! I am literally right up the street from you (if you call the I-15 a street! :p) Well, a little ways up the street. :D

Still, it's a bit far for my hobby shops to help you much. Look up Hobby People, I think they may have a store down there somewhere...
Originally posted by CRX_SOON
oh and if you need help with your photography i am majoring in it at Palomar Junior College and can help ya understand it better. :D god knows you and rest of the guys are going to return the favor 10 fold.Thanks you're not the only one who's offered. ;) One of these days, I'll get everything set up, and just let you guys tell me what to dial up and hat buttons to push! :hehe:

There will be quite a bit of masking on the NSX, I believe there is a bit of work in painting the roof! But it's a nice kit, and I can't make a kit unless I am enthused about it! Hence I see a problem with the Revell practice kit!
You want to enjoy your first build, not have fit/construction problems!
Just don't expect too much of your first build, just enjoy it!

:devil: the type of cars you want to build will decide who's kits you build
I don't think Tamiya makes any street rods or muscle cars. As for the flash on the '53 Corvette it's a 25 year old casting !
I'd much rather build an AMT or Revell/ Monogram or Polar Lights or
Lindberg because of the subject matter they offer is more to my liking ! :devil:

Originally posted by modelfan1
I don't think Tamiya makes any street rods or muscle cars.Not unless you count recent Ford Mustangs as muscle cars! :p

You can make any kit look good, some will just take longer and require more work. ;)

Originally posted by hakka


I've seen several '53 bays, all of them are black. I've got pictures (but not a scanner) if you need me to tell you what any of the other colors are.

Thanks :D

That's what I was thinking, too, but you couldn't be sure from the pictures that I have. No need for further pics, I've got plenty of good ones.