rate manufacturers you like/hate?

[Constantino]

Ive only ever built revell (whatever the sell in micheals when I was young) and tamiya.

As I remember it, the revell ussually fit poorly, paint colors left room for intepretation, fitment was meh, so on.

Tamiya in comparison has been great for me, instructions are clear, I love that they give you exact paint colors, nice PE stuff and all that jazz.

I have never done any other brands though, and I might like to...

Perhaps people could rate the kit makers that they have experience with as far as the quality out of the box on average?

[BVC500]

All (Revell, Fujimi, Tamiya and Aoshima) have improved recently. Still, they have occasional misses. I'd rank Revell as most improved.

[drunken monkey]

there are no good/bad kit manufacturers; only good/bad kits.

[RonCla]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

there are no good/bad kit manufacturers; only good/bad kits.

Got to agree with that.

[auw12]

I hate Fujimi, and Tamiya, and Revell...

[lovegt40]

the ones starting with plasticard a4 sheets...

[icon_modeler]

Originally Posted by auw12

I hate Fujimi, and Tamiya, and Revell...

Sorry to say but you must not be much of a modeler if you hate Tamiya, they almost assemble themselves!!!


There are modelers and there are assemblers, which are you?? This is a general question that anyone who buys a model kit must ask themselves......

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Novice builders tend to like Tamiya more than Revell, in general, because the kits are engineered better.

You can't really make blanket statements for any manufacturer though, because they all have their stars, and all have a few dogs. If you aren't old enough to remember some of the kits that were issued prior to say 1990, they were generally not up to the standards of today, and Japanese kits from the 70's and early 80's were generally very toylike.

It's better if you need input to ask about a particular kit. With more building experience, kits that might have been frustrating in the past become better subjects to build, as you may instinctively start picking up what to look out for and use your modeling skills to get past particular problem areas.

[drunken monkey]

Originally Posted by icon_modeler

Sorry to say but you must not be much of a modeler if you hate Tamiya, they almost assemble themselves!!!


There are modelers and there are assemblers, which are you?? This is a general question that anyone who buys a model kit must ask themselves......

what a contradictory pair of statements.
so by your rationale, if tamiya kits almost assemble themselves, surely you are just an assembler if you like them?

[leafs004]

Tamiya, Hasegawa, and Fujimi are usually pretty good. There's an occasional model they rushed to production, but some of the later ones are excellent. Tamiya did a really good job with the LFA.

Don't care much for Monogram or Arii.

I've come to like Revell a lot more lately as they have upped their game, but I still don't like how the chassis comes separate from the wheelwells and suspension because you have to be very careful to make sure everything is aligned properly.

[ZTony8]

I've always enjoyed building Tamiya kits.The parts engineering for fit is first class.Seems like the painting is the most involved process with Tamiya kits.They've made me realize how much work there is in making a domestic(AMT,MPC,Revell, Monogram)kit look good!Some of the other foreign kit makers (Heller,especially) do cut some corners.
In the resin corner I'd say that Jimmy Flintstone makes a good body for a cheap price,R&R has low quality,and Modelhaus,while acknowledged to be the best in the field,still gives me pause as I've had varying luck with their items.

[icon_modeler]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

what a contradictory pair of statements.
so by your rationale, if tamiya kits almost assemble themselves, surely you are just an assembler if you like them?

I knew some would have a hard time with my statements but that's OK.

Yes I do like Tamiya kits and I regard them as being the best as far a plastic goes they are also a really good place to start when you want to cut something up and make something else out of it.

For example here is a 1/12th Tamiya 935 I started ASSEMBLING a few years ago. There was a thread on here about this but all the pictures are gone now. It's been on hold for quite a few years now but some day I'll get back to it and finish the ASSEMBLY.

Originally Posted by icon_modeler

There are modelers and there are assemblers, which are you?? This is a general question that anyone who buys a model kit must ask themselves......

This is a general question as is stated that anyone buying a model kit should ask themselves. If you are a Modeler then the sky is the limit with the subject and the media with which the kit is made from. If you're an Assembler you better stick with something that is fundamentally easy like a Tamiya kit is. If you have trouble with a Tamiya kit that is to most I know regarded as the best in plastic modeling then maybe modeling is not for you. At any rate if any part of the hobby makes you hate something then again, maybe modeling is not your cup of tea. Saying you hate one of the best companies in the industry does not say much about your skills when it is presented as it is above. Why not tell us why you hate Tamiya, that would go along way to helping people understand the context of the statement.

[corvettekid_7684]

I agree with the kits being good or bad regardless of manufacturer. I'm also not sure if I'm an assembler or a modeler...I guess I'm an assembler since I haven't scratch built anything except for very minor bits...

One more thing, the Japanese kit from the '70's I'm building now is one of the best kits I've seen yet (but I'm still kinda new to the hobby)

[hirofkd]

>> Constantino
Tamiya is different. They focus more on ease of assembly, so their products can be accepted by modelers of all ages and skill levels. In Japan, kids start building models with Bandai's Gundam kits (most of them are flawlessly engineered), and then move on to scale models, typically with a Tamiya kit, which is ideal for improving basic skills because it's free from fitting problems or ambiguous instructions.

The other manufacturers target model builders with some experience, and the issues you had with Revell kits are quite common. But once you gain more experience, you won't even be bothered by minor imperfections. (Revell's quality is fairly good.)

And like the others said, all manufacturers have good and bad kits, so you just have to be specific. Try to find some WIP threads of a kit you're interested in before you buy.

[Constantino]

well that is great to hear guys, opens up the potential makes to built very nicely.