Tamiya vs. Revell - Let's get it on!!

[ales]

I was browsing the Revell website yesterday... They have a lot of very nice-looking *1/24* kits. I would love to do some of those, although shipping from the USA is more than the price of the kit! Still, they have lovely muscle cars (I don't like muscle cars, but these are classics!). Like the Mustangs... I've never built a Revell kit (other than the formula one kit from Revell Germany and hated it to the guts), but I think I will soon.

[darrenj]

Originally posted from Murco

Ease of assembly - Tamiya owns this category. I have never had a warped body or kit that needed help with parts aligning. Revell, while still closing the gap, does exhibit the occasional fitment problems.

I beg to differ here slightly. I am almost finished building the Tamiya Ferrari F12000 1/20 scale and the rear engine cover (cowl) was (is ) hell on wheels to put on, it is quite a tight fit!!!, some filing was required..
I do love Tamíya overall because I am into F1 motorsport, and the after market products for Tamiya is VAST (www.hlj.com!!)
I hope I got your name right Murco
http://www.angelfire.com/de2/darren/brab.html

[PL_NYC]

I like american cars so I would vote for revell, especialy that they all have engines.

[Purpura Delujo]

I know I'm bringing up an old forum but hey, i missed out on putting in my opinion . I mostly buy Revell, as I love to build engines, I dont care about fitment or molding, because preperation is have the model making! Revell have a HUGE range, and thats what I like. They make rare and collectable models and limited runs. I also like Tamiya, as they make good quality Japanese performance cars where as Revell dont. But I am the same as Pman when it comes to my favourite, I buy for what the car is, not what the brand of kit is.

[Honoturtle]

Originally posted by tazdev
what does JDM stand for?

haham I didn't know this either! Thanks Jay!
Pretty much my opinon on these two companies are the same as Murco

[hrmodeler]

Murco, I see that are from US. Most US member like mostly US cars so R/M suits them best. But here in Europe most of people (I think) like more Tamiya kits because they cover cars which are driven in Europe too. :-))
Tamiya have big range of race cars and I like that very much.

Here I can't find most R/M kits, only Revell Germany which isn't so good as R/M kits. Some models are same in both companies, some not.
Tamiya had engines in his older kits, and that is only thing which I miss in their kits.

For me, I will always look first on Tamiya kits even they are expensier.

[erix7]

Originally posted by Murco
I know how much many of you regard Tamiya models, as do I, but I think many of you are giving Revell a bad rap that is uncalled for. For fun and education let's look at the products in direct comparison...

* Fidelity - Hard to argue against Tamiya. The bodies and overall castings are crisper and near perfect in every dimension but Revell has closed the gap tremendously over the past 5 years.
Point - Tamiya

Hold it for a second: as far as I'm concerned Tamiya is notorious for exagerating
body dimensions and shapes to make a model look 'better'.
I've seen Tamiya car kits where bodies are some 5% to 10% wider than the original. That's not what I
would call "perfect in every dimension".
Revell/Monogram may not get it perfectly right all of the time but if they are really wrong
they correct their mistakes (ProModeler Charger).

When I want a quick shelf model or a JDM car, I pick Tamiya. When I want to kick butt and make peoples jaws drop, I go with Revell!!

Tamiya make very nice crisp kits but their drive to minimize the number of parts is hurting
the overall quality. I like the kits they made in the mid 80ies best (959, 300ZX, RX-7)
because those are loaded with accurate details and fiddly bits.

For JDM cars Aoshima is almost as good as Tamiya.

How come Hasegawa is so often ignored on this forum when kit quality is discussed ?
Hasegawa doesn't have a particularly large selection but they did some very fine
fully detailed 1/24 car kits over the years (Ferrari 328/348, Porsche 944/968, Jag XJS and so on).

My 2 Eurocents, :hehehe:
-- Eric.

[MaxSE]

compare the tamiya tires (tyres) to the revell ones.....enough said! IMO i think my cars perform better on rubber than plastic!! the hell with revell!

[sugarcaddy]

I like both manufactures for different reasons and hate them for completly different reasons! LOL
Revell has a very big selection of cars and most if not all of these have engines with US aftermarket kits to superdetail the engines and other areas of the car. But Revell doesn't do a good job on their tires/axles, most of the kits I have built the wheels don't fit right or don't ride right. Tamiya has a much better wheel/axle combo as well as aftermarket wheels that US markets seem to forget or just have lowrider type wheels?! Revell does have some problems with decals-but decal setting solution works for me.
Tamiya has well Japanese cars and some Euro cars. Not my fav. subject matter and at 100% to 120% mark up from a typical Revell kit I rarely buy one. But Revell could learn a thing or two from Tamiya such as crisp bodies, parts, crystal clear windshilds. Not to mention the extras that Tamiya has like window masks, screen for grill work, detailed wheels and crisp decals.
In a perfect world we could combine the two and and a kick butt model selection with perfect fit and all the extras to make whatever we choose to do. But then we would get bored and complain about how the Reviya company does this and that to piss us off!! :flash:

Have fun is what I say, and build what you like!!
:frog:

Scott

[XR6 Martin]

Originally posted by erix7


Hold it for a second: as far as I'm concerned Tamiya is notorious for exagerating
body dimensions and shapes to make a model look 'better'.
I've seen Tamiya car kits where bodies are some 5% to 10% wider than the original. That's not what I
would call "perfect in every dimension".
Revell/Monogram may not get it perfectly right all of the time but if they are really wrong
they correct their mistakes (ProModeler Charger-- Eric.

Although the Tamiya wheels look good, they are generally also overscale.

Oh and the last Revell kit I bought came with rubber tyres....

[jaykit21]

Actually, looking through the 2002 catalog they offer 31 plastic kits. Of those only 13 are older kits (pre-1995)

Yeah, good point kinda...Import tuning and racing in the states is big and growing every day. Of their 18 'new' kits, only one or two are of related Japanese cars. Revell missed the boat badly w/ their current line-up. Even the kits that are supposed to be released will still be in 1/25 scale. If they do ever produce more 'tuner' cars, nobody outside the US can get them @ a reasonable price b/c their distribution system is awful. WTF is that? And the fit and finish on Revell cars is crap. I mean, why the hell are the wipers molded into the freakin' windshield on the ITR? Why do the decals look like shite? I know why... their parent company is Binney and Smith, who are also the producers of the popular Crayola Crayons. Probably the same technology used in production. Tamiya all the way. No questions asked. I use my Revell ITR to put fireworks in and entertain myself.

Sorry for the ranting but I hate Revell cars (lots of bad experience w/ them)

[freakray]

XR6 Martin,
They were rubber or they were vinyl?
I have found that Revell kits tend to have vinyl tires, and vinyl is plastic, it is just a soft grade and does look close to rubber......

Ray

[XR6 Martin]

Originally posted by freakray
XR6 Martin,
They were rubber or they were vinyl?
I have found that Revell kits tend to have vinyl tires, and vinyl is plastic, it is just a soft grade and does look close to rubber......

Ray

Actually, after having a second look at them you are probably right in saying they are a soft grade of vinyl, but they are a hell of a alot better than ones of previous years.
I think you'll find that the Tamiya ones arnt genuine rubber either? On the box it says "realistic rubber-like tyres"


Regardless, ill buy from whatever company if theres a model that interests me:bandit:
Plus in some ways I think its good to build a model with flaws, makes it more challenging

[S Brake]

Revell models separate the men from the boys, but i'd rather be a boy and finish the model without finishing off my advil supply.

[modelfan1]

:argue::eshooter:
:angel: Mike