It occurred to me recently
that all my rants on this site have been fairly negative,
so in order to quell any ideas that I'm just a miserable
whinging bastard (I am actually, but that's just my opinion),
I decided to write this happy little article in praise
of my favourite model manufacturers. Gosh, I feel all
warm and fuzzy inside.
My choices and the reasons why are as follows, and I have
decided to keep this list limited to the mainstream manufacturers
as I don't think it would be fair to lump the limited
run kit companies in with the big boys like Revell or
Tamiya. I'll do a seperate list for the little guys at
some point.
It was a toss-up for the number one position but in the
end I decided to go with:
1. Roden
I gave Roden a slight edge over Revell Germany simply
because they're not as established and I think their choice
of predominantly WW1 aircraft is bolder than Revell's
line up of "safer" WWII and modern aircraft
and armour. The detail and exceptionally fine mouldings
make Roden kits a joy to behold in the box, although they
don't always fall together quite as nicely as Revell's.
This has more to do with the subject matter than a failing
of the manufacturer as biplanes are generally more complex
and difficult than monoplanes, although to be fair Roden's
earliest efforts did not fit at all well in any respect.
Roden has consistently improved the quality and fit of
their kits and I get the feeling they are actually listening
to what modellers and the modelling press are saying.
New kits continue to be released at a remarkable rate,
and by the company's announced due dates. They also have
very good customer relations - a friend's inquiry regarding
their LAGG-3 instructions was answered promptly and courteously.
Roden have a few small scale armour subjects which I'm
quite happy about as well.
Definitely my favourite when it comes to small scale armour
and a close second to Roden for aircraft. Their armour
kits are works of art with fine mouldings and beautiful
link and length tracks. They tend to go for WWII and modern
German stuff, but hopefully they will branch out more
in future as they did with their Cromwell and Leclerc
tanks.
Revell continue to release excellent aircraft kits in
both 1/72 and 1/144 scales which pleases me greatly as
they are my favourite and second favourite scales respectively.
The mouldings have nice recessed panel lines, good cockpit
detail (even in 1/144th) and excellent fit. Best of all
they are good value for your money, with single seat fighters
in the manly scale usually going for £3.99 and the
armour £4.99 or £5.99.
3. Academy
Reasonably priced kits, many of which seem to be copies
of older Heller or possibly Frog kits that have been updated
with recessed panel lines and improved detail, which is
an excellent policy as these kits, though good for their
day, just don't cut it by today's standards. Airfix would
do well to emulate this idea rather than continue to re-release
some of their ancient and decidedly awful models, many
of which should never see the light of day again.
Some of Academy's earlier efforts left a bit to be desired
in the accuracy department, but they seem to have steadily
improved in this area.
I also applaud Academy for finally giving us a series
of Stratofreighters and early B-17s, an updated Me 163
Komet which includes parts for the two seater, and a Fieseler
Storch with optional radial engine to make the French-built
Criquet. Their new 1/32 F/A-18C Hornet is simply amazing,
and given the fact that extra parts for the side mounted
searchlight are in there I'm sure a CF-18 is in the cards.
Will I be able to resist? Is the pope Jewish?
4. Tamiya
Superb kits that are let down somewhat by their relatively
high prices - a fault that most Japanese companies share
due to (I assume) the high cost of living in Japan, and
the import fees and duties our governments so magnanimously
foist upon us. Tamiya started scaling down some of their
1/48th kits into the manly scale which scores them huge
brownie points with me. I haven't seen anything in 1/72nd
from them for a while which doesn't bode well and they
have a habit of being very tight-lipped when it comes
to future releases (and who can blame them given the way
rumours run rampant on the internet these days) so I don't
know if they will continue with this policy. I certainly
hope they do.
Tamiya kits are beautifully moulded and detailed and I'm
told the fit is always superb, though I won't personally
vouch for the latter as the Skyray I'm presently building
doesn't fit at all well. Their range of 1/32nd scale kits
are works of art, though you may need to sell some of
your children for scientific experiments in order to afford
them. I have to admit I did splurge on Tamiya's big A6M5
Zero kit and it is absolutely superb. Someday I might
even get the nerve to actually build it.
Still one of my favourites but slipping fast. There's
no denying that Hasegawa put out state of the art kits;
beautiful mouldings and generally excellent fit. And for
a long time Hasegawa were one of the few companies releasing
anything in 1/72 scale. They have an extensive range of
aircraft in all the major scales and a nice selection
of small scale armour.
But Hasegawa doesn't seem as competitive these days and
companies like Revell are, in my opinion, kicking Hasegawa's
butt for price, quality and new releases. Hasegawa's armour
in particular, though quite nice kits for the most part,
are ruined by awful rubber band tracks which are no match
for the excellent link and length tracks from Revell and
newer companies like UM and PST.
Hasegawa has always sucked when it comes to cockpit detail
- or lack thereof - in their aircraft kits. Awful seats
that bear more than a passing resemblance to dining room
chairs and decals for instrument panels and that's usually
about it. They just don't measure up to the detailed and
accurate cockpits in Revell kits which are less than half
the price. And if you're into hanging all sorts of nasty
things underneath your kerosene burners, you'll feel a
bit ripped off by Hasegawa as there will be very little
in the box - most of the weapons are sold in separate
sets.
Presently Hasegawa seems content to concentrate most of
its energy on re-issuing their older kits with new packaging
and decals ad nauseum with the occasional new tooling
in larger scales. Prices are comparable to Tamiya, but
you don't get as much plastic for your buck/quid/peso/ruble/shekel.
6. Italeri
Italeri is one of those companies that consistently release
highly desired subjects with highly annoying inaccuracies.
Their early Mustang with the wrong wing comes to mind
and don't even get me started on that abysmal Spitfire
Mk. IX they did. Still, most of their kits are nicely
moulded, fairly well detailed and they do well with Italian
subjects, not surprisingly. Prices are quite reasonable
and you usually get a nice set of decals.
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