Premium Plastic Purveyors

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.

2. Revell Germany 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. 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. Tamiya started scaling down some of their 1/48th kits into the manly scale which scores them huge brownie points with me. 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 so.

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.

5. Hasegawa 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 seperate 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.