KIT MANUFACTURERS

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Preamble:-
(Recommended reading if you are a first time visitor to this page):

Here's a completely biased :-) view on some of the more common Kit Manufacturers that I and other modellers have experienced from over many years of model building. The purpose of this page is to bring you some thoughts based on first hand (often extensive) experience in making kits from these manufacturers, and also by virtue of reading kit reviews from other modellers as they pass through my hands to be placed upon this site (yes, I read them just as much as the average modeller too!).

The idea behind this is to assist more inexperienced (whether this be modelling experience, or for experienced modellers who are inexperienced in building a certain brand!) make informed decisions on what they can expect from a particular manufacturer, or even what kits to [not] consider for their own piece of mind.

It is important to realise that most of the comments (unless otherwise stated) relate exclusively to 1/72 scale, since this is what I have building experience in, however, there is no reason why they should not be just as pertinent for 1/48! There are some manufacturers (eg: Eduard and Tamiya) who primarily only release 1/48 kits so obviously these comments relate there to that scale.

I welcome comments appreciatively, but please be constructive, I would be happy to add addendums to everything below or add in new manufacturers if specific factual and productive remarks are provided. At the end of the day these are OPINIONS, and a guide only.

Disclaimer: And this is a HEAVY disclaimer at that! The following comments are opinions based on my own (and others who have contributed to this page) general experience. This does not necessarily represent the views of every modeller and is supplied in good faith to assist others in their purchase of model kits and enhance the enjoyment aspect of the hobby as much as possible. Every manufacturer has exceptions to the following comments (Frog has one or two gems; Hasegawa have one or two shockers; etc!) and many also rebox kits originating from other manufacturers which is often NOT apparent when you pick up the kit (so the quality is thus covered by the original maker). You are best advised to check out a review of a specific kit first before making final assumptions. But having said all this, you can be assured that the following are honest assessments and are accurate based on experiences and should help you make an informed decision!

Last updated : 15 October 2005
- previously updated May 2005

Note:    ** new ** - look for these labels for new manufacturers and sections added since the previous update
                ** updated ** - this alerts you to any area that has been updated, altered or changed since the previous update
                - where no labels are shown, the details remain unchanged since last update

What has been added and altered this time around?:-
(MS = Mainstream; LRK = Limited run; VF = Vacform; RK = Resin kits)
* NEW manufacturers added: Aurora, Lindberg, Monogram, Revell-Monogram, Trumpeter (MS) - William Brothers (LRK)
* UPDATED: Accurate Miniatures, Italeri, Promodeler, Revell, Testors (MS) - Rareplane (Vacform)
* ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A big thank you to BILL OLSON who provided most of what you see in the latest update, obviously took some time and effort to provide some details and research. He provided the following book recommendation:

"For information on the kit makers and what they produced, I recommend John Burn's "Plastic Aircraft Kits of the 20th Century (And Beyond)" sometimes abbreviated as the PAK-20. It's a home made project, but it's become a standard in the collector's community. He has a bit of history on every kit maker in there. Some of the details below were gleaned from there - Bill Olson

PART I - INJECTION MOLDED KITS:

MAINSTREAM KITS:

Academy
Academy (by themselves without reference to Minicraft below) can generally be split into three broad categories;
1) their late 1990's new tooling examples are renowned to be superb in detail, fit (but not always accuracy) etc;
2) their mid-80's jets which are of pretty variable quality, usually at the lower end of the scale; and
3) reboxings of Hobbycraft kits, so best to refer to Hobbycraft for comments on these.
There is also a school of thought suggesting they copy or "base" their molds from other manufacturers at questionable legitimacy, most notably Heller and Hasegawa, and release it under their own name which is generally superior quality, and sometimes with errors corrected and extra parts included. I've also encountered some fairly blatant inaccuracies in some of their new releases too (eg: Hurricane IIc) and others have also commented as this being their biggest flaw. But on the otherhand, my experience with new tooling Academy thus far in terms of building the kits has been nothing short of impressive. Their kits go together very well, almost without the need of any filler, and are excellently engineered. Definitely recommended. Their mid-80's tooling was not state of the art and should be avoided (mainly fit and shape problems) while the reboxing of Hobbycraft kits means you are building a Hobbycraft kit! At the end of the day, know which of the three categories the purchase falls into and if it is a new-tool one and you're a stickler for accuracy, then best read a review that assesses this first. Academy also produce a line of larger WW2 and 50's era aircraft such as the B-17, C-97, B-29, etc and these are generally considered the best in the 72nd scale.

Academy/Minicraft
Firstly, this relates to kits under the dual banner above (ie: not solely Minicraft or Academy). Most of these kits are now out of production but a well stocked hobby shop may still have a number of unsold examples in stock. Initially many were reboxed early Academy and/or Minicraft subjects and were generally poor, but under the dual banner their co-production kits were generally pretty good. This is one of those cases of finding a review of the kit you are after to see how good it really is. While it is not a scale I dabble in - there were a lot of 1/144 releases which were arguably the best quality in that scale and Minicraft themselves are renowned for their 1/144 releases of late too.

Accurate Miniatures
A company which came bursting onto the scene in the mid 90's, appeared to go bust but are apparently (via the US 2003 Hobby Show) still alive and well. Initially their molds were going to be sold to Italeri but they re-emerged a bit better organised as a company and will release their first kit since they closed doors in 2000 - the Vought Vindicator is due out mid 2005. They predominantly produce(d) models in 1/48 and are widely acknowledged to have kits that actually reflect the company's name! They have produced arguably the most superbly detailed kits in that scale ever, and the accuracy of their kits is only let down by the minor shape errors, but otherwise they are nigh on perfect! The detail not only is on the surface but also in the interior, their twin engine bomber kits often having simulated padding for gunners stations, fire extinguishers, even a toilet! Their kits are also superbly engineered, in fact so well engineered that there is almost no tolerance for parts not being precisely removed from the sprues (ie: no small bits of plastic that needs shaving off!) or the instructions being followed exactly as set out and directed. This can turn a great fitting kit into a nightmare, and on that basis these kits really are only for advanced modellers. If you have the skills, the money, the time to build and the patience, they have produced some superb offerings!

Airfix
Arguably the biggest name over the decades in aircraft modelling - I'd even suggest candidly that nearly every aircraft modeller has made an Airfix kit at some stage in their life, and probably also have an opinion on them! As far as I know, Humbrol still own Airfix (as well as Heller) after this company almost lost everything in the 80's. As such there has been very little in the way of new releases in the last decade - they are doing little more than reboxing other manufacturers' molds and enhancing old toolings [reissuing older kits], some of which are pushing 40 years of age! Of course, some of these kits are still better than what may be available today - (1/72) their Vought Kingfisher is considered a classic (although the mold is really ageing now) and their YF-22 Lightning is one of the most accurate kits of that aircraft on the market. Airfix are one of those manufacturers that because of their huge range and their long association with modelling it would not be very precise (or fair, one way or the other) to provide a general verdict in one paragraph. Suffice to say, reviews of Airfix kits (which thankfully are a plenty) are the best source to advise whether to buy or stay away. They have one of the biggest inventory of kit types of any manufacturer and seem to have as many (if not more) dogs as they do good replications. For instance (1/72) their Fairey Battle is inaccurate, based on incorrect drawings, but their Spitfire Mk.1 is noted as the most accurate on the market, although Aussie buyers beware as it seems a badly warped batch has found its way to our shores in 2003 (identified by the new boxart). Airfix kits generally lack interior detail, sometimes even decent external detail and can range from great kits to very poor ones. I would not expect to have too much surface detail if I was buying an Airfix 72nd scale kit. On the plus side, Airfix is the quality of instructions (especially painting guides) and decals have improved dramatically in the last few years (although they still suffer some bleed through), making a bunch of old kits worth getting again. Also, because they have been around for eons they still have plenty of subject material that is not available anywhere else! Perhaps one of the best things about Airfix is that you can be a beginner to tackle most of their [fighter type] kits and in most cases they are nice and cheap! While kits range from poor to excellent fitting kit examples, in the main they can be put together quickly and easily. Definitely a starting point for the novice, a good source for the more advanced to either pick up a rare subject matter or to have a bit of a 'kit bash' and to allow one to stock up on cheap kits that in the main are reasonable.

AMT/Ertl
At the risk of making an all too familiar remark on this page - here is a kit manufacturer who has a varying degree of good and bad kits under their label. Unlike some others that fall into this category you can at least define this company's kits into three categories based on their box colours (giving a clue to what is inside). Their original molds, which are much like Frog quality (for collectors only!) are generally housed in white boxes. They reboxed some Arii/Otaki molds and these are generally found in orange boxes and are a bit of a mixed bag in terms of quality and buildability, leaning more towards the negative side on both counts. Many of their kits released in the late 80's of 1/72 modern jets were reboxing of Esci kits for the US markets and the decals in these often reflected the same subjects as the Esci kits, but were usually inferior quality. Finally, their later and arguably best releases are in black boxes and are generally of better quality than the others. But like most other mid-range mainstream manufacturers they have some good ones and a few dogs in this category, so best to enquire with other modellers before purchasing or find a kit review. However, they have some interesting subjects like the XB-35 which are on modellers wishlists all over the world. When AMT decided to release car kits only, the molds were bought by Italeri.

Arii
I have yet (to my knowledge) to dabble in any Arii kits but probably have via an Airfix kit, so cannot really pass judgement at this stage and thus am not providing a personal opinion here. I have, however, received advice from other modellers who have built Arii kits that they are often inaccurate, toylike and only for the real dedicated modeller who has to have the subject material the kit covers. Arii did acquire Otaki molds after that company went bankrupt in the 70's, and these kits are much better. However, in their small pile of reasonable toolings, most of which are ex-Otaki anyway, they have found themselves reboxed by other manufacturers most notably Airfix, Testors and AMT/Ertl. Many Arii kits were developed in the 60's.

Aurora
This was one of the largest American kit makers in the 50s and 60s, but they folded and sold their molds to Monogram in 1977. Monogram re-issued some of the old Aurora kits, but most were disposed of. Some Aurora kits were pretty nice for their time, especially the World War I kits (many of which were subjects not covered by anyone else), but the majority of their aircraft kits were considered awful. They typically had the most basic cockpit detail or no cockpit at all. Often on the head and shoulders of the pilot molded into the fuselage halves was all that was provided. In spite of their quality, Aurora kits tend to have a large following among collectors and so their prices tend to be high on Ebay and in collector's forums.

Bilek
Low pressured steel molds with reasonable quality that puts the company into the mainstream category. Their modern era Soviet jet kits of the MiG 19 and MiG 21 and sub variants, filled a good niche in many enthusiasts cabinet. These kits are best tackled by the intermediate modeller as they do provide some challenges. Bilek have also reissued other manufacturer kits such as Airfix (Fairey Battle), Italeri, Dragon and Zvezda (Il-28 Beagle); so obviously the origin of those kits will dictate their particular building qualities.

Chematic
A Czech company which as far as I am aware is simply reissuing old Novo reboxings of Frog molds. The Gloster Whittle is one kit which I have acquired and looks all the part of a reissued Frog kit!

Dakoplast
This company originates out of Russia - probably somewhere in the Ukraine, and produces mainly subject material that is relevant to the Soviet Air Force, particularly in World War 2. They have produced kits which are available in other manufacturer ranges, most notably the Ilyushin Il-2 which is claimed by some to be better than the lovely Toko/Roden version - although in reality a combination of both kits is the best you can get. They are also comparable to that same company in quality with a range of generally nice kits but still aimed at the more intermediate modeller, rather than the complete novice. Some of their kits have been reboxed by Eastern Express and I have not heard much from this company now for a few years.

DML/Dragon
Initially modellers found themselves drooling over these kits which featured good standard tooling and a range of interesting subject material not covered by other manufacturers. In the last decade, however, the company has fallen down a few rungs on the ladder as far as their quality is concerned, especially given their is usually a high price tag associated with them. One comment passed on by a modeller was that the company endured an unflattering stereotype in Europe comparable to the "Matchbox trench" statement, and that a poor fitting kit was known to have "Dragon Fit" - many major components of their kits are poor fitting. In the box they look nice, containing good detail and thin clear transparencies. Instructions are comprehensive with good painting guides and an odd kit or two even have an etched fret. Quality of surface detail can be a bit of a letdown with heavy panel line details. Their decals are often thought to be a bit on the thick side and lack sharp definition in some kits. Some of their kits are quite good, with the P-61 and Arado Ar 234 better than Frog and Airfix alternatives. However, their Su-24 and MiG-15 suffer from shape, and poor fit (for the former), problems and have been reboxed under Italeri and Bilek labels. The old adage of knowing what you are buying and seeking a review of the kit first is probably the safest way to approach Dragon/DML kits.

Eastern Express
Having built one of their kits and obtaining a bit of information about their current state of play there's enough detail to write a quick run down on them. To my knowledge they produce NO original molds, all of their kits are reissues of older kits, most notably Frog, Airfix, KP and Heller? In recent times their reboxing efforts have expanded to include Eastern European labels, especially Toko, Roden, Nakotne, ICM and Dakoplast whose kits have become more prolific in their ranges. So, you need to know what it is that you are buying - for instance their Venom, Sea Hawk, Attacker (reviewed on this site), Blenheim and Shackleton are old ex-Frog kits. Many of these kits have obviously done the rounds. There are some Eastern Express kits reportedly of their own molding but this information is not clear, as most conjecture suggests these are actually acquired molds from companies who started but went bust after one or two kits produced - and which are all limited run injection mold kits, such as the Lavochkin La-5. I don't have any information at this stage about the quality and buildability of these kits.

Esci
I remember in the early 80's when Esci were the king of model kits at least from my own local perspective. In the main their kits went together well and were often argued as being the most accurate depiction on the market. But in reality they were more of a hit or miss affair, their good kits were indeed very good, but their average kits suffered from accuracy problems. I've built a number of their kits now and have never come across one that suffered any significant fit problems, but I believe that there are a few out there. The company originated from Italy, along with Italeri and Supermodel. Sadly, Esci are a company who are no longer with us. Their molds have been distributed around the Europe sector and you are likely to find reboxings in the form of Revell, Italeri and so forth. The highly sought after but inaccurate Tu-22 Backfire recently was released by Italeri along with the more accurate A-7E Corsair. Annoyingly, some of their best molds have been overlooked (or delayed). Esci kits came in their distinctive red boxes and were renowned for having a great mold with plenty of detail, great decals (with more than just roundels provided) although nowadays original decal sheets often disintegrate and reasonably priced. In my opinion they were (and probably still are) the most complete kit maker that produced a cost effective kit that could be made out of the box with little aftermarket stuff needed to get a competition based replica. Another point that is often overlooked about Esci, is their range of coverage on a particular aircraft, if they brought out an A-4 Skyhawk mold for instance, they also brought out plenty A-4 specific variants, and unlike Hasegawa, you could produce a couple more other examples in the kit than what the boxart just showed (and for different air forces as well). You might be lucky picking one up out of old stock from a hobby shop or at a swap meet, and even luckier still on Ebay - there are plenty up for auction but they are one of the few mainstream kit manufacturers that seem to attract a lot of bids! Overall, for ease of build and the overall package, you can't go too wrong but if you are a stickler for accuracy, it is best to find a review of the kit first!

Frog
Frog (under the label Frog Penguin) are probably the very pioneers of plastic aircraft kits in 1/72, with their origins from way back in the 1930's - and you can read more info about their history on the Scales page, as well as the Links page. Frog came into their own in the 60's producing a wide range of subject material and were popular amongst modellers with basic profiles which were generally accurate. Frog disappeared from the scene long ago but are still available through swap meets, second hand offerings (Ebay!) and so forth. Unfortunately, many of their molds are still in use, reboxed by other manufacturers, most notably under the Novo banner (Revell received all their Axis moulds around 1977 as did some Eastern European labels; eg: Eastern Express, Pioneer 2, etc) to the unwary modeller but a very rough guide to spotting a Frog reissue, is that the sprues have round corners (a feature on many Frog kits). You will see this in a lot of reboxing notes amongst other manufacturers on this page. Nowadays, Frog kits really are from an era past and about their only appeal (apart from collections) is some of the subjects still not touched by other mainstream manufacturers. Serious modellers will most likely look to another tooling for better fit, quality and accuracy in most cases. Frog molds are recycled to an extent now their tooling is aged, plastic has become brittle and flash often encumbers their parts. In the main their 60's heritage is shown in their quality and are a long way from today's standards. Frog kits are best suited only for those who know exactly what they are looking for and what they are getting and to work along with that.

Fujimi
Biggest drawback for a Fujimi kit is that they are generally considered overpriced - quite often in the Hasegawa price range but not often in the same field as far as quality is concerned. Fujimi generally make some good kits, not many 'dogs' in their range, but you will find that in most cases they are not to the high standard their price tag would otherwise indicate. Some of their MiGs are pretty good and they have a few kits in this range which are more accurate than others. A lot of their Japanese WW2 types are also very good. Some of their older 1/48 kits are not in the same field of standard though. Some hi-tech 1/72 kits have been released with etched parts, rubber tyres, white metal undercarriage and additional decals - but are twice the price of their already expensive base kits. A number of Fujimi kits also appear alongside or under the Testors banner and probably aptly too, because they are very similar. The future of Fujimi does appear uncertain and as Kevin Ronayne said in his notes, they seem to be doing a good impression of a company that's in a terminal state of decline, so get anything going cheap while you can - a theory I tend to agree with!

Hasegawa
Generally known around the traps as being one of the best in the business. Their newer stuff with new tooling is generally exceptional, and the origin of the term 'shake the box and the kit falls out complete' is thought to have come from someone describing their experience with Hasegawa kits. Their good kits are very good, fit is generally excellent and accuracy also very good. BUT, they do box other labels (like Mania, Sword and Minicraft kits) so you need to be wary of some of these, luckily though they generally carry the originators label on the boxtop too. Their older 70's and early 80's kits can be fairly average so be wary of older offerings and consult kit reviews if unsure, one kit that is quite inaccurate is the MiG-29. Unfortunately boxart style (either artwork covering the whole lid, or a white lid with a coloured band label and picture) is not an indication of the kit's original release date. The biggest gripes with Hasegawa are sparsely detailed interiors/cockpits (meaning you either need to invest in aftermarket sets or close up the canopy!) and their huge price tags! Some shopping around is definitely recommended for price - in the same shop on the same day I could buy two Mig-25 Foxbats for $5 less than one F-86 Sabre (and the two kits are similarly priced everywhere else)! But generally you cannot go wrong at all with Hasegawa, widely acknowledged as one of the leaders in the field of model kits but unfortunately it comes with a hefty price tag!

Hawk
Hawk kits were very much like Frog examples, plenty of dogs with only the odd gem released. They are also no longer with us so you will need to consult Ebay or swap meets to get hold of their examples. You will also find many of their older molds reboxed by Testors. Good for the more experienced modeller who doesn't mind putting in some effort or have big expectations on the outcome.

Heller
Along with Airfix, Heller is now owned by Humbrol and has not released any new kits for [quite] some time - generally any releases are reissues with a few reboxings of Frog and Airfix kits along the way. It is also probably fair to say that there is uncertainty about Heller's future, especially given that Smer has reboxed many of their interesting kits too. Over time Heller kits have also become cheaper because of this, and while they are not state of the art they are good value. They are one of the more popular mainstream companies who have produced a lot of kits, many of which are unique to their label such as some rare German and French subjects that aren't found anywhere else (other than Smer reissues). Raised panel lines and moderate surface detail is the standard state of play when building Heller, but they are also usually accurate in profile and go together easily. They have a few dogs out there too, but in the main you can't go too wrong with a Heller kit.

Hobbycraft If there is ever a manufacturer that could be labeled as a real "mixed bag" affair, there is probably none more 'deserving' than Hobbycraft! The safest way of getting a decent Hobbycraft kit is to hope someone else has built it first and thus you can get hold of a review! The real plus with Hobbycraft though is some of the subject material in their range, like the F-89 Scorpian, Caribou, CF-105, CF-100 and the like, that is highly sought after by modellers, thankfully of generally good quality and the only game in town. Some of their new 1/48 kits (EF-111, Su-27 variants) are reboxings of Zhengdefu kits which in turn are very poor copies of Academy kits. Most of their kits suffer from at least some minor accuracy problems and the quality and fit is not generally up to the standard of other mainstream kits, so in the main you would choose a Hasegawa or Fujimi kit over a Hobbycraft tooling of the same aircraft. Being a veritable mixed bag of quality and the like, obviously knowing what you are getting hold of first is best advice for Hobbycraft purchases.

ICM
This company comes out of the former USSR as far as I am aware of and produces kits of subject material from that region. You probably have to do your research on the kit you are purchasing as they vary, not so much in quality, but in complexity! ICM have a reputation for providing the modeller with some comprehensively detailed kits, but this comes at the expense of ease of build, with the Tu-2 having separate struts for internal ribbing and the TBM-3 so complex, some modellers have failed to finish it out of sheer frustration. On the plus side the detail is excellent for their smaller fighter kits like the I-15, Yak-9 and P-51s and often provide a number of different options and versions (the Yak-9 includes two sets of fuselages, and the choice of five major variants!) with further choices included on the decal sheet. Their instruction sheets are also comprehensive, often (but not always) with text commentary accompanying the assembly drawings and names for the individual parts. Generally, however, their kits require a good wash in warm (not hot!) water and detergent before building to rid it of the wax residue feeling, a result of the mold release agent. Generally the bigger the subject, the more complex, and the fighter kits generally go together well, but would still probably need the skills of an intermediate modeller to tackle, again their cockpits can be a challenge to fit.

Italeri
Yet another kit company where you could be buying a great value for money kit or a complete dog! Thankfully, they generally favour the former of the two remarks here. At swap meets and model expos my experience is that I have found there were more built Italeri models on display than any other 1/72 example, rounding up the indicative nature of their general value for money, range of subject matter, ease of build and in most cases accuracy. Italeri have churned out a lot of subjects and quite diverse ones over the years and are popular amongst modellers - especially helicopter enthusiasts as they are widely acclaimed to be undisputed kings of helicopter kits. It is widely acknowledged that no other manufacturer has their range or general quality in this area. The detail in some of their recent chopper releases (eg: H-19 Chicksaw and H-21C Shawnee) have been excellent. One of the biggest gripes with Italeri is a let down in the research department - often too eager to be the first to release a kit on an upcoming prototype (like the YF-23, F/A-18E etc), they more often than not get a few things wrong. They also have a tendency to repackage prototype kits as production models (eg: the X-35 as the F-35) and sometimes even release earlier versions without revising them as later versions (eg: F/A-18A to include the noticeably modified C version), and they do seem to cop a lot of flak for this. They have also only been in the habit of engraving panel lines for a few years, almost all their other kits are raised panel lines. Their painting instructions need a bit of double checking as not always are they right and they continue to use FS & Modelmaster ranges. Italeri released some excellent kits in the late 70's era that were accurate and of imaginative material including B-25, Ju-88 variants, Ju 86, Caproni Ca.311, Fairchild [A]C-119, B-57 Canberra. But it is thought by many that Italeri have one of the more inaccurate canopy shapes of any BF-109 example going round. In terms of reboxing they have released plenty of Testors, Zvezda, Esci (from who they acquired a number of moulds and usually the engraved panel lines are a good indication) and some pretty awful old KP kits. They also bought the AMT/ERTL molds when AMT decided to concentrate on cars only. On the plus side, in most cases they do include the logo of the original manufacturer on the box so you have some idea of what you are buying (personally I think this should be mandatory!!). Revell has reboxed some Italeri kits but generally Testors and Bilek do the honours in return (Testors are the official US distributor of Italeri kits). All in all you can't go too wrong with Italeri but if you are after an accurate or quality build, it's recommended to find a review of that kit first.

Jo-Han
While I have yet to build a model from this company I have picked up a lot of info from other modellers around the place about this manufacturer which started out modelling cars back in the late 50's and delved into some 1/72 aircraft kits. Initially the company was known as Ideal Model Company but owner John Hanael incorporated his own name in changing the companies due to a perceived clash with another similar sounding model manufacturer. Most of their kits seemed to have a frog influence and conjecture surrounding mold copy still goes on to this day, but overall their engineering for the time (60's for aircraft) was considered very good for its time and even holds up reasonably well today. Not big on detail in any respect, especially interior, but generally their kits go together well and build up nicely as one would expect a decent Frog offering would and are often compared to early Monogram quality. Their Zero kit was probably their best offering (although today's Hasegawa has little equal), it went together well, accurate in outline and shape and was an inexpensive choice. Some Jo-Han kits found themselves reissued under the Testors range but when the company was sold in the mid-80's most of their molds were disposed of. Hard to go for by today's standards but a cheap and rare subject might be one to go for.

KP [Kopro]
A Czech company (sometimes under the banner of KoPro and/or Mastercraft) specialising in subject matter from their country's inventory, whether indigenous or otherwise. They are usually cheap and have a lot of rare and interesting subject matter. The kits are often not up to today's standards and are generally crude, with brittle plastic, distorted (un)clear parts and a fair amount of flash. The quality can range from the brutally bad (eg: L-29 Delfin) to the quite good (Aero MB-200). Overall the kits have their fit problems but they are quite buildable for the more experienced modeller and as already mentioned have subject material not touched by other manufacturers. Clear parts (not very clear!) and decals (unless printed by Propagteam) are best replaced in many of their kits. They have reached a cooperation with Polish firm Mastercraft (see below) to rebox and improve their kits. KP have a reputation for basic accuracy - their MiG-15 is believed to have the best basic shape and are one of the better sources for Soviet jets of the 50's that have been largely ignored by other major kit manufacturers (eg: Su 7; MiG 19; Su 22, etc). There are a couple of non-Czech gems including the Convair XFY-1 and Piper L-4. KP seemingly are in the process of expanding their product range to include more 'mainstream' subjects, like popular WW2 fighters. One for the more experienced who can handle a bit of flash and again, knows what the kit is like before they buy it!

Korpac
I'm not fully sure of the origins of Korpac or whether they have produced their own kits, but I am aware of two things and that is that most of their catalog is made up of ex-Frog kits and they are now also going out of business, selling off their acquired molds (eg: Lightning, Beaufighter, Hellcat, etc) to other companies, such as Maquette who have recently reissued their Whitley kit. Most of the comments that are relevant to Frog are probably relevant to Korpac - if the Beaufighter is any indication, expect some work needed (mainly cleaning up of flash!) to get the project up to a decent standard.

Lindberg
Lindberg was once considered one of the largest US kit makers, but now they are a dying brand. In quality, they are very similar to Hawk. In the 50s and 60s, they produced a huge number of kits. Their 1/72 catalog was gigantic. The accuracy varied a lot. Some kits are very old molds and tend to be extremely basic, others are reasonably accurate, though none were ever great. Currently the molds are owned by a children's toy company and releases are few and sporadic. They haven't had a new kit in over 25 years.

Mania
Known as a company ahead of its time, Mania were producing kits with engraved panel lines, full interior detail and a comprehensive decal sheet; while many others were still churning out kits with raised panel lines and gimmicks (such as moving landing gear and elevators). Detailed painting instructions were given throughout construction and camouflage options were printed on a full separate colour sheet. But needless to say these kits were rather expensive compared to more mainstream contemporary kits. Sadly, Mania disappeared from the scene after only four kits (B5N Kate, Ki-27 Nate, Ki-15 Babs & Ki-51 Sonja) but Hasegawa picked up the molds and have utilised them. Original Mania kits are now rare and fetch high prices at auctions.

Mastercraft
This is a Polish firm which started out with a cooperation to rebox and 'improve' KP (Kopro) molds - see above. Most of their kits are KP kits which have had their molds cleaned up (ie: not so much flash, and parts not as brittle as in KP boxings) and improved painting/instruction guides as well as better decals. Apparently, they are also releasing some non-KP molds although at the time of writing I am not sure whether this is original molds or reboxing of other Eastern European molds (eg: Intech). For the main, comments surrounding KP are best repeated here but with a spin that the Mastercraft kits are probably just slightly better for the reasons mentioned above.

Matchbox
You most likely associate Matchbox with toy diecast cars - don't you? Well the same can generally be said for their aircraft kits - toys! Matchbox kits are generally basic, can come in three different plastic colours (sometimes nothing like the main colours of the aircraft), have huge engraved panel lines - also called trenches that seemingly were carved out by a spoon - have very little interior detail that in many cases includes the absence of a floor, and may have clear plastic equivalent to the bottoms of coke bottles. Get the picture? Accuracy is not Matchbox's strong point, mainly because their tooling goes for the basic profile and omits a lot of surface detail. They are generally not the kit you would be getting if another one was available from one of the other mainstream companies. So is there anything good to say about Matchbox you ask? Yes, there is. They are cheap, generally go together quite well and because of what I have said above are great kits to relieve the tensions of AMS on (Advanced Modellers Syndrome - where you turn into a compulsive perfectionist) or to kit-bash in order to get a kit out of the way quickly (or give to your kid to test fly around the backyard). And of course, like many other long term mainstream manufacturers have an inventory that includes subject material you can't find anywhere else. Without trying to be condescending they are actually pretty good kits for beginners to get because they are easy and usually have reasonably accurate profiles. They do actually have some really good kits too, but the chore is to work out which ones they are. A general rule of thumb is to get hold of their 80's releases as these were arguably their best molds. The Heinkel He 70 is a winner and so are many of their fabric-covered UK early war material, eg: Wellington, Hurricane, Heyford, Wellesley etc. Like Airfix, Matchbox the company almost lost everything in the late 80's and were subsequently owned by the same company who owned Revell. Consequently you found each other's kits in each others boxes! Revell and Matchbox have since parted but you will still find Revell releasing old Matchbox kits. Recommended if you know what it is you are buying, or more importantly why you are buying it!

Monogram
Monogram started just after World War II, and were among the top American kit makers in quality. Back when "toy" features were common, they had them, but they tried to keep the kit as accurate as possible too. Around 1974, their new kits eliminated the toy features and focused on realistic detail. Other than raised panel lines, the new molds from 1974 on can often stand toe to toe with modern kits. Detail on these kits was always very good and tended to be very accurate. Fit also tended to be excellent. A few kits had problems in accuracy or fit, but generally they are excellent across the board. Many old Monogram kits have appeared under the Revell Germany label, or under the Revell label as well as Pro Modeler, sometimes depending on where in the world you are situated.

Novo
To be honest I have yet to build a Novo (boxed) kit and do not profess to be an expert or historian, I know there are a few Frog and Novo specialists out there who have a side-hobby on the fascinating history of this company. So this information is as best as to my knowledge as contributed by many modellers - don't write in about some little quirky thing unless it is completely inaccurate, as this is supposed to be a guide, not a history lesson! Novo are for all intents and purposes the Russian/Eastern European company who reissued Frog kits in that Eastern Bloc region, so refer to Frog comments on the quality of kits. Novo acquired most Frog molds, other than WW2 Axis aircraft (political reasons) and released them with the same decals and usually in very similar boxes with identical artwork. The rest of the Frog molds were acquired by Revell and issued by them separately if their was no clash with their existing range.

Promodeler ** updated **
This was a new US label started by Revell-Monogram in 1996, initially re-tooling old Monogram kits and adding in some photo-etch and beefed up instruction booklets which often had some great photos of the aircraft for reference purposes. Essentially these kits are larger scale in the 1/48, 1/32 etc category with only a small handfull of 1/72 kits which have not sold very well. In the past half a decade Promodeler has been the label in which new molds and import kits are released. Overall their kits are good for the modeller who has a bit of experience behind them. In Australia I have only seen a small number of kits under Promodeler labels, very few are at the 1/72 range as they are generally only listed in 1/48.

Revell
Their history and current status is very confusing which stems from the 60's when they had production agreements with firms in many countries (Revell-US, Lodela-Revell [Mexico], Revell-Brazil, Revell-England, Revell-England, Revell-Germany, etc) in a sort of franchise type fashion. Most went by the wayside in the 70's and 80's with Lodela lasting til 2004. Revell-Germany became a company in their own right and now have a mold swapping agreement similar to Italeri and Testors. Late 90's new tooling releases from Revell Germany are some of the most incredible kits on the market, this is for value (they were cheap), ease of build and overall accuracy. The new tooling Me-262 is a favourite and their range of Fw 190, Mustangs and Hurricanes were other little gems, as well as the He-177 Grief and the revised new tooling P-47M Thunderbolt (and D-30 variant). They also provided a niche for the 'Luftwaffe 46' market, producing late war German examples that never quite made it past prototype form (if at all) - most (if not all) of these kits are great builds. They have certainly come a long way since their days in the 80's when they released a line of kits (especially Russian aircraft) that were both inaccurate and contained unusable decal sheets (see my Su-25 and Yak-38 reviews). Many of these were reboxed Dragon kits and they have since been removed from their catalogue. Early offerings of Revell were a mixed bag, most on a par quality-wise with Airfix. On the reboxing front they really are just about reissuing any other manufacturer kit that meets whatever mold quality they want to pass onto consumers, and most Revell "new releases" nowadays are simply other manufacturer reboxings (particularly Asian kits from Dragon and Hasegawa). They bought a ten year licence (which ran out in 2001 or thereabouts) that included owning Matchbox moulds and releasing [almost any] kits under the Matchbox name (a couple of PM kits found their way into Matchbox boxes!) and of course reissuing the Matchbox moulds under their own. Now that the licence has run out, since they still own some Matchbox moulds, these are appearing in Revell boxes. Most of their reboxings come from Italeri (F/A-18E), Matchbox (Wellington, heaps of others), VEB Plasticart (Be-6 Madge, Il-4), Esci (via Italeri usually), Zvezda (again via Italeri), Hasegawa, Dragon, Frog (Shackleton and their whole range of Axis aircraft received around 1977), usually at more expensive prices than the originals - not always because of better decals. There's probably a good case for researching the origins of a Revell kit before purchasing and making your decision from there. Keep the above points in mind but in the main you can't go too wrong with most of their kits and they remain very popular.

Revell-Monogram
This is effectively the name of the merged company between Monogram and Revell US. You should refer therefore to the discussions above about Revell, Promodeler and Monogram to get a sense of the type of kits likely to be found under this combined label. The company is currently headquartered in Monogram's old facilities. When the two companies merged, Revell was sitting on some valuable but unexpandable property while Monogram had acres of unused land in the middle of the US.

SMER
In the main, SMER issue kits that they have reboxed from other manufacturers, most notably Heller, Frog, Vista and Intech labels in 1/72 and more recently also included Eduard in 1/48. So, obviously in these cases the quality of the kit is dictated by their originating manufacturer although SMER have been known to used revised tooling of their own which has resulted in inferior quality to the original manufacturer! Unfortunately it is not always the best molds that make it into SMER boxes, although most of their Heller stuff is generally quite good (assuming of course it does not itself originate from Frog and reboxed by Heller!) but there are those [like the Fw190A & Bf109G] whose quality is lower than expected. A lot of French subjects appear in their range, highlighting the Heller heritage and generally reasonable kits, but many of their kits may be dismissed by the fickle modeller on the basis of accuracy and "state of the artness". Perhaps one notable flaw SMER seems to continually pop up is the accuracy of their "color chips" on the bottom of the box against quoted Humbrol paint numbers - best to both double check this and the actual colour being quoted for accuracy. More often than not their instructions are usually devoid of internal or detail painting guides which can be very annoying. On the plus side they are often cheaper and their Hi-Tech kits also have a brass-etched detail (& sometimes resin) set included and a couple of these are quite impressive. A couple of examples include ex-Heller kits Polikarpov I153 including add-ons from Eduard and Aires and still cheap while the "Plus" Fi 156 Storch is arguably better than the new-tool Academy kit (supposedly developed from Heller mold). SMER kits are a real mixed bag and you are better off knowing the origins of what you're buying first. My experiences with SMER are that I have been let down by accuracy more than the quality or ease of build of the kit which is generally good. Recommended as okay.

Starfix
Unfortunately there are not a lot of great things to say about Starfix kits. They lack in detail (both internal and external), have pretty crude (un)clear pieces, are of poor fit and contain obvious flaws in accuracy. They are cheap and it is quite possible to produce a fine example from their kits with plenty of work but for anyone wishing to finalise a project easily and without too much hassle then spend your money somewhere else. I remember picking up their Skyhawk prototype and boxart should have given me ample warning! It was of a completed Starfix model that was so basic and poorly finished it should have turned me off forever! It almost looked like a wooden project it was so poorly detailed and the clear piece was rubbish. I had six Starfix kits, made three of them and the other three were given away. If their mold was better or they fitted better I would happily suggest them for kitbashing material but alas they are not even that good. Not recommended!

Tamiya
I've only built one Tamiya aircraft kit (F4D Skyray) because I am a 1/72 modeller, and Tamiya generally caters for larger scale enthusiasts (although some of those kits have now been scaled down to 1/72). With my only experience, and the reviews I have read on their kits in general, Tamiya seem to be about the best in the business. Everything fits where it is supposed to and they are beautifully detailed, molded and most of all, generally accurate although they have been known to make a few fundamental and minor shape errors. In spite of this I don't think I have ever seen a 'bad' Tamiya review so you can't do wrong purchasing one. But if you are a real stickler for accuracy, reading a review will obviously assist. This does all come at a price - literally! Arguably they are one of the most expensive kit suppliers in the business and are dearer than Hasegawa, who they are usually not that much better than anyway. For those in Japan, Malaysia and Thailand the origins of Tamiya kits could in fact be reissues of Italeri and other mainstream modellers. Well, all other modellers can't be wrong, buy one if you want supreme quality and price is no object.

Testors
I've only built a couple of Testors kits in my time and my experience even with this small amount mirrored that of the general comments from other modellers I hear of. Their kits vary massively in every department. Some kits are very good and others are a complete waste of money, making it difficult to summarise and provide a verdict. Best bet here is to ask an expert opinion before you buy a kit or find a review. Testors are noted also for reboxing old Hawk and Italeri kits. They currently have an agreement to release Italian Italeri kits in the US and vice versa. When Hawk folded in 1971/72, Testors bought all their molds, which is the reason why some of their kits are bad. Only recommended for those who know what they are purchasing.

Trumpeter
In the scheme of things, Trumpeter is a new player and depending on who you listen to has a checkered history with a bit of controversy thrown in. There was some conjecture that initially they ripped off copies of molds off other mainstream manufacturers and sold them under a subsidiary label like Toy Kingdom and a couple of others, while releasing kits under the Trumpeter brand that were more original type molds. I can't comment personally but a couple of magazines have run this so there must be some evidence to back it up. In any event, their early kits were generally part of the Chinese Air Force inventory, which was a goldmine of opportunity for those who have been looking for these subjects as they were not overly covered by other manufacturers, particularly mainstream. In the last few years they have released some large scale and very detailed kits which rivals the best in the business as far as quality is concerned. But often at the cost of accuracy with some glaring errors to contend with! Initially the 1/32 Wildcat received very poor press but to Trumpeter's credit, they recalled the kit and revised it before it ever hit the shop shelves. They continue to improve and have recently released some very detailed and quite accurate large scale kits. On the downside Trumpeter tends to be very expensive, and it is always a good idea to check inbox and build reviews on specific kits for potential problems.

VEB Plasticart
This is an old East German outfit who used to produce kits of a lot of Russian aircraft until the early 90's (probably when Germany unified). Most of their kits were produced in 1/100 scale but there were a few 1/72 models, most of which were passed onto Revell of Germany (not surprisingly) and released under their label. The Il-4 and Junkers G23/24 are considered probably their best efforts whilst most others are not so good. VEB kits suffered from heavy and crude moldings, were often molded in tri-colour plastic (usually grey, black and white) and also included display stands and a tube of glue or two.

Zhengdefu
Generally NOT recommended for a number of reasons! The origins of Zhengdefu kits is somewhat inconclusive but debate rages on whether they are "pirated copies" of molds from other manufacturers or simply original molds [heavily] based on others. But one thing is for sure, their kits are of inferior quality to the European and Japanese mainstream manufacturers and are not recommended on this basis. Zhengdefu kits come in blue boxes that at first glance look like they are Revell kits (and now like Trumpeter!) but they are quite cheap with kits retailing around half the price of a high quality mainstream alternative. Some kits have very poor fit, most have some sort of heavily engraved panel line that looks wrong and just about all of them are inaccurate in either measurements, conviction or basic profile, or all of the above. If they are indeed pirated kits then of course we should be boycotting their kits altogether. My experience with the MiG-31 was rather pleasant fit wise, but it was inaccurate. Others report variable quality in their range (the EA-6B is a shocker). This is a case of Caveat Emptor (buyer beware), and if you do get one for yourself, then don't say I didn't try and warn you!

ZTS
This is a company from Poland which is renowned mainly for reissuing of old Frog kits, probably Novo boxings. They have also produced a couple of their own molds - unless they are reboxings of other eastern european kits which is possible. The Yak-1 kit is a notable mold which is comparable to an early 70's Airfix kit, complete with the excessive rivets!

More mainstream company opinions intended for this page include (send in some thoughts if you have some!):
Toko (Roden)
Zvezda
+ others

LIMITED/SHORT RUN INJECTION MOLD KITS
(including partial vacform kits/multi media but most parts are injection molded):

Aeroclub
This British company is renowned for its high quality white metal detail parts. They have also produced some interesting short run kits of which some have a vacform fuselage. Surface detail on the parts is usually fine but can be crude on the vacform parts. The wings are generally injection molded so Aeroclub can make an ideal introduction to vacform media. The fit of the parts is usually reasonable once they have been cleaned up. The clear parts are vacform, and good quality but it is the white metal parts that really spruce up these kits which provide all the necessary detail to make these kits interesting. Building instructions are in text only which sometimes leaves some doubt about the exact placement of parts. Their decal sheets are of good quality and often offer more than one option. Aeroclub kits are usually quite accurate, with the exception of perhaps their Pilatus PC-9, and because of their reasonable price and relative simplicity, they make a good introduction to multimedia kits for those who have the confidence and a few short run kits under their belt.

Aerofile
A French company that started with reissuing a few Heller kits with new very good Propagteam decals including the ANF Mureaux 117 and Dragon Rapide. The instructions are in French only and are adequate, although could be better. Aerofile also released some of "their own" kits including the Breda Ba.65 and MS 760 Paris which appear to be reboxings of the MPM/Azur kits, and are thus comparable with the oldest MPM kits. The surface detail is very fine but the parts are a little crude, requiring some clean up and their fit is generally poor. Their vacform canopies are of acceptable quality but do tend to yellow over time. These kits are hard to find and are definitely for the more experienced modeller.

Aeroteam
This company is an offspring of the Czech decal company Propagteam. They started off by re-releasing KP kits with their own decals. This was especially the case in the late 80's and early 90's when many special paint schemes/decorations appeared on aircraft operated by the Czech Air Force, when Aeroteam released quite a number of kits to cover these markings. These kits were generally bagged and produced in very limited runs (some as few as 250). The first boxed kit was the reissued KP Aero L-39 as the L-39V target tug versions with additional good quality parts, in resin and etched brass. Aeroteam then produced four limited run molds of their own, the Zlin Z-226T which was a good quality short run kit of this popular aircraft used by many aero clubs; the Let C-11 (licence built version of the Yak-11) which was a high quality short run kit of the aircraft restored by the Prague Aviation Museum to air worthiness, a public relations exercise for the restoration team which also included a small booklet and detail scale drawings; an Mil Mi-2 which was a nice kit (and reviewed on SMAKR - Ed) but had some shape inaccuracies and subsequently superseded by the easier to build and more accurate Intech versions; the Zlin Z-242 was the final new kit but had a vacform canopy instead of an injection molded one. The next kit was a reissue of the Condor MiG-21UM with new decals, and somewhere in there the MiG-19S was also issued, no doubt a revised KP kit. All Aeroteam kits came with excellent Propagteam decals but nothing has been heard since, and it is possible the company no longer exists.

Airmodel
Contrary to their vacuforms (see entry in that section below) Airmodel's short run injection moulded kits are reasonably good. Quality of the moldings is similar to older MPM kits. The parts will need a bit of clean up, but generally fit ok. Clear parts are not overly thick like they are on some other short run kits. A decent set of instructions will help you build a generally accurate model. A small good quality decal sheet provides markings for several aircraft.

AML
One of a number Czech companies who produced short run injection molded kits, initially their kits came in very flimsy boxes but their latest releases were packed in a much sturdier box. The highly attractive blue bordering and artwork has often been said to be the sheer reason why some modelers (including myself - Ed!) have bought some of their kits which is a great way to tap into the market and better their engineering skills. The parts are molded in rather soft plastic and the smaller parts often have rather soft detail, whilst larger parts are finely engraved. To obtain a good fit, the parts need to be cleaned from flash and mold release (ejector) pins. Even after clean-up some filler will be needed in all the usual areas to get a smooth join. Most kits have resin parts plus etched brass, both of which are generally very good quality. The clear parts are vacuum formed and most come with a spare. The decal sheets are very good and usually offer several interesting options. Some of their older kits have been re-released as "hi-tech kits" with improved and revised tooling, and even more resin detail parts. Most of AML's kits feature early WW II aircraft but they have also produced a very nice Mirage III. Recommended for modellers with experience of multi media short-run kits.

Amodel
Based in the Ukra�ne, Amodel have a fast expanding range of limited run kits of mostly Russian and eastern bloc military aircraft in which they have established a real niche. They have also produced some western aircraft like the Christian Eagle and the Rutan Voyager along with some German WW II machines. However, undoubtedly it is the wonderfully weird Russian prototype subjects that are the most interesting. Amodel earlier kits suffer from poor and crude moldings, but like most limited run manufacturers who have been around for a while, their kits have improved over time. Older kits of the early/mid 90's era need a lot of parts clean up including a good wash to remove the mold release agent (some kits have odd colour flow patterns because the plastic was not mixed properly) and the fit is mediocre at best, whilst clear parts were often foggy/cloudy/milky and could also have bubbles in them. The decal sheets provided only basic markings and were often of questionable quality. Their newer late 90's onwards kits are much better, although still not up to the standard of MPM etc. Most notably the clear parts and decals have improved with surface detail that is engraved but usually soft. Amodel have also released some multi-media kits (An-8, An-12) where the larger parts are vacform and the smaller parts limited run injection molded. And the even bigger kits like the An-22, Tu-95 and Tu-60 have the fuselage and wing parts made out of a one-piece glass-fibre reinforced polyester, with the smaller parts again injection molded, although these kits are out of most modellers price range. Amodel are generally for the more experienced builder in limited run kits and they require persistence and some advanced modelling skills to finish, mind you they are often the only game in town.

Aviation USK (X-otic)
This American company started out as AV-USK but kits are now released under the X-otic label, and like many short run kits started out with bagged offerings, later appearing in boxes. Smaller subjects are completely injection molded but their larger kits usually have vacform main components which are good quality, comparable with Rareplanes kits. The injection molded parts are quite good quality and on a par to MPM older kits, which need some cleaning up but are generally crisp moldings with finely engraved details. The vacform clear parts are of good quality and often come with a spare. Don't be fooled by the size of the decal sheet which usually have markings for several aircraft crammed into them and are of good quality. Overall the kits go together reasonably well and accuracy is also generally good, but the Myrsky is an exception which contains shape errors similar to the CMR kit it was based on. Av-USK kits are not the easiest around and are aimed at the more experienced modeler.

Condor
I should start off by mentioning that this is the Condor distributed by MPM, not the Russian company which bears the same name. I am not fully sure what part they play with MPM but they appear to be a subsidiary company, almost immediately identifiable by sporting boxart similar to early style MPM boxings. One component is known is that unlike MPM, Condor kits are produced with steel molds and thus contain some locating pins and the like, and their moldings are generally quite clean. Still in the limited run field Condor kits are best approached by those with some limited run experience.

Eduard
This company has been around for quite a number of years now, and has forged a reputation for producing some excellent aftermarket accessories, most notably photo-etched detail sets. In the early 90's they started releasing their own limited run kits and now cater for the modeller in many different ways. Their kits are probably near the top of the range, as far as limited run technology is concerned, and whilst intermediate or above skills are still required to complete their kits, they are certainly worth considering - some of their kits are even better than many mainstream offerings. Their limited run moldings are of high quality and they cater further for the modeller by providing colour painting guides (as opposed to shaded black & white ones in nearly every other manufacturer's kit), detail sets and canopy masks in many of their kits.

HUMA
Initial HUMA kits were bagged and were of true short run style with thick sprue lugs, soft detail and plenty of fit problems. But like most manufacturers this German one-man manufacturer improved over time and released kits in boxes, with their latest kits rivalling that of MPM as far as high quality limited run kits are concerned. Almost all HUMA kits are of German subjects, many of prototypes and "Luftwaffe 46" genre but this serves a great niche for those interested in these sorts of lesser known designs. For the newer kits, the general fit of parts is quite good and usually more than one version can be made from a kit. The surface detail is engraved but often soft and in older kits somewhat crude, and clear parts are thin and well defined. Some their latest kits include a separate sprue with parts so fine it rivals that supplied on etched frets. The accuracy of HUMA kits is generally excellent, although there are a couple of exceptions, most notably the Ar 396. Their decal sheets are usually comprehensive and supply a host of different choices for versions and operators of particular aircraft. Boxed HUMA kits are now quite pricey but as with many short run manufacturers produce subjects of which they are the only game in town. Recommended for any Luftwaffe fan and those with skills adept at tackling a limited run kit.

Karo As
This German company is better known for its reasonable 1/48 kits. Their 1/72 short run kits are not too bad either. The moldings are comparable with the older MPM kits. The parts need some clean up, and fit will be reasonable. Clear parts are acceptable but polishing will improve them. A good set of instructions will guide you through construction. Accuracy of these kits is good. A nice sheet of decals will usually give you several options for marking your model.

Mach 2
Again this is a kit manufacturer I have yet to build a subject from and am going on the expressions from other modellers. This manufacturer is a small garage-like company and provides the modeller with rare subject material that you are very unlikely to get from anywhere else. However, their kits are more for the experienced modeller who has scratchbuilding skills and plenty of time on their hands to put the extra work into it in order to bring out a realistic example at the other end. Their kits are also very pricey and are unlikely to appeal to the average modeller. Definitely not for the faint hearted and only recommended for their subject material and the experienced modeller who doesn't mind doing extra work himself.

Maquette
A Russian company who reissues mainly old frog kits, some from lesser known Russian companies and also recently AModel and Korpac kits. They also do conversions that have not seen the light of day under another brand, including Morko Morane (for Frog MS.406 kit) and the Boeing Stratoliner (for Frog B-17), both with new fuselages. New conversion parts are thick and heavily moulded but are engraved, which contrasts against the raised lines of Frog parts that come in these kits. Decals are sometimes the same as in the original Frog issue, sometimes made by Travers, and sometimes by Maquette themselves. In general Maquette kits can be a bit heavily molded, may contain flash, and are really for those modellers after the subject being depicted and/or to provide a challenge for experienced modellers.

Meikraft
Meikraft are one of the older American companies and now sadly defunct. These are true short-run kits with heavy sprues and thick gates, with the plastic of variable thickness that sometimes results in short shot parts. Some kits have etched brass parts, which are not contained in a fret but stuck to low-tack adhesive minimising the chance of losing parts in the carpet. After clean-up fit is usually acceptable but can be poor. Surface detail is quite fine and even the smaller parts are generally quite usable. These parts are not contained in a fret but are stuck to low tack adhesive tape. The good quality decal sheet usually offers more than one option. The canopy is a vacuform item of very good quality. Instructions include a short history, one exploded construction diagram, paint schemes and a very useful list of references. As it helpfully points out on the side of the boxt, these kits are made for the serious modeller, experience required, which sums it up well. Meikraft kits are now very hard to find and some of their subject is highly sought after.

MPM
I love MPM kits, I don't know why, but I'm sure it has more to do with subject material, boxart and the challenge than anything else. MPM started life as a vacform kit manufacturer but has moved on through low pressured short run technology to long-run technology. Their short run kits are now appearing under the Special Hobby label, and MPM also act as agents, distributors and parent company for a number of other brands including Planet, RPM, HML, Condor and Co-operativa. MPM used to release kits with resin and etched parts, but costs had to be cut and many do not come with these parts now unless they are released under the slightly higher priced "Expert series". Most MPM kits come with vacform canopies, but since moving onto long-run low pressure kits, now include injection molded canopies (usually with a label to this effect in the bottom right corner of the boxart). MPM kits are not for the faint hearted or inexperienced modeller and thus should only be tackled by the more experienced or intermediate modeller at least. The kits I have made have turned out well and have been accurate - MPM are generally renowned for good research. Their kits are challenging, need work and effort, and since many have etched frets and/or resin, obviously the skills to work with those mediums as well. Parts are generally butt joined (no location tabs or alignment pins here) and need careful removal from the sprue. Parts are also numbered via a sprue diagram in the instructions and the assembly diagrams are not always the most precise. Some small scratchbuilding skills are needed and the fit of these kits (especially in the cockpit) requires a bit of work. I have found most of their kits to be just the right amount of "challenge". Their subject material is also excellent and often not produced by other manufacturers. Definitely recommended for the more experienced modeller who has a few kits (especially limited run ones) under their belt.

Nakotne
Not a great deal of information at this stage to report for this manufacturer which comes out of Latvia. They are most renowned for producing a lot of Soviet biplane subjects, some of which were reboxed by Encore, and these have been known to be quite good kits with the usual "for intermediate and above modellers" catchcry attached. More recently they released a whole range of Su-27 Flanker family (eg: Su-33, Su-35 etc) kits which have been known to have some fit problems, accuracy problems but otherwise reasonable builds.

Octopus
This is the label and alter-ego of the Pavla company, so please refer to the comments outlined in the Pavla paragraph below, as they will apply equally here. I have not obtained much information about the difference between the two labels, but I understand that it was simply a name change for marketing reasons as Pavla had a reputation for some poor early moldings so the new name were to identify newer and improved kits.

Pantera
A bit of a mixed bag company from Poland who appear to have two ranges of quality in their kits, either fairly nice for a limited run mold or very poor. Their Sukhoi Fitter series are in the former and the PZL-37 family is in the latter category, quite different in every way. Their kits though commonly suffer from mold imperfections and misaligned surface detail, particular "scattered" engraved rivet detail. A good case of reading a review before buying a kit to know which "quality range" it falls into - generally for the experienced modeller or at least the intermediate with a few limited run kits under his belt.

Pavla
This is a company whose kit you would probably only buy for two reasons - you are an experienced modeller (with scratchbuilding skills) and/or they are the only game in town for the subject depicted! You will find that you will have to add on aerials yourself from stretched sprue, cut out fuselage windows, add in extra detailing and so forth to get a truly accurate replication of the aircraft. Their molds are generally heavily short run style and small parts are provided by etched fret only. Like a few other manufacturers in their category they should be congratulated for choosing some material not touched by other manufacturers but I have found that you need to put in a lot of work and call upon all your expert modelling skills to get a decent outcome. Recommended only for the experienced modeller, knowing what they are investing in.

Pegasus
A one-man company from the UK that�s been around for quite some time and their earlier kits were bagged while their later ones come in boxes. At first glance their kits often look simple, but closer inspection reveals a grimmer picture. Pegasus uses a rather soft plastic, making trimming and clean up of the parts a lot easier. Surface detail is engraved and very fine (especially in their latest kits). The main parts are molded in a rather thick plastic while smaller details are cast in good quality white metal. In older kits the canopies can be rather thick and crude but are much better in newer kits. The fit of parts is often challenging but with patience and work can be achieved with good result. One area that needs attention is the cockpit which is usually left up to the modeller to scratchbuild detail in. Their instruction sheets are adequate if a little on the spartan side and the high quality decal sheet is basic, offering markings for only one aircraft. Pegasus dabble in the more esoteric subject covering a range of different European air forces and eras, from UK, Luftwaffe, Dutch to Romania and from World War I biplanes to the Have Blue Stealth Demonstrator. These kits are designed for only the experienced limited run modeller to tackle.

PZW
I am not really sure if they are a limited run injection molded company or not, but they have some pretty crude molds, hence their inclusion here. This company comes out of Poland and has been around since the 60's & 70's with its most well known kit being that of the RWD-8. From what I have heard their kits are crude and typical of very short run kits, best tackled by the experienced modeller who is desperate to get after the obscure Polish subjects that the manufacturer seems to carry, which are not available in other ranges.

Red Hurricane
To my knowledge have produced only a handful of kits, mainly Russian subjects like the Tu-14 Bison. These kits are probably best described as having fairly crude molds and need a helluva lot of work to get the best out of them. Unless you have good skills and lots of experience, or must have a Tu-14 then I would give them a miss. As a footnote, they appear to be a subsidiary or an alter ego of the firm Yumkt which are discussed below.

Supermodel
Out of Italy this 1/72 company is often considered the smaller sister of Esci (who came and went) and Italeri (who went with the big boys), staying in the limelight, and recently earlier in 2002 suffered a setback when the owner passed away. Very few shops carry this brand so some of their kits are much sought after, notably the Bv 138; and their twin/tri engined Italian WW2 bombers are generally the only game in town. Quality of Supermodel kits is roughly comparable with older Italeri kits, coming in flimsy end opening boxes. Their moulds are beginning to show their age with flash now starting to appear and surface detail is raised. Their interiors are reasonably detailed and their clear parts are reasonably thin. In general their parts fit well and the kits are pretty accurate. The decal sheet usually offers several options and especially in the older kits, are quite matt and fragile (like old Esci sheets). If you are after one of these kits and see one, buy it, as you are not likely to see it again unless via mail order or auction options.

Sword
Right with its first kit, the Northrop N-9MA, this Czech company set a high standard. Although their kits are strictly short run, meaning no location lugs, the quality of moulding is as good as any of the modern mainstream manufacturers of reasonable quality. A very hard plastic is used, so some extra care needs to be taken wen removing the parts from the sprues. Parts are finely engraved and reasonably detailed. For high detail areas, like the cockpit and wheel wells, sharply cast resin parts are used. These are of at least the same superb quality as those produced by CMK. Vacuform canopies come with a spare and are clear and well defined. Parts fit generally very well although the resin can be tricky to fit with the plastic, and build into an accurate replica. The decals for these kits are produced by Techmod and thus of good quality too. Sword mostly produces kits of less well know aircraft from the Second World War era. Their kits are comparable with the kits made by Special Hobby. Recommended

Valom
At the time of writing (early 2004) this was the latest short-run company to emerge from the Czech republic. Valom kits come packed in a sturdy box with the sprue and more delicate parts packed separately. Their first offering, the Su-6, was quite crude and comparable with the oldest Pavla kits (yes that bad!) and some had a mold deformation on a fuselage half resulting in a difficult to remove dent. Panel lines are engraved but rather heavy but Valom kits do contain a good quality etched fret and canopy. The fit of parts is challenging at best, needing plenty of work and putty. Their instructions are quite good with painting information for interior and exterior components providing FS Number and generic name detail along with Humbrol, Agama, Revell and Model Master range references. Valoms second and third kits, the latter being Polikarpov TIS, are a vast improvement over the Su-6 but it appears that it will take some time before Valom are comparable to the likes of MPM, Special Hobby etc. Their decal sheets are basic but of good quality, and generally their kits will need to be tackled by modellers with some limited run kit experience.

VES
Molds from this company have appeared under many brands, including their own, no-name brand and in boxes of other manufacturers. Some molds appear not to have reached the West, and are made in Voronez in Biela, Russia. Some examples known to have been sold under other brands include Bi-1 (VES, Pioneer, Maquette, EE [Eastern Express]); Lagg-5 (VES, Cooperativa, Maquette, EE); La-15 (VES, Cooperativa, Aer); Yak-3 (no brand); Me-109G & K; Pe-2 & 3 (Zlinek); Su-15 (VES); and Su-24 (Strim/Streem). There are other kits as well because the Su-15 was the 12th kit produced not included above. VES also made a range of excellent Soviet AAM's and AGM's that were first sold by Zlinek but are now also available under the Strim label. A float conversion for the KP Spitfire was available bagged under the VES label. VES are renowned for producing excellent molds but the problem is that they used too cheap a plastic for use in kits, resulting in short shots, loss of surface detail and fit problems. Where the surface detail carries through the kits are highly accurate, with good coverage of the interior and nearly every external rivet and screw accounted for, which of course is then lost when trying to correct the fit problems. Their clear parts are thin and clear but sometimes are a yellow colour, no doubt again due to inferior plastic quality. VES original boxings include very good instructions with accurate scale drawings but their decal quality is often poor. Where the same kits are reissued by other brands, it is usually the other way around, with poor instructions but much better decals. This is especially the case with the Su-24 and Su-15 kits because these are complicated to build. VES kits, under their own label or others, are not everyone's "cup of tea" and experience with building limited run kits is generally a benefit, but they do have highly accurate replicas. The Rumour Mill suggests a Yak-28 or MiG-25R could be their next venture.

William Brothers
Founded by not surprisingly two brothers, the company was more a short run style of manufacturer than mainstream. Unfortunately the company closed its doors in late 2004 when one of those founding brothers died. The majority of William Brothers releases were 1930's vintage and interwar aircraft meaning their subject material was not generally covered by anyone else. Their kits mirrored short run low pressure style and lacked in detail, making them only suitable for those who had at least intermediate skills and who needed that particularly aircraft in their display cabinet. Perhaps unfairly, some of their kits gained notoriety amongst some modellers as bordering on unbuildable and the B-10 in particular copped a lot of "flak", in one 1998 poll being voted the worst aircraft kit of all time. I've never seen one of their kits, let alone build one, so I'd be seeking out a review of the kit before purchasing one to see if it might be within your skill and an acceptable outcome will result.

WK models
Another German company that produced a few short run kits that are comparable with the oldest MPM kits. After mold blemishes and flash are removed, the parts will still need some sanding and adjusting to make them fit properly. Clear parts are a bit crude and need a good polish. Instructions are a bit spartan but as these kits have few parts that shouldn�t pose a problem. A basic decal sheet completes these kits.

X-Otic
This is the label and new name of the former Aviation-USK company, so please refer to the comments outlined in the Aviation-USK paragraph above, as they will apply equally here.

Yumkt
This appears to be a Ukra�nian company that started with vacuforms (and thus have an entry in that section further below). They also made a few short run kits like the Kamov A-7, Mig-23, Su-22, Su-34 and G-5 (torpedo boat). The first impression for modellers is often off-putting with crude moldings and enough flash to make one think the kit was actually vacform. The kits are sometimes bagged, other times boxed and are also variable in whether they contain instructions and/or decal sheets and sometimes a thin fret of etched parts is included. After flash is removed and the mold blemishes taken care of, the parts look a lot better. Panel lines are finely engraved and the parts generally fit reasonably well. The smaller parts need very careful clean up in order to be usable so the spares box will come in handy to both save time and replace any accidental breakages. Canopies are vacform and like the inclusion of some items, they vary in quality from kit to kit. When included, decal sheets are often fragile and prone to breaking up, so a coat of clear film is recommended. Whilst their kits are often frowned upon, Yumkt do produce accurate kits and in the hands of an experienced (with advanced skills) modeller they can become an excellent replica of the real thing. Yumkt have also released kits under the Red Hurricane and Firefox brands, which came with rather thick, injection molded canopies.

Intended More Limited Run Kit company opinions coming soon (add some thoughts if you have some!):
High Planes
Special Hobby
+ others

OVERALL VERDICT & OPINIONS:

Quick disclaimer again if you have been reading above that my experience is restricted to Mainstream and Limited Run injection molded kits. For notes on Resin and Vacform, please see other modeller comments above.

PERSONAL RECOMMENDATIONS : I have rarely been disappointed with Hasegawa kits and from other modellers who give Tamiya the nod (hence the term 'Tamigawa'). The very recent Revell new tooling kits are also gems for buildability but know the origins of some of their releases first (as they do have reboxing cooperations with other manufacturers such as Italeri and Matchbox). If you are lucky enough to get hold of some (and not pay too much for them), ESCI kits are also definitely recommended. If you can avoid the inaccurate offerings from Italeri and Academy I also highly recommend these kits. In terms of limited injection run kits, I'd cast a big vote on MPM for accuracy and ease of build, all others seem to require a fair bit of modelling experience (but remember that MPM is still for at least intermediate level!).

NOT ON MY SHOPPING LIST : Old Frog kits, whether they are under their own label or reboxed by someone else - but I should stress I am talking about the inaccurate and really 60's looking kits before the better styrene plastic came out! Of the same ilk there are also some pretty shocking KP kits out there too. Although I have never built any, it seems many a modeller has a disapproving thing or two to say about the old Lindberg kits. Unless you are both experienced and want to put in a lot of effort, stay away from Pavla and Mach 2. Finally, Matchbox (and be wary some of these now appear under Revell and Airfix labels) - may seem a little harsh but only in terms of accuracy and their toyish detail - if there is something else on the market go for that instead.

PART II - KITS FROM OTHER MEDIA:

VAC-FORM KITS:

Quick disclaimer that none of these opinions are my own. I have no certifiable experience with Vacform kits to pass a quality or accurate judgement, and to sum up any bad experiences would be unfair to the manufacturers concerned, because they would be based on only very limited experience with this form of model media. The following comments are therefore compiled in good faith from other modellers wishing to share this information with you.

Airmodel
This company is also known as Frank Modelbau from Germany, and these kits are very different in quality to their short run injection molded offerings (see entry in that section above). This is generally a good case of Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware!) because these kits are often crude, contain shape and dimensional errors and have very poor fit, especially in their older kits although their newer kits still have problems. Details such as landing gear and and engines are almost always omitted, meaning you will need to scratchbuild these parts yourself or raid the spares box, which is the same story for a set of decals. The quality of their molding ranges from the extremely poor (their older kits had molding pips all over them like a bad rash!) to the reasonable, being their newer kits which are identified by having finer molding and resin detail parts. Instructions in their older kits were simplistic and unhelpful but have improved vastly in their newer kits. Some kits have been known to contain different sized fuselage halves, making it nigh impossible to affix them together. Their older kits are not recommended and their newer kits are only recommended on the basis that no one else has covered that subject type.

AviaStend
This brand from Russia disappeared as quickly as it arrived but during its short lifespan it produced a small range of very nice vacform kits. The subjects were mostly Soviet designs of the 40�s and 50�s, and the parts were contained on a single sheet of thin plastic with mostly finely engraved surface detail. It makes sanding out the parts easier but will require some reinforcement during building. There are also a lot of smaller parts, including useful cockpit detail. Wheel bays are fully boxed in, something that is rare even with a number of mainstream injection molded kits. Most of the kits include a decal sheet, but the quality leaves something to be desired so are best replaced. Instructions are in Russian language only, the construction drawings are clear enough to intepret though. These kits are renowned to be very accurate.

Broplan
A producer from Poland with an ever increasing range of kits and subject types not available from anyone else. Older kits were mainly of Polish types and did not have much surface detail and contained clear parts which were prone to severe yellowing. Newer kits have engraved panel lines, if a little crude in places and basic short run injection molded parts. Clear parts have improved although they are very thin and fragile and no spare is provided. Most kits supply a basic decal sheet, although often these are better replaced. Instructions are in Polish and English and due to the high parts count the assembly diagrams can become quite confusing, although added detail drawings do help out. Broplan kits are generally accurate, were initially reasonably priced but are now often quite expensive, especially with the larger kits.

Combat Models
From what I have heard from many modellers over the years, Combat models are one of those manufacturers that you only buy from if 1) you have plenty of experience and 2) it's a subject matter that isn't kitted by other more preferable manufactuters. Combat Models are known to be pretty crude in both accuracy and quality, suffer from mold imperfections and are generally not the first port of call for kits to be built from.

Contrail
This is a manufacturer from Britain, and also goes under the name Suthcliff. Their earlier kits were a bit on the crude and simplistic side but they have improved with their newer offerings. Surface detail is engraved and the canopies are often a bit yellow, and not very clear. Some kits include white metal detail parts while others have fairly crude short run injection molded details. The parts need a bit of effort and work to fit well. Later kits usually include a basic decal sheet but most kits include a few sections of Contrail rod and strut which can be very useful. Opinions vary on Contrail kits but they are generally not as accurate as Rareplanes and Esoteric kits.

Eagles Talon
A vacuform producer from the USA who produce good quality kits with crisp and fine surface detail and sometimes include good quality resin parts. There are no decals in these kits but the instructions are pretty good.

Esoteric
Like Rareplane (see below) these kits are produced in Britain and are comparable in quality, although their later kits have engraved panel lines instead of raised. As with Rareplane, their older kits were pure vacform with no decals/details parts whereas later ones have had these added to improve them. The quality of the decals is reasonable, but most will probably choose to replace them from another source. Parts generally fit well and their kits usually build into an accurate replica. Instructions and colour notes are short and to the point. Esoteric have covered subjects of interwar naval aircraft as well as some interesting but mostly forgotten post war designs.

Falcon
This company has been associated with supplying aftermarket parts to correct inaccuracies of injection molded kits, usually in the form of canopy and clear parts, however, they have also produced their own vacform kits. Their kits are generally well detailed on the surface but needs scratchbuilding in the interior. So long as you are prepared to put in the effort to thin out edges, the "fit" of parts is also usually quite good. Not surprisingly they also often supply a spare canopy. Work is often needed on areas such as undercarriage to achieve a good "sit" but overall they produce a good accuracy for the end result. References are a must because they often tackle subjects or versions not on mainstream kit manufacturers agendas or are covered widely in material. Instructions are reasonable although do not provide any more than what is adequate to build the kit. Generally, if you are looking for a good vacform, these will fit the bill. However, they are not proper multimedia kits, so you will most likely have your evenings devoted to them for some time to achieve the best results.

Frank Modelbau
This is one name used by the company which produces Airmodel vacform kits, so refer to the entry above on this manufacturer.

Hallam Vac
A number of kits depicting British post-war prop aircraft have been produced by this manufacturer. The quality of their molding is generally good, although not as fine as Rareplanes, and surface detail is engraved. The canopies are clear and sturdy. White metal parts are provided for areas such as the engines and landing gear. A good quality decal sheet provides markings for one aircraft. A good set of instructions completes a well rounded kit.

Hobby Klub
This Polish company produced a few vacform kits which were very nice, but also of types that were adequately covered and always available in the West, in injection molded form. Their moldings are of very good quality with finely engraved surface detail, with a good fit of the kit parts that generally resulted in an accurate replica. Canopies are thin and fragile but at least a spare is provided. Instructions are in Polish only but the diagrams are very clear and easy to follow. It is a pity that this company did not produce some Polish subjects after the "iron curtain was lifted".

Kayuk
Reputed to be one of the better vacform producers which use a very thick plastic but still manage to press an amazing amount of detail into it. The corrugated skin effect on their TB-1 and I-4 has to be seen to be believed. Some of their kits include white metal detail parts. The clear parts are not always that good, often clear but have no frame lines, which makes it very difficult to cut them out correctly. Generally the kits parts fit well. The quality of instructions vary from kit to kit, but are always printed on cheap paper.

Marfix
A Polish manufacturer that appears to have produced only three kits. They are all Polish trainers being PZL-130 Orlik, PZL-130TP Turbo Orlik and the I-22 Iryda. The plastic used is rather thin and although the parts fit well construction is usually difficult because of this. Instructions are in Polish but the drawings are clear enough to interpret. The canopies are clear and very thin and each kit contains a usable set of decals.

MAVI
This is a Russian company that copied a lot of western injection molded kits during a time when these were not available in Russia. They also produced a few good moldings of their own, eg: Pe-3, Yak-38. The surface detail is finely engraved but due to the the way the parts are broken down they are not the easiest vacform kits to work with. The clear parts are usually quite good. The instructions are mostly only in Russian but the diagrams are provide enough information to build the kit without any serious problems. Some kits contain a decal sheet from Travers.

MH vacu
Virtually unknown outside the Czech Republic this company produced vacuforms that now mostly have been kitted in short run technology or resin by others. The vacuform molding is a bit crude due to the soft detail, and some of them suffer from a orange skin effect, but this can be sanded off. The newer kits have resin detail parts (AV resin?) that will make construction easier. The clear parts are usable but nothing to write home about and the parts fit is generally good. Accuracy of their kits are pretty good but having decent references is a must because no decals or instructions are provided.

Modelland
Another high quality manufacturer from Poland with crisp moldings and finely engraved panel lines. The engineering of these kits is good and the breakdown of parts has been well thought out, meaning the kits go together quite well. The clear parts are also good along with subject accuracy. Some kits contain a decal sheet, others don't, and those that are provided are usable but most will probably wish to replace them. The instructions are in English and Polish and are easy to follow. Some kits have been re-issued with resin detail parts whilst others are now available as fully resin kits.

PSC 72
This is another of those companies which disappeared from the scene almost as soon as it arrived. This Czecho-Slovakia company produced a range of Soveit designs from the 40's & 50's in bagged kits that contained up to three letter sized vacform sheets of thin plastic. The panel lines were engraved but a little on the crude side and the canopies were quite but often damaged to poor packaging with no spare provided. The instructions contained a scale drawing plus one or two construction diagrams and the parts fitted okay. Colour schemes were provided in Czech and English. Accuracy was generally good.

RarePlane[s]
One of the most well known vacform brands from Britain (Poole, Dorset), and not without reason. For a long time Rareplane vacs were renowned as being the best available and are still considered better than some of the newer injection molded offerings (eg: AJ-2 Savage). Their early and smaller kits came bagged whilst later and bigger kits were boxed. Their initial kits were pure vacform with no decals or metal detail parts. Later kits were released with white metal parts (from Aeroclub) and decals which improved their kits. Surface details is mostly raised, canopies are clear and usually come with a spare although in older kits they tend to yellow over time. The parts are well engineered and generally have a good fit. Instructions are brief/basic but adequate and on the whole the kits are very accurate. The Rareplane range includes a wide variety of subjects, both military and civil. Mr Rareplanes is Gordon Stevens and sold off the business in the late 80's. He is still an active member of his local IPMS Club and is modelling in his late seventies.

Suthcliff
This is another name used for the label "Contrail", so please refer to the entry above as the information applies equally here.

VP Canada
One of the few kit makers from Canada these are produced by Victoria Products. These are nice kits for a reasonable price. The moldings are very clean with usually no molding pips on the parts and surface detail is nicely engraved. The parts fit well and will usually result in an accurate model. The clear parts are of good quality. Some kits include very good resin detail parts and some basic decals. Instructions are generally clear and quite helpful. If you are not afraid of vacuforms VP kits will prove to be an easier build than an older Amodel short run kit.

Waku
This is a Polish company that has produced a few good vacuforms although most of their subjects have now been kitted by other short run manufacturers, so it would come down to accuracy, ease of build and preference in media to which you would purchase in these cases. The parts fit well and the moldings are crisp with engraved panel lines. Canopies are clear but very thin and fragile. Decal sheets are of reasonable quality and provide markings for several options. The instructions are in Polish only, but the diagrams provide enough information to build the kit without any serious problems.

Yumkt
This company initially produced vacform kits but now issue limited run kits, so an entry on this manufacturer also appears in that section above. Vacform kits from this company are molded in a very thick plastic, requiring a lot of work to sand the parts off the backing sheet. The work will pay off, however, as it should result in an easy build and a sturdy model. The earliest kits were practically devoid of any surface detail whilst later ones have engraved panel lines. Both offer generally good fit throughout and also are accurate. Smaller parts are best scratch-built or catered for from the spares box as it is virtually impossible to sand them off the backing sheet without ruining them. The canopies are usually clear and well defined. Instructions in their earliest kits are quite basic and provide little detail, but they are better in their newer kits, although they are in Russian text only. No decals are provided.

Intended More Vacform Kit company opinions coming soon (add some thoughts if you have some!):
Broplan
+ others

RESIN KITS:

Quick disclaimer that none of these opinions are my own. I have no certifiable experience with Resin kits to pass a quality or accurate judgement, and to sum up any bad experiences would be unfair to the manufacturers concerned, because they would be based on only very limited experience with this form of model media. The following comments are therefore compiled in good faith from other modellers wishing to share this information with you.

Resin Manufactuers - AN INTRODUCTION (By Chris Busbridge and heavily based towards Italian companies):-
In most cases, the only possible way of getting a good kit of an obscure aircraft is via the so-called "cottage" industry and invariably it will mean R-E-S-I-N. On top of that, due to the limited (and labour intensive) production methods, they're not cheap and can come and go with alarming alacrity. On the whole, most kits are reasonably accurate, although not as well detailed or as crisply moulded as some of the more modern Japanese kits we have all been spoilt rotten by. One exception is Italian Classics, who produce some of the most highly detail kits ever seen, full stop. Resin kits demand a lot from the modeller, as they are by no means the "fall together" type. It has to be said that there is a lot of satisfaction gained from successfully completing such kits. For me the only challenge that a high quality Japanese kit presents is, effectively, the painting and decaling. Especially as construction (my favourite bit) is often 'too' easy.

AlphaFlight
A fairly new company. Their first release was a Yak-1 update set for the Accurate Miniatures kit, which corrects the upper fuselage of the first version of this aircraft. Have also released 3 very interesting conversion sets for the Misterkit 1/72 Cr.42 kit. They are for a two seater trainer, a D-Benz engined prototype and a floatplane. Their latest release has proven to be very popular as it a series of exhaust and torpedo sets for the Classic Airframe S.79 kit.

Astrokit
Currently their range is centred around three 1/48 versions of the Macchi C.200. Of the three, the Serie VII is the best of the bunch. Although probably not as detailed as the Italian Classic C.200, their cheaper price makes them worthy of consideration. It is thought that their next releases will be for the Fiat G.50. The decals for all these kits are printed by the highly respected TauroModel company.

Czechmaster Resin (CMR)
They adorn their kit box tops with sideview profiles to entice those of us who like these profiles into buying them, usually because you can see what versions or colour options the kit produces - other times only one profile is provided. For a resin kit they would probably figure about the "above average" rung on the quality and build ladder. After cleaning up their molds they generally go together pretty well.

Choroszy Modelbud
A Polish company who appear to have captured a niche for rather obscure pre-WWII Japanese aircraft. Judging by various magazine articles and two 1/72 aircraft I purchased from them, the high standards of this prolific company can be safely assured.

Dujin
One of the oldest producers of resin kits in Western Europe, with a seemingly endless supply of 1/72 kits of every kind of French aircraft imaginable ranging from interwar biplanes and prototypes to post war prototypes, gliders and sports aircraft, and a nod to other countries thrown in for good measure. Initially pricey and contained in a plastic bag where everything was thrown in together, they were also considered 'state of the art' but are now superseded by better quality Eastern European manufacturers. Wings and fuselage were usually solid and often damaged or broken vacform canopies (which vary in quality from kit to kit) and smaller parts. Nowadays, kits are still bagged but are separate. Surface detail is usually engraved and convincing and accuracy is good in most kits but interior detail was rather sparse. Fitting of parts generally needs work, notably engines never seeming to fit in their cowling. Their latest kits have improved markedly but still have a fair way to go to attain the standards set by the Eastern European companies. There are generally no decals provided in Dujin kits, instructions are spartan and in mostly in French, and little more is provided other than a monochrome sideview drawing for reference. One would often have to guess where smaller parts should go. Most kits also do not provide much in the way of painting instructions and references are needed because of the esoteric nature of the subjects covered. Encounters with older Dujin kits have not been great, and are really for experienced resin builders only.

EP Original
Now defunct, but during its short life span, produced some excellent resin kits of Italian aircraft. They offered complete 1/48th kits of the Reggiane RE.20001, Reggiane RE.2002 and the S.79 Sparviero. They also produced 1/72 update/conversion kits for the Airfix S.79 and G.50 kits. If you're lucky enough to find any of their products... I highly recommend getting it! Their 1/48 S.79 kit was recently re-issued by Vintage Models, but stopped production with the release of Classic Airframes kit!

Italian Classics
A truly exceptional company whose 1/48 products display some of the finest and best detail you could possibly want in a kit. Special mention must be made to their recent FIAT G.50 kits, which are a joy to behold for all super-detail freaks, as nothing is left out. This includes a fully detailed interior (and I mean interior, not just the cockpit!). They also produce the Reggiane Re.2000 and Macchi C.200, as well as 1/48 update sets for the FIAT G.50 and Cr.42, which are virtually complete kits in themselves. For example, the Cr.42 needs just the fuselage, struts and some cockpit detail from the donor kit (Classic Airframe/Flashback) to get a very nice accurate kit of this much loved aircraft.

Italian Kits
A new company whose first resin kits are the Macchi MB308 trainer in 1/72 and a 1/48 conversion set for an Italian Navy Harrier II AV-8B+. They have a huge and ambitious release programme that can be viewed by visiting their website. It is hoped that their products will maintain the generally high standards set by the majority of the others in this highly specialised field.

Italian Wings
This company has been renamed to Old Wings - see that section below.

MassiModels
Their first (and only) 1/48 model is of the very elegant FIAT RS-14 seaplane. Known to be accurate in shape, but not too highly detailed. Still... a much better prospect than the poor 1/72 Aviation USK effort, even though it is a rather expensive model.

Miku Model
Stemming from the Czech Republic and catering mainly for 1/72, Miku Model started out providing aftermarket and conversion sets for existing kits. Particularly target tug versions for the L-39 and MiG-15, with the towed target planes available as separate kits. Today they produce kits of post-war subjects with a Czech link, with over 50 kits released including gliders, light utility aircraft and transports. The popular AS.350/355/555 Ecureuil shows that they do also produce some not Czech related subjects too. Kits are generally packed in a sturdy box with a sideview profile on the box top, and each parts wafer is sealed in its own bag, as are etched parts, decals and vacform canopies (which are well defined and come with a spare). Their smaller kits are fully resin, while their larger ones (eg: avia/Il-14, Yak-14) have vacform fuselage and wings. Detail that is included in some and their full kits may include etched parts by Eduard, decal sheets are well printed and sometimes offer several options by MPD and an instrument panel by Aerodetail. Their resin casts are crisp and generally bubble free, with finely and generally very good engraved surface detail and are very good with accuracy. Parts in smaller kits fit well, while in larger kits like the L-410 and Yak-40 the resin halves are a bit too large for a thin wall moulding, although warping is minimal they are difficult to fit together. In some kits you are required to cut out the openings for the windows, but they generally come with complete interiors. Instructions are written in Czech only, including parts list and identification, exterior colours only (and often in text without pictures), and construction diagrams; so unless you are fluent in Czech you will need pictures and other reference of the real aircraft. Miku kits are recommended for modellers who have experience with resin kits; although not the easiest resin kits around they do offer great value for money.

MisterKit
Released two excellent 1/72 resin kits of the FIAT G.50 and G.55, as well as a 1/48 resin wing for the G.50. All are hard to find or OOP. They have produced two versions of the FIAT Cr.42 as a 1/72 multi media kit, as well as multi-media update/conversion sets for the C.202 and C.205. All are high quality products, although moderate skills are needed to bring out the best they offer. They were also instrumental in getting the superb "Flying Machines" 1/48 Reggiane RE.2005 kit into production. It is believed that their 1/72 resin G.50 kit (and possibly the G.55) have been re-issued by Vintage Models.

Museum Models
By putting "Caveat Emptor" (ie: "let the buyer beware") on the lid, one was left in no doubt as to what to expect! Although their IMAM Ro.57 kits were re-issued by Vintage Models, not much is known about the status of their other kit, the FIAT Cr.32, perhaps the best 1/72 incarnation of this marvellous plane, and considered to be one of the finest examples of Italian biplane design. This company is now thought to be no more.

NOIX
A Japanese resin kit manufacturer who specialise in 1/48 Schneider Trophy seaplanes. They are extremely well cast and very accurate, but are also very hard to get, as production is strictly limited. Nearly all Schneider types were covered, including the fabulous Piaggio PC7 Pegna.

Old Wings (formerly Italian Wings)
Have released a variety of interesting (and obscure) 1/72 resin kits. They include the Caproni Ca.309, IMAM Ro.63, FIAT G.18 & CANSA FC.12. This is as good a reason as any for acquiring these kits. They also produce update/conversion sets for the Lancastrian, Savoia SM.73, SM.83 & civilian CANT Z.506, as well as cowling/engine sets for the Aviation USK SM.82 and Ca.133 kits. This company has been acquired by ItalianKits who plan to re-issue updated versions of all the range under its original Italian Wings label!

Planet Models
Planet models spawn from the same company which produces the CMK limited run label, and are also a subsidiary of MPM. Most of their subject material comes from the more esoteric types and the main thrust of their earlier releases were catered to the Luft '46 enthusiast but their subjects have ranged out much more in recent times. They still tend to produce Luftwaffe types in the main and are one of the more expensive labels, but have been touted as a good starting point for those wishing to branch their skills out into resin kits.

RCR Models
Another expert company who produced great 1/48 resin kits in the past. They included the Breda Ba.65, FIAT Cr.25, G.55 & G.59, as well as the IMAM Ro.37. The G.55 kit has re-appeared under the Vintage label and the Cr.25 is still available in very limited numbers (as is the G.59). They also produced 1/72 resin update sets for the Piaggio P.108 and FIAT Br.20 bombers, both of which are currently OOP. They have branched out into 1/72 multi media kit production, having released both "Sign" Macchi C.200 and Breda Ba.65 kits. Both can be made into fairly good models but are for experienced modellers only. RCR also produce etched sets for a wide range of kits, including the CANT Z.1007 & Z.506, the FIAT Br20, Savoia S.55x, Caproni Ca313/314 amongst others, as well as Italian WWII etched seat belts in 1/72 and 1/48.

RS Models
This Czech manufacturer has been around since 1993 with a large inventory of 1/72 kits, with over 100 conversion and full resin kits produced (and recently introduced their first injection moulded kit). Subjects are in the main from Czech origin, with many inter-/pre-war prototypes, sports and light utility aircraft. They also produce some nice kits/conversions for Luftwaffe aircraft, notably [Italeri] Ju 86 conversion into P/R high flying reconnaissance versions. Their kits come in a sturdy full colour box, with the parts sealed into several compartments of a plastic bag to prevent damage. While not up to the latest very high CMK standard these kits are still very nice. Dimensional accuracy is generally very good; surface detail is engraved, crisp and restraint; cockpits are generally well catered for; and in some kits the engine and/or landing gear is provided in good quality white metal. Resin castings are well thought out and generally bubble free. Their parts fit well although are butt-joined and vacform canopies are clear and well defined, although no spare is provided. Aside from their earliest kits, most include decals which are well printed, sharp and in register - but very thin, so handle with care. Instructions are bi-lingual in most kits, being in English (sometimes dodgy translation) and Czech. Construction and painting instructions are often a bit minimal but in some kits they are supported with small pictures of the real aircraft, and three-view colour scheme drawings also assist in construction. Colours are provided in generic names only so having extra references is a must - although considering some of the subjects covered this might be hard. Some kits are available in several boxings, each with different decals in some cases extra parts for a specific version. RS Model kits are produced in runs of 300 only, so some have become difficult to find, although some popular German subjects have had a second run. If you are not afraid of resin kits and like the subjects catered for then you can't really go wrong with RS Models; you get good quality for your money.

Vami Models
Based in Belguim the company naturally covers mainly Belgian subjects, containing small decal sheets (with roundels and squadron emblems). Their Fairey Fox kit is much sought after, but the moldings are reputedly from Dujin, and the comments made above for Dujin, largely apply to Vami kits too, although they come in a sturdy box. Some kits include white metal parts for the landing gear struts, propellers and other small details. Instructions in most cases are a bit better than Dujin kits. Vami Models recent kits of the Renard 36 & 37 have been made in cooperation with HR Models from the Czech Republic, so I suspect these mouldings are better than their old kits.

Vintage Models
From seemingly nowhere, this company is now one of the main players in the Italian resin market. Their first releases were a series of 1/72 Schneider Trophy floatplanes, including the wonderful Piaggio Pegna PC7 hydroplane. They expanded somewhat by reissuing various OOP kits such as the E.P. Originals 1/48 S.79 and RCR's 1/48th FIAT G.55, as well as the 1/72 Museum Models IMAM Ro.57. Their latest re-release is the Old Wings 1/72 Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli. They have produced a reasonable 1/72 S.79 and a very nice 1/48th IMAM Ro57 kit.

Warrior Models (of Poland)
Polish company reputedly operating from a a garage somewhere in Warsaw! Of interest for those who like obscure and dare I say, unsuccessful aircraft such as the Blackburn Roc, Breda Ba.65 and perhaps the most infamous of all, the Breda Ba.88 Lince, which had the unenviable reputation of having the worst service record in any theatre of aerial warfare... quite a good looking aircraft though. All are 1/48 with white metal detail parts. Due to the extreme limited nature of these kits, any inherent faults are forgivable. The Ba.65 in particular is a tricky build, the Ba.88 less so.

Remember - if you have some constructive, honest and accurate thoughts in relation to any of the above or wish to include a different manufacturer, please do so by sending me an email with the details for consideration!

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Contents:

PART I - INJECTION MOLDED KITS:

PART II - KITS FROM OTHER MEDIA: