New modeller. Nichimo brand kits?

[Guest]

Hi all. Ok I'm not really a new modeller. I built tons of kits when I was much younger, but probably haven't built one in 27 years or so. I just visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, and i got the itch to build again. I just ordered a Nichimo Hawker Hunter, and I see a bunch of other brands of kits I've never heard of before. When I was a kid (in England) it was mostly Airfix, and maybe some Revell. After moving to Canada, I also built some Monogram kits. Are there any brands to avoid, and alternately, any brands that are considered generally superior quality? I'm not looking for super expensive high end stuff, just decent quality kits.

Some of the brand's I'm talking about are Kitty Hawk, Lindberg, Hasegawa, Hobby Boss, Tarangus, and Valom.

[Steve O]

Welcome along Paul enjoy the forum.

Steve.

[Dave Ward]

Paul,
the hobby has changed a massive amount in the last few years, makers have appeared, disappeared, changed hands, and so on. ( ie Revell is now a German company! )
It's a generality, but the older the model, the simpler it will be, less parts, less choice of markings, and maybe not as accurate. More modern, more parts, more choice. It depends on what your area of interest is, - if you like 1/35 tanks and softskins, or 1/48 aircraft, then you have a massive range to choose from. Other scales and subjects cater for all tastes.
If you're interested in a particular model, then try this link ** Scalemates** It can give you the age, and source of a model ( some moulds have passed through many hands ), and in a lot of cases, reviews of models. YouTube can also be a source of reviews.
I won't really push any maker, but do your research on the internet.
Happy Modelling
Dave

[Guest]

Welcome along Paul enjoy the forum.

Steve.

Thanks Steve

[Si Benson]

Hi Paul,

Dave has summed it up really well. Researching a kit is really simple with scalemates, been using them for years for info and kit reviews. Hope you find something good to get back into the Hobby with.
Si

[Guest]

Paul,
the hobby has changed a massive amount in the last few years, makers have appeared, disappeared, changed hands, and so on. ( ie Revell is now a German company! )
It's a generality, but the older the model, the simpler it will be, less parts, less choice of markings, and maybe not as accurate. More modern, more parts, more choice. It depends on what your area of interest is, - if you like 1/35 tanks and softskins, or 1/48 aircraft, then you have a massive range to choose from. Other scales and subjects cater for all tastes.
If you're interested in a particular model, then try this link ** Scalemates** It can give you the age, and source of a model ( some moulds have passed through many hands ), and in a lot of cases, reviews of models. YouTube can also be a source of reviews.
I won't really push any maker, but do your research on the internet.
Happy Modelling
Dave

Thanks Dave. I'll be sure to check that site out. I think to start with, I'm mostly interested in 1:48 scale aircraft, specifically 1st generation and cold war era jet fighters. I may go for the Kitty Hawk F101 Voodoo after the Hunter.

[Dave Ward]

Paul,
that's one of my areas of interest, as well. I did a blog recently on the HobbyBoss FJ-4 Fury - nice model, good price, another that may take your interest is the very nice Revell 1/48 F-86D 'Sabre Dog'. I have a Skyray, and a Demon squirreled away in my stash, and I'm always on the lookout for cold war jets ( Warsaw Pact as well as the West ), but be careful, it can be addictive!
Dave

[Guest]

So I'm checking out the Scalemates site Dave, and if you click on the "full history" button, you see a timeline that shows several different brand names and different years showing "rebox", "new tool", or "new parts", etc. Does this mean all of these brands' versions of a given model are derived from the same moulds? For example, the Kitty Hawk F101b Voodoo looks to have started life as a Monogram kit back in 1985 and was also used by Hasegawa and Revell along the way before ending up with Kitty Hawk.

[Dave Ward]

Paul,
If you click on 'kits' - then enter 'Kitty Hawk F-101b' you will get to the product description. About 1/2 way down, you will see 'product timeline' this shows that the F-101b is derived from the Kitty Hawk F-101a of 2014 ** F-101B ** a little further down you will see' in-box reviews'
I think what you looked at was all the 1/48 Voodoo models, from all makers!
Dave

[Guest]

Paul,
If you click on 'kits' - then enter 'Kitty Hawk F-101b' you will get to the product description. About 1/2 way down, you will see 'product timeline' this shows that the F-101b is derived from the Kitty Hawk F-101a of 2014 ** F-101B ** a little further down you will see' in-box reviews'
I think what you looked at was all the 1/48 Voodoo models, from all makers!
Dave

There is a little blue button under the product timeline that says "full history". If you click on that button, it expands the timeline to show the other brands.

Never Mind. I get it now. It does show different kits. The related ones are linked by little lines.

[Fernando N]

Hi Paul, and welcome to the forum.
Scalemates is pretty nice to find out info.
Like the guys have said, if you like a kit and check it out on the net you'll have a pretty good idea how it goes together based on others experiences.

Hope you find something you like and have fun with it.

[Guest]

My kit arrived and as expected, it is quite basic, not very detailed, and not very high quality. It is from 1985 I believe, and pretty much consistent with the models I used to build as a kid. Obviously it is nowhere near the quality and detail of some of the newer more expensive kits. I'm fine with that since I'm just testing the waters so to speak before I jump back into the world of scale modelling (although I have already ordered another kit).

So far all I've done is cleaned up some of the larger pieces such as fuselage halves and wings, and I'm very much enjoying it. I still need to go out and buy paints, glue, filler, etc. Unfortunately there is no store anywhere near me that sells scale modelling supplies. When I was a kid you could buy this stuff all over the place. Now I have to drive 45 minutes to find a hobby shop. Sad.

[Dave Ward]

Paul,
I know what you mean about getting supplies! My nearest shop is 10 miles away, and depending on public transport, costs me £7.00 return! ( that's assuming they have the stuff in stock.) So mail order is my solution. Our site owners shop is a good place to start.....* shop *
Dave

[Guest]

Paul,
I know what you mean about getting supplies! My nearest shop is 10 miles away, and depending on public transport, costs me £7.00 return! ( that's assuming they have the stuff in stock.) So mail order is my solution. Our site owners shop is a good place to start.....* shop *
Dave

Dave, I do a lot of shopping on line (too much probably) but I don't like having to wait two weeks for stuff to be shipped, only to realize I forgot something, which I tend to do sometimes. I guess there just isn't the market to support proper hobby shops anymore. All the kids do these days is play on their phones or computer games. We had a great hobby shop about 20 minutes away. They sold model kits, model railway stuff, art supplies, r/c cars and planes, and all the accessories you could need. They were there for years and then closed up shop about 5 years ago.

[stillp]

Where are you Zeegler?

Pete