I have seen "worst kits" list, ones that make people want to conect their model with the nearest hard surface, but how about a few "greatest kits of all time"?

I'm talking about fit, subject matter, price, any company,

So lets hear a few-- what are your favorite kits, the hall of fame of plastic

Sean

I would have to nominate Tamiya 1/48 Spitfire Mk1 and Bf 109E-4. They simply fall together and are probably the best quality kits I've come across. In armour I'd suggest Tamiya 1/35 Sherman M4A3 as a classic.

I'll toss out the classic Italeri M24 Chaffee and M47 Patton - both really nice renditions that stand the test of time...

Gunnie

I know this is going to be controversial but how about the Tamiya German infantry set, kit 35002? I know, I know, the figures are horrible, out of scale, crudely sculptured and all that. We used to call the one walking guy "Fat Fritz" because he was pretty chunky. The reason I mention this old dog is that can you think of a kit that has probably influenced more people into getting into modeling? EVERYBODY I knew when I was a kid had this kit. It must still be pretty popular since every hobby store I ever go to also carries it. Just for sentimental value I'd put it on the list.

Ola People

I have not built it yet but it is sitting on the shelves blinking at me.

The New DML Sd.Kfz. 251 Ausf. C. Never have seen such a well designed and well molded kit. I say this only by having checked every corner of each sprue but if it goes together like their 250 series then this will be the king among the Kits

AFV Club M3A3 StuartV, no contest in my opinion.

I have to go with the Tamiya Dragon Wagon, followed by the AFV Club M-88 Vietnam era Recovery Vehicle.

My vote would be for the Tamiya KING TIGER.. New issue or old, they are BOTH Fantastic and almost build themselves..

This still hasn't been mentioned, but I say the Tasca Luchs, haven't heard any bad things about it!

dont forget to add tamiya's newer Pz3 and stug as well

tamiya cromwell/centaur gets my vote,

superb quality, easy to build, highly accurate, loads of detail just pure quality.

others of near quality, AFV club Stuart V, scorpion/scimitar, and the tamiya T55 is pretty good too

cheers

joe

Hi all

While I would like to add half of Tamiya's kit list. I'll keep it to just two. First, and I'm surprised nobody mentioned it yet but Tamiya's T-62A. When it first came out it was the only piece of modern Russian armor around. Second, is Tamiya's M4A3 Sherman. Another kit thats been around awhile but can still be made into a decent piece. When I think of a greatest kit list. I think of kits that have one, been around awhile and two, have helped give rise to other kits. In this case both of these kits meet the mark.

SonofaVet, Good idea for a post
Wolfsix

By far the most impressive kit i have ever had the pleasure of seeing is the trumpeter leopold. Pure class! I have seen several built up versions and have my own sitting patiently, ready to be started upon in the very near future!

Tamiya U.S. Army Assault Infantry set 35192 get my wote. I have seen this figures on many dioramas.

I have not been building as long as many people, but one kit that I would toss on there would be the Tamiya 1/48 Zero. I forget what kit it was exactly, but it was the best build I ever had-- went together just wonderfully.

Perhaps another thing to keep in mind is, how flexable is this kit? Can you only use it in only a few dioramas or many? Can you model numerous versions of it? Halfyank and Sherminator touched on this with the wide use of the US and German army figures.

I have yet to build one but, doesn'y anybody thing some form of the Tiger tank should be on here? I've heard that that is one of the most modeled subjects, we already have the king Tiger up here

Sean

Aren’t you guys forgetting Italeri’s Kit # 225 the venerable Sherman M4A1 (76mm) that has been around for forever and probably the kit most used for the necessary Sherman spares and conversions.

My vote will lean toward the out of the ordinary.........yet typical. Tamiya's T-55 gets my loving leer and DML's 250 kits.
I would like to give a huge thumbs up as a special thanks to trumpeter.........sooooo much new ,and out of the mainstream, plastic. 1/32 aircraft to drool over and 1/35 Hinde!!!!!!!! All thier effort should get them a manufacturer of the year award. Hell!!!! They even took a kit off the market so they could retool it to the modellers expectations!!!!!!! That is marketing!!!!!

Well my two cents Tamiya's Tiger I that started the retooling of the line. The new tigers are "shake to make" and are a great kit for the buck.

Trumpeters Leo is quite impressive for sheer scale. And as a manufacturer who started with poor copies they now have quite the unique line. Who else makes modern chinese armor?

Just finished the Tamiya M4 Early and it was a breeze. As someone else mentioned the Italeri M4A1 is also a regular build in my collection. I just add on different options and voila, different Shermie. Also the Tamiya M4A3 is a breeze.

If you are talking ease of build and versatility I don't think any of the Shermans can be beat. Add a dozer blade, crab flail, rockets, etc. and you have quite a few variants based off an easy to assemble base tank.

Air: Acc Min TBFfamily of A/C. oustanding detail,and clear instructions.
Ground. I have to agree with the M-24 and M-47 from Italeri,More recently,A big nod to Tamiya for the Dragon Wagon and Famos.

It may be crude by today's standards but you gotta admit the old Tiger 1 kit was a lot of fun especially when all the conversion and update sets started coming out. This kit was built time and time again by everyone. I can't imagine the hobby without it. A true classic.

Accurate Minature's Avenger
Tamiya's Famo & Trailer
Hasegawa's F-4 Phantom series

I'd also throw a vote for the M47 from Italeri. That was one of the best eBay grabs I ever got. Tamiya's HMMWV is also excellent.

How about anything from the Abrams line?

Sean

My favorite Armor kits would have to be the Trumpeter S-tanks. They go together very well, are well detailed out of the box, are unusual looking and most importantly are not WWII German!

For aircraft I would have to say the 1/48 Tamiya Spitfire Vb and for Sci-Fi the Polar Lights Enterprise NX-01 would top that list.

$0.02
Dave S.