Can you guys tell me what the very good brands are and the bad ones? Here is my opinion.
GREAT--------------------------OK--------------------------No thank you
Skybow------------------------Reveal
AFV Club----------------------Monogram
Tamiya------------------------????????-------------------?????
DMLDragon
??????????
(those are my opinion based on experience and other modelers)Mostly tank, A/C, and figures.... Please add to the list.

I think it depends on what you're building. I have built some excellent Revell and Monogram 1/48 airplanes. Their Promodeler stuff is often quite good. I especially like their Ju-52 transport. Newer Monogram and Revell aircraft, especially the Skill Level 3 ones, are quite detailed and fit well, so I would rate them as good.
I have only one Academy kit, their Early Tiger, and it is very good. Like Tamiya in quality, except for the figures.
The one Italeri kit I built was an oldie and was quite poor. I am currently building Zvezda's M13/40 (an old Italeri mold) and it, by itself would also not be the greatest, but I got a resin conversion set from Model Victoria to juice it up a bit.
Any airfix kits I have built (in 1/72 scale) have been ugly, but, of course, that could have just been me...........

Nic

TimberWolf:
I can pretty much assure you that the majority of folks around here hold both DML and Italeri
in pretty high esteem. As for my self. I have not AS YET built either one of these types. Though I do have the new Italeri M-60 kit in my line up to be built sometime within the next few months. I am assured that this is a great kit. However, I personaly like the Tamiya kits and would rate them as somewhere around GREAT if not better. You might have had some bad times with some of thier earlier kits. ( I never did) Anyway the most recent releases are certainly some very nice kits to build. And desrve another look. You should inquire with your local hobby shops aboput the best ones to purchase. Either way. Good Luck, And have fun.


DAGGER-1

Hey Timber. You edited your post since I answered! Now mine doesn't make much sense.
For aircraft, though I haven't built it yet, my Classic Airframes Reggiane Re-2001 looks great.

Nic

Great......Accurate Miniatures for aircraft
OK to Great (dependingon kit) Hasegawa for aircraft
No thanks......Hobby Kraft, Airfix

IMHO

#:-) For Armor:
Great- Tamiya,Skybow (softskin), AFV Club, Later Acadamy and Italeri kits.
Good- Italeri (the Majority of kits), old Acadamy,Revell, ICM
Don't Bother-Airfix and most of the eastern manufacturers.

These have been my experiences...Jeff

Well, some newer Tamiya are great as are some DML, Academy, and AFV Club.

Personally, I don't like Italeri too much. I just think they are a bit under-detailed. Their recent LVT's come to mind immediately. I was very dissapointed and wish that Tamiya, DML, or Academy would come out with thier own versions of these cool vehicles.

I'm sure they have some really nice kits but my experiences have turned me off them.

Maybe the new DUKW will change my mind about Italeri but after seeing a scan of the sprues, I was hoping for at least another tree of parts.

Oh, and some of the old Tamiya and DML's are pretty weak...

Steve

It really depends on the kit, but here are in general my opinions on armor model manufacturers:

Great: Tamiya (new kits), DML, some Italeri, ICM, Academy, AFV CLub, Fine Molds
Good: RPM, Mirage (not all, but a good number), CMK, Soveriegn 2000, Cromwell Models, HiPM, Eastern Express, Heller, Maquette, Techmod, VM, Zvezda, most Italeri
Bad: Encore, Tom Modellbau, AER, Start, Cooperativa

By bad I mean that these kits take a boatload of TLC to be made into anything good

Just to show you that it really does depend on the exact model made by the manufacturer, take Airfix, for example. They are an older company with poor small scale kits, however, if you happen to run across their ancient 1/32 scale M3 Lee, M3 Grant or any of their multipose figures, these are the best kits of those tanks around. Also their 1/48 scale Sea Harrier is infinitely better than the Tamiya one.

Esci armor kits are spoken highly of in 1/72 scale, but their 1/35 scale armor kits were dogged out with the notable exception of their M60A1, M60A3 and M60 Blazer. They are the best scale models of the M60 series available. The Italeri M60 Blazer spoken highly of by Dagger-1 is a reissue of the old Esci kit. Now mention the Esci M1, M1A1, M998 Hummer or Leopard 2 kits, and you will hear all about how bad they are (which they are). Strange that they were released at the same time as the M60 series.

Just beware of the re-boxing that these companies do of each other's kits as well as the reissuing of older kits in new boxes. I always recommend asking about a particular kit, especially if there is a choice of a like kit. Someone here has bought/built/has them.