David Reviews and Ranks The Best Plastic Model Kits

Transcript*

Hello all. This is David from Loisirs vers le soleil here with another tier list. Today we’re going to be ranking all the model kit brands that we carry.

Now, just so we’re not here all day, I’m going to set a criteria for what I’ll be ranking. I will only be mentioning model kit brands that we carry in our store. So sadly brands like Trumpeter, Hasegawa or Bandai will not be included in this list.

With that said, I will also be excluding model kit brands that we do carry but only have less than five kits from. So that will also disqualify brands like Atlantis or Aoshima. So, with all that out of the way, let’s get ranking.

Well, what better place to start than right at the top with the big guy, Tamiya. Tamiya is essentially the gold standard for model kits. They have been for over 30 years. Their quality control for how they make their moulds is just so unbelievably detailed and precise that when you build a Tamiya kit, you’re never going to have a fit issue. And if you do, then there’s something wrong with you. And Tamiya makes a whole range of subjects from airplanes to cars, tanks, ships.

If I do have one minor criticism about them, I feel that they could release more subjects per year than they do. Then again, with how well they’re made, it honestly is worth the wait.

Next up, we have Airfix. Now, if you would asked me to rank air fits 10 years ago, I would have had them right down there. However, in the past 10 years, there has been a noticeable improvement in Airfix’s quality. So, since we’re ranking by today, I’ll put them in B. I used to think that all Airfix did was re-release ancient crappy kits from the 40s and 50s, kits that had uh major gap issues, didn’t fit together well, covered in flash. But uh around 2015, maybe a little sooner, uh they really started getting their act together, releasing higher quality kits with more detail, uh better fitting
parts.

Now, if I do have one minor complaint about them, and it’s it’s really nothing. It’s just depends on how you prefer to build your models. Airfix kits, especially the the smaller 1/72 1/48 scale ones, their panel lines are a little exaggerated, but they only do that because they have the philosophy that most people are still hand painting their kits. So they overcompensate by making the panel lines bigger so that when you hand paint them you don’t lose the detail.

Other than that and because of their past that’s the only thing that uh prevents me from putting them in an A

Revel. I can hear you screaming F at the screen, but I’m gonna put them in C. And here’s why.

I personally have a soft spot for Revell. When I first started building models, I almost exclusively only built Revell. I really liked their box art. Uh the the kits that I did buy I didn’t really have many issues with and I loved their subjects from the early 2000s.

Now, as my modelling preferences evolved, Revell did kind of fall out of favour with me, especially knowing that they are notorious for re-boxing old kits, not only of theirs, but of other brands. So, yeah, they’re they’re not great quality. Although sometimes you do get a good release from them. I can’t deny that. So yeah, basically personal nostalgia is the only thing keeping Revell afloat from F.

Now Italeri. And everything I have to say about it is basically the same things I said about Revell minus the nostalgia. So they’re going in C right underneath Revell. Uh like Revell, they tend to re-box old kits quite a lot. Uh the quality of the moulds is subpar. Uh they also have the same issue as Airfix does with exaggerated panel lines on smaller scales but they do like every now and then make a good new kit.

And uh let me also iterate that I don’t think that any of the model kit brands that we sell are awful with one exception which is coming up next. So yeah, I say C is a fair spot for Italeri.

Heller right at the bottom. That’s going to be the only entry down there. So it’ll have the whole shelf to itself.

I honestly don’t know how Heller is still around. They constantly re-box ancient fossils. Their kits have more flash than parts. And not to mention, they’re the only brand I can think of who rather than putting the sprues in bags, they just throw it in the box with some packing paper in there to protect the sprues. And I know what you’re saying, but David, they’re being environmentally friendly by killing trees. Yeah. Okay. Well, if you prefer to have your kits with the loose parts fumbling around in the box, be my guest.

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Now, we’re getting into the model kit brands that I haven’t personally built, so I won’t have as much to say about these ones.

Uh, Mini Art, I will put them in B. Yeah. B. Uh basically mini art started out with diorama bases mostly uh stuff like houses and cobblestone streets and they were all vacformed which isn’t nice.

But then they started expanding into model kits uh with um stuff like this uh scaffolding uh figures, tanks, and very recently they got into planes which um I will add their P47. Excellent kit. I think it even surpasses the Tamiya one from the early 2000s. However, uh when I was reviewing it, um it might be a little too complicated. So, it’s definitely more for skilled modelers, but uh yeah, from what I see from Mini Art, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be any lower than a B.

Wizkids and DND. I’ll put them in B and B. Uh, not too much to say about them. They’re basically just one two-piece kits at the most. Uh, fantasy figures, things such as wizards, goblins, dragons. Uh, yeah, basically pre-primed. All you got to do is paint them. uh a very quick and easy gift for somebody and also uh very inexpensive. So, a good option.

Here we have Ryefield. And again, a brand that I’ve never touched in my life. Uh, but from what I’ve seen in reviews and personal unboxings, I’ll give him an A. Uh, near the bottom of A. Uh, yeah. Again, uh, from what I’ve seen, uh, very nice detail in there. Uh, they focus, I believe, entirely on tanks. Uh, maybe a few military cars as well.

But, uh, yeah, from what I’ve seen, uh, very nice moulding quality. Uh, they even let you build interiors for tanks, which you don’t see very often. And, uh, seeing how detailed these are, you’d think they’d be very expensive, but surprisingly, they’re quite affordable for what you get.

Now, uh I’ve heard a rumour that that’s only because they’re a fairly new company and they’re trying to get people interested. So, um in maybe 5 years, we’ll see how much they cost then. But yeah, if you’re a tank aficionado, I would check Ryefield out.

Next up, we have Border. Yeah, I’ll give him an A.

I might be being a little too generous in this video. I’m starting to run out of room up top. But, uh, Border Models, uh, Chinese company, they focus mainly on 35th scale tanks, kind of like Ryefield. Although in the past few years, they have started making 1/35th scale planes. That may be the only reason I have them ahead of Ryefield.

I mean, uh, 1/35th scale planes, it’s a rare scale for that and they’re really, uh, making a monopoly on that. But, uh, again, a kit I’ve a brand, sorry, I’ve never touched, but I have, uh, taken a look at for myself. Uh, very good quality, good detail. price is um a little up there, but um you get what you pay for. So, Border got him an A.

Now we have Kinetic. Yeah, it’s another A. Okay, I’ll put them ahead of border. Uh, Kinetic, another Chinese company. Now, I know there’s that whole stigma about things made in China, but uh Chinese plastic model kits are actually quite good. uh Kinetic um very detailed kits. Uh they are another brand who focuses heavily on one subject uh that being modern jets from the 1970s to now.

Now, even though I’m a plane guy, I prefer older subjects. So, I’ve never built anything from them either. But uh from unboxings, like I said, very nice detail. Uh price isn’t too bad. And they’ve got uh lots of subjects from F-18s to Mirage to uh Harriers. So yeah, another A.

Here we go with AMT. Now, we also carry MPC and Polar Lights kits, but I’m going to just lump them all into one as they’re all made from the same parent company, and they’re all going to go in C.

Now, this could just be my personal bias talking as I’m not a car guy, but uh from what I’ve seen in unboxings of these kits, the quality doesn’t look that good. The detail looks pretty basic. Uh but I don’t know, car guys, that may be all you need. I mean, you’re mostly just looking at the outside. Uh they do also dabble in some uh sci-fi kits, movie based kits. Um and they do make some good stuff. I remember their TIE fighter being pretty good, but um yeah, it’s just not really my thing, but I didn’t want to be too mean, so I put them in C.

Okay, Moebius. Now, they’re pretty similar to AMT, although the quality is slightly better, and uh this is my personal bias talking again. They do make a lot of movie based kits, uh figures, and vehicles. So, because of that, I will put them in B. Uh, pretty good quality. Uh, I I haven’t built much of their vehicles, but I have built several of their monster kits, and uh they were a little old, but still went together good. Uh the price is a little higher than AMT, but again that’s the quality you’re paying for. So yeah, bottom of B.

Plastic Soldier Company. Now, this is a tricky one to rank as they specialize in 1/72 scale war game miniatures such as figures, tanks, and armored vehicles. And the moulding is very good, but when you look at it, they look very cartoony, which is the intent. So, if you’re going for realisum, it would be a low rank. But obviously this is intentional. So I will go with a B.

Uh, one thing of note that, uh, I don’t really like about this brand is, uh, most of their kits are in boxes, as they should be, but sometimes they ship them in these bags, which I find really chintzy. I I mean, if it’s just in a bag, that’s very susceptible to getting damaged. And it it doesn’t even have their company logo on it. It’s just a paper tag. So, um that’s what’s keeping them from going any higher than B.

Next, we Oh, next is ICM. Now, this is a brand that I’ve lobbied for a very long time to have in our inventory, and I’m glad that we finally got it because ICM is a solid A tier. Though, I would put them just underneath Eduard. ICM uh made in Ukraine.

When they first started off, their models were actually very bad, but uh they very quickly improved and today I consider them one of the best in the game. Uh you may remember in my ICM video uh about a month ago how I mentioned that their uh figures are extremely good quality almost 3D printer like and uh their model kits too are very nicely detailed and moulded. So um yeah ICM solid A.

Here we have Artesania Latina. They specialize in wooden model kits, primarily ships. And uh wood kits are a whole other world compared to plastic models. They require extreme patience, craftsmanship, and a whole lot of time on your hands. That being said, uh it does have a very strong fan base, especially in Europe. And from what I’ve seen and un-boxings, uh some of these kits look really neat. So, I will give it a spot in the very crowded B tier.

Uh, one thing, however, that does bring it down is the exorbitant cost of a lot of the kits, as some of the really high-end ones can cost as much as $1,500.

So, uh, if you buy one of these and you happen to be married, you’re probably going to have to make a tough decision between returning it or getting a divorce.

And to round this out, we’ve got the big spender Warhammer. Now, I don’t want to incur any more people’s wrath. I’ve done that enough lately. So, I’ll be nice here. Though I have no experience with Warhammer whatsoever, from what I see and what I hear and from our sales alone, Warhammer is going to be a B.

So, what I hear from my colleague Paul is that Warhammer kits have extraordinary detail. They have a whole rich lore that transcends the plastic model industry and um just it’s hugely devoted fan base. Now, the one thing that does exclude it from being an A tier, and you probably agree, is the price. Warhammer kits are they’re up there. I personally find it hard to fathom that single figures that are no bigger than the Whiz Kids ones can cost as much as $50.

It must be very good. I mean, there must be a reason that Paul calls it plastic crack, but uh B tier. Yeah, that’s where I would put Warhammer.

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In conclusion, like it or not, that is my feelings on the model kit brands that Sunward Hobbies carries. I think we have an idea of what’s good and what isn’t as uh we had a lot of A and B tier entries and only one F. So uh if you enjoyed the video, feel free to let us know in the comments what your top five or top 10 model kit brands are. So thank you very much for watching this video. Remember to like, comment, subscribe, follow us on our socials, and until the next one, adios.

About the Author:

David Peckam has built scale models since he was 12, specializing largely on military aircraft. He is a makeup artist and background actor for films and TV. He enjoys watching hockey and of course, movies. He has an excellent knowledge of hobby products and if you have questions concerning scale model airplanes.

*Video by David Peckham
Video Edited by Daniela Castellano
Transcript generated by youtube
Edited by Angelo Castellano