Good Model Kits?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My boyfriend has mentioned that he would like to get involved with model-making. Since his birthday’s coming up in July, I thought a nice model would be the perfect gift.

But what do I know about models? Nothing.

So I turn to you.

Some facts:

  1. He likes planes, especially historically interesting planes. He also likes Star Wars.
  2. I’m willing to spend between $150-200 on a model.
  3. Since this is his first foray into modeling, I’d prefer something that doesn’t involve a lot of customization.

Also: Does anyone have any words that will make me feel better about the fact that I am willingly giving up access to my table for the foreseeable future?

2

Well, my gf gave me an IPod Touch for my birthday, after my son told her it would be a cool gift. She is now lamenting how much I am enjoying the gift.:smiley:

3

I’m no expert of Star Wars or plane model but I do put together a lot of model from Games Workshop.

The major advice I can offer is that a good hobby store staff is an amazing treasure trove. They will have the experts on hand to point you in the right direction. If there are any such stores in your area then that’s where you need to start. Beyond that, the only thing I can say is to start small. Get a few basic, childishly simple models first before moving on to more advanced kits. Model making isn’t difficult but the techniques of doing it right are not necessarily intuitive.

4

I know almost nothing about modeling myself, but my boyfriend is a big time model geek. I’ll ask him for some recommendations when he comes home from work.

For historical planes, does you boyfriend have any preference for a specific time period? Does he like modern planes, Cold war era, WWII, or WWI planes? Or is it just any planes that have any historical significance?

There’s tons of options for Star Wars models, so that might be an easy way to go. Does he have a preference for larger or smaller models? Larger models cost more money and require more space, but smaller models require a very steady hand and can be frustrating for a beginner.

Also, note that most models will require you to pick up some paint as well. If he doesn’t have any equipment, you might have to supply those as well and they can get pretty pricey pretty fast.

And, I’m sorry Merchandise, but I don’t have much words to make you feel better about losing your table space. When my boyfriend and I eventually move in together, we’re probably going to have to dedicate a whole room to his madness. This hobby (like many hobbies) is a huge time and money sink.

5

You can pretty much go with anything made by Revell / Monogram. Revell has their own website where you can see online the kits they make. These will be well within his skill level.

Check at a hobby store or even a department store for paint, glue, etc. Testor’s has this package deal where you can get a carousel-type stand, complete with paints, brushes, and glue for around $30 or less. You’ll probably want the one with military colors over the one with primary colors; all the camouflage colors you can imagine are represented.

6

Yeah, the point of building models is building models of things you’re interested in. It’s also useful to know what scale he likes. 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32 are popular for planes.

In the U.S., Revell and Monogram are brands that most people start out with. When I was a model-building kid, I preferred Revell. Airfix is a British brand that has a large following in its home country and here. I grew to prefer Hasegawa-Minicraft. Good kits.

For ships and tanks I liked Tamiya.

7

I quit building models a long time ago, but Hasegawa and Tamiya were the best kits I ever laid hands on.

8

For someone who knows almost nothing about models, you ask good questions!

He likes WWII era planes and also the fancy USAF fighters from the last 50 years.

I think he’d appreciate larger models, just for the impressive-ness factor.

I wanted to get advice and do some internet research before heading down to a hobby shop in person. Don’t want to look like a total n00b, you know.

9

Those were my faves as well.

How much do you know about aircraft? It’s really a wide field. Just for examples: WWII USN, WWII USAAF, WWII RAF, WWII Luftwaffe, WWII Japanese, WWII Italian, WWII civilian… then there are Korean War era, Vietnam era, Modern era, Experimentals, and so on. Oh, and bombers, fighters, transport, blahblahblah.

A nice ‘starter kit’ would be Revell’s 1/32-scale F4U Corsair or F6F Hellcat. Being Navy, they’re easy to paint. (Many WWII Naval aircraft were solid blue. Others were blue and ‘gull grey’/white, or two shades of blue and white. But solid blue is good for many squadrons.) Being 1/32-scale, they’re impressively large and have nice detail.

When I was a kid I had a 1/72 model of an A6M ‘Zero’ by Hasegawa (I think). Nice plane. And then I picked up another one by some company that made really cheap models. I think I paid 79¢ for it at a 7-11 in the mid-'70s. After building and painting, it actually looked pretty good! Wheels-down wasn’t an option, but not bad at all.

10

I’m sorry, are you my boyfriend? You sounded like him for a minute.

We have many “conversations” where he rattles of aviation terms and I try to look attentive. In five years, roughly none of it has sunk in.

11

Boy, does that sound familiar. Just substitute five years with eight years and it’s almost exactly the same as my relationship. WWII planes seem to be very popular. This is good, since they’ll probably be easier for you to find. My boyfriend focuses on WWII planes as well, especially those involved in the Pacific theater.

Don’t worry about appearing like a n00b at the hobby shop. If they’re anything like the hobby shops I’ve been to, the clerks are always very friendly toward any females that may have mistakenly wandered in. The hobby seems to be highly male-orientated and they seem to appreciate any woman that takes the time to learn about their craft.

12

Ladies, get your boyfriends to take you to airshows! :slight_smile:

13

Incidentally, Here’s an airshow schedule.

14

For “historically interesting planes” the WWII and Vietnam period planes would offer the best choices. If he just starts out, stay with 1/48 scale since the models are large enough to put together with simple tools around the house, i.e. tweezers, knife, cutter, glue…without buying specialized tools. 1/72 would be too small, and 1/32 does not offer too many choices.

For starter, get Monogram, Fujimi, Revell, Revell Germany, Airfix or Italeri models since their models are cheaper, simpler to put together. Models from these companies still suffer from being inaccurate but at least their newer ones are more precise, and fit together well. They’re usually under $40 for a 1/48 scaled model. Better models are from Hasegawa, Tamiya or Academy (new ones only) but they are expensive.

Star Wars models are very limited and usually expensive. They are from Revell, ERTL, or AMT. Most were released a while back so you might have to pay a premium for them.

And also don’t forget that your boyfriend will have to buy paints and brushes to paint the models with.

Why don’t you go over to Squadron and download their May 2010 catalog and give it to your boyfriend and see if he likes any of those. Once he sets his sight on a model, check on E-Bay to see if you can score a better deal.

Also, you might look online to see if there is a IPMS (International Plastic Modeler’s Society) club in your location and pay them a visit. They usually have some kind of offer for new modeler; they might even give you a free model to try, too!

15

Heh, I’ve already been to the Chino Planes of Fame airshow last year. It was a fun seeing all those different planes, but I think I was slowing down my boyfriend. I loved the older planes, but they didn’t have enough biplanes for my taste!

16

If he gets really good, he may get bored. At that point, it’s time to build from scratch and build with toothpicks.

17

Print this out and leave it somewhere he will find it. To a major modeling fan, this is like porn…

18

My ex-fiancée’s picture is in the Squadron book H-60 Black Hawk in action - Aircraft No. 133.

19

Ok, so I talked to my boyfriend, henceforth known as TakoGuy and here’s his recommendations:

First, if your boyfriend has never built a single model in his life, he’ll need to get some tools.
-x-acto or Excel light duty knives for everything. **TakoGuy **prefers Excel since they’re made in the US.
-side cutters, also known as small wire cutters, to cut the parts from the parts tree or sprue. Could be something like this
-sanding sticks (like the kind for nails) and/or sandpaper to smooth out ridges
-tweezers for small parts
-blue masking tape to hold parts together while they dry and for paint masking
-glue, type is based on personal preference but he prefers liquid cement, which is less solid and harder to use but gives better results. Most modelers prefer liquid.

He gets some of his tools from widgetsupply.com but they can be found at hobby shops or art supply places.

As far as paints go, acrylic is his preferred paint since it’s less toxic and easy to clean off with water but he knows that some people prefer enamel. He usually uses Tamiya brand paint, but he airbrushes his model kits and it might be harder to use for brush painting. If he wants to use spray, buy spray cans.

For models, he recommends Squadron.com for Western brands like Revell and Italeri (and also good for Korean brand Academy which also makes decent kits) and Hobbylink Japan for Japanese brands such as Tamiya, Hasegawa. Revell and Tamiya are both good, but Tamiya will be more expensive. However, they are usually easier to build.

Since your boyfriend prefers larger models, a 1/72 scale Bomber would be both large and impressive. He doesn’t recommend going any larger since as a beginner, models that are too large might be overwhelming since they usually require more skill. Larger and older kits tend to have alignment issues (they don’t fit nicely together so will need more work to look nicer). What he does recommend is to assemble him a set with all the tools and paint that he needs, a model kit and a reference book on the plane so he can have some good reference photos while he’s making and painting his model.

For Star Wars, he recommends this 1/48 X-Wing. With shipping, it’ll run around $70, but TakoGuy vouches for it since he has one himself. :slight_smile: Fine Molds (the company) makes a very clean kit that’s very easy to come together with no fuss. The kit is easy to paint since it’s all gray and has decals for the color parts. It’s a good beginner’s kit with the bonus of being a very detailed kit as well.

All of the recommendations will depend on how detail-orientated your boyfriend is. Mine is a little obsessive on the details and accuracy (he’s reading over my shoulders right now and claims he’s not that much of a stickler for accuracy), but if accuracy is not as big of a deal for your guy, you can always go cheaper.

Oh, and he wanted me to correct a mistake a made - he’s not just into WWII stuff, he builds across the board, including sci-fi. He won’t be pigeonholed! :wink:

20

I just looked at Revell’s online catalogue http://www.revell.com/ and noticed that some of the planes they make are ones that they made back in the late 70s when I was building models. I can personally vouch for any of their 1/48th scale kits, especially their version of the B-17 Flying Fortress.

If your local hobby store doesn’t have what you want in stock, they can always order in stuff; it appears that you have enough time to do so if necessary