im never built any acadamy kits i want to know how they stack up.are they well detailed?are the panel lines raised or ressesed?need you guys to give me your opinion

thanks still need to know if panel lines are ressesed?

Hi Justin, Russell here. I enjoy Academy kits buy and large, they have nice detail and do have recessed panel lines. They are reasonably priced; the only bugaboo are the decals. I have had some problems with them, although some decals do gone on alright, other times I have had to add after market decals to finish the job. I'll include some photos of the Academy kits I have built so you can take a look at the detail. I hope this helps and I do hope Academy improves its decals overall. Russell





P.S. These two kits are 1/72 of course, the scale I build in primarily.

thank you sir you have answered every question i had

As with almost every manufacturer, there seems to be both great and not-so-great kits in Academy's 1:72 catalog. For example, their Fw-190 D9 is very nice, but I've heard their A6/A8 isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, in what comes to accuracy.
Looking for reviews and if you're allowed, take a peek inside the box to see what you're getting.

I secong Russel on the decals, their own aren't good IMO, being quite stiff, unresponsive to decal solvents and have proven prone to silvering even with a high gloss surface. Do some testing with an unused decal to see if they work for you.



No need to hope anymore, they have done just that! I'm can't say exactly how long they've been doing it, but Academy's newer kits have decals made by Cartograph.


Here's two 1:72 Academy kit that I've built, a Bf-109 G6 and a Fw-190 D9. I used aftermarket decals on both, as well as a bunch of aftermarket parts and selfmade improvements, so they aren't quite OOB builds. Fit was very good on both kits, almost no putty was required. Very nice delicate recessed panel lines and exterior details.


The majority of the detailing I added to this one went to the cockpit, the exterior is pretty much OOB, except for the main wheel wells, these weren't fully boxed-in, so I corrected them with milliput and added detail with styrene strip.




The most obvious addition to the exterior is the vacu-formed canopy taken from a CMK Fw190 A8 detail set. The kit-supplied canopy was otherwise beautiful, but had ugly headrest mounts moulded inside the clear portions. The control surfaces are replaced with Aires resin parts.

Personally I like the Academy kits, especially for the price. My main criticism, like most, would be the decals; they are too thick and don't bed down well. I also find the plastic a little soft and the panels lines a little too fine and sometime a little inconsistent but these are not significant issues. Fit on the kits I have built has been great, especially on complex curves.

Goodl luck
Damian

I haven't had any isseus with academy decals so far but I have had troubles with their plastic (which i have never seen mentioned her).

The revell glue that i am using seems to be able to soften the plastic completely which leads to bubbles appearing on the surface.

I have never had this problem with any other kit but academy ones (and no, i am not using buckets of glue



anybody else has experience with this?

I have to agree on most drawbacks here - decals are often hard to get to follow recesses and rivets and I've switched from Revell glue to ModelMaster just because I don't want to have to switch glue between models.

However, I have to agree on the pro's too. Considering the difference in price compared to Tamigawa, the details, fit and panel lines are definately better than what you pay for.

Then we have the other aspect. Being Swedish, I needed at least one P 35 Seversky on my shelf, and Academy had it. That can be priceless!


P 35 with nice panel lines, but no rivets anywhere.


I 16 with a mix of ribs and recessed lines.

Tony

wow thanks for reply tony good work youve got going on there.thanks for the example.just an update i have a blackhawk on the way from acadamy taking break from jets to do something diff,post soon