Hello there, I've been hunting around for an aircraft forum, still not quite sure if this is the right site.

While not new to model building, I am very new to aircraft and if I may fire away with some questions with brand names that I have heard before, perhaps someone could tell me the low down on how good or bad these company names are. Also for a first time (for myself anyway) I've noticed aircraft 1:48 scale, I've only come across 1:72.

Those names that I know of are Airfix and Revell, the new names are Eduard that I have built 1:72 WW1 tanks, and painted their 1:72 figures but never knew about their aircraft (are they good ?) Roden is a name that continues to come up time after time, not sure about these, and if I have this right, Nieuport, this was a 1:32 scale.
Any help would be great.

Hi Alec,

I guess, as you posted in the Early Aviation forum, that you have an interest in WWI subjects? There are a lot of brands now, with small specialist manufacturers offering a vast range of subjects.

Airfix and Revell have not developed any new WWI kits for a long time (Revell has begun selling some re-boxed Eduard kits, but they are in the minority)- not sure if they have done anything since 1970s? Hence, they are a bit simplistic and not up to todays accuracy or detail standards.

Eduard kits tend to be a bit easier to assemble than Roden, but they are both very good in terms of details and accuracy. Nieuport was a French aircraft maker at the time, not a kit manufacturer.

As for scales, 1:72 is covered by both Eduard and Roden, as is 1:48. Roden have a lot of nice 1:32 models now, and they were joined in this scale recently by Wing Nut Wings, of New Zealand, set up by Peter Jackson the film director. They only have a few kits out, but the range will expand a lot in the next year or so. You'll also find a few Revell 1/28 kits, quite a few decades old now though.

The way I choose a kit is to first decide on a scale and subject, and then look for the most detail, easy to build, accurate kit there is of that subject. One manufacturer may not be consistent in their standards- especially the smaller manufacturers that are improving so fast that a kit they released a decade ago will be noticeably behind their new releases in detail and ease of build.

If you want to see some in-depth reviews, you can look through the Aeroscale reviews:
Here are the Early Aviation reviews.

That is very much appreciated, and thank you for the link.

Thank you Ben for helping him out.