Hello,
Newbie here. I want to start building 1/72 WW2 planes and would like to know what are the best model kit companies out there? After doing some research the names Hasegawa,Fujimi,Tamiya,Italeri,Revell,Emhar,Zvezda,ect...kept popping up and i know this is a very opinionated question but what is the cream of the crop out there? Also, i keep reading how certain companies rebox other companies models and its all very confusing to me. Please help a newbie out!!! Thank you so much!

Each company has its flagship models and their duds, Has and Tam are excellent companies for their ease of building, with that comes the cost. If you have a limited budget they will be out of reach most of the time, unless you find a great deal at a contest. The other companies which you listed also make excellent kits as well, and should not be dismissed if price is a concern. There are build blogs and such here and on other sites that describe the builder's challenges thus gives the reader a heads up on what to expect. I have a limited budget and usually scour the vendors section at contests to find kits on the cheap. Making the dies are expensive thus companies will share the dies or other financial arrangements to help recover the costs of R&D and associated costs. So you will find such re-boxings which can be cheaper. Certain companies have marketing arrangements with each other thus dictates who can sell where. With any kit which you decide to build take your time and test fit which will eliminate a lot of pitfalls. Do hope that this clarifies the situation some what. Do not be afraid of making mistakes for they will happen As with each completed build there will be improvements in your skills, techniques and patience, learning experiences to take with you on your next challenge. No kit is perfect in it's accuracies and neither will each person's builds. Flaws will be found though that is the challenge to try and eliminate as many as you can as you explore this fun and exciting hobby. This past time can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. Do not be hesitant in asking for help here or at the many other modelling sites.

Thank you very much for the reply, that helps a lot! Do you know if companies like Emhar, RPM, Maquette are still in business?

Hi Ed, welcome to the site. Just thought I would add my two cents worth. I think Tamiya is an excellent line to start with, priced around 20 dollars, maybe a couple bucks more, they go together well and generally have good decals!

If you like take a gander at the photos on the bar on my post, I build pretty much exclusively 1/72 scale, primarily WW2. Hope this helps you out some. Any more questions just ask. Russell

I think that the are still in business though I do not know what their models are like. The previous poster did say that you could find a tam for 20 you need to look hard though. The only time I found one at that price was at a show.

Trevor is correct, they probably are closer to 24 or 25 but are well worth the investment I think. I will post a photo of a Tamiya FW-190D for you to look at.
Russell

Thanks to all for the replies. I just made my first purchase,a Soviet Mig-3 from Hobby Boss. I really like the Mig-3 and from the info i found it appears that Hobby Boss made the most accurate one. I will certainly look into Tamiya and Hasegawa kits as well. Also i seen some interesting kits by Fujimi, Heller and Zvezda but can`t find much info on those companies. RPM is another company im interested in but don`t know if they are still in business. Any help with info on some of these other more obscure companies would be greatly appreciated!!!

Fujimi does some nice kits but some are hard to find now Heller can be hit and miss some of their kits are old airfix toolings Zvezda does some nice kits their 1/48 Bf 109-f is highly recommended RPM does some nice kits of unusual subjects but getting your hands on them is another story don't know if they're still in business to be honest as i did a search on Hannants over here in the UK and they only stock four aircraft in 1/72 so either the company is out of business or they just don't sell well? but Tamiya and Hasegawa are really nice kits but not cheap academy are hit and miss most problems usually arise with their decals but i've never encountered this problem. Ant.

Thank you very much!!!

P.S Forgot to mention Emhar...can you tell me anything about this company? Thanks again!!

As a beginner may I suggest that you start off with the likes of Airfix, Italeri, Academy etc who's kits are generally cheaper and more simple but may (not always) have issues. If you make a major mistake on one of these you have not wasted a large out lay, but also remember any old / broken kits can be used for practising painting skills on.
Once you have a few under your belt then move up to the more expensive and detailed brands like Tamiya and Hasegawa. Master your skills then when your ready take the next step and add detail sets photo etch and resin.

Other brands are also out there and can be good or bad, you also get good and bad within a company's own range including Hasegawa so check out reviews and / or ask questions here.

Emhar made a big splash when they first appeared in the '90s, but I haven't seen a new kit from them for several years. Their outlines are pretty good but I find their smaller parts and canopies to be a bit thick and crude. You'd want to replace such things as cockpits, landing gear and all other fiddly bits with aftermarket or scratchbuilding.

I recommend that you ask about any individual kit you're interested in. Chances are someone here has seen it, built it or thrown it against the wall in frustration

Enjoy your MiG. Hobby Boss kits are unusual and adventurous but usually quite straightforward.

J

Thank you!! You bring up a good point about looking at certain kits instead of companies. Thats basically what i did with the Mig-3. Its seems that the word out there is that Hobby Boss makes the best 1/72 Mig-3,or at least from what i`ve read anyway.

A google search for the aircraft type and scale will usually turn up a review or 5...
Top review sites are right here in the Aeroscale Reviews index, ARC, SMAKR, Modeling Madness, Hyperscale, Cybermodeler Online, Internet modeler and many more.