Hobby Boss How hard do they suck and in what ways?

[Steven]

Or this: https://www.oldmodelkits.com/

 

[the Baron]

I wouldn't say categorically that HobbyBoss' offerings aren't good. I'd say it's hit-or-miss, depending on the subject. That's my experience, anyway.

To illustrate...

I bought HobbyBoss' 1/700 USS Arizona 1941 kit, and started a conversion build to turn it into her sister, the Pennsylvania, circa 1935. I think I have a build thread in the Ships forum. I started that build in 2010 (on the old forum site!), and it's still not done. I lost interest, because the kit's poor quality really gnawed at me over time. Soft detail, and engineering that goes all the way back to Revell's kit, which the Chinese copied and led to the old Banner kit and the kit from Trumpeter's predecessor. But it was ten bucks, so...

On the other hand, I built HobbyBoss' 1/48 F4F-4 Wildcat, and it's a nice kit. Now, I think it's basically a copy of Tamiya's 1/48 F4F. I laid the sprues side by side and they're practically identical. The only difference is that HobbyBoss made the wings separate from the lower fuselage piece to which they are attached in the Tamiya kit. But it builds into a nice model without a lot of fuss.

So I really think it depends on the kit. I wouldn't reject them out of hand, but I would do some research on any given kit, before deciding to buy it.

 

[lancerunolfsson]

Or this: https://www.oldmodelkits.com/

I've looked at that site a couple of times but was discouraged in that they don't appear to have a wishlist function. so there is no going through and saving the stuff I'd like to think about.

 

[lancerunolfsson]

So I really think it depends on the kit. I wouldn't reject them out of hand, but I would do some research on any given kit, before deciding to buy it.

And there in lies the conundrum if one guy says the plane has the "wrong shape" and the plane on the cover of the box looks like a reasonable approximation of a photo of the plane to me?

 

[the Baron]

I've looked at that site a couple of times but was discouraged in that they don't appear to have a wishlist function. so there is no going through and saving the stuff I'd like to think about.

Yeah, I'd avoid OldModelKits.com, generally, unless that was the absolute only place to find the kit you want. It's really more for kit collectors than modelers, the guys who want an original issue of a Monogram F4F in the box from 1958, unopened, with no thought of building it, just displaying it.
I mean, forty-two bucks for the old Monogram Me-109E kit? Are you kidding me? If you want to collect the kit, go for it, spend what you want. But if you want to build it, you can find it for five bucks plus shipping. Hell, you might find someone in a club or at a show who'll give it away.
And there are plenty of places to look, if you have a build in mind and the kit is rare. I'd exhaust all other possible sources before I'd pay kit collector prices for a kit I'm going to build.

 

[the Baron]

And there in lies the conundrum if one guy says the plane has the "wrong shape" and the plane on the cover of the box looks like a reasonable approximation of a photo of the plane to me?

Ah, yes, welcome to HyperScale!

Sarek of Vulcan sez...

 

[lancerunolfsson]

Yeah, I'd avoid OldModelKits.com, generally, unless that was the absolute only place to find the kit you want. It's really more for kit collectors than modelers, the guys who want an original issue of a Monogram F4F in the box from 1958, unopened, with no thought of building it, just displaying it.
I mean, forty-two bucks for the old Monogram Me-109E kit? Are you kidding me? If you want to collect the kit, go for it, spend what you want. But if you want to build it, you can find it for five bucks plus shipping. Hell, you might find someone in a club or at a show who'll give it away.
And there are plenty of places to look, if you have a build in mind and the kit is rare. I'd exhaust all other possible sources before I'd pay kit collector prices for a kit I'm going to build.

Yes the prices looked steep. There are a lot of places prices look steep. I seem to have found some of those first :^( Could have gotten a lot more bang for my buck. Also potentially more appropriate models for my purposes. Better luck fiscal January February 21.

 

[urumomo]

I think the point of all this is to build what you want .
Find the kit that you want , buy it .build it
Or better yet , scratch-build that thing

This started as a Hoby Boss query ( kinda ) , I like em .
They offer all kinda kits for subjects others don't , and I think their accuracy is as good as the rest .

Hobby Boss is like all the others -- they have strong and weak .

 

[the Baron]

Seriously, though, unless the box cover shows a photo of the completed model, I'd look for online, in-box reviews instead.
I bust on Hyperscale, but there is a caution there. Some of the people in that forum will complain about any new kit, regardless of the circumstances.
Two cases in point-for years, aircraft modelers said they wanted a new 1/48 scale P-40B, and a P-43 Lancer (the daddy of the P-47). For years, the most common P-40B in that scale was Monogram's kit. It was generally considered to be a good model of the subject, but it does show its age. So when Airfix announced it was going to produce one, there was a lot of excitement. But when images of the sprues came out, some people complained-this is wrong, that is wrong, meh, meh, meh. Forget that there was finally a new kit of the subject, tooled to today's standards, and forget that the complaints were really minor.
Same for the P-43. It's a relatively rare subject, in real life as well as in kit form. Classic Airframes made a kit, in 1/48, and that was the only one in that scale, as far as I know. Maybe there was a vacuform in 1/48, but again, rare, rare, rare. The CA kit sold for prices around $100 on the secondary market. So DoraWings comes out with one. Again, tooled to today's standards, with some additional PE details. And what happens? Some people can't look at it as, "Hey, we now have a nice kit of a subject we want, for a reasonable price, too", but instead, "The cowl vents are wrong. The push rods are too delicate, meh, meh, meh."
So you have to take any review with a grain of salt.

 

[the Baron]

Yeah, I'd certainly build the Wildcat again. And I would consider their other 1/48 airplanes, too, based on my experience with that kit.

 

[Wolf Star]

A handful of the rivet counters at Armorama can suck the fun out of any project like a vampire....

 

[urumomo]

we could name names but that ain't necessary .

Again , I think you should just buy the kit you want , the subject you want .
Hobby Boss is pretty good to great . AND never too expensive .

 

[Steven]

I've looked at that site a couple of times but was discouraged in that they don't appear to have a wishlist function. so there is no going through and saving the stuff I'd like to think about.

You just simply add items to your cart.

 

[lancerunolfsson]

I think I'm going out ot the garage and start gluing my Smer MiG-15 together.

 

[urumomo]

I won't stop you

 

[spaceflightengineer]

The SDKFZ 222 has got to be the cutest Recon vehicle in the Nazi inventory.

...never thought I'd see the words "cute" and "Nazi" in the same sentence. Achtung!

My 2 centavos regarding Hobby Boss- the parts fit design of the 1/32nd X-15 (any ver.) illustrates well just how goofy things can be there. I was seriously jazzed when they came out with the A-2. In that scale, was going to be satiated (I'm an almost strictly 1/48th guy, but special subjects can be larger). But the upper and lower fuselage "fit" is just weird- almost no actual guides to fit them. Somewhere (maybe this forum?) a modeler made his own "fences" with strip styrene to cure the problem, however, they could have just designed them in to begin with! They do tackle subjects at times with fresh approaches, as well as aircraft not often, if ever tackled. But, we builders who perceive ourselves as "advanced" (c'mon! I can't be alone in the assessment! :^P) can find ways to work it out. Hey, I baseline any crappy model designing with Dragon's abortion of a Saturn V (what the h were they thinking?? They even corrected the S-4b after the first release and didn't bother fixing anything else!!). When Dragon was better known as DML and still in the non-Chinese-owned Hong Kong, they kicked major butt. Now it looks like they are compartmentalized without departments talking to one another. When I complete my reworked Saturn V using my own corrections and tons of 3D printed corrective parts (Shapeways- you are EVIL!!), I'll be tempted to send a bill to Dragon (and an enquiry- Where the heck is your much delayed 1/72nd Saturn-1b?!?!?). Maybe the current Dragon should join forces with
HB and perhaps get back to making better kits. ...just as long as they leave Trumpeter alone! I'm just saying.

BP

 

[cobraleader]

Too many or too few parts?

too few

 

[lancerunolfsson]

I was guessing!

 

[lancerunolfsson]

So Last night I watched some review and build videos of Hobby Boss planes I'm Planning on ordering in a couple of weeks. Brewster Buffalo, A5m2 Claude, MS. 406 all of them super expensive elsewhere. They look like real nice products I can see where a lot of guys are going to be off put by the lack extra parts and decals. Look for me in the Trade Buy section looking for left over decals. But I think they will do for me. I'll have to see how a couple build and paint up btu I'm guessing it is going to be better than the Smer J.2 (MiG-15) I'm working on right now with it's raised panel lines and misaligned fuselage.

 

[the Baron]

Oh, that's cool, I didn't know HobbyBoss put out a Buffalo. I wonder if it's like their Wildcat, that is, derived from another company's tooling.