Looking for top 5 best beginner model kits

[bguyosti123]

I'm a fan of both star wars and star trek and am looking to get some advice on top 5 best kits for those two ip's and am a complete beginner thanks and be well

 

[Jakko]

Based on my modest experience: the Revell Star Wars kits are nice, the Bandai ones are excellent. However, for the price of one Bandai kit, you'll have two or three (if not more) Revell ones …

 

[foenetik]

Are you planning on just building or are you planning on painting (and possibly weathering)? Bandai kits are really nice but the plastic they use is not typical to most kits so it will behave differently with paints, sanding, glues, etc. If you plan to just build it then the Bandai is great for a beginner, it a snap kit and will get you used to how parts go together.

If you want to get into fully painting then using any reputable brand will work. As Jakko mentioned, the Revell Star Wars kits are pretty good.

I havent built any Star Trek but Polar Lights and AMT seem to be the two biggest brands.

 

[Jakko]

I've not noticed anything odd about the plastic of my B-Wing, though. The actual fighter is regular polystyrene, only the stand is ABS, probably for strength, but you probably wouldn't want to paint that anyway.

 

[blakeh1]

Revell Star Wars kits can be almost, if not more expensive then Bandai kits, at least here in the US

For example, Revell had a snap 1/72 Y-Wing (not a Bandai or FM re-release). It was a decent enough kit, but had lots of simplified details. It had an MSRP of something like $35.
You could get the Bandai version for $38 and it was also a snap kit, but far superior in every way and insanely detailed

I think the Revell non-scale X-wing is something like $20 or so, but you can get a Bandai one for around $29 that is in a standard scale

I think as far as Star Wars kits, Bandai kits are the best deal for your money, assuming you can get kits when they are in stock at places like Target, Hobby Lobby, or Amazon etc.. vs buying out of stock kits at a premium from 3rd party sellers who treat them like they are made of gold

They are easy to put together but look much more advanced/detailed compared to a Revell kit of the same subject

i.e. you get a much more complex looking model that is actually not hard to assemble and you do not even need to glue anything

Revell also tend to flake out on some details and even basic shapes or have head scratching details they leave off or simplify in trying to save costs. They have gotten better though

like the guns on the Razor Crest for example. Revell just left a big gaping toy like hole instead of tooling a separate part for it o they could keep it as two halves with no add ons, where the one on the rights is the AMT version that has multiple parts to glue together


AMT has also re-entered the market. There kits are greatly improved compared to the older kit but even some of the older kits can be found cheap

AMT on the other hand requires gluing the parts which might be a bit more work for beginners

Now, probably not a popular opinion with modelers, but if you are more of a collector and not interested in investing time painting and assembling kits, but just want something that looks god on a shelf, the Jazzwares Micro-Galaxy collection has some great subjects that look as good or even better than any Revell kit.

Even if you are interested in painting, they are worth a look at as you can repaint them

For example, I recently picked up the U-Wing (this is not my pic though, but it is how it looks so...)


That right out of the box looks better, has better details, and is more accurate, and is even bigger and cheaper than the Revell pre-painted snap kit!

I picked the U-Wing up at target for $29, the Revell kit cost me $39

Not all the vehicles are as good though. I think the X-Wings and Y-Wings are pretty bad and toy like compared to available models kits, but other subjects like the imperial shuttle and AT-TE are again, more accurate, and just as big, or bigger as well as cheaper than actual model kits of it

Both are better than the Revell kits, and in the case of the Shuttle, the old AMT kit as well

 

[TimM63]

I have only built AMT Star Trek and Bandai Star Wars. Both good kits but the Bandai is definitely a step above as far as quality and detail.

 

[Jakko]

Revell Star Wars kits can be almost, if not more expensive then Bandai kits, at least here in the US

For example, Revell had a snap 1/72 Y-Wing (not a Bandai or FM re-release). It was a decent enough kit, but had lots of simplified details. It had an MSRP of something like $35.
You could get the Bandai version for $38 and it was also a snap kit, but far superior in every way and insanely detailed

It's the other way around here in the EU. The Bandai 1:72 scale X-Wing kit costs around €45 (sold via Revell, but not as a rebox — just a Revell sticker on the box) while Revell's own 1:57 scale X-Wing is around €25. For an extreme example: both Revell and Bandai have a 1:72 Millennium Falcon, which cost €60 vs. €475! (Prices from Revell's web site, without accounting for the reduced prices it's currently showing for some kits.)

 

[BOATMAN]

HI WELL ive built the big polar lights 1/350 movie vershion of the enterprise an lit it up with lights an can honestly say it looks brillant an worth every penny but i had not built one before but must admit its not a begginers kit as its got loads of parts an took me well over a yr to build an got piks of it on its stand
chrisb

 

[blakeh1]

It's the other way around here in the EU. The Bandai 1:72 scale X-Wing kit costs around €45 (sold via Revell, but not as a rebox — just a Revell sticker on the box) while Revell's own 1:57 scale X-Wing is around €25. For an extreme example: both Revell and Bandai have a 1:72 Millennium Falcon, which cost €60 vs. €475! (Prices from Revell's web site, without accounting for the reduced prices it's currently showing for some kits.)

that makes sense for the EU since Revel kits these days are all Revell of Germany.
They do not have a North American license so we do not see them in stores here and your stuck buying online paying a premium usually due to shipping/import costs
On the other hand, Bandai has a north american license/distributor so we can get those cheaper vs those in the EU who are stuck with the Revell rebranded versions which are more expensive due to Revell being the middle-man

As far as the Falcon, there is a world of difference between that Falcon and the Bandai or Fine Molds one. They say it is 1/72, but it is much smaller. Also it has the proportions of the old AMT kit with the too tall side walls. Still better than the old AMT kit though detail wise.
The Bandai Falcon is a very steep price, but honestly, with the amount of detail in it and the parts count, and even the packaging/size of the box it was always going to be way more expensive than any other kit. It has always kinds of been intended as a "premium" kit and it is definitely geared towards the more fanatic collector

I'd say if looking for a good Falcon that is reasonable priced, go for the Bandai 1/144 (or the rebranded Bandai 1/144 sold by Revell) or the smaller Revell kit (not that 1/72 one, the one that is something like 1/144 but a bit smaller). That smaller Revell kit is much more accurate

 

[RayRay39.rs]

I suggest Tamiya kits for the beginners. Once your better move on to Academy, Revell, Eduard, Meng, etc.

 

[Edbert]

Really hard to go wrong with Tamiya, but they do not make Star Wars / Star Trek kits do they?

That said, their1/48 scale Spit Vb is pretty cheap and I think only has 2 sprues and the clear bits. I'd not say it is a top-5 easiest ever, but about as close as you can get without doing a snap-together.

Sometimes super-cheap kits can be harder than the well-engineered or more precise ones.

 

[foenetik]

I've not noticed anything odd about the plastic of my B-Wing, though. The actual fighter is regular polystyrene, only the stand is ABS, probably for strength, but you probably wouldn't want to paint that anyway

For some reason, they don't like odorless thinner. I even clear coated it and it still made the plastic brittle/react. I suppose acrylic weathering is probably the move nowadays. I am stuck on oil paints still. Definitely a me-issue.

 

[stevethefish]

If you can get a hold of it, Creos/Mr. Hobby has a series of acrylic gouache weathering paints and a special solvent for it. I don't have any of the paints, but I use the solvent with Turner Acrylic Gouache paints I can find easily at stationery stores here in Japan. I recently used it for panel lining on a vinyl sofubi kit because I understand that enamels shouldn't be used on vinyl.

And yes, Tamiya does not make any science fiction kits at all.

 

[Jakko]

For some reason, they don't like odorless thinner.

Ah, that may be the problem, then. I sprayed my B-Wing with Tamiya acrylics thinned with isopropanol then added a wash from water-based acrylics thinned with tap water, and nothing unexpected happened with either of those.