Most accurate kit(s) ever (1/24-25)?

[Snake45]

That AMT '71 Duster kit is a good kit but it has serious proportion issues with the rear of the roof and rear side windows.

Interesting. I bought one of the pre-painted ones (in something like Sassy Grass Green, I think) and was going to just Snake-slap it together some rainy day. Now I'll have to take a look at that and see if it bothers me enough that I have to fix it. Sigh.

I also have a completely unbuilt, unstarted MPC '71 or '72 Duster around here somewhere. Is the body on that one accurate enough that I could use it to compare with the AMT?

[Can-Con]

Interesting. I bought one of the pre-painted ones (in something like Sassy Grass Green, I think) and was going to just Snake-slap it together some rainy day. Now I'll have to take a look at that and see if it bothers me enough that I have to fix it. Sigh.

I also have a completely unbuilt, unstarted MPC '71 or '72 Duster around here somewhere. Is the body on that one accurate enough that I could use it to compare with the AMT?

Yes, the old MPC annual bodys were accurate in that area. If you compare the newer kit with pics of a 1/1 you just can't un-see it.

[gtx6970]

That AMT '71 Duster kit is a good kit but it has serious proportion issues with the rear of the roof and rear side windows. 

Agreed

To my eye the roof is to bubbled to much in the center compared to the 1/1 and to the original MPC issue. And it sure hasn't hurt the value of the original annuals. Decent originals will easily pull $30 if its nice and uncut ( sometimes more )  , you can almost double that for the 1972 model year version.

I think I have two or three of the  71's but only one 72 and maybe 1 or 2 of the 73-74  versions ( none are for sale btw )

 

 

And for the record I think the current 55 - 56 Chrysler 300 kits are  pretty darn close to dead on the 1/1 ( IMO )

Edited July 17, 2016 by gtx6970

[fairlane1320]

 

Those types of swaps don't always work out in scale.  The AMT '65 Bonneville and Grand Prix bodies differ just a bit in width, for example...just enough to be maddening.  I want to swap an early Sixties Comet front clip onto a Ranchero; again the widths are a bit different so some additional cutting and fitting will be needed to make everything match up.  Ford did the same swap in 1:1 (Comet wagons were basically Falcon wagons with Comet front sheet metal; wheelbase on the wagon was the same as a Falcon, shorter than the Comet passenger cars).  Ford Australia did the same swap on their Falcons in the mid-Sixties, because they didn't want the North American '64 restyle.   

I have a spare beater '61 Comet and wanted to convert it to a Ranchero. I decided to get this one from RMR instead......

[Junkman]

 

[W-409]

I have a bad eye for inaccurate body shapes and stuff like that, usually when someone points out an error with body shapes I just simply see nothing wrong with it so they don't matter me that much.

But many people have said that those old Jo-Han bodies are very accurate, and I can believe this. But the problem with those Jo-Han kits is that even if the body was accurate, usually other parts of the kit are not. Engine and especially the chassis and interior are often lacking details and everything is made really simple. I know everyone doesn't mind that at all, but I wouldn't say that those parts of the kit are accurate... For example that '69 AMX Drag On Lady Super Stock kit. The body is nice, but interior, engine bay and chassis are not good. Interior can be made a lot better with minor work, but on chassis and engine bay panels (Inner fenders etc) you need to do a whole lot work to get them accurate.

I can't say a single kit that was very accurate, but to me most of the new Revell kits look very good. Same thing goes with Moebius kits too.

[sjordan2]

 

This one has some of the best plastic wire wheels I've seen in 1/24. The Johan 1/25 Mercedes 500K Gold Cup

kit wheels are also quite good. How are the Morgan wheels?

Edited July 19, 2016 by sjordan2

[Daddyfink]

 

Oh man! That Camaro kit is bringing back some good memories!! I need to find me another one!! 

[Dann Tier]

This one has some of the best plastic wire wheels I've seen in 1/24. The Johan 1/25 Mercedes 500K Gold Cup

kit wheels are also quite good. How are the Morgan wheels?

Sorry to cut-in, but I have both of these kits, and the Morgan wheels are jujust as impressive!  In fact, if I remember right, the wire wheels in my Aoshima MGB kit are also very impressive too!

[Robberbaron]

And for the record I think the current 55 - 56 Chrysler 300 kits are  pretty darn close to dead on the 1/1 ( IMO )

 Main problem with the'56 is the angle of the fins/taillights is too vertical.

[Mike_G]

The wire wheels in the old Gunze Sangyo Jag XKE kit (not the hi-tech) are the best I've seen

As far as accuracy goes, Fujimi Enthusiast Series Porsches are pretty hard to beat

 

[my66s55]

This one has some of the best plastic wire wheels I've seen in 1/24. The Johan 1/25 Mercedes 500K Gold Cup

kit wheels are also quite good. How are the Morgan wheels?

The Morgan wheels are super, Skip. Imho, there better than the Mercedes 500 Gold Cup wheels.

[ZIL 111V]

Surely one of the most accurate 1/24 plastic model car kit way back in the mid 80s, amazed by the box content & finish model back in 1985/6 (+ cant beat that great boxart!:

[Snake45]

Has anyone yet nominated the AMT '70/'72 Corvette? Only flaw I found in that kit was that the rear part of the roof is a hair too high (not noticeable unless you go looking for it), and there's enough meat there to file and sand it down to nearly the correct shape. The Revell '68 and '69 Corvettes aren't bad, either. Life is good if you're a fan of the early "shark" Vettes.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

ooooooolllld topic (stumbled across it while digging for a particular quote that aged badly) -

but it gives me great pleasure to list a kit that justifies bringing it back from the dead:

The payoff from LIDAR is spectacular on this one, and as expected from R/M, its overall design, detail and material quality are at an appropriately high standard.

Way to go, Revell!

[papajohn97]

On 7/20/2016 at 11:25 PM, Mike_G said:

As far as accuracy goes, Fujimi Enthusiast Series Porsches are pretty hard to beat

I agree, especially the 356 kits. Amazing 1/24 wheels and actual pistons, rods & a crank included!

I would also include the Tamiya Mercedes 300SL Gullwing coupe on this list, a fabulous 1/24  kit of a fabulous car.

[Dpate]

On 8/29/2023 at 2:31 PM, Chuck Kourouklis said:

ooooooolllld topic (stumbled across it while digging for a particular quote that aged badly) -

but it gives me great pleasure to list a kit that justifies bringing it back from the dead:

The payoff from LIDAR is spectacular on this one, and as expected from R/M, its overall design, detail and material quality are at an appropriately high standard.

Way to go, Revell!

The revell germany version is better because the decal sheet has more to it. 

On 9/4/2023 at 10:47 AM, papajohn97 said:

I agree, especially the 356 kits. Amazing 1/24 wheels and actual pistons, rods & a crank included!

I would also include the Tamiya Mercedes 300SL Gullwing coupe on this list, a fabulous 1/24  kit of a fabulous car.

Yes the 300L Gullwing is a beautiful kit. One of Tamiyas best kits.

[stitchdup]

The miniart tractor kits are very accurate. parts that could be one ppiece are are made from 8 or more pieces. For example theres a domed cover on one part that could easily be 1 part but instead this part thats no much bigger than my thumbnail has 14 parts! even some of the individual bolt details are seperate parts. Honestly, the only part that has surprised me are the wheels but thats only because the bolts are molded in. I thought the heller grey fergie kits were highly detailed but these curbside kits blow them out of the water. I've been working on one in my spare time for a few weeks now and it doesn't look like a tractor yet

[Pierre Rivard]

So many great kits out there but if I have to choose amongst the ones I actually built? Accurate Miniatures Corvette Grand Sport. Super challenging but the casting of the body is spectacular.

 

[Chuck Kourouklis]

16 hours ago, Dpate said:

The revell germany version is better because the decal sheet has more to it. 

Yes the 300L Gullwing is a beautiful kit. One of Tamiyas best kits.

Well, it's mostly plate options and inserts for seats I'd be more inclined to mask and paint myself; but yes, I want an RoG release for that exact reason and again, because the kit is that good.

Agreed about the Gullwing, btw. Tom West showed some interesting detail tweaks to the GS Corvette body shell years ago, but I don't know if that version ever got produced...

[JJ Deuce]

On 7/21/2016 at 5:12 PM, Snake45 said:

Has anyone yet nominated the AMT '70/'72 Corvette? Only flaw I found in that kit was that the rear part of the roof is a hair too high (not noticeable unless you go looking for it), and there's enough meat there to file and sand it down to nearly the correct shape. The Revell '68 and '69 Corvettes aren't bad, either. Life is good if you're a fan of the early "shark" Vettes.

Overall, I agree.  The roof line of the AMT is off a bit, but it's a good replica of the early Shark.  The Revell kits are more accurate imo, save for the curved rear glass on the '69 coupe.  The interior of the Revell is much more detailed than the AMT offering.  I used the AMT body and small block with the Revell chassis and interior bucket to build a replica of my uncle's 72 coupe.  

[Brudda]

Although very expensive the model factory hiro kits in 1/24 are pretty accurate. IMHO.  I my early days, I was designing products. We sometimes had to scale a product up or down. The dimensions would be spot on but sometimes the product would look weird. So things would change to be eye appealing. I think model companies probably do the same thing.  I modeled a mfh Ferrari P4 a few years ago and if I copied the rear engine compartment on the real car,  it would look like a 6 year old did it. Things were hammered by hand and looked actually terrible. If I put that into the model , I would have a lot of explaining to do. Thank you guys for the information as I will try to locate some of these kits. The knowledge is just amazing on this site. 

[BlackSheep214]

FWIW... the reality is there's no such thing as an accurate model kit no matter the subject, including aircraft, ships, armor and movie/television related sci-fi stuff. It can be missing or odd shaped hood cowl, roofline look off, tail rudder on aircrafts, masts on ships, etc... It's always something that not correct, even period subjects.

The only way to build an accurate kit is do the modifications yourself. While to some it may be hard to do for but others who can, they can do it with a bit of surgery.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Welp, Harry did ask a question about the "Most accurate kit(s)", so he was speaking in relative terms and kinda short-circuiting the whole "perfect kit" discussion before it even starts.

You could say this thread is about the kits needing the least assistance in the accuracy department, which is a boon to modelers who'd rather spend time enhancing a kit than correcting it. In the case of Revell's new '71 Mustang, those corrections boil down essentially to trimming a distributor boss off the intake manifold and poring the body shell over for some possible surface irregularities around the C-pillars, and that's about all. 3D scanning made all the difference, and it's the kit pointing the way forward for Revell more than any other.

This thing, on the other hand -

required caliper measurements and the butchery of two body shells to make it less laughable for those kit-supplied decals, never mind dialing in its more accurate overall look.

Is it satisfying that it enjoys some quiet superiority to its source material in the drip molding sweep and rear wheel arches? Sure.  Is it objectively less goofy than a coupe with those Panamerica decals? Absolutely.

Could you detail the new '71 Mustang to the nines in about half the time it took to make an acceptable representation of Hershel McGriff's ride? (hey, wasn't MY idea - Revell included those decals!)

Yes.  And I'd suggest that's the point.

[BlackSheep214]

I did forget to mention... I agree with Jo-Han kits. They do seem to me accurate compared to other brands. I've done a couple of their kits in my youth years - one being the Comet, the other I can't remember.

I wish I had acquired and built more growing up but now I really want to find a couple for my stash.