The best heritage model kit company was ______ , because_______. Rate the oldies makers!

[Wickersham Humble]

My favorite 'heritage' model company was, by a tic, AMT/SMP; because when they released their promo-based one-piece body kits, I was at the point of giving up planes, armor, ships and so forth because of the seeming limitation to my Jr. Hi. 'creativity' and I'd discovered Kustom Cars and Hot Rods.  The Revell and other kits I'd had were multipiece build-up types, and just too frustrating for a kid who was used to instant-gratification builds of one day, or even one sitting!  However, these products got me fueled into a new genre, and I'm still doing that type 65 years later!  OC, I went back in the 'eighties and did a number of Revell and other build-ups, when my patience had gotten a bit longer.

Second choice would probably be Monogram, for their variety of rods and racers; a bit basic at first, then well detailed as newer kits evolved; a good company with a lot of commitment to we young car modelers.  As I get ancient, their 1/24 scale seems a tad easier to handle, and I enjoyed a build of a repop 'Slingshot' dragster last year.  I'd love to have a (re)buildable 'Sizzler' kit now; I nearly wore mine out in '61-63 stacking the many optional parts on and trying to decide how to finish it; thing is, I don't now recall how I built it, or what happened; I have a number of bits in my spares box, unexplicably!  I'm rebuilding my 'Green Hornet' from the day, and finished a Model A tub Mod Roadster using the body from the one I built in '62, still with the turquoise Candy paint and decals.  

Third, Revell; they try so hard!  The '56 Ford and Buick built-up kits basically defeated the 11-year old me, back when, but I still have some bits and decals!  The '62 MoPar promo-style kits were fun, but engines, etc. were underscale and rims/chassis kinda strange.  The original F100 kit was terribly warped, and the '55 Chevy hardtop too; doors glued shut!

JoHan follows, mostly because we saw so few here on the left coast, and when AMT/SMP went to opened hoods with reasonably scaled engines, etc. in '61, they took longer to follow suit.  Their wheels were wonky, back then, but had cool wheel covers included.  My little section of 1960-61 MoPars make great subjects for engine transplants, but their styrene was sooo brittle! Nice an thin, though.  Our 88-cent Store here in Chico had JoHans for that price, much lower than the $1.39+ of AMT.

Lindberg, Srombecker, Palmer, ITC, and others; I tried them all.  Auroroa cars were never seen in our stores.  One last mention: Hubley; often pretty neat promo-style bodies of neat subjects.  I ordered four '60 Corvair kits by them with Nabisco box-tops and fifty-cents; their fate is unremembered. Well, that's my take on it. What do you think? Wick

[stitchdup]

I like the old monogram kits. Its probably because i didn't know of them until i returned to building and also because they have more of the cars i like such as a 36 3 window and the 2 37s and in the same scale as my other stuff. Besides that when a 1/24 karmann ghia is near the same size as a 1/25 62 chevy it just looks odd in the display to me. I do like the amt and revell 1/25 kits but i am much more likely to trade them than my 1/24 stuff. 

I also like the lindberg 40 ford even though it gets put down loads, its an easy kit to chop up and the thicker plastic is much more forgiving than the revell kit to work with. 

But there is an exception if its an unusual vw kit, then scale or brand loses all importance 

[Mark]

The mail-order Corvairs were SMP, not Hubley.  Though they were kits, they weren't the customizing kit but rather the promo in unassembled form.  There were a few differences: wheels, headlights, and taillights were simplified compared to the 3-in-1 version.

[Marley]

I would add MPC to the mix, especially for their wild customizing options in the late 60s and 70s. Their clear instructions and consistent 1/25 scale made kitbashing much easier. 

[Wickersham Humble]

I never knew SMP to make wheels/axles like these, but I think Hubley did.  Yes, having bought four in the fall of '59,  I knew they weren't customizing kits.  I never saw an SMP 3-in-1 kit of the 'Vair.  I still have the '62 (?) AMT version, Monza.  I have a few parts from one of the '60s; headlites, etc.  Durn four-doors, anyway.  Wick

[Mark]

It's the same kit, just the promo version.  The '60 promo and kit were four-doors.  '61 promo was again a four-door; '61 kit was a convertible body with separate hardtop but still had the lower four-door rear wheel openings.  '62 kit has a correct coupe body, '63 was a convertible, '64 went back to the coupe.

[CapSat 6]

It’s MPC for me…those were the biz for me, growing up in the late 70’s and early 80’s.