Revell or AMT

[CEKPETHO BCE]

Oh and does anyone have any information on the minicrafts 1/16 mercedes 300sl gullwing?

[Lownslow]

I have never looked into lindberg before. From the pictures I've seen on here I feel like their 32 fords look funky. I see jimnohio has a few lindberg kits including a 40 ford, 37 cord and a mercedes SSK. Anyone have info on those kits? Is lindberg considered a higher end company like tamiya or more like a working class company like revell for example?

you know its a crime to make a man laugh and spill his beer right.

[niteowl7710]

There were several tools that Lindberg did during the Craft House management days ('66 Chevelle, '53 Fords, '61 Impala, '67 Olds, 64 Dodge & Plymouths, '98 Ford F-150) that are as good as any other tooling of their age (late 1990's) as far as fit and finish go. A lot of their modern car tooling during the time (Dodge Caravan, Crown Vic Police kits, & Chrysler Sebring) were also snap-tites that were basically un-assembled promotion models, or in the odd-ball 1/20th scale. The 1/20th kits were again pretty decent kits, but the scale turned a lot of people off (I'm personally still annoyed the Jeep Grand Cherokee & Nissan 4x4 were in 1/20th). The problem is a lot of Lindberg's tooling catalog is old IMC tooling from the 1960's and the kits weren't particularly good back then, let alone 40 years later. The most recent tooling they did are the various 2006 Dodge Chargers that were sold both as Testors kits, and as an SRT-8 and police version by Lindberg directly. They are superb kits, but some seem to have a "made on Friday" feel that some of the casting wasn't done quite right. One kit will be perfect, the next is slightly askew to the left, or to the right. Also at 158-250+ part Skill Level 3 kits (depending on variation) I couldn't in good faith recommend them to someone who's just starting out.

The overall AMT v. Revell thing is nearly as old as a Ford v. Chevy debate, to say nothing of the 1:24 v. 1:25 skirmishes. Some people build only one or the other. When I was a kid I built a lot of Monogram kits as they went together a lot better than the "fiddly" kits that especially MPC put out. A lot of those old Monogram kits are out there now in Revell boxes (they're the ones in 1:24 scale). But over the years AMT & MPC merged, and so did Monogram & Revell. While you can still see MPC and Monogram boxes out there in "Retro" packaging, the companies in a literal sense don't exist anymore. I build on subject matter rather than any loyalty to a particular company. Is a curbside kit worth $50? I don't know is it? Depends on how bad you want to build the subject matter. In the end is the lack of engine going to matter to anyone when it's sitting on your shelf? You're going to die of oxygen deprivation if you hold your breath for a U.S. company to do a current Subaru WRX, Lexus LF-A, Aston Martin DB-S, or Nissan GT-R, 370Z, etc. If you like the real 1:1 kit, and can afford the kit, I say get it. I think it takes a higher detailing skill on a curbside anyway, as you can't be all "gee-shucks-wizzBANG" with engine detailing/wiring/photoetch. All the work I did on making this engine flashy to cover the fact I didn't sand the mold lines off the exhaust, axles, steering wheel, or any other round surface in this entire kit...Your basic kit skills and detailing painting abilities are going to shine through on a curbside/limited engine build.

As a model builder you can fix problems (if they bother you that much), but really no matter how long you participate in the hobby, or how good you get, that little box of plastic bits will still be able to conjure a cursing drunken sailor on leave at times.