Would you rather pay more for better accuracy, or save some cash on a less accurate kit?

[keyda81]

By nature, I'm frugal , ok...ok...I'm a cheap bastard. But I'd much rather pay just a little more for an accurate kit. Here's a goid example. The Hasegawa 48th P-51D is a good kit. But....for just $10-$20 more you can get a Eduard kit which is much more accurate and fits good. Or for roughly the,same price you can get the Tamiya or Airfix kit.

Will I spend mega money on a kit? Probably not. But if I'm looking for a certain kit I'll do my best to find the cheapest way to get it.

Nothing wrong with being frugal. I tend to research things before I make any purchases in an attempt to get the best bang for my buck. But that was mostly with more expensive purchases, like a vacuum cleaner, or carpet shampooer, electronic stuff like my MP3 player, or tablet. Didn't consider it much with models when I was buying a ton, and building up the stash. In hindsight I wish I would have paid more attention and did more research, but it was mostly, hey that's pretty cheap, I'll buy it!

[Medicman71]

Hmmmm interesting question. I'd like to have an accurate kit but I don't want to pay a million dollars for it especially if it doesn't fit well. Case in point, Hobby Boss have some kits that are a little off accuracy wise (F-111, A-7). They look close enough to me and they have pretty decent fit. And you don't have to pay a ton for them. I'm willing to pay a little more for a kit that fits great, even if it's a little off accuracy wise.

My nightmare, is that I'll but a kit of a jet that I've wanted, and as soon as I do, a great new tool kit of the same jet will come out. For example, the EA-18G Growler. I bought the Italeri one that I'm building when it was really the only kit of the Growler. Then Hobby Boss and Meng came out with one. To make matters worse, the Italeri kit is crap. Not accurate at all and the fit isn't great. But I'm not going to get another kit of it (I say that now) and I'll push through it and fix the problems.

Maybe that's one thing about an inaccurate kit, can you fix it? Can you fix it to a point that you're happy with it.

[Stuart]

I quite like HobbyBoss. I think they're a bit under rated as a manufacturer. Yes they might be a bit simple and lacking in detail, but generally they're cheap yet fun kits to build that're fun, well fitting and look good when done.

[keyda81]

Hmmmm interesting question. I'd like to have an accurate kit but I don't want to pay a million dollars for it especially if it doesn't fit well. Case in point, Hobby Boss have some kits that are a little off accuracy wise (F-111, A-7). They look close enough to me and they have pretty decent fit. And you don't have to pay a ton for them. I'm willing to pay a little more for a kit that fits great, even if it's a little off accuracy wise.

My nightmare, is that I'll but a kit of a jet that I've wanted, and as soon as I do, a great new tool kit of the same jet will come out. For example, the EA-18G Growler. I bought the Italeri one that I'm building when it was really the only kit of the Growler. Then Hobby Boss and Meng came out with one. To make matters worse, the Italeri kit is crap. Not accurate at all and the fit isn't great. But I'm not going to get another kit of it (I say that now) and I'll push through it and fix the problems.

Maybe that's one thing about an inaccurate kit, can you fix it? Can you fix it to a point that you're happy with it.

I'm still on the fence with Hobby Boss. I did their A-7 Corsair, and it wasn't great. It was a few years ago, so I don't remember exactly what it was. I do remember the decals giving me trouble. I think the F-105 I have is Hobby Boss, and I've heard people complain about it. I wonder some times if we have what I would call "kit snobs" who will just pick a kit apart and it's actually not all that bad. I'm sure there are people out there, just like rivet counters.

[Stuart]

Oh I'm sure they're known for their inaccuracies - the A7 nose springs to mind (I'm thinking 1/72 here) and I know they can be basic on detail, but I have found them to be fun easy builds. Certainly the Tomcat went together well as have the few others I've done. The Buffalo I'm building now was a cracking little build - not necessarily accurate, but fun.

[keavdog]

I liked their F-84F and have 4 of their 1/48 kits in the stash: A-6A, F8F-2, FJ-4 and an F4U-4B so more reports to come.

[Medicman71]

Hobby Boss can be a bit hit and miss sometimes. They’re A-10 and Fury are pretty good kits. I have some more in the stash.

[keyda81]

That is good to know, as I'm pretty sure the Fury jet I have in my stash is Hobby Boss. Part of my stash is hidden under the bed, and I don't dig around under there often, so I forget what I have.

[Stikpusher]

I’ll bet that you already do know, but Trumpeter and Hobbyboss are the two sides of the same coin. Hobbyboss was a second house that they set up to pass around the Trumpeter importer of that time.

[Glamdring]

I only built a couple Hobby Boss kits of land vehicles, and I was pleased with the kits.

Delta Force FAV



Defender Wolf



I actually liked the Defender kit so much, I bought a 2nd to build in the OD scheme.

At some point this year I will be working on one of their Soviet tank kits, we'll see how that goes.

The odd duck so far was their, 1/700 Arizona. Yeah it's cheap, and it certainly looked the part.

To answer the original question, super accuracy isn't my bag, but I will pay more for a well fitting and competently engineered kit.