Old and new tamiya kits

[MNO]

Anyone know a good way (or resources) to tell the difference between old and new tamiya kits? Or any kit for that matter.
The reason I ask is because I picked up some tamiya 1/48 kits (two zeros and a raiden) and the molding quality is Honestly crap compared to a hasegawa zero kit I picked up a few weeks later, and nothing compared to any other tamiya kits I have had experience with. I'm thinking there and old molding but I'm not sure where to find out. There is a date code on the side of the box but there no more then 5-6 years old. I can't imagine them being that bad from tamiya. I've looked on tamiya web site but all I can find is discontinued models that don't really tell you the age. At least I can't find it.

[GangsterNo1]

www.scalemates.com

You can check out everything about a kit there, will tell you if its a re-box, new part, new tool etc.

[MNO]

Thank you very much.

[Joe]

This is a good topic. What is the difference between a kit that is a new-tool and a kit that is new-part? And what is a re-box?

Thanks for bringing it up!

Joe

[Mylightweight]

New tool means the manufacturer has made a full set of new moulded to produce the kit using modern standards of production.

New parts means an old kit has been re-released with certain new parts (example: to make a different version/mark of aircraft etc)

Re-box means an old kit has been re-released in a different box or that one manufacturer has bought the kit from a different manufacturer and are re-branding it for themselves (example Tamiya selling Italeri's 1/48 Hurricane)

Hope that helps

[Joe]

That helps a lot! Thank you!

[MNO]

That's very helpful. Yes thank you.

[Backfire22]

Actually that was helpful!

[Avgas]

one manufacturer has bought the kit from a different manufacturer and are re-branding it for themselves (example Tamiya selling Italeri's 1/48 Hurricane)

Happens quite a lot, always worth researching a kit first as much as you can before you press the 'buy now' button. Revell's 1/48 Spit Mk IX is actually the Hasegawa Spit. Italeri's Typhoon is Hasegawa and so on. Eduards LTD series are reboxes of other brands with Eduard goodies thrown in. Sometimes you can get a top quality kit for not very much.

[Smiffy]

one manufacturer has bought the kit from a different manufacturer and are re-branding it for themselves (example Tamiya selling Italeri's 1/48 Hurricane)

Happens quite a lot, always worth researching a kit first as much as you can before you press the 'buy now' button. Revell's 1/48 Spit Mk IX is actually the Hasegawa Spit. Italeri's Typhoon is Hasegawa and so on. Eduards LTD series are reboxes of other brands with Eduard goodies thrown in. Sometimes you can get a top quality kit for not very much.

From what I have seen the Italeri Typhoon is quite a steal too.

[Stokesy44]

Unless the seller is being naughty, the price can be an indicator too. A Tamiya Panther released in the 1970's will cost around £15, a new release will be over £30.

[Avgas]

From what I have seen the Italeri Typhoon is quite a steal too.

I have it in the stash, it looks an excellent kit. I'm pretty sure Paul built one sometime on the forum and was quite pleased with it. I've also built the Revell/Hasegawa Spit and that is a great kit too, think I paid about £11 for it.

[MNO]

It might just be me but i tend to go for the new tool kits. As I research the particular model I'm looking to build, I also look at the initial release date. If tamiya makes the same model as zvezda but the zvezda is something like 10 years newer I look into the zvezda kit more. But I think I have found that from the large manufacturers about 2000 to 2005 ish there still amazing quality. Anything after that I'm a little carful on. As the quality starts to fall off quick. Anyone else have the same experience?

[MarkVerploeg]

one manufacturer has bought the kit from a different manufacturer and are re-branding it for themselves (example Tamiya selling Italeri's 1/48 Hurricane)

Happens quite a lot, always worth researching a kit first as much as you can before you press the 'buy now' button. Revell's 1/48 Spit Mk IX is actually the Hasegawa Spit. Italeri's Typhoon is Hasegawa and so on. Eduards LTD series are reboxes of other brands with Eduard goodies thrown in. Sometimes you can get a top quality kit for not very much.

That is true about the Eduard limited editions
but other manufacturers don't always tell you wich kit they used
Eduard always shows the brand of the kit they used on their site and often on the box aswell