Revell or Airfix?

[m0rce]

Hi folks.

This is not regarding a particular model, just a general question.

In my limited experience it seems to me Revell and Airfix both have nice selections and reasonble fit and decals and similar prices.

I havent yet done a direct comparisson, but from what i see airfix is more detailed.

Would you agree?

Would love to have your opinions.

Regards,

M

[ScaleModelling1105]

Imo, revel have a much much larger range of kits. I think I could say they do more kits than any other manufacturer but don't hold me to this. I prefer revell over airfix because as mentioned they have more kits and a larger variety of subjects. e.g revell do quite a few 1/48 jets. Airfix do barely any. That said, airfix's new toolings in general have been really really good. I think you can't really call one better than the other as they both have their positives.

[Daishi12]

Hi mate, personally I would say that Revell have the edge over Airfix as they have a wider range of kits and usually have a high quality moulding process.

That being said the new mould from Airfix are particularly good and are lovely to work on.

There is a big disadvantage with Airfix kits though :-- they re-use their original moulds from the sixties and seventies, and as such have some kits in their product line which can only be described as "challenging"

I would recommend using websites like http://www.scalemates.com/

Hope this helps

[chief5437]

Can't really answer this unless you have a specific kit in mind. If you do, you'd be better off researching that kit. Both airfix and revell have good kits and some horrible ones!

[UKguyInUSA]

I've made three Airfix kits to date (Since January) all were new tooling and were excellent kits that went together great with none or very little filler requirements. They were also very crisp clean moldings free of flash, ejector pin stress marks, warp, blemishes and minimum parting line miss-match, and, they came with nicely detailed cockpits and recessed panel lines.

I've made two Revell kits since January; the first was their 1/48 P-40B Tiger Shark which was extremely disappointing- the molded parts had flash, were very thin flimsy and flexible, lack of details in the cockpit, no wheel wells- just holes through the lower wing sections, and because of the flimsy flexiness of the material, it was very difficult to fill al of the gaps that there were. When handling the plane, the slightest compression between thumb and forefinger flex the plane enough to crack the filled joints. The mold was from 1964, and after dealing with that nightmare, I was very wary about wasting money on another Revell kit. But, I did go ahead and bought their 1/48 P-51D Mustang which is molded from a tool manufactured in 1977. When I saw that stamped on the parts, I got nervous again, but that kit went together like a dream without the need for filler and the parts were thicker and stiffer, there was more detail within the cockpit and the wheel wells were enclosed with some detail.....so, this kit redeemed my initial opinion of Revell.

On these statistics, Airfix scored 3 out of 3 good kits (1005% and Revell 1 out of 2 (50%), but, I'd need to build more kits from each manufacturer to make a better opinion.

You can check the 3 Airfix Kits and the 2 Revell kits that I made in my video reports on my Youtube account....link is within my signature below.

Hope this helps and doesn't confuse you more?!

Cheers,

Martin

[MakingModelsAgain]

Airfix are Airfix. If it says Airfix on the box, the kit inside will always be Airfix. Their old stuff is a little behind the times and will typically need some work. Their new stuff represents some of the best value kits on the market, well engineered, nicely detailed and a joy to build. Revell, in addition to a wider catalogue to choose from, have a lot of re-boxing within their range. I have a kit of theirs that started off life as a Hasegawa! Their quality is excellent and their new stuff is superb. I'd recommend not sticking to any one camp as both will have their dogs and both have their shining jewels.

[Neils]

it seems both parties are guilty of reboxing old 'challenging' kits so it really is a case of checking reviews and the date of the kit you are after. scalemates is a great resource for this http://www.scalemates.com/search.php

I always worry with airfix packaging that the parts will be loose and scratched, and revel instructions just need a complete overhaul in terms of clarity and ease of use.

If you took the best parts of both companies(revefix? or airvell) then you'd probably end up with some of the best kits in the world in terms of value and subject matter

[m0rce]

Dont get me wrong. All airfix and revell i have made turn out great! Just seems airfix has better detailing.

Currently working on a 1/72 bf109. Nice revell kit (1.99£ on ebay) its looking nice but was reading the build thread i the other section (sorry, forgot modellers name) and the cockpit and engine details are so much better. ( revell doesnt even have a engine)

Thanks for your comments.