I've never made a Spitfire, 109, 190 or Hurricane

[Bungle]

Yes it's (almost) true. Yes as a youngster I probably did make one or other of these but that would have been in the 1960's and in those days they were unpainted and I was only interested in how many bombs I could hang off wings.

I dabbled in modelling for a couple of years in the 80's but I've only recently taken it up 'seriously' (that is What-if seriously) in the past 10 years as I move into my crumbly years. I recently sold off a lot of my stash and am down to about 300-350 kits and one thing I noticed as I was cataloging them into t'computer was I don't have a Spitfire, 109, 190 or Hurricane kit.

Well I thought I'd rectify this and decided I'd build one of each - to my best standard (that's your 'less than average'). But then came the next question which mark ? Do I try to do one of each mark ? Do I include Seafires and S-199 ? Then, of course, there's the kit choice should it be Hasefix ? Monovell ? Frogbox or Matchjimi ? I'd like to keep it to 1/72nd scale and I'd like to get it right first time, so my question to you esteemed, brains the size of a planet, balls of plastic putty, colleagues is this ...

Just what is the best kit in 1/72 scale of the Supermarine Spitfire, the Hawker Hurricane, the Messerschmitt bf109 and the Focke Wulf Fw-190 ?

and by Best I mean your opinion based on ease of build and accuracy and is there an industry standard best of breed ?

Your comments would be appreciated. I know they are not What-if but perhaps a picture of your choice may be forthcoming something for me to get depressed with (even if I build it to perfection it would still probably look like a what-if) and inspiration.

[pyro-manic]

I'm sure Wooksta will be along shortly to provide overwhelming detail, but I've found the recent Airfix Spits very nice indeed. The F.22 is lovely, and the Mk.I is very nice too. Ditto for Hurricanes. I hate 109s, so I've no experience with them. The new Airfix Fw190s are also very nice, and the Revell ones are really good too. Not sure about Doras, as I've only built one and I chopped it to bits. It was an Academy one, which went together just fine.

[sandiego89]

I can only offer my .02 cents, not a detailed review.

If you ask for opinions on the "best" kit of airplane xxxxxx, you will get lots of answers, and a lot of that is because there were so many marks of some of these aircraft that one model company may build a better mark IV, but another my build a better mrk 19....

I would go with one mark of each.  You could go crazy trying to bulid all the marks of something like the spitfire/seafire (and we may have a certain member on this forum who is so comitted...)  Pick the one that you like- do you want the most classic, sterotypical verision, or a more obscure version?  ie do you want a typical BoB spitifire or a more obscure type like a griffon power late war model?  Your choice, no wrong answers.

How much do you want to spend? how much detail do you want? How long do you want to spend on each model?  You sound like an averge modeller (nothing wrong with that!, I am the same, who wants a fairly easy build)  I prefer out of the box, as it is more affordable and I can finish the model before I loose interest in it.  I am not a superdetailer. I am not into aftermarket and photoetch for most 1/72 projects.  Call me cheap, but I don't want to spend more than $20 US on a 1/72 fighter, and I dont want to spend more than 10 hours.  

Perhaps go with a medium price out of the box kit all from the same company- airfix (modern), hasegawa, Tamiya, etc.  I think it is hard to go too wrong with any of the big names on some of thes most iconic kits.  Frog, and other small cheap companies will likely have accuaracy and build issues.            

[NARSES2]

Spitfires and Hurricanes I echo Pyro. The new Airfix ones are nice builds especially the Sptfire 22 and the Hurricane Mk I fabric wing. The Hurricane comes in 2 boxings. The more expensive option has two markings options and parts for early and latter models of the Mk I.

Me 109 ? Depends on mark. The only ones I've built recently have been E's and both the Tamiya and Airfix new tool one are good.

190 ? Again Airfix or Revell for the A/F, Tamiya for the D.

Not commenting on accuracy but all the above are good, enjoyable builds

Chris

[Bungle]

How much do you want to spend?        

Not a lot, I fund new buys by selling 'old stock' and that is one of the problems sure I can buy a new model Airfix mk1 for say £10 ($15) or an old boxing mk1 by Hasegawa for half the price. Is the Airfix one twice as good ?

How much detail do you want?   

I'm not a superdetailer but I'd like some sort of detail.

How long do you want to spend on each model?
         

Out of the box I'd spend no more than a week (probably one or two hours a day)

Not commenting on accuracy but all the above are good, enjoyable builds

I think Chris hits the nail on the head enjoyable builds

[Bungle]

A quick look on Scalemates and it lists 346 different kits of the Spitfire in 1/72nd scale (includes all the multiple kit collections dogfight doubles etc.)

The Hurricane comes in with a poor 132 kits, the FW-190 190(!) and the bf109 runs in a close second to the Spit with 328 offerings.

Then there's all the conversion kits..... 

And then there's prices. Had a look at 1/72 Spitfire's on buy it now and they range from £3.45 for an Airfix Mk1 to £23.50 for an Airfix 'BTK' 50th Anniversary release !

The range and array of kits / prices is huge. Is a HobbyBoss mk5 better than an Airfix (or Heller or Frog or PM or Italeri or Tamiya or Hasegawa or any of the AZ mk5).

"Oh rage! Oh despair! Oh age, my enemy! " Pierre Corneille (and he died 250 years before the Spit first flew !)

[PR19_Kit]

It all depends how you define 'better' of course. 

[jcf]

It all depends how you define 'better' of course. 

New mould with engraved panel lines/rivets and perfect fit of course. 


I'll get me coat ...   

[PR19_Kit]

It all depends how you define 'better' of course. 

New mould with engraved panel lines/rivets and perfect fit of course. 


I'll get me coat ...   

But if it's inaccurate........... ?

[jcf]

It all depends how you define 'better' of course. 

New mould with engraved panel lines/rivets and perfect fit of course. 


I'll get me coat ...   

But if it's inaccurate........... ?

Well in that case, it's obviously by Hobbyboss. 

[rickshaw]

It all depends how you define 'better' of course. 

Using that definition, I understand that the Starfix Spitfire is pretty good!