[John Youngs]

In a "nutshell", guys (& gals, if any), I'm also looking to get into collecting 1/18th scale aircraft. There seems to be a fair number of mfgr's out there now who're making 1/18th scale planes - Admiral, Century, Ultimate Soldier, etc; etc.
Essentially, what I'd like to know, is:

What company (mfgr.) seems to make the best models from the standpoint of "fit, finish, exactness & attention to details" - things such as panel lines, rivets, mating of seams, decal quality, "user-friendly" instructions, the whole "gammit" of things that a serious collector usually takes into consideration.

I don't want to hear "takes up too much space" comments - I'm familiar with the size of these things - we don't need to cover "esoteric" issues like that, please.

Essentially, of the different companies that make or offer these giant scale planes - which one(s) do you favor the most, and why??

Conversely, which ones would you also stay away from, and why, as well.
Please offer as much detail as you'd care to suggest or recommend! Thanks, John

[hworth18]

John,
All of the current 1/18 scale manufacturers are fairly similar in fit and finish.. BBI seems to do a better job in the weathering department and their planes also seem to have better small details than either 21st or Admiral, but 21st and Admiral both have their pluses also.. Admirals Me-262 is one of the finest 1/18 scale aircraft I have seen, and one of my favorite 1/18 planes is the 21st "Sahl" Bf-109G6..
I guess it depends on your needs as to what you wan to buy, but right now, 21st has more variety in aircraft and paint schemes than anyone else.. BBI makes a high quality 1/18 scale aricraft, but you are limited in range, same goes for Admiral..

[John Youngs]

H-Worth18:
Thanks for answering so quickly! What I'm after are primarily (but not necessarily limiting myself to) jet fighters & attack acft - within that category, the F-86 Sabre series, the F-4 Phantom series, the ME-262 series, and, if they're ever made, the A-4 Skyhawk, FJ-Fury series, the A-7 Corsair II series, and finally, and certainly last but not least, the F-8 Crusader series of jet fighters.
I'm primarily concerned about the way the model parts fit & the aspect of "user-friendly" (ie, "confusing") instructions. Also, historically-accurate armament & underwing stores are important, as well. I gave up plastic models years ago as I really don't have the patience for spending "hundreds" of man-hours on a project simply to get a finished model that's "reasonably" acceptable. I don't want to have to spend a TON of time sanding, filing, filling-in, etc; just to get something "acceptable" - if that makes sense to you. I realize that there's "some" work that has to get done, of course. But I'm more concerned about the parts as they come from the factory & how they fit, etc; right off the bat - everything else being relative, of course. Any comments are welcome! Thanks, John

[hworth18]

I am closing this thread since there is an almost duplicate one here:

http://themodelhangar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13551