On Kit Choices.
In addition to my prediliction for certain subjects, I've got admittedly odd taste in kits. My preference is for kits which require a modicum of work to produce a good example with the exception of one area, that being decals.
There's a few reasons for this. The first is simple, a shake & bake kit like modern Tamiya or Hasegawa stuff is too easy to put together and doesn't last long enough in the build stage. So I get less enjoyment out of the build. I do enjoy a challenge, as long as it isn't too rediculous (ex: Merlin kits). For this reason my taste is towards Airfix, Revell, Heller and Academy kits overall with a side dose of Czech short-run stuff & similar (IE MPM, Special Hobby, AZModel et al).
The second is economics. The more challenging kits tend to be either cheaper (Airfix/Revell/Heller/Academy) or more accurate or obscure (Czech). If I'm going to pay $30-50 for a 1/72 kit it needs to be either light-years better than the $10-15 equivalent or an obscure variant. The Czech stuff is often both, the Tamiyagawa stuff rarely is either. I do buy and build older Tamiya and Hasegawa stuff, especially Hasegawa, when I can find it for a reasonable price. But I balk at paying $30+ for a common WW2 single-engine fighter in 1/72. Especially when there's already a good kit for $15 or less.
The one caveat here is decals. I have a severe dislike for lousy decals. I don't mind simple sheets, one reason I don't build a lot of modern stuff is the excess of stenciling you need to apply. But I do want thin, accurate decals that don't self-disassemble. And this is a major strike against Tamiya and Hasegawa, who are both known for their lousy decals. I also dislike older Airfix and Academy decals for this reason (especially the airfix ones which are bloody horrid). Revell & the Czechs as well as newer Academy and the newest Airfix stuff tends to have good decals. Heller stuff tends to be servicable, but often with odd accuracy issues (dark green codes for a spit??).
Note I don't mention Italieri here. My experience with Italieri is that while they make good kits and interesting kits the two are rarely the same kit. Most of Italieri's good stuff is not to my interest and they have a well-deserved reputation for really inaccurate decals & colour callouts on the stuff I'd want to build. Good quality sheets though.
There's a few reasons for this. The first is simple, a shake & bake kit like modern Tamiya or Hasegawa stuff is too easy to put together and doesn't last long enough in the build stage. So I get less enjoyment out of the build. I do enjoy a challenge, as long as it isn't too rediculous (ex: Merlin kits). For this reason my taste is towards Airfix, Revell, Heller and Academy kits overall with a side dose of Czech short-run stuff & similar (IE MPM, Special Hobby, AZModel et al).
The second is economics. The more challenging kits tend to be either cheaper (Airfix/Revell/Heller/Academy) or more accurate or obscure (Czech). If I'm going to pay $30-50 for a 1/72 kit it needs to be either light-years better than the $10-15 equivalent or an obscure variant. The Czech stuff is often both, the Tamiyagawa stuff rarely is either. I do buy and build older Tamiya and Hasegawa stuff, especially Hasegawa, when I can find it for a reasonable price. But I balk at paying $30+ for a common WW2 single-engine fighter in 1/72. Especially when there's already a good kit for $15 or less.
The one caveat here is decals. I have a severe dislike for lousy decals. I don't mind simple sheets, one reason I don't build a lot of modern stuff is the excess of stenciling you need to apply. But I do want thin, accurate decals that don't self-disassemble. And this is a major strike against Tamiya and Hasegawa, who are both known for their lousy decals. I also dislike older Airfix and Academy decals for this reason (especially the airfix ones which are bloody horrid). Revell & the Czechs as well as newer Academy and the newest Airfix stuff tends to have good decals. Heller stuff tends to be servicable, but often with odd accuracy issues (dark green codes for a spit??).
Note I don't mention Italieri here. My experience with Italieri is that while they make good kits and interesting kits the two are rarely the same kit. Most of Italieri's good stuff is not to my interest and they have a well-deserved reputation for really inaccurate decals & colour callouts on the stuff I'd want to build. Good quality sheets though.