Recommended old 1/48 aircraft kits

[binbrook87]

With the price of some modern 1/48 kits seemingly getting more and more expensive and slowly getting beyond my pocket, does anybody have any recommendations for 'older' kits, say for under £30 that would be worth building? I'm thinking predominantly post war aircraft but would like to hear of others, and I'm thinking brands like Esci, Italeri, Monogram, Revell and maybe others like Airfix, Fujimi, Matchbox, Hasegawa etc. I'm not a rivet counter so provided it looks right I'd be happy to put some work in, and although preferably with recessed panel lines I'm not adverse to raised detail.

 

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

Cheers

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by binbrook87

[Julien]

All the monogram Century Series are worth building.

 

 

[BushBrit66]

I tend to work with older kits and you can't go far wrong in 48th with Monogram and SOME but not all Esci kits. With Monogram most are still best in class  andit's easier to say which ones to avoid. Their SU-25, Mig-29 and Mig-15 are ropey and the F104 has been superceded. Pretty much everything else is great. Personal favs are the F-84F, Voodoo, Crusader, A-37 F-100 and both F-89 kits. The Airfix Sea Harriers are good with some aftermarket help.

Edited July 11, 2022 by BushBrit66

[Julien]

F-106 and F-102 are great.

[Troy Smith]

16 minutes ago, binbrook87 said:

does anybody have any recommendations for 'older' kits,

Really, I'd go on a case by case basis. 

 

Personally I like research, and kit hunting... and now have way too many... 

 and you can always ask here for specifics, apologies if stating the obvious, the site search is not great, but adding Britmodeller into a google search term works very well.

 

For your specifics, it's worth having an idea of what you are looking for in case you run across one, while ebay has got expensive,  it's worth having a look though what is being listed,  get an auction sniper and take a punt at something that catches your fancy.   The sniper means you walk away without getting into a bidding war,  you might win, but you will have already decided what is your maximum price.

 

Bear in mind that kits went really high in price with lockdown, and some will end up being flogged as not of interest, and sadly seems we maybe in for a recession,  you may find the price will drop, supply and demand...   so you may find some new kits at a good price,  plus there are new kits that are under £30 and just leave anything else standing, like a Eduard weekend MiG-21 ....  again, here, research is the key.  

Beware of false bargains, a £25 Eduard MiG-21 is always going to be better that a £15 Academy MiG-21 for what you get, in the same way a Edaurd Spitfire VIII/IX/XVI just leaves everything else in scale way behind,  so while you can get an ICM IX for under £10...  the weekend Eduard kit can be got £15 and is more than £5 better...  

 

Always worth asking here in the wanted section, some folks may have an older kit an now have the newer one...   and scour our sale pages,(set up an alert for new listings)  I have had many a great deal from here.  

 

If not afraid of a bit of work, then look for some of the better vac forms,  for example I have seen the Aeroclub Canberra for sale for under £30, and I gave a low whistle when I opened mine up,  I suspect it's the best Canberra in scale. (main parts have with great detail and then a mix of low pressure plastic, white metal and resin,  it was £40+ when available 20 years ago....) Other would be kits that that have been superseded,  say the Dynavector Sea Vixen or Javelin.

 

I'd suggest making a list of subject you would like and see what the 'hive mind' turns up, some good suggestions already.   Bear in mind that older kits may have  poor  decals,  so 'a bargain' may not be if you need new decals....  but, again, you can always hunt, or ask for decals here. 

 

HTH ... (or confession a stash-a-holic...) 

 

[Lord Riot]

I’d certainly recommend checking out eBay, I’ve bought almost every one of my kits from there, I’d say about 75% of them for under £30. Admittedly you need to get lucky sometimes, but I’m quite restricted in what I look to build. 
 

There are quite a few 1/48 Hawks for a reasonable price, I’ve built the Airfix one and it looks ok to me. Plenty of Airfix Gnats too, though I haven’t built that kit myself there are some great builds of it on here.

 

Might be worthwhile searching for 1/48 Hasegawa F-16 too. And the 1/48 Academy Hunter.

 

 

 

[Bonehammer]

ESCI: F-4 Phantom, F-86 Sabre/ FJ-1 Fury, Mirage F-1, added: Fiat G.91, Aermacchi MB.326, Sukhoi Su-7, F-5, F-100, A-4 Skyhawk, Skyraider, Viggen, A-7 Corsair. 

Hobbycraft/Academy: Hurricane, Hawker Fury, La-7, I-16, added: Avia 199 Mezek, F-8 Bearcat

ARII/Otaki: all except P-51 Mustang

ICM: all except Yak-7, Yak-9

Monogram: all except Mig-29, Mosquito, older molds like Avenger and Helldiver. MiG-15 is inaccurate but well detailed, Su-25 as well

 

EDIT: Whoops, I just saw this is in the Cold War forum... so all the WWII stuff is extra. I'm not editing it out, just in case.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Bonehammer

[exdraken]

All modern Revell kits are rather decent and great price wise actually...

Rafale, Eurofighter, Superhornets Tornados, F-15E, ICM MiG-25 rebox, ...

Or Eduard weekend kits as well!

20-35€ if you shop around! 

 

Apart from that, try to go for second hand kits of e.g. ESCI/ Italeri Mirages, Gripens, sometimes Hasegawa F-16s go rather cheap as well....

[Troy Smith]

3 minutes ago, Bonehammer said:

Hobbycraft/Academy: Hurricane, Hawker Fury,

These two are only Hobbycraft, and the moulds are 'lost' . They never got re issued by Academy.  The Sea Fury was about cheap 10 years ago in a Kitech box.   The Hurricane is now fairly rare.    

The Hurricane has it's points,  but the Sea Fury compared to the Airfix kit is like a 72nd kit scaled up, as is the Hurricane.   

 

One ex Hobbycraft (now Academy)  that is better shape wise then the modern Hobby Boss kit is the F8F Bearcat

 

3 minutes ago, Bonehammer said:

La-7,

Not very accurate, very basic.    The Gavia/Eduard La-7 is not ideal but is a lot better,. and not likely to be much more in cost.

3 minutes ago, Bonehammer said:

I-16

maybe the best of the bunch, but again, not cheap.   There are wat be I-16 kits for not much more.

3 minutes ago, Bonehammer said:

ARII/Otaki: all except P-51 Mustang

The two real contenders are the Corsair and Hellcat, but again, we run into my 'false economy' equation. 

While both are really well shaped,  and have engraved panels,   but you can find a Tamiya Corsair for under £20 and a weekend Eduard Hellcat for similar,   I know the Otaki kits got reboxed by ARRI, Matchbox and Airfix, but unless they are like £5,  why bother unless you want a shelf model.

 

Other kits, Eg Spitfire VIII, Bf109G, fw190, again, all can be got in Eduard weekend boxings and they just leave them in the dust... I see the Eduard Bf109 G6AS and G-10 weekend kits for £15-18,  while not perfect, a lot of bang for your buck.    

 

Some good and still still fairly cheap new, Hobby Boss Fw190D family, and and Me262 family.

I believe that their MiG-17 is decent as well.

 

Notable oldie. 

 

Monogram F-80 Shooting Star, but not so easy to get these days. 

 

One final point, well worth keeping track of kits that have useful leftovers, which can act as 'free AM' for older ones.  Edaurd are particulary good for this,  you could say use a load of the alternate Spitfire parts to greatly improve a ICM Spitfire (wheels, gear legs, canopies, exhausts for example)

 

Sorry to whine on, but back to kit research.   Find out what in the box, and what you want,   and take it from there.     

 

 

 

[ElectroSoldier]

You can search ebay for scale you could refine by price but that will give you a lot of stuff you dont want on the first few pages

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/1-48-Toy-Models-Kits/1188/bn_99023009?rt=nc&_sop=1

 

 

[Steve McArthur]

Lots should still be available in that price range, in addition to the kits already mentioned I'd add:

• Airfix: Canberras still seem to be cheap. Maybe a Lightning. After Airfix releases their new Buccaneer I'd expect the original release to hit e-bay at reasonable prices.
• Airfix/Heller: Jaguars, Mirages, Etendards and Super Etendards aren't too bad, but the cockpits are basic.
• Italeri: Tornado, helicopters and ESCI re-releases
• Hasegawa F-16, A-7, F-104 and F-4s can often be found pretty cheap maybe a Harrier.
• Academy AH-64A isn't bad, but their Longbow was more of a prototype than production version. 

 

 

[Harold55]

My favorite for inexpensive kits are older Eduard weekend edition WWI kits.  Only one decal choice but excellent plastic.  Old DML kits are good and cans be cheap (sometimes).  I actually built quite a few Hobby Craft kits and enjoyed them.  Not overly detailed but if you button them up they look good on the shelf.  Monogram jets yes!  

[NAVY870]

Esci A-4's are very nice.

The E/F is fine, the Blue angels F lacks the big intakes but still makes a nice E or F.

The boxing marked as an M/N isn't, what's in the box is pretty close to an A-4K

i used to do a roaring trade building and selling them back when I was working on A-4G's

[Giorgio N]

If the problem is the price alone, then I can only support what others have said: it is possible to find good modern 1/48 kits for under £30 with some searching, be it on Ebay or other second hand kits outlets or checking the special offers on new products from certain dealers. Not forgetting that some manufacturers are pretty competitive even without discounts.

Of course a lot depends on the subject,  WW2 fighter kits can be found for under £20 from the likes of Eduard, Hobbyboss, ICM or Academy even at the most expwellensive shops while a Tamiya or even Hasegawa kit may only cost a few £ more, so easily under £30. Finding say a Tomcat or a Phantom under £30 is a totally different story. Of course by venturing into the second hand market things get more interesting, I've been able to buy Hasegawa Tomcats for under that price, and we're talking about a kit that never costed less than £50 when new, even many years ago.

 

If you are curious to explore older kits, then first a caveat: some older kits are becoming almost as expensive as the new ones ! Monogram 1/48 Century series aircraft used to be dirt cheap but today some are easily approaching the £30 limit. Same for certain Esci kits, so do not necessarily expect to save much money by looking at an older kit !

Where it's possible to save more is with the re-editions of these kits, that do not have any collectability value yet. Buying a re-edition has another positive aspect: old kits decals may well not be useable anymore. Esci decals from 30 years ago often shatter as soon as they touch the water while Monogram decals were never particularly good.

A Revell of Italeri rebox of the same kits would have useable decals and will likely cost less (except for current Italeri reboxes that tend to be expensive).

 

You don't say what is important for you in a kit, so again it's worth keeping in mind a few aspects of the various brands... Monogram kits are universally praised for their details (at least those from the '80s) and rightly so. Fit however was never their strong point and some are real challenges to put together, with huge gaps between parts (I've built many of them, speaking from experience here...). Later Esci kits are great for fit but internal details was always very basic in these kits (decals for instrument panels and so on). Which one are you happier to deal with ?

Academy is a name that I often mention when it comes to value for money and it's worth mentioning them again (with the exception of the very early kits that were copies of the 1/50 Fujimi line), fit is good, prices tend to be low, worth hunting for them on the second hand market. Sure some have been surpassed (as Troy said, the eduard MiG-21 is way better than Academy's and can be found for similar money), others are still very valid. Decals can again be hit and miss with these.

Italeri did not do much in 1/48 and a lot of their catalogue in this scale consists of Esci reboxes, that can of course be valid choices. Italeri's own Tomcat is actually not bad and can be found for less than the Monogram kit.. and fits under the £30 limit even from new, so on the second hand market can be found for as little as a tenner. Fit not great, detail not great but sufficient for many modellers... IMHO a decent choice.

Revell is one brand that offers good kits at affordable prices, their recent Tornado is one example. Other interesting kits from them are the Rafale and the F-86D, both can be found cheap enough. The F-15E is also a very good kit, again not a new one but already a very modern tooling. Then there are all the many Monogram reboxes...

That bring me to Monogram kits: all the Century Series subjects are well treated and so are the F-8 and the Tomcat. Other good ones are the F-15 and F-18, while the F-16 is IMHO to avoid because of many shapes error. Other good kits are the F-5E, A-4s, F-80, F-84F and F-86. Avoid the MiG-29 and the F-111. The A-7 is also better left alone. We could say that the Monogram Phantom is also worth... however I've been able to find Hasegawa Phantoms for less than the £30 limit, if I had a choice I'd go for the Japanese kit over the Monogram one any time.

Esci... earlier kits were not that great, later ones were much better, apart from the chronic lack of internal detail. Best from Esci S-3 Viking, the MB.326 and the Phantoms.. but for the Phantom it's debatable if it's worth buying one (see above). Then there were a couple of kits from the days when Esci was part of AMT, like the Tigercat, that were very good. Esci kits to avoid are IMHO the Tornado, F-18s and Kfir. Then there are kits that are nothing special, like the F-104, F-8, F-100...

Airfix... they never did much in 1/48 scale, of course the very best of the older kits are the Lightning and the late Spitfire/Seafire, all great kits. The thing is that the cheapest on the marker are from an era when Airfix decals were terrible, as the same kits have been later reboxed I'd probably go for a later issue with better decals for a few quid more

 

One last thought: the term "old kits" is sometime quite hard to define. Sure something from the '70s is likely to be an old kit. In the late '80s however some companies were already offering kits that featured the kind of surface detail and mould quality that we expect today. When the Monogram Tomcat was issued in 1981 modellers were rejoicing as finally there was a good 1/48 Tomcat kit, still raised panel lines and the fit was not great but it was accurate and well detailed. The Hasegawa Tomcat hit the market 7 years later and compared to the American kit looked like coming from another planet. Detail was taken to a different level, surface detail was incredible for the times and is still pretty good today, it was a tricky build (mainly thanks to the extremely complicated design) but fit overall was better than on the Monogram kit... now we probably do not consider the Hasegawa cat to be an old kit while the Monogram one is generally considerd a goldie oldie. Yet the age difference between these kits is not that much

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Giorgio N

[binbrook87]

Wow. Thanks for all the input. 👍👍 Some really useful info there to allow me to go off and do some searching. And i take on board the advice that sometimes it makes as much sense to pay a little bit extra for a new kit rather than having to update an older kit with AM which can cost more in the long run.

 

Some kits that you've mentioned that i never considered though, so that's great. 😁 I do tend to see some of these older kits that you've mentioned at trade stalls but am never sure whether they are worth the gamble or not. Now i know what to look out for. 😁

Edited July 12, 2022 by binbrook87

[tempestfan]

15 hours ago, Bonehammer said:

ESCI: F-4 Phantom, F-86 Sabre/ FJ-1 Fury, Mirage F-1, added: Fiat G.91, Aermacchi MB.326, Sukhoi Su-7, F-5, F-100, A-4 Skyhawk, Skyraider, Viggen, A-7 Corsair. 

Hobbycraft/Academy: Hurricane, Hawker Fury, La-7, I-16, added: Avia 199 Mezek, F-8 Bearcat

ARII/Otaki: all except P-51 Mustang

ICM: all except Yak-7, Yak-9

Monogram: all except Mig-29, Mosquito, older molds like Avenger and Helldiver. MiG-15 is inaccurate but well detailed, Su-25 as well

 

EDIT: Whoops, I just saw this is in the Cold War forum... so all the WWII stuff is extra. I'm not editing it out, just in case.

I mostly agree with the Esci kits mentioned except the F-100; I never checked myself but the kit got rather bad reviews when new, with mention of looking more like a Super Mystère in the fuselage... BTW, the Su-7 is not an Esci kit but was only briefly reboxed by them in 1991 or so - It's an OEZ original that was also reboxed in the 90s by Revell. The F-5 is OK but I'd prefer Monogram. The A-7 also is one of their oldest moulds but I think better than the F-100. Not mentioned and for a good reason is the F-18.

 

I will repeat "most of Monogram jets", exceptions have been detailed above.

 

As OEZ has been mentioned, I'd say all three kits released by them may be found worthwhile (MiG-21 late, Su-7, Su-25), even though they are somewhat chunky. I am pretty convinced the same design team was also responsible for the Smer MiG-17 (and derivatives) and KP Su-17/22, two kits that should be available quite cheaply (probably in a MisterCraft box).

 

I have always been rather fond of the Revell F-16. It's old, has raised panels, but later issues were upgraded with a Monogram-sourced ACES  and other stuff. With its long production life and plenty of competition, you should be able to get one at a very affordable price. In contrast, I'd NOT consider Revell's 70s toolings for the F-4, F-14, F-15 and F-18; not sure about their A-10, but it may be quite tough to get one anyway, as I don't think it was in production in the past 30 years (which may be due to Revell-Monogram considering the Monogram mould to be better).

 

Hasegawa had a rather good A-7, which was reboxed by Revell some 20 years ago (god, I am getting old!), and I guess it should be possible to find one at an acceptable price; similar for the Hase Brit Phantom - you can hardly do anything wrong buying one in a Revell box. 

[Steve McArthur]

2 hours ago, binbrook87 said:

...I do tend to see some of these older kits that you've mentioned at trade stalls but am never sure whether they are worth the gamble or not. ...

A lot of us that grew up with these so have fond memories and don't think the skills needed are that big a deal.  Until the Chinese companies started putting out kits in the mid 2000s a lot of these were the only game in town for a lot of planes in 1/48th scale. It's worth getting familiar with Scalemates and doing some research on kits that pique your interest to know what you are in for.

 

If what you are used to is Tamiya fit and finish lower your expectations. Monogram wasn't really known for their fit, but their level of detail means they can still hold their own against much newer releases if you can get through the assembly. Most of these older kits will require much more effort to finish than new releases from someone like Tamiya. Putty and sanding is required on a lot of these.  And then do you rescribe or restore raised details?  On a lot of these, the wheel bays and cockpits are basic with decals for panels common. Ejection seats look more like something from your living room than the real thing. Scratch building or aftermarket part can fix this, but aftermarket parts are more money.

 

If money is your top concern, really my best advice is follow a one-in one-out rule.  Don't build up a stash in the first place or work through what you already have before adding to it. Where it becomes an expensive hobby is just acquiring kits for the stash, even if they are cheap kits to start with.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Steve McArthur

[alt-92]

10 hours ago, NAVY870 said:

Esci A-4's are very nice.

[...]

The boxing marked as an M/N isn't, what's in the box is pretty close to an A-4K

You can also build a Kuwaiti or Brazilian Skyhawk from that box.

[Steve McArthur]

29 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

You can also build a Kuwaiti or Brazilian Skyhawk from that box.

 

The problem with the ESCI A-4M/N kit is that the canopy is incorrect for that variant or planes based on the A-4M, including Kuwait or Brazil (ex-Kuwaiti planes)  The A-4KU was based on the A-4M and not the earlier A-4E/F, so should have an A-4M canopy.

 

Note the difference in the canopy sill in this image vs the kit you have.

 

 

[alt-92]

Yep, it's different. The Hase 4M would be better, but try getting a hold of those cheap in 1/48

 

[Steve McArthur]

4 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

Yep, it's different. The Hase 4M would be better, but try getting a hold of those in 1/48

 

Try Exito in Poland, I've ordered from them a couple times this year, shipping to Kansas was really not much different than what I've paid for shipping within the USA.

 

€26.50 https://exito.site/en_GB/p/HASEGAWA-PT33-148-A-4M-Skyhawk/36634  

[Bonehammer]

7 hours ago, tempestfan said:

As OEZ has been mentioned, I'd say all three kits released by them may be found worthwhile (MiG-21 late, Su-7, Su-25), even though they are somewhat chunky. I am pretty convinced the same design team was also responsible for the Smer MiG-17 (and derivatives) and KP Su-17/22, two kits that should be available quite cheaply (probably in a MisterCraft box).

 

I have always been rather fond of the Revell F-16. It's old, has raised panels, but later issues were upgraded with a Monogram-sourced ACES  and other stuff. With its long production life and plenty of competition, you should be able to get one at a very affordable price. In contrast, I'd NOT consider Revell's 70s toolings for the F-4, F-14, F-15 and F-18; not sure about their A-10, but it may be quite tough to get one anyway, as I don't think it was in production in the past 30 years (which may be due to Revell-Monogram considering the Monogram mould to be better).

 

Hasegawa had a rather good A-7, which was reboxed by Revell some 20 years ago (god, I am getting old!), and I guess it should be possible to find one at an acceptable price; similar for the Hase Brit Phantom - you can hardly do anything wrong buying one in a Revell box. 

Regarding OEZ, the Su-7 and Su-25 are still the best - and only - game in town but the MiG-21 is woeful. The flying surfaces have an inside "ridge" that must be carved away, the fuselage is too shallow, and the canopy is too small and looks wrong.

[spruecutter96]

On 7/12/2022 at 2:49 PM, tempestfan said:

A-10, but it may be quite tough to get one anyway, as I don't think it was in production in the past 30 years (which may be due to Revell-Monogram considering the Monogram mould to be better).

It's definitely a rare one, but the kit has been produced fairly recently. I've only ever seen it in one shop, though. 

 

Cheers. 

 

Chris.