recomendations please!

I have a problem. I'm new to modeling(started at xmas)and don't know which kit to do next. i like revell,(and revell monogram), done 1 revell kit and started a revell monogram one. i don' t want to do tamiya as they are far to detailed for my skill level. I've heard good and bad things about hasegawa and fujmi, but coz I'm on a tight(ish, hopefully) buget, i didn't want to buy a kit and find its crappy. i do any kind of race car. any replies would be of great help. thanks.:wink:

There is nothing wrong with the Hasegawa kits of the various race cars.

Build what you like.

"Any kind of race car" sounds a little too broad to receive useful suggestions. You might want to narrow it down to, say GT, touring, open wheel, rally, etc. Hasegawa makes many good rally and group-c and F1 / F3000 kits, but Fujimi kits are hit-or-miss, and it's almost a standard practice to ask before you buy any.

My advice is to try a few curbside models (just exterior and interior, no opening features like engine hood, doors and or trunk lid), to learn the basics of model making. Decaling and clear-coating are common "issues" many beginners find tricky, so search those strings, and read some of the suggestions posted in the past.

While majority of so-called FAQ on the net are mediocre to crude, AF's FAQ and How-to sections are actually useful; they show tons of technique you want to try, so skim through that, and get the knack of car modeling.

Good luck.

While I can agree that a Taimya full engine kit can be very detailed, they also put out a bunch of curbside (engineless) kits that are perfect for beginners. Hasegawa (particullarly their recent kits) can be just as detailed as Tamiya, and Fujimi can be a real crap shoot quality wise. Aces and spaces- some are very good, and others are total crap. If you have one in mind, it's safest to ask about it first.

If you want a good well engineered kit of a curbside race car, find a Tamiya Calsonic Skyline (http://tamiya.com/english/products/24272calsonic_gt-r/index.htm) (they make several). The quality is excellent (always a benefit if you're not yet very experinced), they're not over complicated or over detailed (enough to look good but not enough to be intimidating), they look great built up, and it's a one color paint scheme, with a cool looking but not over complicated decal scheme. What more could you ask for in a learning kit?

I second the calsonic skyline idea in regards to paint and decals scheme. as for the quality of build...tamiya in general is a beginner's dream in that you don't have to do anything much at all to make the pieces fit together nicely.

cheers guys for all your responces.

hirofkd - what i really want to build is touring cars, gt, sports cars and the group b monsters and some group a rally cars. might do some open wheelers later on. do you know if hasegawa does curbside kits? been reading AF's FAQ pages and are really helpfull.

MPWR, spidereddie - really like the calsonic skyline. will be doing that after my funny car. just 1 ouestion, how detailed is the suspention? i've seen tamiya kits with hugely complicated sping/dampers/axel set ups. do you know any where i can find some more curbside tamiya kits? and whats aces and spades?


thanks again for your input, its been really helpfull! :)