If you are a true car lover, there is a pretty high chance that you’ve started developing this passion and devotion for cars when you got first introduced into the world of model car kit building.
Modeling is one of the most rewarding hobbies that you can start cultivating at any age. No other hobby will give you the satisfaction and excitement you can experience when you start recreating scale model cars replicating the version of the same real-life vehicles from scratch in such details. However, not all model car kits are designed for beginners, so this hobby requires true dedication and challenging hours of learning, crafting, and practicing new skills to master it.
That being said, you may start thinking about getting into this type of hobby yourself. Even better, you may also consider starting to practice it together with your child so you can both enjoy the benefits of having fun and creating unique bonding parent-child time together.
In this article, we’ll give you some useful tips on how to choose a model car kit and we’ve made a selection of some of the best car modeling kits that can be found on the market today.
But before we describe in detail some of the best car kits, let’s first give you some answers to some common questions surrounding this topic, such as who makes these car kits, what are they made from, and which skills are required for practicing it.
What Kind of Skills do you Need to Possess to Start Practicing Model Car Kits Building?
Well, nobody is born knowledgeable as knowledge is acquired through life. Same with this type of hobby, you can get as good or as bad as you want to be depending on how much you enjoy doing it.
Model car kits building combines the arts and crafts of having good hand-eye coordination, mechanical engineering and automotive design knowledge, and good problem-solving skills designed for people of all ages. They come in different scales, from level one to five, which requires possessing a different level of competence.
The easier scale levels most often do not require any specific skills as they are of lower difficulty. Compared to them, the more advanced ones may require gluing, sanding, painting, and fitting different particles together depending on the type of car you are building.
Who Makes Model Cars?
Many different brands on the marketplace are highly specialized in making different types of hobby car models. Model car kit will also make an awesome gift for any avid builder, collector, or any other person who is passionate about building cars. Most of them are easy to assemble, having a detailed instruction list and paint scheme.
We’ll review some brands that make some of the best australian car models and also mention some other well known such as Revell, Tamiya, Amt, Hot Wheels, and many more. So you better buckle up, before we take you for a wild ride through some of the premium model vehicles kits manufacturers.
Best Scale Model Car Brands
Revell
Revell is one of the most reputed brands on the marketplace that features a wide selection of model car kits. This type of manufacturer features different types of plastic scale models of cars including a wide range of vintage cars from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. This well-known American and German brand creates well-detailed products which come in both 1:14 and 1:18 scales. Although this brand’s kits usually come molded in popular colors, you can still decide to paint your models with Testor paints to achieve that truly authentic look.
Tamiya
Tamiya is a Japanese market leader for creating different types of top-quality products using cutting-edge technology. Founded in 1946, this company originally produced wooden model ships and airplanes, and then in 1960, they started to manufacture plastic kit models. Hobbies Direct is proud to be an Australian stockist, producing a huge range of Tamiya plastic Australian car models kits and of course a wide range of its RC cars, trucks, and tanks. Their models are functional, and anything but difficult to assemble and dismantle if necessary.
Now having over 60 yrs of modeling experience, Tamiya has gained a reputation among hobbyists for producing some of the highest standard plastic model car kits with outstanding quality and accurate scale detail. This world-renowned brand designs and delivers the best plastic australian car models consistently, aiming to achieve the highest possible level of satisfaction among its customers and business partners.
Bburago
Bburago is one of the best scale model car brands, which originated in Italy and produces most of its products there. Most of this brand’s models produced are Ferrari models of miniature cars that feature1:18 scale. Besides, this model, Bburago also produces some other models such, Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc.
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels is an American toy producer, launched by Mattel, its founder, in 1968. These cars models were initially designed for kids and teenagers, but later they started to become prominent among grown-ups as well. Hot Wheels produces three scales of models car kits including Foundation, Elite, and Super Elite which have caught the eyes of many due to their top-notch designs and attention to detail.
Things to Consider When Choosing the Right Hobby Model Car kits
Choosing the right type of model car kit requires paying careful consideration to some key factors including, the building materials, tools, level of difficulty, and your budget.
Building Materials
As already mentioned most types of scale car models are made from plastic, however, they can also be made from other different types of materials, such as plastic, die-cast metal, resin, and even wood.
Paintwork
Paintwork is usually required in higher scale modeling kits. You can get creative here and purchase a paint selection from Testors that has nine basic colors in it and a small paintbrush. Testors is a well-known model paint manufacturer that also has a larger selection of spray paints for painting larger parts.
Although you may feel tempted to select a model with a higher level of complexity that requires a detailed paint job, we’d recommend going for some simple kit designs and easier building construction so you can easily master the basics of painting.
Model Kit Prices
While many models can cost a fortune, you can also find many relatively affordable model car kits ranging from $10 to $15. They can still look great when assembled, but they won’t require a huge amount of interaction as some other more complex models.
Some die-cast and resin cast kit models feature more intricacy in the construction and therefore require more interaction. They fall somewhere into the mid-range price ranging from $20 to $50.
Level of Difficulty
The level of difficulty refers to the different scales these models can come in, ranging from 1:10 to 1:2500. Basically, this ratio explains how much the model has been shrunk relative to the size of the original. Therefore, choosing a model containing hundreds of small parts means a bigger level of complexity and more difficulties to assemble. On the contrary, easier scales will allow you to get a better feel for the building process and construct the exact model to resemble what’s on the box or in the instruction list.