I love how Academy used their excellent 1/72 scale Boeing B-29 Superfortress kit as the basis for their later kits of the Boeing KB-29P tanker, B-50, C-97, KC-97 and Pan American Airways 377 Stratocrusier. As usual, great model company history(s), thanks for sharing and really nice job on the Accurate Miniatures Vought Vindicator!
Academy here in indonesia are often seen as a good way to start into modelling because they're usually spotted on local "Toys City" toys store, usually next to the gundam kits. me and my dad made a lot, the P-40 Warhawk, F-14 tomcat, and many more, currently making a 1/72 P-51B Mustang, and its pretty good
The one thing I liked about Academy was their early B-17 version models (the B through D models). I’m not aware of any other company that produces anything but the F and G models (Revell use to do an E model).
I built two 1/48 scale B-25C/D Mitchell bombers. One made by Accurate Miniatures and another made by Academy. Both of them are excellent kits, but I was surprised to discover that the parts, details and the parts arrangement layouts on the sprues were identical, including the optional parts. The only difference I can see is that the Accurate Miniatures kit has the molded identification tab reading: “Accurate Miniatures” on one of the sprues. Whereas the Academy kit has the same sprue identification tab, but the lettering has been grounded off. After watching this video explanation, no wonder! Now I can see the reason for it, that Academy acquired Accurate Miniatures and their molds! So therefore, I have 2 of the same kits! Thank you Max. 👍
Academy kits are solid. Usually a good "bang for buck" option. My favorites, however, are their reboxings of Accurate Miniatures kits, specifically the SBD Dauntless and SB2U Vindicator in 1:48. Most of those AM molds have held up super well. Works of art, to be sure. Thanks for sharing, and extra thanks for the Andy Griffith.
Very brief video but to the point! I love it. I want to add something about the Accurate Models B-25B shown in the video. The Revell Germany 1/48 B-25D is the same kit with a few new parts added. I wanted to do a 1/48 scale B-25B but no success in finding one. The only B-25B model is in 1/72 by Airfix. I went to Scalemates to find out that the Revell Germany kit was the same Accurate Miniature kit with the aforementioned new parts. Can't wait to get my hand on that Revell kit!
Fantastic video👍👍 And your Vindicator looks outstanding! I've built many Academy kits, and they are nice, especially the 1:72 WWII aircraft. Accurate Miniatures was brilliant while it lasted. Beautiful detail, good fit(in most places) and great packaging, and Wonderful, informative instructions🙂
The first Academy 1/35 armor kits that I saw on the shelves in Colorado Springs hobby shops in the late 80's looked to me like direct copies of Tamiya kits. I opened one and the sprues were identical to the Tamiya offering, down to the motorisation holes in the hull. The one I looked at was the Sturmgeschütz IV, I believe. Great set of videos. Thanks a lot for doing these.
I've built a few Academy kits, i think the ones i have built were very good, but your right, the cockpits did lack detail, but for the price i bought aftermarket details to spruce things up, and yes their decals are horrible, again bought aftermarket decals.. but still even having to buy the extras , it was still relatively cheaper then some of the big names like tamiya or hasegawa. Great video.
Love Accurate Miniatures kits - I try to grab them when I can afford them! Got quite a number of Academy kits. The older stuff was hit & miss but the newer stuff is great! Fantastic video!
Calvin Go to King Kit in England they have a fair number and most they are second hand they have some new stuff also. Cheaper then e-bay and that include their shipping charges. They are priced in English pounds and because of the difference in the US dollar you may be surprised. I have been buying from them for over 4 ears and never had a problem. Shipping is a little slower now. I usually use pay pal and it works great. The guys name that runs it is Maurice. hope this is of interest. Ed Dillon
Glad that you got more information on Accurate Miniature... I was hoping to hear more about them. I was in Nashville when AM started up (90's) and we had a guy in our IPMS chapter that had all the inside scoop on the model industry... so the monthly meetings were already a blast because we had such a great group that met at ANTIOCH HOBBIES on Richards Rd. We heard from him... so take it for what it's worth... that when AM got their kits produced... the original aircraft such as the P-51 Apache, they did not have the boxes ready. They literally had models in bags ready to go, but the printers or the box manufacturer, or the money (the most common reason) was not in sync with the timing of the kits and they needed the cash flow to make things go...and there they sat ready to distribute. When we FINALLY got to see the kits, they were FANTASTIC.... better in most cases compared to the Hasegawa and Tamiya kits of the day. We were told that the molds were being made by a totally new process (laser cut?) and the parts details reflected it... they were the best I had ever seen. Then when they got up and running, supposedly the mold manufacturer was overrun with orders from other companies and would not produce the new molds that AM wanted, and because they were a small company they were pushed to the back of the line. Of course the big dogs of the day... the aforementioned Hasegawa and Tamiya improved their mold quality at this time as well and there was a real fight for top honors. AM took off like a rocket and then fizzled... and I would really enjoy hearing from you about how this really went down because while the AM models were not cheap... Bang for buck... they were REALLY good. I never saw a bad kit from them. When Hasegawa was putting out their much vaunted SBD dive-bombers and the dive brakes were molded recessed circles and the AM kits had the correct perforated dive brakes... it was a MAJOR horse laugh because the Hasegawa kits were $43.00+ ! ! ! Needless to say... they didn't sell at all. Hope you get more info on this, would really love to know the story because AM really NAILED it... and were really pulling for them to become a big producer made in America.
Hi max. You do a good job narrating.about some company I've never heard of.but it's interesting to hear & watch your video.good song at the end.from North east Ohio.thanks max.
Didn't know the Academy widespread product range... airguns and RC? wow... The new F-4 Phantom in 1/48th range is great... I recently built their Merkava IV LIC and the result was surprisingly good... I still have an F-14, Mig29, Mig21... Nice Vindicator! Thanks for another great video...
The featured model reminds of the airplane graveyard scene in the 80s classic "Can't Buy Me Love" where Patrick Dempsey talks about the plane found at the bottom of the ocean.
The academy company started as a mold company, but it was a plastic model production or plastic model copy or oem production company. When making molds with oem, there were cases in which some prototypes were packaged and sold so that the mold production cost could be recovered. (1970-90s) In this case, it is not a copy product, but only the original packaging is changed. Thanks to this, I was able to get a good plastic model. This article was written in Google Translate
I have a IL2M3 Stormovik of Soviet airforce in WW2, very good kit indeed! They have some good kits, those forgotton heros: TBM/TBF, A36A,P51A,IL2,Yak1.....
I LOVE this Sports Car series from Accurate Miniatures. They have excellent, eye-popping detail. The Mclarens came with a HUGE instruction book, (note :BOOK, not sheet) and a small sheet of photo-etch and soft vinyl for hoses and such. AND there was, (and maybe still is) an exciting aftermarket for all o0f the Accurate Minitures car kits, like thinner vacuformed windshields, photo-etch, resin, and decals. I collected 3 of the Accurate Miniatures Corvette and all 3 of the McLaren series from a very generous seller and sports car modeling enthusiast on eBay and am quite proud of these kits. I HIGHLY recommend!
The ACADEMY model kit of the Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopter in 1:37 is sold as the USMC version, but it has iron cross insignia as used by the modern German Luftwaffe (which never operated this helicopter).
Academy is indeed a very good way to introduce kids into modelling - if they are interested in aircrafts :) Together with Revell their smaller kits regularly appears in non-hobby shops' toy shelves and very often on deeply discounted prices. I built several of their smaller 1/72 aircrafts. If you want a quick OOB build with nice surface details and stays on the "if it looks like a duck, then it is a duck" level, those are really nice ones. Something similar is true to their older 1/35 armour kits. What is IN the box, that's usually nicely detailed and cleanly molded. However it is often very inaccurate, missing details and because of the larger scale the mistakes are more visible. On the positive side, they had some kits which nobody else made (e.g. M12 SPG), or only very old and even simplier versions were available when they launched them (M7 priest, M3 Lee/Grant - those were the first with interior).
I have built Accuate Minitures' 1/48 scale P51 Mustang and RAF Mustang Mk.1A, both the early Allison engined versions. Actually the same moldings, just different color scheme and markings. Also their 1/72 combo kit of the old Monogram P-51B and P-40N kits, with new decals. Their 1/48 scale kits are very good, on a par with earlier Tamiya kits. The 1/72 combo is a reissue of the decent Monogram P-51B, and the far less detailed P-40N that I had as a kid decades ago. Overall, I like them. I have done many Academy kits, and just finished my second P-40C kit, using RAF North African Theater decals from my decal stash. Detail is good, and it was a fun build. I like Academy kits.
Just finished Academy's stunning Helldiver in 1/72, very impressed. Unfortunately, you are correct about decals: usually they are total garbage. Easy to rip, when applying have strange grip/release feel, even with micro sol/set. But literally all their kits of ww2 fighters in 1/72 have been a total joy to build.
I built the Accurate Miniatures Avenger, Vindicator, and Dauntless. Great interiors and engines. Because of how open the dive bomber cockpits are, it made sense for them to invest so mush into that detail. Most aeroplanes are so limited once the fuselage halves are joined, that highly detailed interiors are a waste. Engines as well.
Really like your web site on all he different model manufacturers . Sure brings back a lot of memories Like trying to put a Hawk Panther plastic kit together with Balsa Glue. I am 81 and still building, down to 250 kits left to build. ?My first kit in 1950 was a Monogram Speedi Built Cub. Have you checked out Hobby Craft? I have a few Arma Kits made in Poland. Not sure who they are re boxing. Check out King Kit in England ,they have thousands of old and new kits as well as books and catalogs. I have been buying from them for about 4 years and never had a problem. As for Accurate I still have 7 of their kits, some first run. Some time in the mid 90's they sent me a photo of their Avenger proto type. I still have this, on the back is a sticky note that says "3rd test shot build up". King kit still has a fair number of their kits. Thanks and keep up the good work . Ed Dillon
Got bunch of Academy 1/35 scale armor and figure kits during 1981-82 when I was assign at Kunsan AB, RoK for USAF. They were all Tamiya copies then at about half the price.
I'll have to save this. I have an unbuilt stash of around 80 kits, and have at least 3 Academy....& 1 Accurate Miniatures in the pile somewhere. Interested in what you said about 'useless' decals. I've noticed some oddball decal sheets included in a few of my kits, as I've at least looked thru the boxes over the years. Some of my stuff has been setting in the closet since the early 1990s. Then I also try to pick up at least a couple of 'vintage' kits from vendors working the Reno Air Races each year. Time to stop buying & start building....
As ever , a wonderful video - hopefully you can cover the famous British Lesney Company that made the ' Matchbox ' series of Model Kits ( I checked and their Plastic kit history is not on CZcams - just their metal small cars ) anyway - thanks for the hardwork - hopefully you cover Special Hobby or Eduard of Czechoslovakia
The newest Academy 1/35 armor kits are very nice...reasonably priced and buildable. The new Tiger 1, Pz.IV and Brummbar kits include very realistic resin zimmerit decals!
@Cheeseburger Apocalypse As with most anything these days, comparison shopping can lower your cost. One US online seller recently listed the new Academy Pz.IV Brummbar in a 2-day sale for $29...a steal, IMO.
June 10th 2020 . Catching up. I have a few academy kits f4f wildcat, p40e Warhawk, a6m3 zero t22 . Have the accurate miniature sbd dauntless 3 midway . They are all good kits. Thanks
Feeling fortunate for the Accurate Miniatures kits I have been able to find including the Vindicator and a certified (Comes with a card in the box) first run A-36 Apache (Talk about luck!).
Finally ; someone with the cojones to put this song out with the lyrics ! I’ve been listening to Andy griffin whistle that song so long or whoever it was that whistled it ! Let’s go down to the fishing hole ! 🌊🐺
Academy started off with rather basic kits and knock-offs. After about 2001 they started to improve until now where their 1/48 F-4 series is serious competition for the others. They rebox some of the Accurate Miniatures kits with the Vindicator, Dauntless, and the Mitchell being amongst them. By the way, in Europe Italeri is reboxing some of the Academy kits along with the old Trimaster kits and AMT kits as well. I am in Malaysia and the hobby is quite healthy healthy here.
Academy has produced some really nice armor kits like their Panzer IV H , STUG IV and the Tiger1 kits but for the life of me I have no idea why they would put the ejector pin marks on the outside hull of the Panzer IV H and STUG IV .... the Tiger 1 has the academy name on the lower hull bottom on the outside 😒
I've been trying hard recently to get Academy's M48 and M47 "ROK variants" but I've had very little luck...which is a shame because the M47 Uses the Classic Italeri Kit as its basis, which has been a favorite of mine for years, even despite its..."ancient" nature (details aside from the casting is all seemingly correct) oh and also an engine...thats something rare even today, but especially for when the kit was first made
I do know AM was the source of the 1/48 Eduard FW-190 A. It's still out there - and it makes a great model except for the front end which is a nightmare. Eduard has new tool FW-190s of its own - I'd get those. Italeri puts out the old AM B-25 and (I'm pretty sure) the very good Avenger.
I had an Academy kit of a late 1st gen Hyundai Pony. The box art was suspiciously similar to the style used by Tamiya. The chassis also looked to be 'cloned' from the Tamiya Nissan Leopard.
The McLaren M8B was developed for the 1969 Can-Am season. The 1962 Corvette Grand Sports were not "NASCAR" vehicles. They were lightweight custom factory builds, done in secret, and meant to compete against European makes in FIA endurance road racing. (1963 24 Hours of Le Mans). The GM heads found out about it and put the kibosh on the program. So 2 of the cars were loaned out to some SCCA racers of the time for the 1964 SCCA Sebring race. They were both converted into roadsters. In 1964 Penske bought both Grand Sport Roadsters from Chevrolet and raced one alongside his L88 Coupe prototype at the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring. Afterwards it was sold to amateur racer Jerry Hanna. See for more history : www.supercars.net/blog/1962%E2%86%921964-chevrolet-corvette-grand-sport/ 5 were built and all still exist in collections as the rarest of all Corvettes. There is now a modern day continuation of these chassis in a shop run by the original builder, ex GM Engineer Zora Duntov.
@@KennyMarkusa Well shame on it, my google is late AF, and though enthusiastic, my attention to genre is spotty. I guess the miracle is, that despite his death you can still obtain a fairly accurate and historic piece of UnObtainium.
Hello Max. Great videos, great work. Have you seen or thought about a company called Ocidental replicas from Portugal. Tiny company but well designed kits at that time. No longer in operation tough. Keep good, keep safe.
Academy does a line of Leonardo Da Vinci invention models. Ever consider doing a video on Elenco aka Snap Circuits aka Leonardo3 aka DaVinci. I think their Da Vinci models are more desirable and easy to build. Aimed to the younger kids out there. Considered educational.
I sincerely hope it was not true. The site only says they suspended website order because of covid-19, but they will inform when sales resume will take place to anyone will contact them by e-mail.
Andrea Massara I hope its not true as well, they produce a high quality product. Its a rumour thats making its way around the internet ( Nigels Modelling Bench) I should have stated that in my comment.....fingers are crossed
I would recommend Academy's products. As with many things from ROK, in the 1970s and 80s, they copied, but now in 2020, they are very good quality and stand on their own. Think Kia and Hyundai.
I have built several accurate miniature kits in my personal opinion they are the greatest aircraft kits made I am still important to have several in my stash never built one of there cars or the the any jets. I've always been a fan of Tamia I was a little kid back and be early eighties and found them but in my personal opinion accurate miniatures was much better if you get a chance any other Navy planes especially the TBF Avenger or SBD b25 and IL2
Eduard? could you do an Eduard video? I think they have the best fit of all, and i happen to think a good fit makes a good kit gtreat. Filler is imo the enemy of model building, wrong scaling and or shapes isn´t good either, but Eduard seems to be doing well in that department too, only the price might be an isue.., yet i think they diliver great value for money spend. Greetings bibia.
Academy kits are generally very good, apart from the instructions which are very poor and suffer from bad printing which can make them virtually unreadable. In the UK they are now distributed by Bachmann Europe.
Hey Max, drop me a message when you get a chance so I can help fill in some of the info you are missing. There is a real connection between Academy and AM, MRC! I worked for both (decal artist) and met all of the players back in the day. Some humdinger stories I can share. AM was started by two former Monogram employees. MRC is the tie between Italeri, Academy, and AM. Anyway, let me know how we can talk. Been in the industry 30 years and may be of some help with your wonderful series.
I have built the Accurate Miniatures F-6 (RECCE Version of the P-51B), YaK-1, two different versions of the SBD and one of a two set TBF/TBM. I loved them all... Then I attempted to build the F2G Goodyear race plane. What a huge disappointment. The fit was SOOOOO bad! One fuselage half was actually longer than the other by about 3 to 5mm! So disappointing. Oh well....
maxsmodels I can only guess. The sad part is I was going to paint it as a fictional Corona Beer sponsored racer. I bought Gloss Blue and Yellow paints. I was prepared to make my own decals. I was going to dub it “The Beer Bug”.
Written by Google translator Korean WikiD and I add content namu.wiki/w/%EC%97%90%EC%9D%B4%EC%8A%A4%EB%AA%A8%ED%98%95 In the past, it was a company that shoulders shoulders with companies such as academies and ideas (disappeared in the late 1990s), mainly producing aircraft kits. With this momentum, it will surpass the idea hall It has reigned as the central manufacturer of aero kits, and OEM supply is also provided through contracts with famous overseas manufacturers, such as recognized levels. In other words, among the level 1/144 kits sold overseas, there is a product of Ace Science. 1/72 vehicles are also sold for domestic domestic use as OEMs of overseas manufacturers' products such as levels. So the "Revell" mark and "REVELL GMBH & CO.KG" on the runner of these products Accurate Miniatures also included oem The letters are engraved as intaglio. For the 1/144 scale fighter series Company homepage (disappeared) and products after the present 2019 There is no news on new product sales There are cases like this The Academy's 1/48 TBM Avengers, called luxury kits! This kit is designed by Accurate Miniature in USA and OEM made by domestic ACE model ... baik1120.tistory.com/entry/%EC%95%84%EC%B9%B4%EB%8D%B0%EB%AF%B8-148-TBM%EC%96%B4%EB%B2 % A4% EC% A0% 80-% EC% A0% 9C% EC% 9E% 91% EA% B8% B0
I have built a number of Academy's ww2 single engine aircraft. The quality was excellent but the decal sheets were useless. They looked good in the box. Nice finish and on register. Interesting subject matter and well researched. But they just wouldn't adhere to the model, even with the micro-scale technology. Very discouraging when your beautiful kit has been reduced to a hanger queen. I still buy them but I buy third party decals or scrounge from my decal stockpile.
Yeah, Academy's decals of their own production were terrible. Good thing they've since switched over to having their decals printed by Cartograf (excellent stuff!) and clearly indicate that on the box, so there's no guesswork involved in determining whether an Academy kit needs its decals replaced.
Academy....well their stuffs at early years were knockoff of Tamiya kits(I have their1/350 Tirpitz), they begin produce their own stuffs in late 1990s , I bought a 1/35 Merkava III but the kit was very unaccurate, bulky parts! 1/48Mig21MF,Bf109K all of them were wrong measurement that it look like bigger than usual! It was after 2000s, I bought a 1/32 F/A18D that has improved with accuracy but still bigger than it should be!
I love how Academy used their excellent 1/72 scale Boeing B-29 Superfortress kit as the basis for their later kits of the Boeing KB-29P tanker, B-50, C-97, KC-97 and Pan American Airways 377 Stratocrusier. As usual, great model company history(s), thanks for sharing and really nice job on the Accurate Miniatures Vought Vindicator!
Beautiful "Vibrator" build!
Great music, too. :)
thanks
Great song by Sheriff Andy Taylor. Excellent and informative about Academy Model and Accurate Miniatures. Sharing it with others.
👍🏻🙏🏻🇺🇸
Academy here in indonesia are often seen as a good way to start into modelling because they're usually spotted on local "Toys City" toys store, usually next to the gundam kits.
me and my dad made a lot, the P-40 Warhawk, F-14 tomcat, and many more, currently making a 1/72 P-51B Mustang, and its pretty good
The one thing I liked about Academy was their early B-17 version models (the B through D models). I’m not aware of any other company that produces anything but the F and G models (Revell use to do an E model).
and the early model B-17s are a read headache - what a pity.
I built two 1/48 scale B-25C/D Mitchell bombers. One made by Accurate Miniatures and another made by Academy. Both of them are excellent kits, but I was surprised to discover that the parts, details and the parts arrangement layouts on the sprues were identical, including the optional parts. The only difference I can see is that the Accurate Miniatures kit has the molded identification tab reading: “Accurate Miniatures” on one of the sprues. Whereas the Academy kit has the same sprue identification tab, but the lettering has been grounded off. After watching this video explanation, no wonder! Now I can see the reason for it, that Academy acquired Accurate Miniatures and their molds! So therefore, I have 2 of the same kits! Thank you Max. 👍
Academy kits are solid. Usually a good "bang for buck" option. My favorites, however, are their reboxings of Accurate Miniatures kits, specifically the SBD Dauntless and SB2U Vindicator in 1:48. Most of those AM molds have held up super well. Works of art, to be sure. Thanks for sharing, and extra thanks for the Andy Griffith.
Very brief video but to the point! I love it. I want to add something about the Accurate Models B-25B shown in the video. The Revell Germany 1/48 B-25D is the same kit with a few new parts added. I wanted to do a 1/48 scale B-25B but no success in finding one. The only B-25B model is in 1/72 by Airfix. I went to Scalemates to find out that the Revell Germany kit was the same Accurate Miniature kit with the aforementioned new parts. Can't wait to get my hand on that Revell kit!
Fantastic video👍👍 And your Vindicator looks outstanding! I've built many Academy kits, and they are nice, especially the 1:72 WWII aircraft. Accurate Miniatures was brilliant while it lasted. Beautiful detail, good fit(in most places) and great packaging, and Wonderful, informative instructions🙂
The first Academy 1/35 armor kits that I saw on the shelves in Colorado Springs hobby shops in the late 80's looked to me like direct copies of Tamiya kits. I opened one and the sprues were identical to the Tamiya offering, down to the motorisation holes in the hull. The one I looked at was the Sturmgeschütz IV, I believe. Great set of videos. Thanks a lot for doing these.
Me says hmmmmm. most suspicious
I built the old academy Wirberlwind. That is a direct copy of the Tamiya kit with the same holes in the hull.
Another good video. Andy Griffith theme song was nostalgic.
I never knew it had lyrics! Great find.
I've built a few Academy kits, i think the ones i have built were very good, but your right, the cockpits did lack detail, but for the price i bought aftermarket details to spruce things up, and yes their decals are horrible, again bought aftermarket decals.. but still even having to buy the extras , it was still relatively cheaper then some of the big names like tamiya or hasegawa. Great video.
Love Accurate Miniatures kits - I try to grab them when I can afford them! Got quite a number of Academy kits. The older stuff was hit & miss but the newer stuff is great! Fantastic video!
Calvin
Go to King Kit in England they have a fair number and most they are second hand they have some new stuff also. Cheaper then e-bay and that include their shipping charges. They are priced in English pounds and because of the difference in the US dollar you may be surprised. I have been buying from them for over 4 ears and never had a problem. Shipping is a little slower now. I usually use pay pal and it works great. The guys name that runs it is Maurice. hope this is of interest.
Ed Dillon
In my most humble opinion...Accurate Miniatures was at least equal to Tamiya in terms of quality, Thank you for a great video.
I am inclined to agree but there are some folks noting they have more than a passing similarity on some kits. That's a thinker.
Glad that you got more information on Accurate Miniature... I was hoping to hear more about them. I was in Nashville when AM started up (90's) and we had a guy in our IPMS chapter that had all the inside scoop on the model industry... so the monthly meetings were already a blast because we had such a great group that met at ANTIOCH HOBBIES on Richards Rd. We heard from him... so take it for what it's worth... that when AM got their kits produced... the original aircraft such as the P-51 Apache, they did not have the boxes ready. They literally had models in bags ready to go, but the printers or the box manufacturer, or the money (the most common reason) was not in sync with the timing of the kits and they needed the cash flow to make things go...and there they sat ready to distribute. When we FINALLY got to see the kits, they were FANTASTIC.... better in most cases compared to the Hasegawa and Tamiya kits of the day. We were told that the molds were being made by a totally new process (laser cut?) and the parts details reflected it... they were the best I had ever seen. Then when they got up and running, supposedly the mold manufacturer was overrun with orders from other companies and would not produce the new molds that AM wanted, and because they were a small company they were pushed to the back of the line. Of course the big dogs of the day... the aforementioned Hasegawa and Tamiya improved their mold quality at this time as well and there was a real fight for top honors.
AM took off like a rocket and then fizzled... and I would really enjoy hearing from you about how this really went down because while the AM models were not cheap... Bang for buck... they were REALLY good. I never saw a bad kit from them. When Hasegawa was putting out their much vaunted SBD dive-bombers and the dive brakes were molded recessed circles and the AM kits had the correct perforated dive brakes... it was a MAJOR horse laugh because the Hasegawa kits were $43.00+ ! ! ! Needless to say... they didn't sell at all.
Hope you get more info on this, would really love to know the story because AM really NAILED it... and were really pulling for them to become a big producer made in America.
Hi max. You do a good job narrating.about some company I've never heard of.but it's interesting to hear & watch your video.good song at the end.from North east Ohio.thanks max.
Great job on ther video and the model. Thanks for posting
Didn't know the Academy widespread product range... airguns and RC? wow...
The new F-4 Phantom in 1/48th range is great... I recently built their Merkava IV LIC and the result was surprisingly good... I still have an F-14, Mig29, Mig21...
Nice Vindicator! Thanks for another great video...
The featured model reminds of the airplane graveyard scene in the 80s classic "Can't Buy Me Love" where Patrick Dempsey talks about the plane found at the bottom of the ocean.
Man that is a 80's reference.. graduate between 84- 89? Just sayin', I loved early Patrick!
@@avidnongetit8710 Graduate of 82. My favorite time for movies was the 80's
The academy company started as a mold company, but it was a plastic model production or plastic model copy or oem production company.
When making molds with oem, there were cases in which some prototypes were packaged and sold so that the mold production cost could be recovered.
(1970-90s)
In this case, it is not a copy product, but only the original packaging is changed.
Thanks to this, I was able to get a good plastic model.
This article was written in Google Translate
Built a couple of Accurate Miniatures Avengers. Great detail and was hoping for more like it.
The Accurate Miniatures TBM kit is really good. Why do I suddenly have an urge to watch old Andy Grffith Show episodes...?
I have a IL2M3 Stormovik of Soviet airforce in WW2, very good kit indeed! They have some good kits, those forgotton heros: TBM/TBF, A36A,P51A,IL2,Yak1.....
Just great! Keep 'em coming!
I loved the old F3F models.
I LOVE this Sports Car series from Accurate Miniatures. They have excellent, eye-popping detail. The Mclarens came with a HUGE instruction book, (note :BOOK, not sheet) and a small sheet of photo-etch and soft vinyl for hoses and such. AND there was, (and maybe still is) an exciting aftermarket for all o0f the Accurate Minitures car kits, like thinner vacuformed windshields, photo-etch, resin, and decals.
I collected 3 of the Accurate Miniatures Corvette and all 3 of the McLaren series from a very generous seller and sports car modeling enthusiast on eBay and am quite proud of these kits.
I HIGHLY recommend!
The detail is just NUTS on the McLaren-- all that plumbing...
Good video! I really appreciated the Andy G. song at the end, since I've never heard the version with lyrics before. 👍
The ACADEMY model kit of the Bell AH-1Z Viper helicopter in 1:37 is sold as the USMC version, but it has iron cross insignia as used by the modern German Luftwaffe (which never operated this helicopter).
Academy is indeed a very good way to introduce kids into modelling - if they are interested in aircrafts :) Together with Revell their smaller kits regularly appears in non-hobby shops' toy shelves and very often on deeply discounted prices. I built several of their smaller 1/72 aircrafts. If you want a quick OOB build with nice surface details and stays on the "if it looks like a duck, then it is a duck" level, those are really nice ones.
Something similar is true to their older 1/35 armour kits. What is IN the box, that's usually nicely detailed and cleanly molded. However it is often very inaccurate, missing details and because of the larger scale the mistakes are more visible. On the positive side, they had some kits which nobody else made (e.g. M12 SPG), or only very old and even simplier versions were available when they launched them (M7 priest, M3 Lee/Grant - those were the first with interior).
maybe the BEST & cheapest 1/72 tempest kit
I have built Accuate Minitures' 1/48 scale P51 Mustang and RAF Mustang Mk.1A, both the early Allison engined versions. Actually the same moldings, just different color scheme and markings.
Also their 1/72 combo kit of the old Monogram P-51B and P-40N kits, with new decals. Their 1/48 scale kits are very good, on a par with earlier Tamiya kits. The 1/72 combo is a reissue of the decent Monogram P-51B, and the far less detailed P-40N that I had as a kid decades ago.
Overall, I like them.
I have done many Academy kits, and just finished my second P-40C kit, using RAF North African Theater decals from my decal stash. Detail is good, and it was a fun build. I like Academy kits.
Your dive-bomber is excellent. Nice oil splatter and paint wear.
Just finished Academy's stunning Helldiver in 1/72, very impressed. Unfortunately, you are correct about decals: usually they are total garbage. Easy to rip, when applying have strange grip/release feel, even with micro sol/set. But literally all their kits of ww2 fighters in 1/72 have been a total joy to build.
about decals : try to apply some thin layers of acrylic varnish before put them in lukewarm water
You know, you'd better keep making these videos because...............I really look forward to them and,
especially, the musical selections.
Awesome! Thank you
in my 58 years, i never knew Andy Griffith did that song. never knew it had lyrics!!
What else don't i know!?!?!?
I built the Accurate Miniatures Avenger, Vindicator, and Dauntless. Great interiors and engines. Because of how open the dive bomber cockpits are, it made sense for them to invest so mush into that detail. Most aeroplanes are so limited once the fuselage halves are joined, that highly detailed interiors are a waste. Engines as well.
Really like your web site on all he different model manufacturers . Sure brings back a lot of memories Like trying to put a Hawk Panther plastic kit together with Balsa Glue. I am 81 and still building, down to 250 kits left to build. ?My first kit in 1950 was a Monogram Speedi Built Cub.
Have you checked out Hobby Craft? I have a few Arma Kits made in Poland. Not sure who they are re boxing. Check out King Kit in England ,they have thousands of old and new kits as well as books and catalogs. I have been buying from them for about 4 years and never had a problem. As for Accurate I still have 7 of their kits, some first run. Some time in the mid 90's they sent me a photo of their Avenger proto type. I still have this, on the back is a sticky note that says "3rd test shot build up". King kit still has a fair number of their kits.
Thanks and keep up the good work .
Ed Dillon
Got bunch of Academy 1/35 scale armor and figure kits during 1981-82 when I was assign at Kunsan AB, RoK for USAF. They were all Tamiya copies then at about half the price.
I never knew there were lyrics to that tune. Incredible work.
just like Star Trek the Original Series.
czcams.com/video/qT0w-_Eh1dQ/video.html
You realize that it's Andy Griffith singing it?
@@markfrench8892 Ya I did
I'll have to save this. I have an unbuilt stash of around 80 kits, and have at least 3 Academy....& 1 Accurate Miniatures in the pile somewhere. Interested in what you said about 'useless' decals. I've noticed some oddball decal sheets included in a few of my kits, as I've at least looked thru the boxes over the years. Some of my stuff has been setting in the closet since the early 1990s. Then I also try to pick up at least a couple of 'vintage' kits from vendors working the Reno Air Races each year. Time to stop buying & start building....
As ever , a wonderful video - hopefully you can cover the famous British Lesney Company that made the ' Matchbox ' series of Model Kits
( I checked and their Plastic kit history is not on CZcams - just their metal small cars )
anyway - thanks for the hardwork - hopefully you cover Special Hobby or Eduard of Czechoslovakia
I build their kits. Got done with the Roman warship. Impressive.
The first brand to offer Su-27 family in 1:48 scale. Mine is still intact in the box since 1995, the decal might has already decomposed.
The newest Academy 1/35 armor kits are very nice...reasonably priced and buildable. The new Tiger 1, Pz.IV and Brummbar kits include very realistic resin zimmerit decals!
@Cheeseburger Apocalypse As with most anything these days, comparison shopping can lower your cost. One US online seller recently listed the new Academy Pz.IV Brummbar in a 2-day sale for $29...a steal, IMO.
Best music so far.
thanks sweet tunes .
June 10th 2020 . Catching up. I have a few academy kits f4f wildcat, p40e Warhawk, a6m3 zero t22 . Have the accurate miniature sbd dauntless 3 midway . They are all good kits. Thanks
Feeling fortunate for the Accurate Miniatures kits I have been able to find including the Vindicator and a certified (Comes with a card in the box) first run A-36 Apache (Talk about luck!).
yep
Finally ; someone with the cojones to put this song out with the lyrics ! I’ve been listening to Andy griffin whistle that song so long or whoever it was that whistled it !
Let’s go down to the fishing hole ! 🌊🐺
Academy started off with rather basic kits and knock-offs. After about 2001 they started to improve until now where their 1/48 F-4 series is serious competition for the others. They rebox some of the Accurate Miniatures kits with the Vindicator, Dauntless, and the Mitchell being amongst them. By the way, in Europe Italeri is reboxing some of the Academy kits along with the old Trimaster kits and AMT kits as well. I am in Malaysia and the hobby is quite healthy healthy here.
Academy has produced some really nice armor kits like their Panzer IV H , STUG IV and the Tiger1 kits but for the life of me I have no idea why they would put the ejector pin marks on the outside hull of the Panzer IV H and STUG IV .... the Tiger 1 has the academy name on the lower hull bottom on the outside 😒
I've been trying hard recently to get Academy's M48 and M47 "ROK variants" but I've had very little luck...which is a shame because the M47 Uses the Classic Italeri Kit as its basis, which has been a favorite of mine for years, even despite its..."ancient" nature (details aside from the casting is all seemingly correct) oh and also an engine...thats something rare even today, but especially for when the kit was first made
The Collins name in the company is Eddie Collins. I used to work with him. I've been in the company several times.
Any idea what happened? Lack of sales?
I do know AM was the source of the 1/48 Eduard FW-190 A. It's still out there - and it makes a great model except for the front end which is a nightmare. Eduard has new tool FW-190s of its own - I'd get those. Italeri puts out the old AM B-25 and (I'm pretty sure) the very good Avenger.
I had an Academy kit of a late 1st gen Hyundai Pony. The box art was suspiciously similar to the style used by Tamiya. The chassis also looked to be 'cloned' from the Tamiya Nissan Leopard.
So many memories! Hey Max, would you like more 411 on Accurate? I'd be happy to share some history if you like! How does one get in contact with you?
Great! Have you done one on Supermodel yet?
It looks like you can do a pretty mean paint job. Have you done any tutorials on painting or building dioramas? That'd be cool.
I doubt this counts but it is all I have in the diorama category czcams.com/video/mvNYj23-SLU/video.html
Accurate has great detail and Academy has fair detail but more subjects.
The McLaren M8B was developed for the 1969 Can-Am season.
The 1962 Corvette Grand Sports were not "NASCAR" vehicles. They were lightweight custom
factory builds, done in secret, and meant to compete against European makes in FIA endurance
road racing. (1963 24 Hours of Le Mans). The GM heads found out about it and put the kibosh on the program. So 2 of the cars were loaned out to some SCCA racers of the time for the 1964 SCCA Sebring race. They were both converted into roadsters. In 1964 Penske bought both Grand Sport Roadsters from Chevrolet and raced one alongside his L88 Coupe prototype at the 1966 12 Hours of Sebring. Afterwards it was sold to amateur racer Jerry Hanna.
See for more history : www.supercars.net/blog/1962%E2%86%921964-chevrolet-corvette-grand-sport/
5 were built and all still exist in collections as the rarest of all Corvettes.
There is now a modern day continuation of these chassis in a shop run by the original builder, ex GM Engineer Zora Duntov.
t's not run by Zora he passed away in 1996
@@KennyMarkusa Well shame on it, my google is late AF, and though enthusiastic, my attention to genre is spotty. I guess the miracle is, that despite his death you can still obtain a fairly accurate and historic piece of UnObtainium.
Great presentation But it actually Ends at 5:11 the rest is push the button and tell me you love me
Stuff...he does good work
It's why I watch.
It is my guilty pleasure
Hello Max. Great videos, great work. Have you seen or thought about a company called Ocidental replicas from Portugal. Tiny company but well designed kits at that time. No longer in operation tough. Keep good, keep safe.
The only company to make a Boeing B-50 cold war bomber. I need to hoard a few more!!
Academy does a line of Leonardo Da Vinci invention models. Ever consider doing a video on Elenco aka Snap Circuits aka Leonardo3 aka DaVinci. I think their Da Vinci models are more desirable and easy to build. Aimed to the younger kids out there. Considered educational.
Hey max love this series. Can you do video on Wing nut Wings.....they recently went out of business.
I sincerely hope it was not true. The site only says they suspended website order because of covid-19, but they will inform when sales resume will take place to anyone will contact them by e-mail.
I will look into it.
Andrea Massara I hope its not true as well, they produce a high quality product. Its a rumour thats making its way around the internet ( Nigels Modelling Bench) I should have stated that in my comment.....fingers are crossed
I would recommend Academy's products. As with many things from ROK, in the 1970s and 80s, they copied, but now in 2020, they are very good quality and stand on their own. Think Kia and Hyundai.
I have built several accurate miniature kits in my personal opinion they are the greatest aircraft kits made I am still important to have several in my stash never built one of there cars or the the any jets. I've always been a fan of Tamia I was a little kid back and be early eighties and found them but in my personal opinion accurate miniatures was much better if you get a chance any other Navy planes especially the TBF Avenger or SBD b25 and IL2
1/42 ?
so what happened to the molds really ? Academy got some ? all ?
How did that happen ?
I mostly watched Star Trek and Gilligan's Island after school in 17=973
them too :)
academy kits not expensive?!?! here in finland that Ju-87G kit had a price tag of 40 euros...
WOW!! How much is Tamiya over there?
Eduard? could you do an Eduard video? I think they have the best fit of all, and i happen to think a good fit makes a good kit gtreat.
Filler is imo the enemy of model building, wrong scaling and or shapes isn´t good either, but Eduard seems to be doing well in that department too, only the price might be an isue.., yet i think they diliver great value for money spend.
Greetings bibia.
🙏🏽♥️🎩
Academy kits are generally very good, apart from the instructions which are very poor and suffer from bad printing which can make them virtually unreadable. In the UK they are now distributed by Bachmann Europe.
Hard to imagine a bad acquisition! 🙄😉😂
Damn, I´ve never mixed them up.. But I rarely see Accurate Miniatures so..
I did buy a Mustang Mk. Ia and an F7F once but never built them.. Sold them instead, sadly.. Seemed decent though.
fishing pole! fishing pole! drop that line away,..
+1= Song choice at end
It just seemed right
Hey Max, drop me a message when you get a chance so I can help fill in some of the info you are missing. There is a real connection between Academy and AM, MRC! I worked for both (decal artist) and met all of the players back in the day. Some humdinger stories I can share.
AM was started by two former Monogram employees. MRC is the tie between Italeri, Academy, and AM. Anyway, let me know how we can talk. Been in the industry 30 years and may be of some help with your wonderful series.
contact me via Facebook if you do it Max Kohnke I would love to hear it
@@maxsmodelsI am not on Facebook. Bummer.
I have built the Accurate Miniatures F-6 (RECCE Version of the P-51B), YaK-1, two different versions of the SBD and one of a two set TBF/TBM. I loved them all... Then I attempted to build the F2G Goodyear race plane. What a huge disappointment. The fit was SOOOOO bad! One fuselage half was actually longer than the other by about 3 to 5mm! So disappointing. Oh well....
wonder what went wrong
maxsmodels I can only guess. The sad part is I was going to paint it as a fictional Corona Beer sponsored racer. I bought Gloss Blue and Yellow paints. I was prepared to make my own decals. I was going to dub it “The Beer Bug”.
Written by Google translator
Korean WikiD and I add content
namu.wiki/w/%EC%97%90%EC%9D%B4%EC%8A%A4%EB%AA%A8%ED%98%95
In the past, it was a company that shoulders shoulders with companies such as academies and ideas (disappeared in the late 1990s), mainly producing aircraft kits. With this momentum, it will surpass the idea hall
It has reigned as the central manufacturer of aero kits, and OEM supply is also provided through contracts with famous overseas manufacturers, such as recognized levels. In other words, among the level 1/144 kits sold overseas, there is a product of Ace Science. 1/72 vehicles are also sold for domestic domestic use as OEMs of overseas manufacturers' products such as levels. So the "Revell" mark and "REVELL GMBH & CO.KG" on the runner of these products
Accurate Miniatures also included oem
The letters are engraved as intaglio. For the 1/144 scale fighter series
Company homepage (disappeared) and products after the present 2019
There is no news on new product sales
There are cases like this
The Academy's 1/48 TBM Avengers, called luxury kits! This kit is designed by Accurate Miniature in USA and OEM made by domestic ACE model ...
baik1120.tistory.com/entry/%EC%95%84%EC%B9%B4%EB%8D%B0%EB%AF%B8-148-TBM%EC%96%B4%EB%B2 % A4% EC% A0% 80-% EC% A0% 9C% EC% 9E% 91% EA% B8% B0
People confuse Academy with Accurate Miniatures because both names start with Ac ? I'm flabbergasted.
My guess is both having red, white and blue logos didn't help
Был поражен тем что ,academia, выпускала копии моделей фирмы ,frog,...пример - Р - 40 ,томагавк,...только бомбу в литник добавили.
I have built a number of Academy's ww2 single engine aircraft. The quality was excellent but the decal sheets were useless. They looked good in the box. Nice finish and on register. Interesting subject matter and well researched. But they just wouldn't adhere to the model, even with the micro-scale technology. Very discouraging when your beautiful kit has been reduced to a hanger queen. I still buy them but I buy third party decals or scrounge from my decal stockpile.
Yeah, Academy's decals of their own production were terrible. Good thing they've since switched over to having their decals printed by Cartograf (excellent stuff!) and clearly indicate that on the box, so there's no guesswork involved in determining whether an Academy kit needs its decals replaced.
Academy's sr 71 is such a blatant rip off from the Hasegawa kit, but I really like Academy. Their F-4s are brilliant.
Academy....well their stuffs at early years were knockoff of Tamiya kits(I have their1/350 Tirpitz), they begin produce their own stuffs in late 1990s , I bought a 1/35 Merkava III but the kit was very unaccurate, bulky parts! 1/48Mig21MF,Bf109K all of them were wrong measurement that it look like bigger than usual!
It was after 2000s, I bought a 1/32 F/A18D that has improved with accuracy but still bigger than it should be!