Academy Model Kits: Lineup, Scales and How to Pick

What Academy makes

Academy models on Amazon US fall into four types in our data: aircraft kits, military kits, ship kits and car kits. Of 37 listings in the grid, aircraft are the biggest group, then armor and military vehicles, then ships. There's one car.

Academy's own website gives the company's address in Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea, and describes its range as plastic model kits along with toys, educational kits and other goods. On Amazon US it's the plastic kits.

Most subjects are military. Fighters and bombers from World War II to today, World War I biplanes, tanks and armored vehicles, helicopters, battleships and aircraft carriers. The non-military kits are three versions of the R.M.S. Titanic and a 1/24 BMW.

A note on the data. Few Academy listings state an age, a skill level or what's in the box. When a field is blank, we leave it blank. Two numbers in the grid are reliable on almost every listing: the scale, when the name gives it, and the subject.

Academy model kits by scale

Scale is how much smaller the model is than the real thing. A 1/72 kit is one seventy-second of full size. Here's how Academy's scales sort in our grid.

1/24 and 1/32: the big ones

• 1/24 BMW M635CSi: the one car kit; the listing states paint and glue are required, not included
• 1/32 Sopwith Camel F.1: a World War I biplane at a large scale

At 1/24 and 1/32 the parts are big enough to handle easily, and the finished model is big enough to show detail. They also take up the most shelf. For the record: measure the shelf against the wingspan of a 1/32 biplane, not the fuselage. Wings are where the inches hide.

1/35: armor and two helicopters

1/35 is the most common armor scale in this grid. Academy's 1/35 listings:

• M113A1 APC Vietnam
• M2A2 Bradley Iraq 2003
• M1A2 V2 TUSK II
• M163 Vulcan Air Defense System
• M1117 Guardian ASV
• USMC AH-1Z Cobra "Shark Mouth" and U.S.M.C UH-1Y Venom, two helicopters at the same scale

Two helicopters at 1/35 means they sit at the same scale as the tanks. That's useful if you want a scene, a helicopter over a vehicle, without mixing scales.

Lucho's take: "Tracks are a chain with opinions. Count the links before you glue the first one." He was looking over my shoulder at the time. He was right, and I counted twice.

1/48 and 1/72: most of the aircraft

• 1/48: F8F-1/2 "Tarawa", Japanese Navy Zero Fighter Type 21 "Midway", F-86F-40 Sabre "Korean Package"
• 1/72: OV-10A Bronco, A-37B Dragon Fly, B-29A "Enola Gay & Bockscar", M3 Half Track/Amphibian

1/48 aircraft are mid-size and show cockpit detail well. 1/72 lets you build more aircraft on one shelf. The 1/72 M3 Half Track is the one listing in the grid that states an age: 10+.

1/144: small jets

F-4E Phantom II, F-15 Eagle and a B-1B "34th BS Thunderbirds" are listed at 1/144. At 1/144 a fighter fits in your palm. Parts are small. That's a fine scale for a shelf of many jets, and a fussy one for first-timers.

1/400 to 1/700: ships

• 1/400: two R.M.S. Titanic listings (one marked MCP, one "White Star Liner") and the BB-63 Missouri, which states 14+
• 1/600: USS Enterprise CVN-65
• 1/700: USS Enterprise CV-6 "Battle of Midway", in a regular and a Modeler's Edition listing; the regular one states paint and glue are required, not included

At 1/700, one foot of model stands in for 700 ft of ship. I did the division on a napkin. The napkin agreed.

A ship at 1/400 is long. Measure your shelf length before you buy, not just the depth.

No scale in the name

A few listings don't give a scale in our data: the JU87G-1 Stuka "Tank Buster", Warrior MCV "Iraq 2003", WWII U.S. Navy F6F-3/5, P-51C, SPAD XIII, German Battleship Bismarck, H.M.S. Warspite, Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer, TBM-3 "USS Bunker Hill", the Titanic Centenary Edition, the King Tiger "Last Production" and the AH-60L DAP Black Hawk. Find the scale on the box photo or on Academy's site before you buy. A guess is not a scale.

What tells Academy kits apart

Subject era

Academy covers more than a century of subjects in this one grid. World War I biplanes (Sopwith Camel, SPAD XIII). World War II fighters, bombers, tanks and battleships. Korea and Vietnam (F-86 Sabre, M113A1). Modern armor and helicopters (M1A2 TUSK II, AH-1Z, UH-1Y). If you have a period you care about, start there.

Packaging names

Several listings name a specific aircraft, unit or event: "Tarawa", "Midway", "Korean Package", "Shark Mouth", "Iraq 2003", "Thunderbirds". Those usually point to the markings and decals in the box. Two kits of the same aircraft with different names are different marking options.

Version words on armor kits

Armor kits carry their own small print: "Late Version" on the Hetzer, "Last Production" on the King Tiger, "V2 TUSK II" on the M1A2. Those words point to a specific variant of the vehicle, with its own parts and details. If you're building to match a photo or a book, the version word is the line on the listing that tells you whether this kit is that vehicle or its cousin. Write it on the box end with a marker before it goes on the shelf. Future you will be grateful.

Editions

"Modeler's Edition", "Centenary Edition", "MCP", "Last Production", "Late Version". The listings don't explain all of these. Where they matter to you, read the full listing or Academy's own page.

Building a theme without mixing scales

Some Academy listings share a theme. Midway is the clearest one in this grid: a 1/48 Zero Fighter Type 21 "Midway" and two 1/700 USS Enterprise CV-6 "Battle of Midway" listings. Same battle, two scales. Side by side, the little fighter would look bigger than the carrier's whole deck, which is not how anybody remembers that battle.

If you want a themed shelf, you have two honest choices. Build within one scale, or build in two scales and display them on separate shelves with a label. I'd do the label. You knew that.

The same goes for Iraq 2003. The Warrior MCV and the 1/35 M2A2 Bradley both carry that name. The Bradley is 1/35. Check the Warrior's scale before you plan them as a pair.

What goes on the bench for a first Academy kit

Most Academy listings don't say what's in the box beyond the parts. Here's the short list I'd have ready before opening a first kit:

• Sprue cutters to take parts off the frame cleanly
• A hobby knife and a cutting mat for cleanup
• Plastic cement, plus a separate glue for clear parts
• Paint in the colors the instructions call for
• Tweezers for small parts
• Sanding sticks for seams
• A parts tray so nothing walks off

None of this is specific to Academy. Every plastic kit wants the same bench.

How to pick an Academy kit

Pick the scale before the subject

Here's my one opinion for this page: pick the scale before you pick the subject. The reason is in the grid. Academy's kits run from 1/24 to 1/700, and the scale decides how big the model is, how small the parts are and which shelf it lives on. Choose a scale, then choose what to build in it. If you build more later, they'll match.

Budget for supplies

Two listings say paint and glue are required and not included. Most others don't say either way. Plan on plastic cement, paint, sprue cutters and a hobby knife unless a listing states they're in the box.

Check the age where it's listed

Only two listings state an age: 10+ on the 1/72 half-track, 14+ on the 1/400 Missouri. Where an age is listed, follow it. Where it isn't, judge by scale and parts count: small scales mean small parts.

Start bigger, not smaller, for a first kit

A 1/48 aircraft or a 1/35 vehicle has parts you can see and hold. A 1/144 jet or a 1/700 carrier has parts that disappear into the carpet. That's not a rule. It's a tolerance I wouldn't plan a first build around. A first kit should end on a shelf, not in a drawer with a note on it. Pick the size that makes finishing likely, and save the 1/700 carrier for the third or fourth build.

Who should skip Academy

If you want a kit that needs no glue and no paint, nothing in our Academy data says snap-fit or pre-colored. Snap-fit means parts press together without glue. Look at snap-fit and starter lines from other makers first. If you want a non-military subject, the grid has one car and the Titanic kits, and that's it. And if you want a stated skill level on the box before you buy, most Academy listings in our data don't give one.

None of that is a mark against the kits. It's just what the listings show. For a builder who knows the subject and has the bench ready, the range of scales is the draw.

Academy next to other kit makers

If you're comparing makers, the Tamiya, Revell and Hasegawa brand pages cover their kits the same way this page covers Academy. Our model kits section sorts kits by type across makers The model car kits page covers car kits across makers.

Safety at the bench

Cut away from your body on a cutting mat, and keep blades away from kids. Work with good ventilation and follow the paint or cement maker's label for masks and gloves. The U.S. EPA lists paints, adhesives and hobby products among sources of indoor air pollutants and advises more ventilation and following label directions.

Plastic kits have small parts. Check the age label on the listing. Toys with small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3.

What we couldn't confirm

Academy's website gave us its location and its range of products. We didn't confirm a founding year or where each kit is made from a first-party page, so those aren't on this page. Product facts come from the listings in our data, checked on Amazon US on the date at the top.

Scale first, subject second, and the bench set up before the box is open.