I'm not sure we can make good generalizations about the various makers, about which one is "the best". Probably the most valid generalization is Tamiya's high quality and buildability. Many are considered "shake & bake", or as some say, you can toss a tube of glue into a Tamiya model's box, shake it, and out comes a perfectly assembled model. Wingnut Wings had a similar reputation, though its output was 1/32 kits of Great War airplanes (because its founder, Peter Jackson, is a Great War aircraft buff).
Eduard's airplanes remind me of classic Monogram aircraft, because they are of good quality and detail, they are relatively easier to build, and they aren't too expensive compared to their contemporaries. My first one was their P-39 kit, and that was my immediate impression when I opened the box and as I built it. I can't speak to kits of other subjects Eduard produces, because I've only built their aircraft.
Hobby Boss I've to be hit-or-miss as far as quality goes. As someone else mentioned, some of their kits were out-and-out copies of Tamiya kits. That's certainly true of Hobby Boss' F4F-3 Wildcat. I built the Tamiya kit first, then I got the Hobby Boss kit. The kit looked like the Tamiya kit, so I put the sprues side by side and they are practically the same. So, as a copy of a good kit, it's pretty good itself. On the other hand, I got their 1/700 USS Arizona 1941. I started a build to convert it to the USS Pennsylvania 1935. I lost interest as I went on, because it's a poorly-tooled kit, with soft details. And it's ancestry is Revell's 1/535 Arizona, which was copied decades ago in the PRC, and then redone and handed down through Banner and then the Trumpeter lineage. But for ten bucks, I thought it was a bargain at the time.
The Academy kits I've seen are also hit-or-miss, and some are copies, whether authorized or not, from other makers. Their 1/48 P-40B is Academy's own tooling, for example, and it's a decent kit. Their 1/72 P-40B is derived from the old Frog kit, and it reflects the technology and design of plastic kits in the early 50s. Again, for ten bucks, it was a good deal. It's good for a quick Saturday build.
ICM has some good airplanes, though some of theirs are copies, too. Their P-51B is a copy of the Tamiya kit, but with fit issues introduced into the build. It does build into a decent model of a P-51B, though.
I think you can say that DoraWings has consistent good quality to its kits, though some may present a challenge to a less experienced modeler. Their P-43 Lancer can be challenging, for example.
Old Accurate Miniatures kits are also good, though it's good to have some experience under your belt. Since they went out of business, some of their kits have been reissued by other makers.
And old Monogram and Revell kits still stand up pretty well today, and can still be found on store shelves. Monogram's 1/48 airplanes hit level of detail in the 70s that was very good, for the time. I still like to build them today, myself, but everyone has his preferences.
So, while we can make some generalizations, it's best if there is a particular kit you want to build, from a given maker, you'll do well to do what you're doing here-ask about it, ask if others have built it, what their experience was. Ask online, ask at a meeting if you belong to a club (it's a good idea to join a club, if you can), ask people at shows. You will be better armed to decide for yourself.
Hope that helps!
Brad
Perhaps slightly lower quality and the parts are usually moved around the sprues a bit, but they're 100% interchangeable with those from the equivalent Tamiya kits.
Kit), so they're all the same quality, which is fairly good but not outstanding. Fit especially could be better.
