what is the reputation of Eastern Express as quality of their kits they seem to have some cool stuff has anybody built their stuff

It's typical eastern bloc molding. It's fit is rough, molding ranges from okay to bad and quite a bit of flash. I have a few of their kits and they don't seem that bad to me. Just some filler and some TLC and it should build up fine. Might want to do some scratch building or replace some stuff for a better look.

Hi frank;

There kits can be a HIT or Miss Adventure, there quality like the others can be a Real Pain. EE, Skiff, and UM make some Interesting subjects that are Rare so too speak ! And some of there kits offer other equipment as a added Bonus, ie;) the GAZ-66 with the Vasilok Mortar which is a Rare item. I purchased this kit just too get the Mortar so I could mount it on one of my MTLBs, the little kit was so nice that I went and bought two more.

CHEERS; MIKE.

I suggest you research any you're interested in before buying. As mentioned some of their kits are ok, like their SU-152. Others, like their BT-42 just aren't worth it (the turret is the wrong size and shape). Pretty much guaranteed you're going to want to add PE and some scratch work on any one you buy.

If it's a subject offered by a major company, pay the extra money for the major.

Use your resources!

I checked out a few Eastern Express kits on ScaleMates. Some are Frog-Novo, a couple of others are Toko. Looks like the armor is mostly home grown.

Eastern Express is just that - their kits come from several Eastern European, Russian, and Ukranian manufacturers so some could be good and some terrible. No way of knowing except from reviews, or buying one. I would keep far away from their Gaz truck though. MiniArt makes a much better one - at a much higher price!

(Glances up to check if this was posted in the 1980s, realises Armorama didn't exist back then... )

Hey, we can hardly keep up with the last 500 years of European influenced history on this continent. Now you want us to remember the last 30 years of European history too???

If you're used to the latest stuff from the likes of TASCA/ASUKA, MENG, BRONCO, TRUMPETER, TAMIYA, TRI-STAR and DRAGON, then some of the older EASTERN EXPRESS, and other "eastern" kits from RPM, UM, early ZVEZDA, etc may make you want to throw your arms up in frustration. If you're resourceful, have a lot of patience and have kit-bashing/scratch-building skills, you can turn any mediocre kit, including the eastern European ones, into something that will shine. I'm lucky to have the experience, so it's no sweat for me. The best advice that I can offer you is: Dry-fit your parts first, then make sure that everything lines up properly. If you've ever built a TRI-STAR kit, you'll be familiar with building-up the lower hull from flat pieces, as opposed to the more common "tub"-type hulls...

In my opinion, go ahead and buy the EASTERN EXPRESS kit that you're interested in, then get your references and compare them to what you have in the box. Don't lose patience, and if there's something that isn't right in the EE kit, you can gain experience in improvising, adapting, replacing and or kit-bashing/scratch-building.

Don't be intimidated by having to seek solutions- you'll be much prouder of yourself for having made the effort upon completion. Increasing one's modelling skills by working on inferior stuff and improving upon it is something that many of us on this site have gone through. Look at it as gaining experience and confidence.

Sadly, there are too many of us that have become spoiled by kits that virtually assemble themselves just by shaking the box...

M4's on the right track. I've dismissed Frog kits for years. Now that I've picked up a few, I find that they're on a par with the Airfix, Matchbox, Revell and Monogram kits of the same era. Give 'em a try, at worst, it's a good example of a bad example....