Has anyone here built any Esci, Ertl, or Airfix kits ??? How good are they and which one is the best of the 3? Would they also need HEAVY modifying to bring up to snuff ???? Thanks again.

Esci kits and Ertl kits are the same. Esci is the Italian company where the kits originated. Ertl is the US company that imported them. These kits were also boxed as Aurora, AHM, AMT/Ertl and now all the Italeri 1/72 scale armor kits are the old Esci kits as well.

Esci stopped making kits in the mid 80s and most of their modern armor is pretty good with the exception of their M1A1 and T-62/T-62M. A lot of their WW2 armor is pretty good as well. Also during the 80s, they started replacing the vinyl tracks with link & length styrene tracks. Italeri reboxed the kits with both vinyl and link & length to give the builder the option.

Airfix is a mixed bag with the kits originally being marketed as 1/76, but are now marketed as 1/72 scale. Of course they are closer to 1/76 than to 1/72. Some are pretty good and will still build up nicely. I've done the Sheridan and it was a pretty good build. You can see completed photos in my gallery. I am also working on the Chi-Ha. It is a nice kit as well.

Airfix kits are from the 60s and show their age.

Sabot was being too kind to Airfix.

Their Sherman for example was introduced in the early 60's - maybe even 59? - as was many of their kits - now also being reboxed under the Heller brand.

Airfix were long, long ago superceded by the now old ESCI/Ertl/AMT/Aurora/Italeri "family" and Hasegawa and Matchbox, which themselves in turn have been superceded by Revell-Germany, Dragon, Trumpeter, Mirage, PST, ACE, and other braille scales of recent vintage.

That said, Airfix has been the only company that has seen fit to do injected braille Centurian, Cheiftain, and Scorpion/Scimitar kits.

In general, consider avoiding the Airfix/Heller stuff, with the possible exception of the Heller Somua S35 (a non-Airfix kit), and especialliy avoid the old Airfix in the plastic bags; their vinyl tracks had a tendency to react with the styrene of the kit - causing a meltdown of the suspension.

Didn't want to smear Airfix because I have not built a lot of them. I have the Scammel tank transporter and it looks good. I agree with the assessment on the Sherman. It came with my LCM Mk III and I tossed it. I have a Bufflao and Jeep but have not opened it.

I have several other Airfix kits like the Airfield Recovery & service vehicles (couple of different sets), Bristol Bloodhound and Land Rover, Stalin, T-34, and a few scenery kits like the pontoon bridge, airfield tower, forward command post and another I do not recall.

I suspected Heller had reboxed some of Airfix's kits, but was not sure. I know at least the two Heller 1/72 scale kits I own are not former Airfix kits. They are the AMX-30 French tank and the VAB 4x4 French armored car. While I have not looked at the AMX-30, the VAB is a very nice kit that cost me less than $5 at my local hobby shop. Recommended if modern wheeled vehicles are your thing.

Well to be completely fair, Airfix was probably the only company offering braille armor in the early 60's. So, in those terms, they were the best around - back then.

I'd bet most braille-scaler's over 40 cut their teeth on Airfix. I know I did! Their Sherman was my 1st Airfix kit, followed by the Tiger I, Panther, et al.
I recall their StuG III was a nice kit, as was their Bren carrier with 6lb'r team, their Leopard I, their 88mm with SdKfz 7(?), and the German armored car with the short 75mm.
Sadly missed out on their famous SAM missle kit.

Your Airfix T34 will be one example of how they've been surpassed by others - Matchbox, ESCI, R-G, others. But - you do get two turrets with your Airfix T34.

The Airfix JSIII is pretty much a pantographed-down version of the Aurora 1/48th JSIII - complete with space-gun Dshk. My JSIII suffered meltdown while still in the baggie - the rubbery AIrfix tracks of that generation melted any styrene they touched.

The Airfix Centurian kit seemed passable to me, it looks like a Cent especially with a spare 105mm bbl to replace the 20lb'r.
Have read many good things about their Cheiftain kit, but haven't had the chance to snag one cheap lately.
Their Scorpion/Scimitar kit comes with armaments to build either version and is a nice little kit for modern fans.
Their Crusader I/II kit is VERY nice, buildable with or without the glacis-plate "MG turret". It is "eyeball close enough" to 1/72nd that it won't look too goofy on the shelf near the Hasegawa Crusader III kit.

The Heller French AFV kits seem to be their own efforts, and apparently are all 1/72nd, while the Airfix kits are 1/76th.
The details are a tad "soft" on the Heller S35, but it's the only 1/72nd injected S35 around, and it looks like an S35 - and will be a mercifully fast build.

I'm hoping to pick up their AMX30 kit one of these days, although I've read that it suffers from the same stiff, ordinary looking vinyl tracks. One fix I read about was to use the Airfix(!) Leopard I vinyl tracks.

Thanks for all the replies on this one. Now have to go make some choices.

It would be nice if some of the older kits were retooled exspecialy airfix kits.

Airfix's new stuff is true 72nd and pretty good. Their new Jeep is said to be one of the best in this scale and the new Jimmy is also good.
The LCVP they released has problems but is still very buildable.
The old stuff is smaller and not as detailed but I did like the Halftrack and 88mm combo.