This table compares the various features of the original (circa 1985) three kits of the Shuttle stack that are available in 1/144th scale. Since then, several have been re-issued by other kit companies. For example, the recent offering from Minicraft is actually the old Entex kit.
| FEATURE | REVELL | AIRFIX | ENTEX |
| ORBITER | |||
| SURFACE DETAIL | Fine raised lines. Excellent | Very little, too heavy and crude. Correctable | Decent raised lines. Excellent |
| SCRIBING ACCURACY | No entry hatch, but nice wings. Good | Wing leading edges are sloppy. Correctable | Only kit with detail on the nose. Best |
| GENERAL SHAPE AND FIT | Poor parts fit; especially in wings. Too many pieces. Bad | Looks good; single piece used under wings. Best | Fit looks good, but nose shape is all wrong. Bad |
| CABIN INTERIOR AND WINDOW | No interior; individual window panes not outlined. Correctable | No interior. Nice scribing on window, hatch window included. Good | Interior included. Window tinted blue and scribed for panes. Good |
| MAIN ENGINES | Very crudely done. Not Acceptable | Fine raised detail. Excellent. Best | Good raised detail. Excellent |
| PAYLOAD BAY DOORS | Hinged, but a poor fit. Bad | No hinges, otherwise good detail. Correctable | Hinged; incorrect shape. Not acceptable |
| RADIATORS | Included as a working set of doors, but looks clumsy as a result. Correctable | Molded into the inside of the bay doors as a single piece. Good | None provided. Not acceptable |
| LANDING GEAR AND WHEEL WELLS | Crisply molded struts, but wells are too shallow and lack detail. Good, correctable | Nice struts but they are too small. Only kit with detail in wells or inside the doors. Very good. | Gear struts have incorrect shape, generally poorly done. Bad |
| FORWARD REACTION CONTROL SYSTEM | Decals only for the top; crude gouges in the sides. Needs much work | Poorly done, too deep. Correctable | Good crisp indentations, using a separate piece. Best |
| AFT PROPULSION SYSTEM PODS | Pod is too boxy; engine is the wrong shape and too thick. Bad | Good shape and good engines, but no scribing. Good | Fair shape, good engines. Best |
| PAYLOADS | Good Spacelab, molded as a separate piece. Pallets are wrong. Best. | Nice Spacelab, but molded as part of the cargo bay. Dumb. Poor | Navstar satellite, nicely done, but small. Good |
| BAY DETAIL AND LINER | Bay liner is the wrong shape and should not have beams showing. Bad | Minimal detail, but they do have a smooth liner. Good | Smooth bay liner, and they put detail on the end bulkhead. It looks nice but it is not accurate. Best |
| RMS ARM | Molded separately and can be articulated. Best | Nicely done as one piece. Good | Molded as a single piece with the bay liner, but not too bad. Good |
| EXTERNAL TANK | The only kit with corrugations, but the circumferential bands are bogus. Bad | No intertank corrugations. Poor feed lines; good cradle (for Orbiter attachment). Good scribing. Best | No corrugations, but very fine detailing and feed lines. But the Orbiter cradle is poorly done, and they don't carry the fuel feed lines up into the Orbiter. Correctable |
| SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS | Few details, but good, crisp, molding. Good | Good crisp lines as well as the most accurate. Best | Well-detailed, using separate parts to good result, but it lacks any support structure to the ET. Bad |
| DISPLAY BASE | A crude attempt at a mobile launch pad. Best | "In-flight' type support arm. Okay, if you like the idea | Launch pad type base, not as fancy as Revell's. Good |
| DECALS | ESA decals for Spacelab, also some for the SRBs. Best | Minimal selection with typical Airfix yellowing. Bad | Nice selection of NASA emblems with several variations possible. Good |
| INSTRUCTIONS | All pictorial, poor paint chart. Poor | Clear drawings, good color key. Good | Well done, with painting tips at each step as well as a color key. Good |
Comments:
1. The Minicraft re-issue of the Entex kit has the SRBs and the ET parts molded in brown. The decals include markings for all orbiters and some SRB Loaded labels, but the RealSpace decal sheet is better in this area.