I bought myself a Zvezeda conquistador ship I have built most of it but the fit is horrible and the flash and seams lines pretty prominent. I am an armour figure so I am used to Tamiya and Dragon and the good engineering that come with these manufacturers. Are all Zvezeda kits like this? If so who are the best (good engineering etc) plastic sailing ship manufacturers?

Heller's 'Victory' and 'Sovereign of the Seas' followed by Revells 'Constitution

How does Heller's victory compare to the Airfix one. I've tried three times to do the Airfix one and it's hit the bin every time.

Andy

Honestly mate, you're going to encounter "dogs" from all manufacturers, in all genres...I've been in the hobby for a long time, and have experienced fantastic kits, and some of the worst ever, so to narrow it down to a series of manufacturers that are the "best", well, it ain't gonna happen, my friend...I've had some of the best experiences with some of the most off the wall kits and manufacturers, and some of the worst from the "biggies" in the hobby.

I'm sure that you will encounter modelers that will say differently, but in all reality, there is a HUGE amount of factors involved in quality, from the drawing table, to the sculpting and mold making, to the injection molding and beyond...

I personally, have not built either of the Heller ships, but a very good mate has done both and in his opinion, the Victory was the best plastic kit he has ever built. Apparently the Heller version is more accurate than the Mantua/Panart version I am building at the moment. Other builders around the world have also expressed their positive views on both kits as well.
I have built the Revell USS Constitution and will recommend that kit in the top 3, but if I ever did another plastic sailing ship again (not likely as I have too many wooden kits to build) I would replace the spars with wooden replicas. The mast seem to take the strain of rigging, but the spars bend all too easy for my liking.

It is sometimes hard getting a leser quality kit and then having a bad build. My first kit in many years was a Trumpter KV-1 tank and I had problems with it from day 1. SO it sits now waiting for me to finish it. The next two kits I started were both lesser quality kits, but they are going together nicely and I feel good about them. So you never can tell on a kit just by who made it.

Zvexeda is kinda hit and miss. I built their 1/35 IS-2 and it was a good kit. I'm currently working on their 1/350 K-19 sub and again, it's pretty good. The details are a little light in places, but over all it's not bad.
I agree with Rab as to the fact that Heller seems to stand out when it comes to sailing ships.

Gator

I wold pick that one up on ebay. The Heller kit will run you the otherside of $100 easy, I've heard from many sources that it is worth it. I tackled the Revell Constitution, but I moved so much that I just gave up after I had most of the plastic assembled and painted.

If its the 1/100 scale ,they are the same kit but the Airfix one has better instructions

Not always. I have and IS2 and the Katusha launcher by them and they are wonderful kits. That said, I've been told by others that Zvezeda kits can be like a crap shoot. You never know which way it can roll.