EDIT: to avoid confusion, I'll state that I understand you to mean the plastic kits that you assemble, paint, and decal yourself, such as Airfix. If I am wrong, please disregard the content of this post. I don't think any "display model manufacturer" (for lack of a better term) is reliable. It's not their job nor their goal to be accurate, merely speedy and aesthetically pleasing. /EDIT
Well that's another matter entirely... the kits themselves depend on the year and the manufacturer. For example, a Hasegawa 1/72nd A6E Intruder from the 90s might be a great kit, but I built one from the late 60s that was absolutely terrible.
If you're thinking of using them as reference -- concentrate more on the decal manufacturers, rather than the model manufacturers. The 3rd party decal companies (especially the larger ones like Aeromaster, and so forth) put a lot more effort into researching their markings than the average in-box decals. The usual set of "in-box" are mostly the cheapest thing that can be tossed into a box.