In many cases, an obviously bogus suit can be tossed by the judge long before it gets in front of a jury. And in some states, they can be nailed for a bogus suit. However, in the case of a suit that has merit, but one of the defendants really shouldn't be listed, it's a bit harder to get off the suit. Still possible. But you are talking about lawyer time for the defendant.

It's all totally bogus. And the way to fix it is from within the legal system.

I also wonder if there has ever actully been a suit along these lines, or are the corporate suites reacting to a non-problem.

I'm surprised companies like Lockheed and Boeing wouldn't be happy with a disclaimer, just something that said in the kit that the model was the design of X company, not Y. That any simularity was superficial and that Y company has no responsbility for anything related to the kit.