Which 35th kit would be appropriate for a T-90 in Syria. Trumpeter or Meng is fine. Thanks

According to my sources both the cast and welded turret T-90 have seen action in Syria. I personally have the Zvesda kit. The only thing I do not like about it is the front sits a little bit proud (about 2mm) in height. The tracks are very cleverly engineered so as to save the modeler from having to put together 2 or 3 part track links. I really enjoyed the build and the price is a little more than half of the Trumpeter offering.

I recently finished the Trumpeter T-90SA which is an export version of the Russian built T-90. I enjoyed the build despite the numerous small parts and and some small PE work. I did replace the kit tracks with Trumpeters own workable tracks. Builds into an impressive kit.

Anyone got anything to say about the Meng kit? I found one of those at a model show in September and picked it up for a steal.

GulfWarrior-I've not built it but from what I gather from reviews it is an excellent kit and currently on my wish list. Just looking for a good price.

The Meng T-90 kits are excellent.

I'm in the market for a T-90 also. I like the welded turret. I've been thinking about picking up the Trumpeter kit.

Hi;

I have all three of the T-90s, altho the Meng kit is suppose to be superior, I liked the Trumpeter kit just A Lil-bit better. Meng's Plastic was Hard next to Trumpy's plastic which is really not an issue, and the Engine was for Me atleast the only Weak part of the kit.
IMHO if you don't like working with A Lot of really Small PE then stay away from Trumpeter !

CHEERS; MIKE.

Even though I'm not overly fond of PE in general I found that the PE in the Trumpeter kit was not nearly as fiddly as I expected. It was easy to work with when annealed and the small round fasteners for the cladding do add quite a bit to the overall look. I agree that based on other Meng kits that I have built that the plastic is harder and therefore a bit more difficult to work with.

I'm following this thread with interest, I have most of all the T-90s in my stash, an wondering what people think about each one.

No experience with the Zvezda Kit.

Meng, I've come to think of Meng as Tamiya with a higher parts count. That is good over all level of detail but not what I'd call "crisp" or "sharp" say like a Dragon kit but goes together very well for the parts count.
As far as their T-90A goes, I'm finished it (except the weathering), workable tracks were nice, no major issues, only major accuracy problem is the rear fuel drums/lines seem to be connected up wrong (Zvezda and Trumpeter are accurate here)

Trumpeter, while in my stash I havnt started it yet, I have had a good look over. Accuracy? No comment as I didnt look at those specifics. Detail, what has become standard for Trumpeter on par or nearing many of Dragons kits with crisp detail, but as is becomming a standard with Trumpeter some areas are over engineered. Tracks are indy links (I just recieved a set of Mengs T-72/90 workable tracks that I hope will fit cause I hate indy link ).

In the past few months I've seen several extremely impressive T-90 builds on various forums. In a couple of cases, in particular, the modellers were using the Meng kit as their basis. Naturally, it all come down to the skills of the modellers, but it did inspire me to buy the Meng version.

Both kits are excellents but i thinks the Meng tracks and turret machine gun are superior to the Trumpeter' ones.

I've built the T-90A of Meng recently, it is an excellent kit. The tracks require some work but give good satisfaction, better than indy tracks. There is a well detailed engine with openable rear deck, and good overall fit.
I had only a pair of small issues: the photoetched grilles don't adhere perfectly, there are small gaps on the sides. Besides I had difficulty to install the rear drums and towing cables, perhaps this can be avoided by gluing the supports a bit more rearwards than I did, or gluing the supports to the drums before gluing them to the rear plate.
The supports of the trunk are very rough when compared to the photoetched ones that I've built on the t-64 of Trumpeter (I suppose that they are as on their T-90), but they are completely hidden when the model is built.
Decals are excellent, without trasparent film, but are somewhat rigid and I had difficulty to make them adhere well to the nervures.
Hatches have excellent details of their inner side, and their hinges are workable; this is good if one thinks to add some crew in the future. Besides, workable suspensions allow to adapt easily the model to a ground base after completion.

I have, still to build, a T-72B3 of Trumpeter, a model strictly related with their T-90. While the detail looks excellent, I see that there are hundreds of small photoetched pieces to glue, and I don't love this even if they are surely well made.
The kit has indy tracks, but their side links have to be bended manually where the track is curved on the sprockets and return rollers.