Meng's little pickups, both flavors, hands down fun builds.


Ok, so the pic has a scratch mg pedestal and a Live Resin gun, but the pickup was a sweet little build. The AA guns that come with them, much MUCH less so.

Two kits that stand out for me are:

1) Meng M3A3 Bradley

2) Dragon Flak 37 (6287) 3-in-1 kit

Both of these kits went together extremely well with near perfect fit, were easy builds, and make stunning finished pieces.

What separates them from many of the Tamiya kits mentioned is that they also feature huge levels of detail rarely, if ever, seen on a Tamiya armor kit.

If you like German WWII stuff, build 6287; it is one of the best modeling experiences out there.

If you are into modern armor, get the Meng Bradley. Just a stunning kit.

*caveat* if you are simply looking for a kit that falls together with tremendous ease of build, almost any Tamiya kit made in the last 10 years or more fits the bill. They're brilliant in that manner.

However, I have noticed that after a steady diet of Dragon 1/35 armor subjects, I can't go back to Tamiya. Once you get used to the level of detail in the Dragon kits, almost all Tamiya offerings seem like overly-simplified toys in comparison.

Put a Dragon Panther or Tiger side by side with their Tamiya equivalents.

It's pretty shocking.

I still love Tamiya and would consider them for a kit here or there, or for something that Dragon doesn't do.

I'd have to vote for the Tamiya Su76m.

Bronco’s Pz I ausf F.
Dan

Howdy Y'all
It has been over a year since anyone has added to the list. Any more additions? I've bought the Meng pickup trucks, a Flyhawk USS Ward and the Bandai U-Wing fighter but haven't had time to build them.
I also tried to pick up an Airfix 1/32 US Lee on eBay without any luck.
Take care,
Don "Lakota"

Flyhawk 1/72 armour kits, 1/48 Bronco staghounds, RFM Panther. Bandai Star Wars kits.

Meng T-90 a very detailed build,the turret was a kit unto itself.Good engineering,good fit,good instructions.Loved the workable tracks.I would post pictures but my builds are stored and my Photobucket is locled up.

Hmm. I'd say either the new Tamiya M551 Sheridan, or the Hobby Boss St Chamond, as both are stunningly accurate and fall together without my usual trip to the Evergreen pile.

But without a doubt my "best" armour kit was a Monogram 1:32 Panzer IV Wirbelwind. Took only a day to build, the gloss green & brown camo (over raw sand-yellow plastic) was dry overnight (well, mostly - it was Testors enamel after all), and I got tons of play-hours from it. But then I was only eight, and knew absolutely nothing about the real thing...

Hi, All!

Man, I'm going to have to think about this one. I haven't built anything "OOTB" since 1961, when I started to "imagineer" some of my own details, as the late, Great Shep Paine used to say...

Back in '61 there weren't too many models to choose from without having to "improve" SOMETHING...

1961... Jeez, I'd probably have to say the old ORIGINAL REVELL USS OLYMPIA kit...

It was a "really neat" model kit, which included Rigging Line and it was molded in three different colors; White for the Hull and Superstructure, Tan for the "Wooden" Decks and Smoke Funnels, and a Medium-darkish Brown for the details such as the Masts, Crow's Nests, the "Wood" Trim on the Pilot House, Anchors, Gun Barrels and a host of other stuff. I was only 8 years old at the time, so this model took me several weeks to complete...

This was a point in plastic model history when MONOGRAM 1/48 Aircraft were just around the corner, along with their Classic and Special Interest Cars. AMT and JO-HAN were also starting to come out with various 1/25 cars, and AURORA was doing their 1/16(?) "Old Timer" Cars, such as the 1903 "Curved-Dash" Oldsmobile, 1910 Buick Model 11 "Bug" and their fabulous 1913(?) Mercer Raceabout kit. Some of you older guys will probably remember the 1/12 AURORA Figure kits; Superman, Dracula (the Bela Lugosi permutation), The Wolfman and best of all, a 1/20(?) OPERATING GUILLOTINE, complete with a miniature "Aristo" whose head one could chop off with astonishing repetition!!! My Mom didn't much care for that idea, so my Guillotine eventually wound up going out in the garbage... These particular kits go for big bucks on Ebay, if one can still find them!!!

I could wax "enthusiastic and nostalgic" for hours, but I don't want to stray too far from the subject at hand. I seem to have already accomplished that, though...

Any Flyhawk kit (either 1/72 or 1/700).

Bronco’s Pz I ausf F
Dan

Any of the Dragon Stug III's or Pz III's

Without an after thought, it would be the Tasca Luchs.
Gary

Might get some grief for this, but, the Tamiya T-72M.

Build it in East German colors and it’s a great kit right out of the box. Fun to build, in xpensive, looks great next to the current further generation T72s...

Dragon Panzer III smart kits.

This is an oldie; but my favorite one so far is the Testor's History Makers series Nike Hercules. I still have the finished kit on my shelf nearly 20 years after it was built.

DML Flak 88... without a question. Amazing model.

The Tamiya T-55 gets my vote. IMO, it was the best kit on the market until the Miniart and Takom kits (both of which I've built) came on the market. It needs some accuracy updates, but nothing that should be out of the range of most modellers.

Plus, the engineering on Tamiya kits can't be beat. After a difficult build, I always go to a Tamiya kit to get my mind back in the game.

Out of the box (OOTB)...what's that??!!

For me hands down the Takom M60A1. Pure joy to build.

This is the probably the only OOB build I have....I didn't even correct the track issue. Old Tamiya's M8 Howitzer. Everthing went together perfectly. You can see "OOB" on the registration sheet.

An oldie but goodie thread ! Some recent votes for Dragon Pz.III's with my original J model, #6463, still being my favorite. But it's been a couple of years since my first post on this subject. Currently, I just started Tamiya's new Stuart for our club's group build that's due Friday. It's kinda like homework. Put it off until the last moment. But the kit is SO easy I should finish (hopefully).
I'm liking Meng's new offerings. Right now I'm working on their Jagdpanther. Tamiya like in ease of build. The tracks are slowing me down though. While waiting for something to dry I trim & clean some links & horns. It'll get done before the snow flies.

It's a Meng kit......
IMG_2305 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I spent about six hours on the whole thing, and fixed a serious case of AMS.

Takom’s 1/35 M60A2

Academy’s K2 Black Panther