Figured to add a T-90 to the stash. Checked out Lucky model and they have 3 offerings. Zvesda at $21, Meng at $41 and Trumpeter at $50.

Price attracts me to the Zvesda...past experience with them leave me to wonder if "you get what you pay for" may apply. I have heard they are making decent kits lately. Seen pix of unbuilt Meng, but dont really care if I have the engine/interior stuff

So....pros /cons/recommendations plz

At the moment the Meng kit seems to hold the crown, in fairness however the Zvezda kit is not bad and the Trumpeter kit I do not have data on yet.

Go for the meng kit. it has a good balance of detail and ease of assembly. got working tracks and suspension

trumpeter kit has a lot of pe details to assemble that's better of being molded in plastic...more unnecessary work.

zveda kit is easy to assemble but I prefer the detail and accuracy of meng kit.

go to this site http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/list/1376/0/1. and search for the three kits. this site offers the assembly guide for all three kits and you can judge the level of work you need to do for yourself.

Why not ?
hobbyeasy.com

hobbyeasy doesn't show assembly guide for all the kits

Hi Steve;

This is just IMHO, if your not into the Nut & Bolt kind of Crap Then the Zvesda kit is just fine !!
I Built the kit and found it too be a Really nice Model and was Fun too Build.-- The Level of Detail was Stunning for a Kit under the Zvesda Banner !!


GOOD LUCK; MIKE.

Appreciate the input guys. I saw some videos of in box and build ups. I am impressed by the detai of the Zvesda as well as teh Meng. So it will just be a spur decision, influenced by budget. Figure to wait till the M103a1 comes out and add this kit to the order to double up and save some postage,

Forget Zvezda. The shape and detailing is incorrect.
Meng was built with help of an russian T-72/T-90 expert.

Hi Blaster!
I'm building the Zvezda kit now. It's not bad at all (but needs some PE).
At first it was pretty overhyped (like most of the kits here), but now everybody knows that is't too high (should be 2mm lower) correcting this worths no effort. Take it as it is.
The Meng kit looks better, it's on my list.
And I really do not know how the Trumpy one got this price tag... more expensive than Meng
So IMHO, if you want a cheap basic kit go for the Zvezda, otherwise Meng. But if you want cat turret Trumpy is the answer.

Meng

Meng. No options. Only Meng.
Zvezda has too many inaccuracies, hard to assemble. Maybe marriage casting. Trumpeter - does not working track-set.
In this Meng - the most correct in geometry (only one problem with the driver's hatch), working track-set in box!

I guess that the idea of pointing out Hobbyeasy site was that sometimes it has lower prices
Take a look at today's prices for the T-90 kits -without shipping, of course- :

Trumpeter T-90 A U$S 35.26
Trumpeter T-90 cast turret, same price
Meng T-90A U$S 41.79
Zvezda T-90 U$S 28.21

I have the three kits in my stash, and all of them have highs and lows.
I'll say Meng for a welded turret model, and Trumpeter for the cast turret one since its the only game in town by now, and its a nice kit even when it will require some extra work with the PE parts. On the other hand, I do not like at all Meng's kit plastic, but that's a matter of personal taste...

Yes, Meng's plastic on T-90 is bad indeed. Too soft. Can't understand the choise, while they are using much better plastic for the GAZ kits

Great info guys. OK next question. What are the visual differences btwn the t-72, t-80, and t-90. Looks like the strobe thingies on the t-90 are not on the others, but overall shape and appearance...how much difference. Hopefully like the difference btwn a KT Henschel and Porsche turret and not a middle vs late production Tiger 1. Is there a site that has side by side pix/diagrams?

T-90 is more or less a furthur develpoment of the T-72 while the T-80 is the product of another design beureau with a turbine engine vs. the diesel T-72. Can't think of any side by side comparisons off the top of my head but Prime Portal
http://www.primeportal.net/the_battlefield_armor.htm
would be a good start to get an idea of the differences.

Sean

Hi Guys;

Its easy too tell the T-72 Vs. T-80 other than the visual differences, ie; The road wheels, engine deck, exhaust port. The turrets are another matter, the T-72 other than being less expensive too build, is offered in many other variations than the T-80. The Terminator, Tos-1, BMOT,and some other obscure variants that we just do not see.
The T-90 is IMHO is in another class of its own and where it leads is a question that remains too be seen

CHEERS; MIKE.

There is plenty of variety between the three, pick up some books or check the web. The Shotra units you refer to are on the T-90 and some models of T-80 including the diesel powered units of Ukraine (T-84).

They are all interesting subjects to model and variants abound in all 3 you mentioned. Look for Trumpeter to produce a number of variants within the next year. Xactscale also has more T-80 type(s) (T-84 Oplot) coming as well.