Hello guy's! I have decided to start with a Meng Tank and I was wondering if you could tell me if the companies mentioned in the topic title above are of equal quality? I haven't dabbled in the AFV genre. Or any other companies I didn't mention above that you guy's have had building/assembling experience? Mold quality, detail etc.

Their are so many models to choose from and I have the above brands in one of my wish lists but would still like some feed back if you gentlemen would indulge me on this?

Thanks..Craig

Soooooo, tough call since each manufacturer has some outstanding kits and some good kits and some poor kits. My general assessment

Tamiya; Old kits build pretty easily but may have toylike features and simplified detail. Newer kits (~15 years or so) are without a doubt the easiest an most straightforward builds out there with solid detail but some simplified areas. They generally always look good when completed and are the most painless ones to build.

Dragon: German stuff is usually very good, very detailed, often has inaccuracies in the instructions (find an on-line build review or build log) and will have some fiddly parts and frustrating areas. Their M1 series is similar. Allied stuff is usually good, not great, in detail and accuracy with the same inaccuracies and fiddly bits. Looks good when done. Black Label stuff is controversial, often has significant deviations from the real one, and have some parts that will require significant work to get together. T28 and M103 are particularly frustrating.

Hobby Boss kits that I've built look good, have simplified details in some areas, less fiddly bits than Dragon but not as detailed. May have areas that require elbow grease and lots of putty.

Meng has rapidly become my favorite of the four. Great detail, complex but straightforward build sequences, and haven't had many irritating surprises.

To round it out, Trumpeter is a very good one to look at. May have some simplified details but not many, build pretty well, and look great at the end. Their KV and T-64/72/80 series are as good as anyone makes and are a bargain for the price.

Thanks Matt! That will help! Another question I see I believe it's on some Dragon kits it says SMART KIT what does that imply?

Craig..

Smart kits have construction that is simplified from the general run of kits, and especially the premium kits. Generally they reduce the number of parts to build certain sections like the suspension and so on. May not have as much PE or other goodies as the same kit in the non-Smart version.

They generally build up as nice as the others, but I would suggest googling any of these kits, especially the Dragons, as some of the early kits have problems that were fixed in later releases and the fewer headaches the better IMO.

Thanks Shell! I had my suspicions it meant a simpler building process.. Thanks for the heads up bud!

Craig..

I've got kits from all of these companies and all have pros and cons. I agree the newer Tamiya kits are really a joy to build. I've built the Elefant, Jagdpanzer IV and several other newer releases recently and they were fun builds.
I like Dragon kits, too. Some of them are pretty complicated with a high PE parts count. The "Smart" kits are of good quality with a minimum of PE and lower parts count (except for the Flakpanzer 38(t)).

I have the Meng FT-17 kit and it looks awesome in the box. All of the reviews I've read on Meng kits give them glowing reviews.

Bronco kits are well engineered and go together well.

Trumpeter kits are OK. I really like their KV series and the Flak halftracks.

I use reviews on Armorama and PMMS to help me decide which kits are right for me.

Jeff

Hey Jeff thanks for the heads up! I'll have to do the same before I decide on which kits to purchase!

Craig..

Don't discount AFV Club their kits are very detailed build up well and offer a good selection. Cons quit a few small detail parts, but they make the best Stryker and Chaffees. I have built 2 so far. We are all waiting for their M60.

Tom

Regarding Bronco, for me it's one of the best. Have built 2 kits and they are superb, perfect fit and amazing accuracy and detail.
The price of this is that they are quite complex, with lots of small parts. But definitively worth!

Also depends a lot on what your interested in. Modern, WW2, Country, etc. Some companies seem to be better for certain vehicles. Eg. modern Russian go with Trumpeter in general.
Edit - duh, I see it's posted under modern armor, but still depends on subject too.

Jim

Hi Craig
My tuppence worth.

I have built a lot of Tamiya and as stated above they build easy and pretty accurate, an ideal kit to start out in the hobby.
Dragon I haven't built too many but are more complex than Tamiya, but what you do get is a massive parts count which means loads for the spares box. When I started in the hobby I threw the extra unused sprues away as I thought they were no use. Big mistake lol.
I have recently been building Broncos airborne jeep and 6lbder. Very detailed kit lots of etch and a lot of parts. A little complex for a beginner I would say IMHO but if you like detail in a build then it is worth the effort.
There are a lot of other manufacturers out there offering some good competition to the above mentioned. Zvesda, Takom, to name a couple.

Good luck with your choice and what ever you choose ...enjoy.


Pete

For my part, I think i agree with what most everyone else has already said. if you are new to the hobby, then hands down, you can't beat Tamiya for providing high quality and good looks balanced with ease of build. BUT your only option with Tamiya are vinyl tracks, and I loath vinyl tracks. That is 100% personal preferance; other folks love them. I would not recommend Dragon as a starter kit; many of their kits have problems--particularly with the instructions--that give even experienced modellers fits.

Thank you gentlemen for your opinions! They are much appreciated!

I'm not new to modeling (40+ years) just new to AFV..I should of clarified that from the beginning,so it's not so much the technical level of complexity that spawned this thread as was the question of quality/detail/correct instructions/fit up/good engineering/detail/representation of real subject and so on. Some of the kits are anywhere from $40-$100 which I don't mind paying if the product produced/offered justifies the expense!

Your posts have given me some good insight into the matter and it is as I had suspected there are pro's & con's with all companies. I was doing some investigating into the Meng Line, my first choice is their Russian T90A MBT and it got very,very good reviews not perfect but real good and I proceeded to look into other models in their line up that I'm interested in building and some had not so stunning reviews but on a whole were good kits. I suspect this is as you guy's have said above is how it goes with any of the above mentioned companies.

It is nice though to hear from your opinions from your own actual experience building products from these different companies and much appreciated!

I think I might put up say the first 6 kits I would like to purchase and build and see if any of you have built them with good results/enjoyable experience etc. If thats alright with you guy's?

Thanks.. Craig

Yeah go ahead Craig I will comment if any of my builds are included.


Pete

Ok Pete I will but I ended up with more than 6 sorry I couldn't help myself..lol.

Tamiya: M1A2 Abrams 120mm Gun Battle Tank 1/35

Tamiya: US M109A6 Paladin Self Propelled Howitzer 1/35

Tamiya: German Jagtiger (early) ABER PE Parts 1/35

Trumpeter: Russian TOS-1A 24 Barrel MRL 1/35

Trumpeter: T35/85 Russian Tank Model 1944 1/16

Bronco: 6x6 MPCV w/Slat Armor 1/35

Dragon: T-28 Super Heavy Tank - Smart Kit 1/35

Dragon: Panzerkampfwagon V1(p) w/Zimmerit 1/35

Meng: AMX-30B2 French MBT 1/35

Meng: T90A Russian MBT 1/35

Meng: Panzerhaubitze 2000 Self-Propelled Howitzer 1/35

Meng: Russian Terminator Fire Support Combat Vehicle 1/35

Meng: Leopard 1 A3/A4 German MBT 1/35

Meng: Merkava MK.3 BAZ Israeli MBT w/Nochri Dalet 1/35

Meng: Merkava MK 111D (early) Israeli MBT 1/35

Meng: M2A3 Bradley US Infantry Fighting Vehicle w/Busk 111

Meng: M3A3 Bradley with Busk 111 1/35

Meng: Bradley Interior Set 1/35

Meng: A39 Tortoise British Heavy Assault Tank 1/35

Meng: AMX-30B French MBT 1/35

This is just my SHORT LIST LOL!!!! But I figured if a put up a variety some of you guy's might have built 1 or 2 of these presented here?

Thanks to all that take a look at this list and can comment!!

Craig..

You seem to have overlooked AFV Club who make some of the best kits of the Modern Genre particularly the M109 family, Centurians and M60
Cheers
Al

Tamiya's Paladin is actually a reboxed ancient Italeri kit with some poor details and bad fits, so I'd avoid that one. Also, the M1A2 SEP TUSK II kit is excellent if you want an up-to-date Abrams. Bronco's Buffalo is an extremely complex kit... I wouldn't try it as one of your first armor kits. Same goes for Trumpeter's 1/16 T-34. It's got a full interior, so you're in for a lot of work there. Dragon's T-28 might be one to avoid because of accuracy issues... If you want a great kit that builds smoothly and is on the large side, try one of their Panthers. All the Meng kits you listed are excellent products, but they are pretty complicated, especially as far as tracks are concerned. Their Leopard kits come with vinyl tracks if you don't want to deal with individual links.

For your first build, I wholeheartedly recommend one of Tamiya's M4 Sherman kits. Accuracy is good, fit is beyond excellent, and the color scheme is easy. I've built a few myself and they are a blast.

The Dragon M1A1 is considered one of the better modern kits, and is highly sought-after.

Meng's Bradley is superb, as is their Merkava series.

If you're going for a T-34, get a Dragon kit. Trumpeter's strength in Soviet WW2 is their KV series.

Tiger 1 Mid from DML. David Byrden (one of the world's authorities) helped DML get it right finally.

Paladin should be AFV Club.

Ok here's some others..

Tamiya: Israeli M51 Tank 1/35

Tamiya: Israeli Super Sherman 1/35

Dragon: Sherman Fire Fly VC 1/35

Dragon: M4A3 Sherman Battle of the Bulge 1/35

Dragon: M4 105mm Howitzer Tank 1/35

Dragon: M4 Sherman 75mm Normandy 1/35

Sherman 111 DV Early Production Smart Kit 1/35

Hobby Boss M1070 Tractor and M1000 HET Trailer

Eduard: M4A1 Sherman (profi-pack plastic kit) 1/35

A few more to look at!

Craig..

A few more..

AFV Club: M109A2 Howitzer 1/35

AFV Club: M109A6 Howitzer Paladin 1/35

AFV Club: (Nato) Walker Bulldog 1/35

Italeri: M-47 1/35

Craig..

Great input guy's! I'm starting a note book to write all your thoughts and opinions down!

Thank You! Keep them coming!

Craig..

The Smart Kits marked a retreat from the short-lived "Super Kit" early Panzer IV series, where they equated high parts count with quality. Much of this complexity was just busy work, like individual bolts on the drive sprocket ring. Smart kits marked a return to sanity, and the new mold-making technology meant that Dragon could do very fine parts in plastic that used to require brass parts, like attachment clips for German on-vehicle tools. Dragon Smart Kits are still significantly more detailed than current Tamiya kits.

Hey Gerald.. thats good to know!! I do like the looks of some of the smart kits like Dragon: Sherman 111 DV early production smart kit 1/35. I mentioned the Dragon: T-28 Super Heavy Tank Smart-Kit but Jasper commented that I might be better off looking at there Panthers because of accuracy issues!

I'm not to impressed with what I see being offered in WWII US armor out their, I put up a few that I've found but most seem to be lacking in quality or maybe I'm just finding out that the Patton M4 like tanks are just boring subjects to begin with, I don't know I have to look around some more.

Craig..

Hey guy's has anyone build the Meng Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled Howitzer 1/35?

I was taking a look at it on Mengs site and it looks impressive!

Can't find any reviews posted on this site so I thought I would just throw it out there and ask.

Thanks Craig..

Up-date.. I did find some reviews by just doing a yahoo search and there are some excellent ones! Sorry to bother you guy's but still interested in if any of you have built it yourselves?

Craig..