_GOTOBOTTOM
Armor/AFV: Axis - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Axis forces during World War II.
Hosted by Darren Baker
Meng and Takom King Tigers - a comparison
sam_dwyer
Visit this Community
Victoria, Australia
Joined: November 03, 2008
KitMaker: 294 posts
Armorama: 291 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 02:15 AM UTC
Hi all,

Since I posted a couple of shots of the Meng and Takom King Tigers, i've been asked to put some more images up, so here we go. I'll post the Takom kit first, then the Meng kit later.

Some caveats: Both these kits are built out of box, following the kit instructions on part location and colour call outs. There are things I would modify or enhance on both kits, and I wouldnt have painted these exactly as I have, but I wanted to highlight how the kits are, instructions and all.

So, Takom's King:



























































Sam
Thirian24
Visit this Community
Oklahoma, United States
Joined: September 30, 2015
KitMaker: 2,493 posts
Armorama: 2,344 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 06:50 AM UTC
Sam,

Thank you for taking the time to post these. What a beautiful build. I love the camo scheme.
sam_dwyer
Visit this Community
Victoria, Australia
Joined: November 03, 2008
KitMaker: 294 posts
Armorama: 291 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 07:07 AM UTC
Thanks Dustin!

I'll post the Meng one shortly:



Sam
sam_dwyer
Visit this Community
Victoria, Australia
Joined: November 03, 2008
KitMaker: 294 posts
Armorama: 291 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 02:24 PM UTC
And now for the Meng one. Again built out of box, and painted as per instructions painting guide.





























































Thanks for looking,

Sam

Venko555
Visit this Community
Bulgaria
Joined: December 07, 2013
KitMaker: 908 posts
Armorama: 698 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 04:17 PM UTC
Very nice painting, but it seems that Meng's Kingtiger has angled suspension (inwards), saw this on several reviews and blogs

Regards,
Thirian24
Visit this Community
Oklahoma, United States
Joined: September 30, 2015
KitMaker: 2,493 posts
Armorama: 2,344 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 07:22 PM UTC
Such a nice build. How do you like the mission models paint?
ivanhoe6
Visit this Community
Wisconsin, United States
Joined: April 05, 2007
KitMaker: 2,023 posts
Armorama: 1,234 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 03:36 AM UTC
Thanks Sam for sharing your beautiful work with us ! Like the fact that Meng has included the irregularities in the (rolled steel?) armor plating. Nice touch ! Were Meng's engine screen pre-bent? Or did they supply a form for bending?
I REALLY like the ambush scheme!
Thanks again for the review !

Tom
jfeenstra
Visit this Community
Alberta, Canada
Joined: April 24, 2014
KitMaker: 342 posts
Armorama: 342 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 03:44 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Were Meng's engine screen pre-bent? Or did they supply a form for bending?


Meng provides a two piece former/press to shape them.
wedgetail53
Visit this Community
Queensland, Australia
Joined: October 02, 2008
KitMaker: 658 posts
Armorama: 629 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 04:35 AM UTC
G'day Sam

Great to see a direct comparison like this - makes me want to rush out and buy one, but if SWMBO saw the price tag I'd be dead in very short order.

There is one thing which definitely needs to be added, and yes, I realise you built them both out of the box. That is the fuel tank vent pipes, of which there are two on each side. Why is it, I wonder, that no kit manufacturers include these?

On second look, I notice that both Takom and Meng include the start of the RHS rear vent pipe, which rather makes me suspect that they both used the same vehicle as the basis for their kits.

Regards

Rob

sam_dwyer
Visit this Community
Victoria, Australia
Joined: November 03, 2008
KitMaker: 294 posts
Armorama: 291 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 06:20 AM UTC

Quoted Text

G'day Sam

Great to see a direct comparison like this - makes me want to rush out and buy one, but if SWMBO saw the price tag I'd be dead in very short order.

There is one thing which definitely needs to be added, and yes, I realise you built them both out of the box. That is the fuel tank vent pipes, of which there are two on each side. Why is it, I wonder, that no kit manufacturers include these?

On second look, I notice that both Takom and Meng include the start of the RHS rear vent pipe, which rather makes me suspect that they both used the same vehicle as the basis for their kits.

Regards

Rob



No, there weren't two on each side on all King Tigers. Early ones, had one per side, as per the Meng kit. Later King Tigers had two per side, one short one and a longer rear one. Here I've added them on a DML King Tiger:





Sam
TopSmith
Visit this Community
Washington, United States
Joined: August 09, 2002
KitMaker: 1,742 posts
Armorama: 1,658 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 08:27 AM UTC
Looks to me like both are really nice kits. A win for everyone. Did one kit go together easier than the other(minus interiors)?
sam_dwyer
Visit this Community
Victoria, Australia
Joined: November 03, 2008
KitMaker: 294 posts
Armorama: 291 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 08:35 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Looks to me like both are really nice kits. A win for everyone. Did one kit go together easier than the other(minus interiors)?


Yes - we're damn lucky as modellers to have a terrific choice of King Tigers at the moment. I found the Meng kit easier to put together.

Im looking forward to the Meng interior, i'll post images of the build once it arrives.

Sam
Silantra
Visit this Community
Putrajaya, Malaysia
Joined: March 04, 2004
KitMaker: 2,511 posts
Armorama: 913 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 09:25 AM UTC
Thanks Sam for very comprehensive comparison. I just bought the meng kit with the zimmerit decals. Previosuly i try to avoid the interior models like Takom coz i wont need the interior. But now im so looking forward for the ammo mig exterior version. already preordered the ammo kit.

but out of my curiosity, why suddenly there are plenty of king tigers??

Zaidi
wedgetail53
Visit this Community
Queensland, Australia
Joined: October 02, 2008
KitMaker: 658 posts
Armorama: 629 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 04:05 PM UTC

Quoted Text

No, there weren't two on each side on all King Tigers. Early ones, had one per side, as per the Meng kit. Later King Tigers had two per side, one short one and a longer rear one. Here I've added them on a DML King Tiger:





Sam


G'day Sam

Yeah, so I've just discovered on the other King Tiger discussion currently running. Some fella called Sam Dwyer seems to be interested in that one too.

Learn something new every day!

Regards

Rob

RLlockie
Visit this Community
United Kingdom
Joined: September 06, 2013
KitMaker: 1,112 posts
Armorama: 938 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 04:58 PM UTC
I'd guess that manufacturers don't include the vent pipes because they would be hard to mould in scale and hard to remove and clean up. They could mould them in place but then there would be issues with filled undercuts and joins and those of us who care would have to remove them before adding our own anyway.

Personally if I'm going to add details I'd rather not have to expend time and effort removing unsatisfactory kit parts first, given the risk of collateral damage to the surrounding area.
Cuny12
Visit this Community
Australia
Joined: April 04, 2010
KitMaker: 378 posts
Armorama: 348 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2017 - 06:20 PM UTC
Dragons Final production King tiger has the vents moulded as separate parts, not hard to do but would have been a nice inclusion.

Cheers Ben.
 _GOTOTOP