Great video, honest and to the point. Hyper criticism is a thing we often do, but for me, it’s about how enjoyable a kit is to build. I built highly detailed and accurate kits that were a chore, and less accurate ones that were a pleasure. In the end for me it’s more about the “craft of verisimilitude”, more than creating museum pieces.

I am a simple man and usually build out of the box with all its faults. I am no where near your level of modeling Matt but I appreciate your excellent work. Always look forward to your videos. Thanks for your exceptional skills and hard work.

I built the Growler and when you mentioned your hack for the cockpit I was like hunh…wish I thought of that. I feel like if I had I wouldn’t have had the issues so many others have mentioned. Other than that the kit came out awesome. I made the Quinta Hasegawa cockpit and instrument panels fit since this was early in the year before there was a 3D set for it.

This is the first video of yours that I have seen, and I have to say I like your style. Liked and subscribed.

Refreshing point of view. I know I had more fun as a kid building kits when accuracy wasn’t even a thought. Just glue the pieces together and get something that looked cool. Now we all see some fantastic builds and strive to improve skills to get the same quality of build. Enjoyable yes, but sometimes I long for the days where that wasn’t even a consideration. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

In the button Matt. I’ve build the Meng F 18F and it was sublime; as you said Tamiya like. I am particularly looking forward to the F 4s and thier AH 64

For the record, I called the Hurricane tubing "Pool Noodles"

One of the best videos I've seen so far. Information for the model maker at its finest.Thank you

Just picked up Meng’s newly released Titanic model and it’s almost on par with the Revell 1/700 which is great on my books. It’s a open canvas to add aftermarket photo etch detail.

your theme is spot on... a parallel thread is about exact colors. dirt, fading, stains, weathering, damage, sun, rain, thermobarics, etc make them all pretty variable and subjective.

‘Fairey F***wit’ 😂😂😂 had me in stitches!!

With you 100%! *Does* *It* *Fit* is by far and away the most important thing to me. I tried, and failed, to build the Kitty Hawk F-35B because the fit was just appalling! I swore that I would never, ever build any Kitty Hawk kit ever again after that horrendous experience. I was not at all sad when Kitty Hawk went belly-up!

I havent been able to find the completion vids of the Meng Weasel. So curious to see how it went.

I have a coffee mug that reads: Rivet Counters Tears I'm kinda curious to try the 1/32 P40b meng just released...

Call it Meng Mung rhimes with dung. Thanks for the great update and good points tell it like it is 👍

When I build kits the very first thing I care about is fit after that everything is gravy...I'm not a 100% accurate builder if the kit looks the part or very close I'm good..All my kits look great on the shelf. I BUILT THE MENG F-18F it was for me by far the best Hornet in 1/48 and I've built all of the major brands. HAPPY SCALING EVERYONE 👋.

I like Meng and can't wait for this F-4E. Really like to the approach to heat shield.

I like those Matt rants… 😆👍

Apparently the F/A-18E kit had a problem with the Top Gun decals. The emblem on the tail was for the “US NANY FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOL”. As for the Growler, I’d consider VAQ-209 markings.

People from my generation grew up with kits from Matchbox, Airfix, Monogram and Frog / Novo that came in a bag. Some built them and took them to shows and won prizes. Stuff coming out of factories today is science-fiction compared to those. I don't want to offend anyone, but my biggest gripe with people who call kits 'unbuildable' to me seem to be saying 'this kit does not live up to my unparalleled skill and expertize'. Any kit, when built, is only as good as the person building it. That by the way is why I like your channel 😄.

I have been able, since back into the hobby, 2018, (twenty nine completed, twelve in progress) to achieve the outcome desired, making that the first priority when choosing/building a kit. I accept the not so enjoyable work like removing textured surfaces that some newer kits have ie., Airfix 1/24 Hellcat, Spitfire Mk.IXc and the Revell 1/48 SR-71. Mostly build 1/32 Tamiya, two of each of the Fab Five and just completed the fourth 1/32 F-4E that required another kit bash of a Revell for the center 610 gal tank and late F-4 wing parts. Model represents one of the two, Turkish Terminator show circuit F-4s. Both were a bit of a chore but the results are worth it. Like Chis from Becker's Models I also like to pose aircraft in flight on custom metal stands I design/fabricate. The SAS motto; 'He who dares wins' and the U.S. Marines; 'Adapt, Improvise, Overcome,' will be hopefully helpful for two future projects. I ordered a trumpeter 1/32 P-38 and a 1/18 Hobby Boss FW190A5. Yikes.

the Meng growler looks to have much better accuracy than the Hobbyboss one.In particular the shape of the satcom antenna jumps out as being very different. however... those panel lines on the Meng... jesus they look like they were carved by glaciers and that put me off it and swayed me to the HB with some mods.

Matt, you always have a way of making me laugh. I agree...people jump on kits for the most ridiculous reasons. The one that l love is "That's way too much money for a kit." Look, l am not rich but l know how to budget...so if someone wants to drop serious coin on a kit, what should the other care....it's not coming out of their wallet. As far as the 3D stuff knida cheating...wouldn't that involve any aftermarket item? Granted there are times you really need to go that route, but the aftermarket stuff, especially the 3D cockpit stuff, just adds so much. I think in some respects it makes you want to add more details. The Tamiya P-38 is the best example for me. I did the Quinta cockpit and that prompted me to add wiring to the radioes and a couple of the instrument boxes. I am interested in the Meng F-4E. I have the ZM kit but am always interested in other's renditions. Like you said...fit and engineering.

The new meng F4 g 1/48 looks okay, looked at the kit today.

I’m struggling to get past the profanity here…what happened to good clean wholesome model content. After all. These are toys for children aren’t they? Anyways….between my ears burning, I managed to hear enough to agree with you about the ribs on the Meng-phantom. Infact I mentioned it to Steve Baker as soon as I saw it. “Looks like it’s going to really help folks achieve that ribbed look and gives people options to do it.” Was stoked to hear about the Meng growler being a good one. I’ll be building one tho I won’t be posting about it anyplace untill it’s done. Great fuckin summary 😉

I haven't built the F/A-18G, but I have built the F/A-18F, which is an almost identical airframe. Like you, I had almost no issues with that kit and thought it was exceptional. I believe others who have reported problems with the F/A-18 were building the 'E' single seat model as opposed to the F or G family models. That kit would have significant differences in fuselage shape and clear parts. Perhaps that's where the problems came in.

Ribbed for the modelers pleasure! 😂

I am a Meng fan, I have picked them over others on the F/A-18 and even picked them on the Russian armor. I have defended them to the end, looking at the ribs, im not seeing it. The F-4 may just be a bridge too far. I have ZM and I'm waiting on the Tamiya D, E etc.. The way it works out may make or break me on buying the Apache. I tentatively pre-ordered the Apache at my lhs. If the F4 is messed up, I may have to revisit my approach on meng for the future. If they wanted Americans and most of the English speakers to pronounce it mung, they should spell it that way in English.

Matt You going to be doing more video on the Meng SH?

Have to agree on the Kittyhawk engineering, I had the bad luck of purchasing their 1/48 F35b about two years ago and still haven’t finished it as lost interest due to fit issues. Also the fan shaft was short shot, and when I approached them for a replacement, they wanted me to pay, so I just made my own. Definitely wasn’t buy any more of there offerings. Tamiya, Hobbyboss, and Trumpeter all day long.

Overall...it's a hobby...some skills required. After that, perfection is a road, not an end. Stretch yourself a bit. Great vid Matt Thanks again

If you want 100% accuracy then contact Hollywood and ask to borrow the Shrink ray from the movie Honey I shrunk the kids. Be happy that it looks like what we are modeling. As far as fit Id agree if it doesnt come together right it aint going to be a fun build. What it all comes down to is. It Is What It Is, deal with it!

I built the Meng P-51 D. It was very odd. Had a lot of click on parts - like a Bandai or something. No seem on the nose, but beyond that I didn't get the concept. Certainly wouldn't recommend it. I also had Meng's 1/32 Fokker Triplane - supposedly based on WNW molds. Whatever - the upper wing was warped. Sold that one.

The guy from HLJ calls it Mung! I agree screw that it's Meng

If people want the utmost accuracy then all panel lines and rivit details would disappear since at scale they would be inprecivable, plus most people who look at our models are not experts or even know what plane they are looking at

It’s OK, in Ireland we say ”feck”.

I personally could care less about the accuracy. For me it's got to fit correctly or it makes me lose interest and it ultimately finds itself on the shelf. Nothing bugs me more than an ill-fitting kit

Totally get it. I broke bags on the Hobby Boss F4U-4 today and while it looks like a modern-ish rendition, I can’t say I’m excited. Obviously you can say “Meng” however you like - but I presume you pronounce “rendezvous” or “Chianti” or “Juanita” correctly, so why does Meng not merit the same consideration?

Hey Matt, how many people who bang their gums about accuracy do you think actually build a kit - any kit!

😂😂😂

Fairey F**kwit... haha!

I WILL count rivets, I WILL bully model manufacturers, I WILL be insufferable on online forums and I WILL be happy. No one can stop me.

I've built three Meng kits - F/A-18E, a Panther, and the Fokker DR 1. The first two were amazing with almost no problems. The DR1 had some fit issues and godawful instructions. Then again, everyone raves about the Tamiya F-4B, and my build was a pain in the ass. I definitley had a bad kit with a warped front fuselage (and the thickest decals ever made!)...but my current build of their F-14A pretty much built itself. Even the best manufacturers miss the mark on occasion.. I think Meng falls into the same category as Tamiya having far more hits than misses. As for accuracy, every hobby has rivet counters. Ive painted historical wargames minis for years. That hobby is rife with jackasses who love to point out that your lovingly painted 28mm French Grenadier has the wrong colored jacket facings for the Waterloo campaign!

Lol mung.. wtf.

Most of the chinese brands have two official pronunciation of their name: a chinese home market and an international. What they write on the box, that is the official. You don't need to fuss about it. So they write Meng to their boxes, because they want you to pronunce the name as Meng. BTW, they heve (at least) two major issues: 1. Turd, too soft plastic. 2. Bad molding technology. The two if these combined results in varying quality. All Meng kits I own have warped parts. Practically all of the bigger parts (bigger then 50 mm) warped, most of the times in a degree you can't even fit the parts together. This is why Meng kits have a bad reputation of not fitting properly. My 1/72 F-102's wings deformed so far, the lower part is bigger then the upper. The upper part definitely shrinked much more then anything else, in the wingroot I have 1.5 mm gap. The lower part twisted like a tensiond spring when I cut it down from the frame. And especially in their armor kits almost all parts have disgusting tool alignement problems. And they make laughable mistake. In the Merkava Mk IIID they give you the choice of rubber rimmed or all steel road wheels. And they give you alternative swing arms. There is only a single problem with that: those swingarms are the same as the normals. So the smaller diameter steel roadwheels float above the tracks... Pathetic oversight. And one another thing they always fck up: they make the demo and press release kits in single color plastic. But in production they use 2-3 different colors. And they always miss the point of different shrinkage thanks to the pigment additives. This makes fit issues as well. My King Tiger's tracks were too short to close them. I had enough of their idiotic failures. Never buy another Meng kit. I think of trashing the Leo 1A5 without even starting to build it. Started the tracks, when I fixed the 23rd link, the pin in the 9th just exploded spontaneously. A few minutes later the 4th too. Utter garbage.

I don’t like Meng‘s plastic.

A lot of detail critiques are nothing more than people trying to show off how much they know about a particular aircraft, how many acronyms they’ve learned, and so forth.

Its a PLASTIC MODEL,people need to get over it,IT'S NOT REAL. NOW REPEAT, IT IS NOT REAL. IT IS A PLASTIC MODEL.