Meng Kids US B-24 Heavy Bomber (mPLANE-006)

[Mike]

US B-24 Heavy Bomber (mPLANE-006)

Meng Kids via Creative Models

 

 

The B-24 was a major player in the US bombing offensive during WWII, and although it had its flaws, it was both well-loved by its crews and although it is overshadowed by the Lancaster and its compatriot B-17, it is well-liked in the modelling community with a special place in my heart for no apparent reason.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new tool from the appealing and fun Meng Kids range, which are scale-free and rather out-of-proportion, enough to send someone who holds dimensional accuracy above all else into an apoplectic rage.  Those of us with a bit more balanced perspective find them a bit cute and silly, and whether they appeal to you, your kids or your sense of fun, they're pretty cool.  I'm one of those that only like some of them such as the Lanc and the He.177 Greif we reviewed some years back, but this one is right in my wheel-house.

 

They're dead simple to build quickly and should appeal to anyone over the suggested age of 14, requiring no glue or paint unless you want to go a bit semi-serious and build them to last with a realistic paint-job that enhances their silly shape.  They arrive in a chunky end-opening box with all the parts in a single bag and the clear parts wrapped in a self-cling film.  The five upper parts are moulded in olive green, the two underside parts are in grey and the rest of the parts are held on one black sprue.  The clear parts are clear of course, and there is a small sheet of decals included in their own bag.  The instructions are printed on the underside of the box, and the painting/decaling guide is found on the side.  All the parts fit together using friction-fit towers and pins, or by being held in place by other parts, and you can leave it self-coloured just by removing the sprue gates from the parts and making good. 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the fuselage lower that is in two parts and before you clamp them down you need to put the clear lower nose and rear turret glazing in place in the grey underside, and add the green bombs then the black waist and rear guns.  The upper fuselage has the tops of the wings moulded in and it has the cockpit glazing, the upper turret and guns plus the D/F loop added before it is placed on the grey lower wings, trapping the props and their tapering bosses inside the engine cowlings.  Before the two assemblies can be joined the front turret and guns are fitted and at the rear the H-tail slots in place over the rear turret.  The final parts include the main gear with separate legs and wheels, the single piece nose wheel and the belly turret with its guns, and that's everything!  You may have noticed from the pictures that the bomb bay is moulded open with the tambour doors rolled up the side of the fuselage exposing the stubby little bombs you fitted earlier.

 

 

Markings

Taking the easiest route to complete the model just needs a dash of water to apply the decals.  If you're going to paint any or all of the model though, there are paint names on the diagrams as well as numbers for each of the decals.  You can also go the whole hog and paint the fuselage and wings olive green and grey with a wavy demarcation between top and bottom as shown on the diagrams below.  That's totally optional of course, so just make sure you're having fun whichever route you choose.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

I'm one of those folks that is only interested in a cartoonish kit if it's a subject I'm fond of, so this one hits my spot.  I can see the broader appeal of collecting them, and they all seem a lot of fun.  I can guarantee that they're not in scale, the wing and fuselage lengths are all wrong, and there's a lot of simplified detail… but then that's the whole point. Catch one while you can, as they're selling fast!

 

Scroll down a few posts to see my quick build of this little kit

 

Very highly recommended with fun in mind.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[thorfinn]

27 minutes ago, Mike said:

I'm one of those folks that is only interested in a cartoonish kit if it's a subject I'm fond of, so this one hits my spot.

My sentiment exactly re the 'egg' planes, but this one looks like it lends itself perfectly to that cartoon configuration (try saying that five times, fast!).

Nice 'in the box' review!

[busnproplinerfan]

I'm hoping they bring out a DC-3 for this set. These are way better than egg planes and I thought eggs were fun.

[Antoine]

Thanks Mike

Funny, As these days, I was wondering how a "kit" like that would look like, due to an Egg GB happening right now on a French forum.

Got my answer, and you know what? I might have a go at it!.

 

By the way, I suppose that there is no aftermarket for this, no decals ?

Which scale would suit them best? 1/48 maybe?

[Mike]

1 minute ago, Antoine said:

Which scale would suit them best? 1/48 maybe?

From the size of the stars and bars I'd suggest 1:72?  They're 1.8cm wide from one end of bar to the other.  A shade under 1cm tall.

[Mike]

I've just finished putting this together after trimming a few parts and removing some seams, but leaving off the paint.  I've also not put the decals on yet as I might later pull it to bits and paint it.  Who knows?

 

A quick build tip.  It's not a tail-sitter, but it will tip up if you provoke it, so if you're getting one and you get the occasional earth tremor, shove a little weight forward of the wings

 

Just the one pic:

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

I see some assembly ships coming. Space for more B-24s at last!

[busnproplinerfan]

I saw the Lanc model in person, it's about 7"-8" wingspan.

[Antoine]

13 hours ago, Mike said:

From the size of the stars and bars I'd suggest 1:72?  They're 1.8cm wide from one end of bar to the other.  A shade under 1cm tall.

In cm, whow!!!!

Appreciate that.

Any pics together with any of your lattest build? So that we can have a clue about the size (I know, size didn't matter, but...).

[Mick4350]

13 hours ago, Mike said:

I've just finished putting this together after trimming a few parts and removing some seams, but leaving off the paint.  I've also not put the decals on yet as I might later pull it to bits and paint it.  Who knows?

 

A quick build tip.  It's not a tail-sitter, but it will tip up if you provoke it, so if you're getting one and you get the occasional earth tremor, shove a little weight forward of the wings

 

Just the one pic:

 

 

Almost looks like it has 40mm guns bristled all over the machine .

[Andy Moore]

15 hours ago, Antoine said:

By the way, I suppose that there is no aftermarket for this, no decals ?

Which scale would suit them best? 1/48 maybe?

@M_Sinclair build the Lanc last year, and used 1/72 and 1/144 Kits-World decals (the earlier kits only came with stickers)

 

I built the Tu-2 back in 2016 and used spare decals from a Eduard 1/48 I-16

 

 

You have some flexibility in the size of the decals due to the nature of the kit, but I'd say that Mike's recommendation of 1/72 should be about right

 

Andy

[Antoine]

Thanks!

Funny, I've just found this.

[Mike]

7 hours ago, Antoine said:

In cm, whow!!!!

Appreciate that.

I always think in metric until we're talking distance when I speak miles, so it's wasn't because you are of the European persuasion although it might have been subconscious of course   As I was saying to a friend recently I can't cope with 4/1000 or 4 thou and the like, but 4ft I can guesstimate to within an inch or so from a distance.  Fractions of an inch bakes my noodle.

[bentwaters81tfw]

I've ordered 3 of these for assembly ships. Most had the 'D' glazed nose, but 3 had turrets.

I'm gonna end up with very small spots in front of my eyes.

[Ad-4N]

To each his own, but with the need for so many "real" models of real machines, I do not get the fascination with these super deformed kits.  Your mileage may very.  

[bentwaters81tfw]

It's light relief after rivet counting. I can get 3 of these in the footprint of one in 1/72. They are popular with the public at shows too.

[Julien]

14 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

 They are popular with the public at shows too.

They are as popular with adults as kids at shows as well

[armored76]

I wonder if there is enough place for small DC motors (6mm diameter, 10mm length) to fit in the engine bays... Would make a nice "functional" model.