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Meng 1/48 F/A-18e Super hornet


thepureness

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On 2/10/2021 at 12:59 PM, plasticguy said:

I'm following some early chinese WIP, like this one: https://tieba.baidu.com/p/7218800355

To know if I will pull the trigger or not.

 

And I've already got the F-35A and don't remember having these kind of situation:

 

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Looks like this kit is a step behind their F-35.

It doesn't look bad. Well, at least that's what I think. 🤔

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8 minutes ago, B.sin said:

It doesn't look bad. Well, at least that's what I think. 🤔

To be honest, I'm waiting for actual daylight tomorrow to take a proper look. I've had a look at some more of the parts - the main part of the seat doesn't look too fancy and the pilot looks quite small to me but I really need the daylight to take a better look. 

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53 minutes ago, Nocoolname said:

To be honest, I'm waiting for actual daylight tomorrow to take a proper look. I've had a look at some more of the parts - the main part of the seat doesn't look too fancy and the pilot looks quite small to me but I really need the daylight to take a better look. 

No  electric lighting where you are?

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8 minutes ago, Nocoolname said:

Yes there is, but having Meibomianitis means it can be quite painful on my eyes and not something I'm happy to suffer just to post a few pictures during the evening.

I,m sorry to hear that you have this condition.  I was unaware. 

 For somebody who has lossed most of his sight in his right eye,  I sympathise.

 

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1 hour ago, B.sin said:

I,m sorry to hear that you have this condition.  I was unaware. 

 For somebody who has lossed most of his sight in his right eye,  I sympathise.

 

Sorry to hear that mate. That’s really bad. Mine just hurt a lot especially in artificial light and occasionally lead to corneal ulcers. And they’ve limited my detail work but the rest of the vision is ok. Sorry to hear about yours though.

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1 minute ago, Nocoolname said:

Sorry to hear that mate. That’s really bad. Mine just hurt a lot especially in artificial light and occasionally lead to corneal ulcers. And they’ve limited my detail work but the rest of the vision is ok. Sorry to hear about yours though.

Thanks.  I still function. BTW,

next  month Hobbyboss will release a F-18E in 1/48th scale. 

I  Looking forward to see how it stacks up against the MENG kit.

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4 minutes ago, B.sin said:

Thanks.  I still function. BTW,

next  month Hobbyboss will release a F-18E in 1/48th scale. 

I  Looking forward to see how it stacks up against the MENG kit.

I just did a quick side by side with some of the parts from my Hasegawa F/A-18E and the detail looks on par but with the Meng having some nicer features in terms of stores and flexibility. The Meng pilot is slightly larger and the seat a little better though I tend to replace these with an AM cockpit anyway. What sticks out for me so far is the approach towards the folding wings. It uses ‘plugs’ to represent either the folded or fixed version and it ‘might’ (if modified) offer the ability to switch between modes.

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55 minutes ago, Nocoolname said:

I just did a quick side by side with some of the parts from my Hasegawa F/A-18E and the detail looks on par but with the Meng having some nicer features in terms of stores and flexibility. The Meng pilot is slightly larger and the seat a little better though I tend to replace these with an AM cockpit anyway. What sticks out for me so far is the approach towards the folding wings. It uses ‘plugs’ to represent either the folded or fixed version and it ‘might’ (if modified) offer the ability to switch between modes.

Thanks!

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Mine came yesterday too - have to say it looks stunning - a very good overall package including a good range of markings. The weaponry looks very good as well - single piece AMRAAMs for example. The wheel Wells are one of the best that I have seen.

 

Will

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On 2/17/2021 at 12:19 PM, Scimitar F1 said:

Mine came yesterday too - have to say it looks stunning - a very good overall package including a good range of markings. The weaponry looks very good as well - single piece AMRAAMs for example. The wheel Wells are one of the best that I have seen.

 

Will

I have to agree!

 

I've done as detailed an inspection as my eye's will allow me without breaking the bags and this has included a lot of 'side-by-side' with a Hasegawa (Foxtrot) kit. The Meng kit has a matte surface - not the 'pebbly' of some manufacturers but much smoother and finer and quite close to Tamiya's recent F-14 IMO. In terms of actual detail there are huge similarities to the Hasegawa. In some cases the scale and depth of the panel lines appear much the same. In other cases they are slightly deeper for the Meng, in others, they are slightly deeper for the Hasegawa. The rivets are fairly similar in size and general disposition but again, with some differences - more spaced out on the Hasegawa running up to the cockpit, closer together for the Meng. Being neither a counter nor a measurer of such, both look ok to me for what is a scale model after all.

 

Beyond the roughly comparable (to me at least) detail, there are a number of nice features that come with the Meng kit that have helped take it up a notch for me. The obvious one is the inclusion of weapons including more modern sets like the AIM-9X and the AIM-120 and they seem to be very well engineered too. Then there are the 'plugs' that were highlighted at the point of the kit's announcement last year, allowing the modeler the flexibility to swap out the load and change their display without more drastic action. Unlike the Hasegawa kit I like the inclusion of a separate Radome since this will allow me the option of adding a 3D printed AESA Radar if I wish. I also really like their approach to the wing fold options that give me a few possible ideas on how to tackle this matter. While I know the idea may seem like heresy to some I've always preferred to have kits where the bits that fold in real life are able to do a similar job at scale. A lot of this is because I like to have the option to show off 'everything' when the fancy takes me or the model in-flight if my mood for such suddenly arrives. But much more of this desire stems from the pain of having damaged kits on display and mostly due to the fact that not even the best packing solutions have been able to offer sufficient protection during travel (my 1/48 Tornado F-2 Prototype is now sadly more parts than kit :(). Wing-folds are one such area and while I have had to design in 3D a prototype mechanism to support my F-4's the simple 'plug' provided by Meng for the Superbug will I believe make it possible to have the best of both worlds. My 'simple' idea would be to have magnets in each of the plug tabs (for both the folded and the flat) and a corresponding magnet that goes flush into the inner wing part. Then, remove the slots on the inner wings designed to keep the plug in place and whether flat or folded version is desired simply slide the plug into the wing and then the wing tip onto the exposed part. Something for me to think about! 

 

I won't be using the kit decals other than for stencils and weapons, since I've been wanting to build the colourful VX-9 Vampire since acquiring the Fightertown set a while back, but the small PE set is a welcome addition and best of all are the pre-cut masks that come with the kit. These appear really nicely done and will help save a little in respect to aftermarket. The only real AM I would consider getting would be a Quinta Cockpit set if they (fingers crossed) resize their Hasegawa set the fit the Meng kit. Overall I am really happy with this kit. If Meng decide to go for the Foxtrot and Growler kits it would ne nice if they think about going a little further and adding a few parts that make up the Advanced Super Hornet such as the conformal fuel tanks and bays. Ah who knows!

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2 hours ago, Nocoolname said:

I've done as detailed an inspection as my eye's will allow me..........

 

Thanks for the useful info., I was undecided about this one (like you already having the Hasegawa one) but may well go ahead and get one now.

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2 hours ago, hopkp said:

 

Thanks for the useful info., I was undecided about this one (like you already having the Hasegawa one) but may well go ahead and get one now.

Just to confirm, the Hasegawa kit I have is the two-seat F/A-18F, rather than the 'E'. I bought the Meng kit since I didn't already have an E and just took a punt on it being at least as good as the Hasegawa version would be. Glad I did now.

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