Read a lot of 'in box' and build reviews of the Meng 'Super Bug', but thought now that I've got it to the point where I can start throwing primer & paint around, I'd just share some thoughts on the construction.
First is the detail - it's very, very good, especially in the wheel bays & undercarriage, lots of nice touches, crisp and for the most part, very accurate. That extends to most of the fuselage details although I can't understand why Meng chose not to represent any of the nav lights in clear plastic - cost saving I guess (?). Whilst the cockpit detail is accurate it is a little soft on the side panels and the decals for some of the MFD's are a little cartoonish.
Fit - well I've read and seen builds where it's described as 'incredible' and then by others as 'average' - maybe that reflects builders expectations, or their actual experience... for me I found the fit of the undercarriage especially, simply superb. But something simple like the centreline pylon, and the radome were surprisingly poor. Overall though, I found construction, easy, free of major hassles and well engineered (yes I know it's a cliché, but it's true).
Yes filler is needed, especially behind the wings where the upper and lower fuselage were a little warped on my kit, but nothing like the Airfix Vampire that I recently finished. It's all in the pics, you can see where filling is needed most. Definitely not a deal-breaker IMHO.
To get to this point has taken about twenty-five to thirty hours at the bench - because I work slowly and because I've built every sub-assembly for the airframe and also built, painted and decalled all the loadout.
Not sure when painting will happen as the kids are off school for Easter from tomorrow so bench time will be limited for a couple of weeks. Please feel free to make any comments and/or ask any questions. Cheers from New Zealand.
10 attached images. Click to enlarge.
