P-51D- which is better? 1/48 Meng or Airfix?

[fasteagle12]

I'm reducing my kit stash and have these two kits, but I'm only going to keep one.  Which is better?

Thanks for any input. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by fasteagle12

[Geoff M]

I've built both and the Meng is just a tad bit better in my recollection.  The surface details are just a little bit finer IIRC.

 

Geoff M

[Joe Hegedus]

As Geoff, I've done both (as well as the old standby Tamiya, Hasegawa, and Monogram, and an Eduard one as well). I preferred the Airfix .  In the end, either one will get you to a nice Mustang.

[fasteagle12]

Thanks for the responses. I looked over both kits and each do have their merits. It looks like the Meng might be an easier build but the Airfix looks a little more detailed in some areas.  It may come down to a flip of a coin...

Edited May 27, 2022 by fasteagle12

[Robertson]

The Eduard kit is better still, but sits too tall, with too thin sliding hood frames. I use Airfix legs, Meng or Airfix sliding hoods, which fit even when closed, though Meng has a center seam to erase. Eduard is the only kit to have the windscreen side windows bite deep enough into the fuselage, which all other kits are shy on. Airfix would look best with a painted scheme, not a metal finish. With a metal finish Eduard is better. All 3 newer kits are miles ahead of the old Tamiya and its dreadful prop, though the Tamiya gear would help the Eduard...

[fasteagle12]

5 hours ago, Robertson said:

The Eduard kit is better still, but sits too tall, with too thin sliding hood frames. I use Airfix legs, Meng or Airfix sliding hoods, which fit even when closed, though Meng has a center seam to erase. Eduard is the only kit to have the windscreen side windows bite deep enough into the fuselage, which all other kits are shy on. Airfix would look best with a painted scheme, not a metal finish. With a metal finish Eduard is better. All 3 newer kits are miles ahead of the old Tamiya and its dreadful prop, though the Tamiya gear would help the Eduard...

Thanks..but since I don't have the Eduard kit, it wasn't being considered.  I was only comparing the others to figure out which to keep.  

[Robertson]

Understood. Meng is much better with a metal finish, but for a painted finish, the deeper surface detail, better cockpit and undefinable "likeability" of Airfix might show up better. Meng feels bland, but I can't say why, as it is generally better. Airfix landing gear leg is bulkier/better.

[Robertson]

Having gone into this further now I can say that the Eduard MG opening are tiny and awful, a real kit disqualifier, as well as the poor/non-existent Eduard depiction of the cowl fasteners (completely absent in the upper middle of the cowl!!!) and I replaced the Eduard gun openings with far better Airfix equivalents. All 3 cowl tops lack a slight flat area behind spinner, but fixable. Airfix has generally the best depiction of the prominent cowl fasteners, and takes to the Eduard windscreen like a champ, even canopy closed. Much better sliding canopy frame thickness on Meng and Airfix. Best strictly out of one box is Meng, my opinion of which has gone upward the more I go into it: Adequate MG openings, adequate gear (too thin, but at least not too long like Eduard), good sliding hood and windscreen passable from the box, while all the others have better parts in absolute terms, but not all combined in one boxing. Airfix seems like my overall "detail flair" favourite provided it has the Eduard windscreen, but for a metal finish Meng is clearly superior (filling the wing panels seems to be easier on Meng due to the putty staying in the lines better from the harder plastic: A big deal compared to Eduard's soft and difficult to sand plastic, which loses the putty in the lines no matter how careful the sanding...}. Not mixing the best of different boxes has never made sense to me, as the cost in time is so much greater than the cost in plastic, even for using just a single Eduard part (windscreen) for $40-50 a pop... Given huge idle stashes, so what?

[Curt B]

Hi there...hopefully not hijacking the OP's thread, as I may get  question answered that may help him in his decision on the Airfix or Meng P-51D.

 

I have the Meng P-51D, and a whole ton of the Eduard P-51Ds, which I know the OP does not care about.  However, my Meng P-51 remains unbuilt primarily for one reason...since that kit is intended to be a primarily snap-together (e.g. no glue required) build, I've often wondered about those of us who are completely uncomfortable doing a build without dry fits.  It's my understanding that once you put parts together, that's it, unless you want to take extraordinary measures to get them apart again, and then you've got the issue of whether those parts will go together well enough after separating.  Can anyone discuss how you built your Meng P-51D and whether you attempted dry-fitting, to make sure the parts go together well, or if not, how did you proceed?  Maybe a consideration for the OP on whether the Meng is a better choice than Airfix?

[fasteagle12]

.  While both have their merits, I ended up keeping the Airfix kit. Thanks for all of the input!

[Robertson]

On 8/9/2022 at 7:38 AM, Curt B said:

Hi there...hopefully not hijacking the OP's thread, as I may get  question answered that may help him in his decision on the Airfix or Meng P-51D.

 

I have the Meng P-51D, and a whole ton of the Eduard P-51Ds, which I know the OP does not care about.  However, my Meng P-51 remains unbuilt primarily for one reason...since that kit is intended to be a primarily snap-together (e.g. no glue required) build, I've often wondered about those of us who are completely uncomfortable doing a build without dry fits.  It's my understanding that once you put parts together, that's it, unless you want to take extraordinary measures to get them apart again, and then you've got the issue of whether those parts will go together well enough after separating.  Can anyone discuss how you built your Meng P-51D and whether you attempted dry-fitting, to make sure the parts go together well, or if not, how did you proceed?  Maybe a consideration for the OP on whether the Meng is a better choice than Airfix?

 

  No that's not the case: You can easily pry then apart by inserting a #11 blade and twisting it, pulling them from the "inside" so to speak: This applies to all parts, including main fuselage and wings. They're just massively deep alignment pins... The ease of filling of the Meng wings is also remarkable. That being said, I still lean towards the Airfix (under camo) because of 3 things: Best machinegun leading edge openings, best gear legs, and most of all best depiction of the nose cowl fasteners, at least under camo... Meng beats Eduard for a metal finish, but if you are good with weathering, a camo Eduard with heavy weathering might look busier, and you could hide the cowl fastener debacle using dots of paint applied with the tip of a toothpick. Eduard is still your only option for the early filletless tail: A big deal... It also has by far the best decals (except maybe for Airfix) and the most scheme options per box.

Edited August 14, 2022 by Robertson

[Joe Hegedus]

32 minutes ago, Robertson said:

Eduard is still your only option for the early filletless tail: A big deal...

Negative, Ghostrider.  Airfix #A05138 has the filletless tail.  It also has the later filleted tails.

[Robertson]

22 hours ago, Joe Hegedus said:

Negative, Ghostrider.  Airfix #A05138 has the filletless tail.  It also has the later filleted tails.

 

  I stand corrected! 😊

[Curt B]

On 8/14/2022 at 7:25 AM, Robertson said:

 

  No that's not the case: You can easily pry then apart by inserting a #11 blade and twisting it, pulling them from the "inside" so to speak: This applies to all parts, including main fuselage and wings. They're just massively deep alignment pins... The ease of filling of the Meng wings is also remarkable. That being said, I still lean towards the Airfix (under camo) because of 3 things: Best machinegun leading edge openings, best gear legs, and most of all best depiction of the nose cowl fasteners, at least under camo... Meng beats Eduard for a metal finish, but if you are good with weathering, a camo Eduard with heavy weathering might look busier, and you could hide the cowl fastener debacle using dots of paint applied with the tip of a toothpick. Eduard is still your only option for the early filletless tail: A big deal... It also has by far the best decals (except maybe for Airfix) and the most scheme options per box.

Though I've gone way off topic, and I appreciate the OP's tolerance, I appreciate the answer provided here about how to address the Meng P-51 fit question.  I guess the key is gently approaching this, to separate the parts after a 'dry fit'.  With this in mind, I'll have to actually try to build my Meng P-51 some day.