Here's why China is winning - unboxing the HobbyBoss Merkava 

Some of the best kits in the market now come from China. It's simple - if manufacturers provide what we model builders want and at a fair price, then they'll do well and their customers are happy. I have no concerns about buying Chinese kits, if western companies can't provide what we want.

@@bobz1736 Exactly, I don't really understand what the problem is with buying Chinese model kits. If your argument is that it's bad for the Western market just know that China is the biggest trading partner for the U.S. The quality on these kits are also superb and well worth their price.

Likewise!

Yes, I think the number of Eastern European manufacturers over the past 20-30 years is impressive, and companies like Eduard have been leading the way in detailing for almost 35 years now!

@@MannsModelMoments 35 years already! Wow 😯

I agree - though it's worth mentioning that the Airfix Spit is actually moulded in India! Still, there are moulding technologies (getting popular in the miniature hobby space) which should allow more small companies to come into the fold with competitive detail and price,

I agree and although the bulk of Airfix kits are moulded in India and South Korea via Academy models, the new tool 1/24 spit is fully manufactured in the UK by Plastech Ltd, I believe they are based in Doncaster. Quite a few RU-vid channels have visited the production plant and published video content of the factory tour and production process. 👍

@@KitchenTableModeller 100% British 👍🏼 Wouldn’t it be great if Airfix and the other associated brands could do everything in the UK?!

It would, but it would also mean an increase in cost for both UK and overseas customers. Giving the amount of complaints about cost I already see about pricing generally, I don't think its a viable business strategy.

@@MannsModelMoments I know, it’s a real shame though!

Also the packaging, the entire box was encased in 1” styrofoam, wrapped in heavy gauge plastic, completely covered in ockageing tape. The box flap was ripped, but no worries, everything was packed right and neat, individually bagged, small parts packed with large parts in their own bags. The hull was upside down and a BH ch of small parts hidden inside it(separately bagged) with cardboard dividers inside. Massive detailed instruction booklet and poster size paint/color guide

Would love to see that!

Agreed - I've heard grumblings about accuracy for some subjects, but haven't personally encountered it thus far

Much appreciated!

Thanks!

A similar thing happened in the 1990s with model railways. China produced models were cheaper and better quality than the traditional manufacturers hornby and lima. Since then lima went bust and most of their models are sold by hornby in their budget range. Hornby have had massive financial issues over the past decade and have struggled to compete not just with the Chinese brand (Bachmann), but also other brands entering their scale (dapol who withdrew from 4mm and sold their tooling to hornby reentered about 10 years ago and heljan entered the UK market), those 4 form what are the big 4 now, but smaller companies have formed that are much smaller and both undercut the big 4 and produce better quality. The situation is now one of Chinese dominance as everybody makes their models with Chinese factories, but also rising costs that keep rising. Hornby moved airfix to India because of the rising Chinese costs and part of the plan was to move hornby production too, but it was found that the Indian factories just couldn't manage anything close to what the Chinese factories can make. At some point the cost will become too much and production will move away from China (except Bachmann, which is the Chinese factory effectively). Where it may go is unknown though, though not likely the UK, although one UK hobby company makes all its models in the UK, games workshop. The question is whether the trajectory for model kits will be one of Chinese dominance and the other companies collapsing, if that happens then kit prices would potentially rise significantly as there'd be not much competition by then. Though there are a number of Eastern European companies that probably act as a counter for that.

I'm not sure I understand your question - in what context?

@@MannsModelMoments Opaque for airbrush related paint, do you know what that is?

Ah, I see - so opaque paints will obscure the finish underneath - they usually have pigments like titanium dioxide (for light colours) which don't allow any light through. Transparent paints act as a "filter", putting a pigment down that allows the lower one to show through, thus "tinting" what was already there - you see this a lot in oils, for example

@Mann's Model Moments Alrighty, thanks I appreciate the help 😎

Yes, they are a menace to our finances!!!

The videos are all shot at 1080 - check your RU-vid play resolution

​@@MannsModelMomentsI think they probably meant that RU-vids bitrate for 1080p content is quite low compared with what your original file would be before RU-vid processing. Though I have not noticed any problems with your videos even on a 4k TV.

@@bionicgeekgrrl yeah...tomayto, tomatoe!! 😁

To be fair to China, the west is almost no better. The west are better at hiding things. I come from a production background and my last job had things coming from China and I have to say that they were able to outdo what I could achieve in speed and quality.

@johntrevy1 'Tis true, but I don't like to think about world politics when modeling. Right now, I'm building a PLAAF P-51K because 1. It's a freaking Mustang, and 2. it's different and cool. Idc what you build, or the nation that fielded it. If you're happy with your model, and you think it's cool, then I see no problem.

I both agree and disagree. I absolutely would NOT recommend the Merkava to a starter, novice or even beginner modeller - it would be a project for a developing modeller who wants to challenge themselves and get into multi-media use, for sure. The Corsair COULD make a good beginner kit - but NOT in its current form or price. Revell need to clean up the tooling to remove the flash, which would be a negative experience for a brand-new modeller. They then need to lower the price by 50% at least. If I were in their commercial department, I'd market it at £15 with a new instruction sheet aimed at the novice. It would actually make a good Starter Set at £20 with paints and glue included.

Yes, I chose two kits of comparable price - as shown at the start of the video. To the consumer, there's no visible difference on the boxes to alert you to any tooling age differences, so the companies are putting these kits out on the market at the same face value, and should be judged as such - so no, I'm not ignoring anything here.

Boycott all you want, but this is sort of delusional fear-mongering you’re trying to promote is just shameful. China doesn’t want to attack the “Western world”, and the less warmongering the US does, the more prosperity will come to both nations.