As a newbie here I've been both curious and worried about some of the new (to me) brands on the market

Grew up on Monogram/Revell like many, but Tamiya and Hasegawa were reputable companies in the 1970s.

The thing is, for me, I know Airfix, AMT, and Italieri as a second or 3rd tier makers from the 70s, but most of the new companies are totally unknowns to me. I've been happily impressed with "Meng" but I am very reluctant to try new unknown brands like Trumpeter and ICM, plus many others. I purchased a workable track set from AFV Club and thought it was well done, but I bought a full kit from them and was very much unimpressed.

Just saying, it is sometimes a crap-shoot out there. I've found myself only buying kits with molds made in the last 5-7 years only because of this distrust.