Meng Leopard A3/A4

[Landi_uk]

Whilst practicing with the airbrush for the chieftain build, I started to get construction withdrawal, so I started the Tamiya M1A2 SEP. However I reached a point of cutting the clear sheet for driver periscope and started to get a bit nervous about how I'm doing the build and how I plan on painting it with all the clear parts that are included, so I thought I'd put that one on hold and start the Meng Leopard I've had come through.

Here's the obligatory box shot

This is the hull with the torsion suspension fitted

Rear bulkhead with most parts fitted, I'm using Mr Cement S for a lot of the fixing and that's the blume you can see in the photo.

Upper hull with the supplied PE in place. I was given the tip of using Nailene glue and it seems to be a good contact adhesive.

As you can see the PE has to be bent after fixing, it was pretty simple using the plastic craft knife handle. You'll notice it wasn't aligned correctly but trimming the resulting overhang was simple using a craft knife.

So now some observations about the kit.

The plastic used for this model is almost a mix of standard material (abp?) and the material used for polycaps. I've got to admit I'm not a fan as it's a bit of a pain to cut. Also when it comes to sanding it seems a bit on the soft side, so some times needs a scrape with knife blade to get a clean edge.

There are a lot of parts for mounting on the upper hull that require painting individually (tools etc) so I'm using this as first foray into masking fixing points prior to paint to allow a decent fix after hull painting is complete. Will be using masking fluid for this.

One of my reasons for buying the kit was having the option of rubber band type tracks AND individual links, however I didn't realise that the individual links have to be built using cement and so are not workable. I did think about trying to link by drilling 0.3mm hole and using brass rod, but the effort didn't make sense, however I might give that a whirl in the future. This has "made" me buy my first after market add on, so I have the adventure of constructing the below which I picked up on eBay for £8

This is now going to be kit number two in the build queue and I'll probably get back to the M1A2 after this one.

Anyway thanks for looking and any comments would be welcome.

Ian

[pacificmustang]

will be an interested onloker as I have thought about buying this kit to do as an Aussie AS1

Bruce