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Another Bradley, but not in the same league as Gremlin's recent effort. I wasn't sure whether I'd bother putting this up and considered waiting until I'd finished and then gently prod it round the door with a long stick and leave quietly hoping that nobody would notice. Before this I'd just finished the Meng Abrams which, in my opinion, is a bit of a dog. I wasn't sure if this was going to be the same in which case I'd probably not bother and kick it into the stash somewhere but I thought it would be fair to give Meng a second chance. I'm happy to report that apart from a couple of minor niggles its going together rather well with the parts fitting like they belong to the same kit. Here's the start. There's an M113 from Tamiya on the bench as well as the Bradley hull on its back waving its legs in the air. The Tamiya kit was an old moulding with a couple of extra sprue thrown in which are basically bergens, ammo and jerry cans and a dog to hang around the external parts of the vehicle. Although the Bradley has an interior I'm not sure how much will be visible once I'm finished. Thought I'd start on the wheely bits first as well as the track assembly. The wheels have separate tyres which I thought was to make painting easier (see later). Being Meng the fit between the road wheel and tyre is so tight that no adhesive was necessary. They're on for good! I've seen various negative comments about the tracks but with me being cheap I thought I'd give them a go. I can always bin them later if it goes wrong and order up some of the ones that Gremlin used in his build. Thankfully there are enough links in the bag to compensate for the ones that don't fit or are too loose. I might need to glue a few links before this is over just for some additional strength. Time to get them into paint along with the rubbers from the M113. As most of the M113 track is hidden under the side skirts the rubbers will be adequate enough. My choice of track may yet be my undoing. Here's the start to the hull interior. Time to add some grease an overall wear and tear before I go any further. Next steps is the engine, oh, one has just been delivered. Of course it wouldn't be one of my models if I hadn't screwed up somewhere. Thought I'd completed the wheel assemblies but that wasn't the case. At the bottom of the box was a piece of brass that the helpful people at Meng thoughtfully included for use as a mask for defining the extent of the rubber. Pity they didn't mention this in the instructions which were rather unclear about the extend of the rubber. I did have my reservations when I was putting them together. Oh well back to wheel painting. I've now discovered that there is a considerable warp on the lower half of the hull. With the back plate and some tensioning I should be able to fix it. I ran into a similar problem with the Meng Cougar when closing it up. This time I'll make sure the hull fits together before fitting the interior. That way I should be able to use the necessary clamps without damaging parts. I'd say with Meng it pays to build sub assemblies, continually checking for fit, before discovering that that serious fettling is required once everything has been glued down.

Latest news from Meng for the AFV modeller. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=487085538071442&set=a.200850930028239.42784.195290177250981&type=1&theater The BUSK III is the Bradley Urban Survivability Kit III provided to the US Army by Bae Systems. http://www.baesystems.com/article/BAES_058241/bradley-upgrades-ahead-of-schedule-and-under-budget Julien

Well I enjoyed posting my first ever tank WIP with the Tamiya MkIV Male, even if the finished result wasn't quite good enough to go into Ready for Inspection. Having enjoyed building my first complete kit for years, I have been inspired to try something completely different, in the form of Meng's super detailed cavalry Bradley. Meng M3A3 BUSK III by jongwinnett, on Flickr Interior kit by jongwinnett, on Flickr