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US Cougar 6x6 MRAP 1:35 Meng The Cougar is built by Force Protection Inc. and is based loosely upon the previous South African MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected), but integrates a number of innovations and lessons learned from previous experiences. It has a V-shaped hull with the wheels outboard of the hull, and the engine in a separate compartment at the front. The V-shape directs the blast away from the crew compartment, improving survivability, which has been proven many times since it entered service. This variant is the six-wheeled chasis, but there is also a 4x4 version in service. The British Army have a number of the 6x6 version as the Mastiff Protected Patrol Vehicle (PPV). The Mastiff 2 is fitted with the CREWS II remote weapons station, while earlier versions have been fitted with a manned turret surrounded by protective armoured screens. The Kit This new tooling from Meng will be a welcome addition to any MRAP collection, and as it's from Meng, you know it will be a lovely kit to build. It arrives in a standard Meng shaped box, with that quality satin look to the lid, and inside are a wealth of sprues for you to pore over. There are sixteen sprues in a sand coloured styrene, two in a flexible black styrene, four sprues in clear styrene, two in turquoise tinted clear styrene, eight flexible styrene wheels, poly-caps, plus a large upper hull part and slide-moulded machine gun breech in sand styrene. The decal sheet is separately bagged, as is the small sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, and the instruction booklet is Meng's usual affair, in four languages, and colour pages at the rear for the painting and decaling instructions. First impressions are excellent as usual with Meng's offerings, and the part count is high, with some nicely tooled detail evident. Inclusions such as PE, flexible styrene and optional tinted windows to simulate the bullet-resistant glass are the icing on the cake of what is a great looking model. From the box you can build either the Cougar 6x6, or the Cougar 6x6 HEV, which is the USMC Hardened Engineer Vehicle and has a different stowage and aerial fit, plus a pair of spare tyres mounted on the side. This isn't massively obvious on first inspection of the instructions, but will dictate your choices throughout the build, where you should choose A or B options respectively. Construction begins with the V-shaped lower hull, which needs a few holes drilling in it, after which the leaf-suspension can be installed, plus a rear towing bracket and two-step crew access with PE mesh treads. The three main axles are built up in broadly the same manner, with the steerable front wheels having additional parts, including track-link rod and bearings. Each one is fitted to the lower hull, with an armoured transfer box between the front and rear axles out of which the transmission shafts project. A pair of fuel tanks with PE thread-plate tops are built up next, and you have a choice of two types to install under the hull of your Cougar, which is nice. You are also given a choice of two types of front bumper/fender, one of which looks less like a girder than the other. The Cougar rolls along on six tyres, although in the event of an IED blast, has been known to limp home on only three. The HEV also carries two spares in the event that they are needed, just aft of the drivers' doors. The tyres are flexible styrene, with sand coloured hubs, space for a poly-cap in the middle, and a thick rear to the hub that traps the poly-cap in place. Only the six installed wheels are built up like this – the other two have a single piece hub, and are optionally added to the brackets at the end of the build. At this point the model is flipped over and work begins on the crew cab in the shape of the floor, which is stepped up at the sides to form a base of the seats and further protect the crew from blasts. The drivers' seats are first to be built up, with insulating bases that contain the usual complement of adjustments under a tough protective gaiter. The seats are made up from two parts, consisting of the main seat, plus a rear with the headrest built in, which once joined are placed on the base, and a pair of the flexible styrene belts are added to each one. The driver's pedal box is installed into the short front bulkhead stub, and a mesh panel is placed behind each seat on a bracket that raises it up to head-height. The dash is a full-width part, and the instrument panel has a number of decals supplied to detail its surface after painting, plus a couple of stencils on the co-driver's side. A small raised table/jump seat sits in the space between the rows of seats, which are single parts, which have another pair of flexible styrene belts added before they are glued in place. A total of eight passenger seats are fitted, with an equipment rack at the rear on the starboard side, and a recess with equipment box fixed to one wall on the opposite side. The upper hull is a complex moulding with some great detail on the outer skin, which again needs a few holes drilling in it in preparation for construction. Inside you will find a few fine mould lines, ejector pins and the occasional sink mark under the side windows, but how much of this will be seen is questionable. If you think it will, and it bothers you, break out the sanding sticks and a smear of filler. Clean up shouldn't take very long at all really. A radiator grille, some small interior parts, and the multi-part turret ring for the top-mounted gun position, which is trapped in place by another ring on the inside of the crew compartment. Internal lights are added, half of each painted transparent red for night-lighting, and then the large boxed-in side windows and windscreen panels are added, made up from a styrene frame, with clear centres. You can choose the usual clear parts or the more realistic tinted blue/green alternatives that better represent the thick bullet-resistant glazing used in modern MRAPs. The rear bulkhead has a choice of aerial bar that is placed above the door, and a quartet of grab-handles added, before it is joined to the hull, and the upper and lower halves are brought together. The short front fenders and long rear fenders are built up following this, with the various light clusters added front and rear, plus a choice of two air-intake filters on the starboard fender, and the exhaust that comes out of the side of the engine bay. The exhaust then goes up over the door frame on a stand-off bracket to roof-height, terminating at a back box toward the very rear of the vehicle, held in place by a U-bolt. There is a PE heat-shield for the section over the door, which has a little jig provided to obtain the correct curve to fit around the exhaust. The PE part is held between the two parts of the jig, with pressure applied, and out comes the part correctly formed. The next phase involves fitting all the additional parts that adorn the exterior of a modern AFV, such as the IED jamming booms in raised or lowered position, a roof mounted searchlight in protective clear dome, two or four additional stowage boxes on each side of the vehicle, jacks, and the panel jammers that attach to the front bumper. The drivers' doors and two rear crew doors are built up with boxed out glazing panels, grab-handles and side-view mirrors, plus the top access for the gunner's ring, and an escape hatch toward the rear of the roof. These can all be posed open or closed, with the latter having a pair of hydraulic rams holding it open. The gunner's position is protected by armoured screens, the sides of which are supplied flat, but with a bend-point built into the rear side, so that you can create the angled front sections without additional panels. Each section has armoured vision blocks added to the outside, and a solid rear panel, plus a rear-view mirror on each side. The .50cal M2 derivative is built up from a number of parts, the most impressive of which is the slide-moulded receiver and cooling jacket, to which the breech top-cover and barrel are added, plus a two-part carrier that fits to the pintle-mount. A three part ammo receiver is built up, with the ammo can added inside, and this can has some quite impressive ammunition moulded into the top and extending beyond the lip to mate with the breech. The gun, turret control joystick, front shield with vision blocks, and the protective shields are all added to slots and holes in the turret ring, with the front shield sitting in front of the angled "glacis". The final task is installing an array of aerials, which differs depending on your choices earlier on. If you have chosen the short side stowage boxed HEV, you can fit the spare tyres mentioned earlier, with six traditional whip-style antennae and a short X-shaped antenna at the rear. If you elect for the four-box side stowage "vanilla" version there is no place for the spare tyres, and you fit only four traditional antennae, plus two cylindrical "cell-tower" type antennae, which sit in the centre positions on the rear aerial mount. Markings Modern AFVs aren't particularly well marked on the outside, so the decal sheet isn't massive. What is there is good quality though, having been printed by Meng's usual choice of Cartograf. There are only two markings options included, both in the modern sand camo, with one for each variant, as follows: Cougar 6x6 United States Marine Corps. Cougar 6x6 HEV United States Marine Corps. The decals not already used on the instrument panel are mostly tie-down stencils, plus various other sundry stencils around the vehicle, and a maker's logo on the larger air filter of the 6x6 variant. Register, colour density and sharpness are all top notch, as you'd expect. Conclusion Another good kit from the Meng stable that will appeal to a great many modern AFV modellers. Detail is excellent, and the subject matter is very "now", lending itself nicely to dioramas. Lots of small parts that should keep you busy for many an hour, although sprue B part 1 was so fine that it had broken on the sprue due to flexing of the sprue in transit. The clear parts are all separately wrapped in slightly sticky clear plastic to keep them from being scratched within the bag, and the inclusion of the tinted parts is a great boost to realism. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of