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Meng King Tiger


Matt182

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Hi Guys,

 

I've been struggling for motivation lately but seeing that this kit is finally on sale, I couldn't resist!

 

First impressions are very good. Surface detail is excellent, particularly the welds and rolled steel texture. Tracks are link and length which I think is the best compromise between indy links and belt type tracks. The kit comes with a few PE parts, metal barrel (first batch only), two figures and 4 decal options. At £30 for the exterior kit, only Dragon comes close to matching this. Tamyia's offering is now well and truly redundant!  

 

I'm going to be building this OOB for the most part. I have a very nice Aber barrel in the stash which needs to be used.

 

So, a few photos before I get started :) 

 

Turret roof with nice weld detail. Designed to left unglued if adding the interior. 

 

P1010315%20Custom.jpg

 

Both types of mantlet included.

 

P1010316%20Custom.jpg

 

Lower hull tub. Note that there are a lot of locating holes for the interior that will need to be filled if leaving the fenders off.

 

P1010318%20Custom.jpg

 

Hull roof is also separate for easy viewing of the interior.

 

P1010322%20Custom.jpg 

 

Link and length tracks very nicely detailed. Not a pin mark in sight :) 

 

P1010326%20Custom.jpg

 

Upper hull with excellent detail

 

P1010320%20Custom.jpg

 

PE, decals and Instructions showing some of the 5-view painting guide. Nice to see all 4 decal options having a full painting guide too. 

 

P1010324%20Custom.jpg

 

So, on to the rivet counting part (sorry :laugh:).

 

Accuracy wise, there is very little to comment on. The only 'issue' being the the turret ring is molded to the hull roof. This should be part of the turret but it's not really an issue and it was likely done this way to keep everything lined up. The kit best represents a vehicle built between June and mid / late August 1944 and would be better off having zimmerit applied. Of the 4 decal choices, the 2 with zimmerit are closest to the details provided but '124' of Pz Abt 505 will require a few parts to be left off. The 2 options without zimmerit will require a few more changes to be 100% accurate. Most of these details are minor in reality so unless you are wanting to be as accurate as possible, it's a non issue. My only other comment would be that I have doubts about the painting guide for option 4, '324' Pz Abt 509. I'm yet to see a photo of a partial whitewash over ambush camo as depicted but would be happy to see one :) 

 

So rivet counter hat off, I will hopefully starting the build tomorrow. First step is the wheels. More to follow soon hopefully :)

 

Cheers

Matt

 

 

 

 

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Looks pretty good and nice to see Meng uses the sprue gates on the edges of the part rather than on the detail sides like others.  Too bad they ran out of the typical Meng dark yellow plastic though, haha.

 

Is this a little brother to your 1/16 KT?

 

Take care

 

Lloyd

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7 hours ago, BlackMax12 said:

Looks pretty good and nice to see Meng uses the sprue gates on the edges of the part rather than on the detail sides like others.  Too bad they ran out of the typical Meng dark yellow plastic though, haha.

 

Is this a little brother to your 1/16 KT?

 

Take care

 

Lloyd

 

The red plastic is a little odd. I would of preferred a lighter colour  if I'm honest. I think it's an attempt at a red oxide base colour which I guess may come in handy for those hard to reach areas in the interior. Not much use for an exterior model though. It may end up with its big brother in one display, haven't decided yet.

 

3 hours ago, BerndM said:

Looks very nice, thats the basic kit and Meng is selling detail sets for the interior separately, including Zimmet as decals ?

 

Interior, workable tracks and zimmerit are all optional extras. I guess the total cost will roughly be the same as the Takom kits if you buy everything. I'm going to add the zimmerit decals once they are more readily available :)

 

Cheers

Matt

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You have me wondering why you are building another KT in 1/35th after the mind boggling 1/16th KT you just finished :hmmm:

Please don't tell me you have decided to scratch build the entire interior for this KT :nerdy:

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Interesting Project, looks good quality And I also think that they have wanted to look like red with that plastic, even though I like you, I prefer a light-colored plastic (beige, gray, etc ...), because I realize that it is easier for me to work the kit on question.

Cheers Matt :popcorn:

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I'll be watching with interest Matt , it'll be quite sometime until I get mine out of the box and onto the bench .

I think I'll be going for a bulge KT with no zimm and jiggling details around to better represent the period production etc...

I'm not really sold on Zimm decals :hmmm:so I will be interested to see those in action too .I'm sure you'll do a stunning job as you did with your big KT !

 

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8 hours ago, Gremlin56 said:

You have me wondering why you are building another KT in 1/35th after the mind boggling 1/16th KT you just finished :hmmm:

Please don't tell me you have decided to scratch build the entire interior for this KT :nerdy:

 

:laugh: nope, no scratch building or interior for that matter. Just something to getting me going again after other projects have stalled. It will be pretty much oob, bar a couple of extras :)

 

4 hours ago, sonofjim said:

I'll be watching with interest Matt , it'll be quite sometime until I get mine out of the box and onto the bench .

I think I'll be going for a bulge KT with no zimm and jiggling details around to better represent the period production etc...

I'm not really sold on Zimm decals :hmmm:so I will be interested to see those in action too .I'm sure you'll do a stunning job as you did with your big KT !

 

 

Thankfully not too much to change for a bulge KT, nothing more than on any other kit anyway. The surface details on this kit should look great under a coat of paint. I'm on the fence about the decal zimmerit so it should be interesting to see how it works out. :) 

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Step 1 - Wheels and sprockets

 

As with most armour kits the instructions begin with the wheels and sprockets. Always good to get them done and out the way early on. 

 

The breakdown is the same as most KT kits so nothing new here. They are very nicely detailed with only a very fine mold seam to remove. Here you need to chose which hubs you want to use but Meng doesn't explain the difference. Parts B13/14 represent the common hubs with the D shaped depression whereas B11/12 represent the late circular hubs. Unless you are building a late version use B13/14. A small poly cap is sandwiched in the middle of each wheel which will help with building the tracks and painting. 

 

P1010340%20Custom.jpg

 

The sprocket and idlers are also very nicely done. Note the fine casting number on the hub of the idler wheel. The fit of the idler parts is very tight, you could probably not bother gluing it together.

 

P1010333%20Custom.jpg

 

Not the most interesting start but cleaning up a load of wheels never is. :laugh:

 

Cheers

Matt

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Step 2 - Hull

 

The lower hull has been designed to accept workable torsion bar suspension but this is not included in the base kit. Instead, Meng have you fit inserts into the hull to act as anchor points for the non workable swing arms. There are also 2 inserts that act as bracing for the hull as the main firewall is also not included. I also decided to add the forward hull brace at this point. 

 

P1010344%20Custom.jpg

 

Meng would also have you attach the the front hull extensions in step 2. I would advise against this as you would then have to slide the upper hull underneath them. It's much easier to drop the hull in place and then attach them, especially if you are adding the interior. Just a note on the hull brace for those adding the interior. The detail is great but there are some considerable pin marks which may be a bit of a pig to fill. They will be very noticeable with the hull roof removed.

 

P1010352%20Custom.jpg

 

At this point I decided to stop following the instructions and get the hull together. Meng would have you build and detail the upper and lower hulls separately and then joint them together at the end. I prefer to build the main components first before adding the smaller details to avoid breakages.

 

First up to add was the rear plate. Strangely the sprue attachments are on the detailed side of the part. You will have to be careful cleaning them up and some the surface texture will be lost.

 

P1010358%20Custom.jpg

 

Once the rear plate had been fitted the upper hull was cleaned up. There are some large pin marks on the inside of the upper hull which may need to be cleaned up. For the exterior version there is a large brace to be added to the upper hull which provides more rigidity and also provides a mount for the engine deck plates. 

 

This is the hull glued together. With the roof plate left off you can glue it all together from the inside.

 

P1010368%20Custom.jpg

 

Here you can get an idea of just how much of the interior will be view-able with the roof plate removed. Certainly a good solution if you don't fancy doing cutouts.

 

P1010369%20Custom.jpg

 

My only gripe with the exterior detailing is how the upper hull attaches to the rear plate. There is a noticeable join which will need to be filled. A shame really as some of the nice flame cut texture will be lost :( 

 

P1010370%20Custom.jpg

 

Cheers

Matt

 

 

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That is looking really good Matt. The detail looks excellent so it's a shame about Meng deciding to do stuff like putting the sprue gates on the outside of the rear part and the suspect joint where the upper hull joins the rear plate. You'd hope a company like Meng would not have this sort of issue. Excellent progress though.

Kind regards,

Stix

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Looks good but the join on the rear plate raises the question if these kits were designed by modellers.

Otherwise it looks like a fine kit.

Well done !

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Just how rough was the hull in reality? I see Meng has added a "rough texture"to the outer hull plates is it rough enough or does it warrant breaking out the Dremel and dental burs?

This little problem has me wondering about the JT too......................................B)

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Stix, Bernd, got to agree that it is not something you would expect in a new kit. The join seam I can understand considering the design of the kit but the attachment points is a strange one. Some of them are perfectly placed while others appear to have had no thought put in to them at all. It's not a huge issue by any means but when the rest of the kit is such high quality, it stands out.

 

4 hours ago, Gremlin56 said:

Just how rough was the hull in reality? I see Meng has added a "rough texture"to the outer hull plates is it rough enough or does it warrant breaking out the Dremel and dental burs?

This little problem has me wondering about the JT too......................................B)

 

I think Meng have hit a good balance between realism and aesthetics. It looks quite pronounced in the photos but it is actually quite smooth. The hull / turret roofs are a little overdone in my opinion but a light sanding will sort that. I think the effect will be very subtle under a coat of paint. In reality, at 1/35 scale this detail wouldn't be visible. The real armoured plates were much smoother than some would have you believe. I wouldn't take the Dremel to your JT unless you are adding battle damage. Maybe instead try to add some of the fine pitting seen on some of the late war armour. I followed a little guide when I added the texture to my KT. It's a subtle finish but I think it looks about right once painted. Check out this link: Rolled steel :) 

 

Planning to get a bit more done this afternoon so may have an update later :)

 

Cheers

Matt

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Hull - Continued

 

The hull roof has now been fitted, along with the front periscopes. The fit is very precise.

 

P1010374%20Custom.jpg

 

The front hull extensions are now on. Strangely fit is quite poor. After some sanding and scraping they still would not fit flush. Some filling to be done here.

 

P1010379%20Custom.jpg

 

The rear hull extensions have also been fitted. This creates more seams to fill :( I tackled this now, also adding the flame cut texture that has been sanded off.

 

P1010381%20Custom.jpg

 

Next I cleaned up all the swing arms. There is an annoying attachment point that will interfere with the fit to hull which needs to be carefully removed. There are also some quite thick mold seams that should be removed.

 

P1010386%20Custom.jpg

 

As all of the swing arms are the same, Meng have you add spacers to ten of the arms. This creates the spacing for the outer wheels.

 

P1010390%20Custom.jpg

 

So now onto the first issue I have had with the kit. I've mentioned that some of the kit is precision fit and it turns out this is true for the suspension. When I fitted the two inserts inside the hull for the swing arms (C3/4) I was certain they were properly in position. It turns out they are are not! The holes in the hull do not fully line up with with the inserts. It doesn't look like much but the precise fit of the parts means most of the swing arms will not fit :facepalm:

 

P1010384%20Custom.jpg 

 

The solution was to cut off most of the locating pin on the swing arms and glue them in place by eye. I'm quite happy with the result considering the issues.

 

P1010394%20Custom.jpg

 

P1010393%20Custom.jpg

 

I really can't say if this is an issue with the kit or one of my own doing. One thing that is for sure is Meng leave you with no room for error here. Double check the alignment of the inserts before gluing them!

 

Cheers

Matt

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Step 3 - Tracks 

 

I've now started work on the link and length tracks. Meng provide you with a jig for the upper track run to get the sag just right. 

 

P1010406%20Custom.jpg

 

I built up the rest of the left track pretty quickly. I think the link and length system works quite well and should look good under a coat of paint.

 

P1010401%20Custom.jpg

 

I would suggest gluing the running gear in place once painted. Despite the ploy caps there is a bit play in the wheels, sprocket and idler which allows the tracks to sit at a angle. I'm certain that some of the blame lies with the swing arm issues I had but the sprocket and idler are particularly loose. The tracks tend to bow inwards.

 

P1010397%20Custom.jpg

 

The zimmerit decals have now arrived so I will be adding them to the hull next :)

 

Cheers

Matt

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