Bradley M2A3

[GazB]

Hey, Reilly.

 

if you're still looking for stuff to make straps with, there is this: http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/formable-metals-foil/352-flexible-metal-foil.html

 

Its a little tricky to glue and you have to be careful not to chip paint from it (roughing the surface may work). But it can be cut and bends nicely

 

Gaz

[Reilly]

Hi Gaz,

 

Thanks for the link. There's some interesting stuff on that site and the flexible foil looks like a solution for a few things. Up to now I've been using the lead tops of wine bottles.

 

Cheers

John.

[Reilly]

Turret paint job repaired and assembly complete.

 

 

It really does have a two tone look. Try and reduce that later.

 

 

Adding the decals was a pain. Maybe they were old but did have the tendency to fall apart. I'll have to paint over the missing parts. Some of them really were a bit of a joke. Tamiya seems to expect the decals to fit over the massive rivets on the armour plate so spent a lot of time lining things up and cutting holes in the decals only to have them then fall apart when applied, aargh!!

 

 

Problem with pictures is that the parts I missed show up rather well, back to a bit of weathering.

[Dads203]

Very very nice fella 

[Reilly]

Ok, finally finished so here's some decent pictures of the end result.

 

 

 

At the start of this thread I said I'd compare the two Bradley kits, Meng and Tamiya. Here they are together.

 

 

 

Things were going well then this happened:

 

 

It has since been repaired and returned to service on the display cabinet shelf. 

 

As to which kit was better; detail wise the Meng version wins hands down right down to the detail on the various tool clamps. No brass needed in the case of the Meng kit other than what was provided. Decals were of high quality compared to Tamiya which just fell apart in some places. That said some decals in the Meng kit were in places that are hidden from view and then when they would be in view they are missing, somebody made a few strange choices.

The clear plastic provided for the optics on the Meng kit make it look a lot more realistic than the lack of in the case of Tamiya. More need to follow this route but it does mean that they have to be protected (or added later) when painting the main vehicle.

Construction wise the Tamiya is childishly simple and it all fits together well without the hours of fettling that almost every part of the Meng kit required. Even my kak handed efforts with the Eduard PE on the Tamiya weren't too difficult although I didn't replace everything with PE. On the whole I'm pleased with the combined result and happy that I'm not going to be looking at another Bradley for some time. There's still one in the stash but its staying there for a few years.

 

In both cases the track delivered with the model was used rather than after market. The Meng set will withstand close inspection, the Tamiya rubber bands maybe not so close but I'm happy with the results.

That's all folks, thanks for looking in and the appreciated comments. 

Edited May 27, 2018 by Reilly

[Bullbasket]

It's interesting to get a comparison between two manufactures kits of the same subject, especially when they both turn out as well as these two did. Nice one (or two).

 

John.

[FrancisGL]

The result is magnificent, both Tamiya and Meng, they look very well finished. The work has deserved the effort. 

Cheers Reilly 👍

[Reilly]

Thanks for the comments. It took me a bit to get the enthusiasm going for the Tamiya version after I'd completed the Meng but at the end of the day it seems to have worked out. Its flying thingies next for a bit. I've a 1/32 Corsair on the bench but after that there's a Centurion needing some urban camouflage. 

 

Cheers

John. 

Edited June 1, 2018 by Reilly

[longshanks]

Nice Pair !

 

😉

 

Kev

[crushkill]

Look excellent!!

[Reilly]

Thanks Crushkill. Hope I did them justice. They're looking good on the shelf. Sometime in the future I'll knock up some part of Baghdad for them.

[Kris B]

Looking good.