Meng 1/35 Merkava 3D Late LIC

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
While the pace of the M911/M747/D9R build was slowing down because i needed to paint and weather the cabine interior ,i decided to start a new build
This time for a group build on modern armor by the DAA (Dutch Armor Association) or TWENOT as it is known by dutch modellers

For this GB i decided to start with a fairly easy build
I picked the Meng Merkava 3D Late LIC (Low Intensity Conflict)
Wich is this kit

20181022_111345 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
My plan is to build it out of the box without the addition of any upgrade parts or figure
But because it will be a closed vehicle i think it would be quite boring
So to atleast add something to it i will be adding a rough anti slip coating ,looking at some reference photo's it looks to be a very course non slip layer so sand is a option


20181022_111404 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
A look in the box
I unpacked the parts a while ago as i wanted to start it before but bailed out on that idea at the time
So it is still unstarted at that point


20181022_122948 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
As is the case with almost all the armor kits this build starts with the wheels
I picked the steel wheels but there are rubber tyre wheels in the kit aswell


20181022_152734 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
All the wheels and return rollers


20181022_153644 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The final drive covers and idler wheel supports


20181022_155500 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The first parts are added to the hull


20181022_203716 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
A couple of small steps later the lower hull starts to take shape


20181022_210023 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
Then the back door was put together
I glued it shut but it is designed to have moveable doors


20181022_210102 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
Fitted in the hull tub


20181022_212520 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
Then the hull baskets where put together


20181022_220209 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
And the towhooks and belly plate are added


20181022_220214 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
As you can see the belly plate actually hangs on the towhooks


20181022_221530 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
Then the work moves to the upper hull parts by placing the exhaust grill and some periscopes


20181022_222720 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
Then the panels to cover the gap in the hull are put together



20181022_224027 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The first panels are placed as are the fronts of the side skirts (wich i later removed) and the brackets for the main side skirts


20181022_225351 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The main panel was placed wich has a very tight fit amd the headlights where placed


20181022_225815 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The drivers hatch was added


20181022_234634 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The taillights where assembled


20181023_000042 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
The right hand side brackets are placed


20181023_000623 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
And the upper and lower hull parts are glued together


20181023_002135 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
Then the photo etch grills are placed


20181023_002141 by Mark Verploeg - Flickr2BBcode LITE
One on this side aswell

And that completes the hull
So i will stop here and do the turret in the next update

Take care
Cheers
Mark

[Tiger131]

gotta love a meng and love the look of this kit look forward to seeing more of this

[digger303]

your doing a great job on a very nice kit. One question about the kit or vehicle. That grill like panel near the hatch in pic's 15 and 17, is that supposed to be a type of mesh screen or something entirely different ?

[MarkVerploeg]

gotta love a meng and love the look of this kit look forward to seeing more of this

This is a very nice kit
Allthough some parts could have been designed a little bit better
Like the massive panel for the upper hull
That hole is filled with 3 or 4 parts wich could have been one
Niw it had a very tight fit
The only thing i don't like is the open sponsons
But then again you can only see that if you remove the turret

[MarkVerploeg]

your doing a great job on a very nice kit. One question about the kit or vehicle. That grill like panel near the hatch in pic's 15 and 17, is that supposed to be a type of mesh screen or something entirely different ?

Thanks Digger
I think it is supossed to be a mesh screen
My guess is that it is the air intake for the engine wich is next to the driver
Based on the point that the exhaust is on the other side of the vehicle
And it has a second grill and cover wich makes me think it has added protection as just a screen would be rather fragile either from a projectile/explosive like a grenade or just the crew stepping on it all the time
But i'm not sure
I haven't done a lot of research on it when i was building it

[Kevthemodeller]

Looking forward to watching this one Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you
I will be posting some updates on my various builds this week as i am currently painting a lot of stuff
So there is a lot of waiting for paint to dry and spare time to start posting updates

[schweinhund227]

I feel your pain about the Engine cover assembly or should I call it "Sub-Assemblies" ??? man that was nerve testing!
it has shaken my faith in the MENG goodness !!!

On my Mk.3D I had to use copious amount of clamps to hold various parts in place while I stitch glued it using superglue... till it conformed to all the surrounding framework; inducing a warp in the upper hull which later canceled itself once attached to the Lower hull.

MENG could have done a much better job as you mentioned!
I do intend to get one eventually to complete my collection but will have to go slow over those parts you mentioned....

Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!

[MarkVerploeg]

I feel your pain about the Engine cover assembly or should I call it "Sub-Assemblies" ??? man that was nerve testing!
it has shaken my faith in the MENG goodness !!!

On my Mk.3D I had to use copious amount of clamps to hold various parts in place while I stitch glued it using superglue... till it conformed to all the surrounding framework; inducing a warp in the upper hull which later canceled itself once attached to the Lower hull.

MENG could have done a much better job as you mentioned!
I do intend to get one eventually to complete my collection but will have to go slow over those parts you mentioned....

Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!

Thank you
It wasn't that bad that i had to use a lot of clamps but i had to push the parts in place untill the glue had a bit of time to set
Wich is fairly quick with TET
But this kit isn't on the same standard as most other Meng kits i made so far
Kits like the D9R and the BMPT wich are about the same price are better in my opinion
Besides that both of those have workable tracks
Something i really like in kits as it works well with my way of building (i tend to construct the hull completely with the exception of side skirts)
But it still is good don't get me wrong ,it just isn't as good as it could have been

[schweinhund227]

It wasn't that bad that I had to use a lot of clamps but I had to push the parts in place until the glue had a bit of time to set
Which is fairly quick with TET
But this kit isn't on the same standard as most other Meng kits I made so far
Kits like the D9R and the BMPT which are about the same price are better in my opinion
Besides that, both of those have workable tracks
Something I really like in kits as it works well with my way of building (i tend to construct the hull completely with the exception of side skirts)
But it still is good don't get me wrong, it just isn't as good as it could have been

If I recall correctly? I think that Tooling was one of the very first kits they announced ! not the boxing you currently are working on, but the kit it is based on! Merkava Mk.3D "early" and they must have learned a lot since!

I will most definitely get one... like yours since I like the LiC look ! with all the added bits...

[MarkVerploeg]

That could very well be case
I know the D9R is one of their first but they made several kits when they started
Good thing the newer ones are better