Meng 1/35 Whippet

[Deleted member 7181]

Made a start on this today in between the slow & steady weathering process on my T-28. I'm sure you've seen plenty of these being built so I won't go into too much detail but I thought I'd start a thread anyway as I'm sure I'll have some questions along the way.



Lots of different pieces to the fighting compartment coming together at all sorts of angles and some that have to be bent to shape, so rather than go step by step and get alignment wrong, I cleaned up all of the pieces and put it together in one go. First "tacking" each panel in place with a few drops of Contacta to give me some wiggle room, then when it was all assembled I ran TET down the inside of each joint, pressing them firmly together.

Seemed to work OK as it all lines up and I have minimal gaps.





It's been a speedy process so far and after only a couple of hours I had something resembling the main body of a tank





I used a bit of Vallejo putty in some of the joints. I know these are just large plates riveted together so the fit will never be seamless, but I'm sure they didn't have gaps that let daylight through! By using the Vallejo one I could get it into the seam and clean off the surrounding area with a cotton bud before it dried. Sanding around all of those rivets wasn't an option.

I've left the guns out for now as I'm sure I'll just knock them off.

I'm already having a debate with myself about the paint job. I know these are generally just a greeny browny muddy colour, but I'm fancying a camo job. I know it won't please the purists but I could mark it down as "experimental"

 

[Mickc1440]

A very speedy start Andy, it really is a nice looking kit.

 

[Si Benson]

Your a model making machine Andy
Have built a couple of Meng kits recently, an FT17 and a Jagdpanther both really good kits I think.

Look forward to see which way you go with the paint

 

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Nice start I will follow this along.

 

[SimonT]

Andy - How about a captured version in German camo?

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks guys, good to have you along.

I've started with the wheels now, that's stopped my gallop!

Simon, I saw a picture of one on here that was a captured German version and that's what got me thinking about camo. There are actually some German decals included in the kit but no colour call outs, so if I can work those out it would be a cracking idea, thanks.

 

[Jakko]

I'm already having a debate with myself about the paint job. I know these are generally just a greeny browny muddy colour, but I'm fancying a camo job. I know it won't please the purists but I could mark it down as "experimental"

According to one site that usually has accurate artwork, this is what it looked like in colour:

 

[Mickc1440]

Wow that's not hiding is it?

 

[Deleted member 7181]

That looks more like graffiti than camo

I've saved the link though, thanks Jakko.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Various wheels, idlers and sprockets cleaned up and assembled.

The sprockets were attached to the sprue via 6 of the teeth so that's 24 individual teeth that needed trimming & shaping by hand. What fun! I'm aware they won't ever be seen but at least I know they've been done



Hope to get the running gear together in the morning prior to a day tiling a kitchen.

 

[Steve Jones]

I see your not hanging around with this one Andy. Off to a fine start. Its a shame it came with rivets moulded on as it would have been great fun putting on your own . Mr T could tell you a few stories about that. Good luck with the camo. Its gonna look awesome.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Haha, yes. I hope one day to get close to that level of skill but for now I'm more than happy to let the manufacturer do the hard work for me!

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Running gear put together, then given a coat of black to make sure I hit all the nooks & crannies that might be hard to reach later.







That's the construction pretty much finished, just the tools, guns & track spuds to add which I'll do after painting.

Oh and the tracks of course. They should be no problem given the exhaustive instructions



That's it! Hope it's as easy as they make it appear

 

[Deleted member 7237]

Hi Andy great work so far, just one thing have you left of tow cable hooks on the outer side of the running gear ? Can't see them in the photos.
Keep up the great work.
Pete.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Ah yes, those need to go on too Pete, I'd forgotten.

They looked really flimsy so thought I'd leave it as late as possible.

 

[Deleted member 7237]

Ah yes, those need to go on too Pete, I'd forgotten.

They looked really flimsy so thought I'd leave it as late as possible.

I replaced mine with copper wire much easier.
Pete.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

I'm not sure I could manage that with any kind of consistency but it's worth a try.

I'm unsure about the actual cable itself too. The supplied "silvery string" isn't really doing it for me. I have plenty of very fine stranded wire and I've seen people twist it up to look more like a cable, so I might give that a go as well.

 

[Deleted member 7237]

I'm not sure I could manage that with any kind of consistency but it's worth a try.

I'm unsure about the actual cable itself too. The supplied "silvery string" isn't really doing it for me. I have plenty of very fine stranded wire and I've seen people twist it up to look more like a cable, so I might give that a go as well.

I also replaced that to they are really easy to make I'm sure you are more than up to the task.
Pete.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Pete

 

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Great work. that will be an interesting paint job should you choose it. I'm with Pete I am sure you are up to making the ropes.