Valerons Mk. A Whippet - Meng 1/35 scale

[Valeron]

My modelling has not been going well of late and I've failed to complete numerous builds. I've had a rest for a few months and will now give this one a go.

I've never made Meng model before. The sprues look nice and clean and this will be my first time with so many track parts.

Wish me luck and hopefully my mojo will return.

Mike

 

[Jakko]

Meng kits are generally pretty good (I say that even though I’ve only ever built one of them, and the tracks of another ) and in any case, you can be glad you didn’t buy the old Emhar kit of the Whippet instead …

If you’re in need of photos of the real thing, I’ll plug my old PDF about the Whippet here as well

 

[Valeron]

I've made a small start. The fit so far is good with limited cleanup required.

The top compartment was a little fiddly as parts needed bending and squeezing in. I'll need to make a few adjustments before attaching the compartment to the Hull, but that's for another day.

 

[Andy T]

Looking good.

I built this a few years ago and also found the top section a bit fiddly to line up but thought it was a great kit overall.

 

[Valeron]

It's taking shape. This requires further adjustment but I'm going to let it fully dry first as its very fiddly to hold together.

 

[vizenz]

I'll place a chair here.

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Have one in the stash awaiting the inspiration to build it, so will pull up a chair and watch with interest.

 

[RonGlass]

I'll just drag in my chaise lounge if okay. Anybody mind if I take off my shoes and socks to get comfortable ?

 

[Tworrs]

Looking good so far Mike.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Count me in Mike. Mojo is a funny thing, comes and goes. Good luck with this one.

 

[Valeron]

Haven't had bench time for ages as my modelling room (the spare bedroom) has mostly been occupied by visitors. That's the problem with having an Australian wife. Her friends and family come en mass and stay for quite a while. And they haven't gone yet. Not that I'm complaining as we have loads of people to stay with when we go down under.

I suspect this build will be a slow on. Anyway, the tip part of the tank is now fully build. I'm going put this aside and now work on the lower part.

It's an interesting model and I'm looking forward to eventually painting it.



Its certainly not a tank i could imagine actual being in. Even from the model, it feels like conditions inside it would have been incredibly basic and harsh.

 

[Jim R]

I'll be watching with interest. Sounds like a good kit and you've made a fine start. Although I've never built a WW1 tank I've always fancied tackling one.

 

[A_J_Rimmer]

Certainly a very interesting subject - you've made a great start!

 

[Jakko]

Its certainly not a tank i could imagine actual being in. Even from the model, it feels like conditions inside it would have been incredibly basic and harsh.

And then imagine it was probably better than inside British heavy tanks of the time Here at least the engines are out in front of the crew, even if there wasn’t a firewall. In the heavy tanks, the engine stood in the middle of the crew compartment, out in the open — and on the first models it didn’t even have an exhaust pipe!

 

[Valeron]

I haven't had any bench time for a while but yesterday managed to assemble to left running gear. The final photos are dry fitted for now as I need to paint the inside, most of which will be hidden when it's fully assembled and the tracks are on.

So far, no problems other than a few fiddly parts. The main problem is me committing time to work on it.

I'm going to work on the right side next, then prime the model so far, paint the inside parts and then assemble.

 

[A_J_Rimmer]

Wow! There's certainly a lot to that assembly.

 

[Tim Marlow]

And then imagine it was probably better than inside British heavy tanks of the time Here at least the engines are out in front of the crew, even if there wasn’t a firewall. In the heavy tanks, the engine stood in the middle of the crew compartment, out in the open — and on the first models it didn’t even have an exhaust pipe!

Yep, having been inside a couple at Bovington I can agree with that. Not unknown for the crew to pass out due to fumes either. Love the Whippet, by the way. My favourite WW1 AFV. Mind you, that’s a lot of wheels…..

 

[Jakko]

Not unknown for the crew to pass out due to fumes either.

Wearing thick leather clothes against accidental burns and bullet splash didn’t help there either, of course.

Love the Whippet, by the way. My favourite WW1 AFV. Mind you, that’s a lot of wheels…..

I wouldn’t mind building this kit. I started on the Emhar one 20+ years ago, around the time I was putting together that PDF I linked to in my first reply in this topic, but gave up because of the great amount of work needed to bring it up to scratch. In my memory, it’s more like a 1:72 scale kit enlarged to 1:35. The Meng one should be a whole lot more refined, I would expect.

BTW, Mike, does it include the rear stowage bins and/or the canvas track covers?

 

[Valeron]

BTW, Mike, does it include the rear stowage bins and/or the canvas track covers?

Jakko

No, these are not included with the kit.

 

[Jakko]

I hadn’t expected the track covers, except maybe as etched parts, but not including the bins seems a bit of a major omission. They’re not on absolutely all Whippets photographed in service, but were common enough that I’d expect them to be in the kit. Oh, well