With my review of this about to be published I thought i'd kick off the accompanying build log:



I love the smell of fresh styrene!:




This will be built entirely out of the box! More to follow.....

I have received my 2 of them and i have to say that i am a little bit disappointed. The plastic is too soft for such little parts as the T-90 has.

I have mine and will definitely follow along,gotta see how that track jig eorks

I was just reading the review that Rob sent in and i am a little confused that Rob said the plastic is hard and you said soft. Are you talking about the plastic itself or the detail?

I'm building one right now and I think the styrene is pretty hard too; Can't complain about the details, they are pretty spot on !

Could be a interesting WIP, will follow....

I just started one as well plastic is soft and it it way over engineered for a plastic model, it's gimmicky with the working suspension. I just finished the suspension.
But that's just my opinion
Wayne

I feel that a working suspension is a good thing as it allows the model to be accurately displayed on an uneven surface, That said I would lock the movement up once I decided on the display.

I'm not a T 90 Expert but I found it one the best builds in a while the suspension isn't difficult by any means compared to the Engineering in the Dragon M1s it's pretty simple cheers Ben

Rob- just saw your review- really excellent- its nice to see they haven't, as you pointed out, gone down the miniscule parts path of Bronco etc. Its also great to hear they have included the engine and some equipment for the interior of the turret. As I said- great review...and now a build log- looking forward to seeing this- good luck with it mate.

I'm not really sure what you mean here, I found the plastic itself to be a little harder than usual. The actual detailing of parts though, I really cannot say its soft. Perhaps the wiring on the turret isnt ideal, but really the parts moulding is incredible, the engine deck detailing is the most complete i've seen on any styrene T-72/T-90.

Thanks for stopping in Wayne and sharing your thoughts. I have to disagree on the gimmicky comment though. The working suspension is a very useful feature and one that I wish more models featured, rather than say some of the pointless recoiling gun barrels we see elswhere. Given the iconic photo's of T-90's flying over concrete obstacles with the, I imagine many modellers will like the working suspension feature.

Thanks for your comments Karl.

Heres a link to the review for anyone who missed it:

http://www.armorama.co.uk/review/9457

waitting for their first T-90 variant

just got mine over the weekend can't wait to start
dave

Time to start gluing some plastic I think! Apologies for the slow start on this, things have been a little hectic in my 'other' life, which has prevented me from getting any meaningful bench time in.

As one might expect, construction starts with the lower hull. I skipped the wheels to begin with as I could face the clean up and got right on with the hull assemblies.

First pieces:



And the beautifully detailed one piece lower hull:



The fit of the lower glacis plate isnt perfect, one will really have to force this down:





It does look very good with the separate blade in place:



Theres some neat little movable shock absorber parts. Be careful with the glue here as this part needs to rotate:



The torsion bars prior to some clean up:



Rear wall fitted:



Fantastic internal detailing on the wheels:



When I finally got around to the wheels I did feel the rubber mould texturing was a little heavy, this would ground down pretty much straight away. Nothing a bit of sanding cant fix:



To make the torsion bars movable one just glues the end of them into slots on the inside hull, it works quite well:



And the completed lower hull, looking quote busy already:





Unfortunately the shock absorber arms dont really stay in place very well and cant be glued as this would prevent movement:





My initial thoughts at this stage are that this is surely a stunning kit which builds up fairly easily. The working suspension is a nice idea and the model sits fairly well without any movement. Certainly though if one wishes to position this over uneven terrain then additional weight will be required to force the torsion bars up/down, or of course glue them into the desired position once the correct articulation has been achieved.

Next up the engine........

Hello Rob,

This Meng is a sweet lookin kit! Im doin the Zvezda offering and i see alot of superior detail on the Meng. Great job so far fella.

I got a good price on my Zvezda kit at a local IPMS show last year. Had i to do over again i would waited for the Meng for sure!

Cheers,
Gary

hay Rob do you have any pic of the engine and the compartment thanks
dave

Dear David,

Well done of the torsion bar,my kit wasn't well molded,the slots are lillte wider than the end of bars,I am afraid the hull would be lower than the real tank,so I use carbon fiber bar instead.

Quite annoying for a kit of this price, even more considering that the movable suspension is supposed to be a distinctive feature...

Sorry for the delay guys, everything else always seems to get in the way of me getting any bench time!

I didnt have the same issue as Andy where the slots where too big for the suspension, however I will say that with the weight of plastic it does push the torsion bars down causing the tank to sit a little lower than i'd like. Naturally one could just glue the bars into their desired position.

Anyway, skipping the tracks for the moment, I moved onto the engine, which is beautifully detailed and a real little work of art:







The engine compartment has just enough to be viewed through the hatch:



Theres no intakes or fan housings represented in the rear, however this area is pretty much blanked off when everything is in place.

The firewall does have to mould marks, these can be ignored as they arent visible with the engine in place:



Everything in place:





Heres the one-piece upper hull placed onto the lower hull, minus any of the fittings at this stage:



The visible engine looks nice and busy (please note I have left off some etch parts to allow easier painting of the engine)




More to follow......

Nice, Rob!!
I didn't start mine yet, so your build will be of great help.
I'll keep following your work with full attention!

nice work rob how come you did not ad the PE to the engine ????
dave

Thanks guys!

Its certainly not the easiest build in the world, and the plastic is a little hard to work with, but this its my opinion this is generally a very nice model and rather pleasing to build




I left that off for ease of painting the engine block.

Hi;

The Engine looks Great, altho there is a lot of Wiring that has too be added. If only the others would do the engine compartment it sure would be nice.
This feature really makes building a vehicle a real plus in my way of thinking, and worth the extra money !


CHEERS; MIKE.