¹⁄35

A39 Tortoise

Stage Fifteen

The exhaust and centre rear towing coupling that were assembled in the previous stage are now attached. The exhaust is easily fitted with no issues, provided you managed to get the exhaust couplings to sit flush previously. The centre rear towing assembly I found easiest to attach by gluing parts C31 and 32 onto the rear of the vehicle, then slipping the coupling between them; it is also easier to attach parts C35 and 36 at this point. On the rear of the Tortoise is what I believe to be a phone point so that accompanying ground troops can communicate with the crew without exposing themselves to enemy fire, and this added at this point, along with parts for retaining the towing cable in its stored position. Lastly is the attachment of parts D3 and 37, which I think is a secondary crew communications point, though I believe that this would not have been fitted to a production vehicle.

Stage Sixteen

Here I located my first issue that would be difficult to overcome: parts C41 and 42 are the base plates for the lights on the front of the vehicle, with each having an armoured cable, to be added in the next stage, that runs to blocks on both fenders; however, due to the fitting of parts D27 and 28 in stage seven, the cables cannot be routed correctly. I have included pictures of the Tortoise to clearly indicate the correct route of these cables, and I am a little surprised that Meng didn’t correct this, since they have gone to the trouble of supplying cables elsewhere, and would probably be aware of this issue. Finally, the addition of the front towing couplings and the two front fighting compartment hatches can be done without any difficulty.