Hi all !
Having high hopes on MENGs Leopard 2A4 I have to conclude that building the kit has turned into frustration.
The turret is fine ... almost perfect ... the main gun needs to be replaced and the PSM barrel works fine.
But the upper hull is a catastrophe !
The plastic is too soft and the upper hull is warped in all axis ... trying to get the sides 90 degrees straight is impossible ... will not line up properly to the rear plate.
I carefully tried bracing and warming up the the whole thing amongst other attempts ... but no satisfying solution was achieved.
I am really p....d to say the least !
MENGs PzHb 2000 their Leo 1s ... especially their t-90s all great kits ... but this is too much of a disappointment for something I have been waiting for so long.
My hope is that if TRUMPETER really retools their Leo 2 range that maybe their 2A4M CAN hull will do the trick.

Cheers
Christopher

Hello,

Sounds awful... Maybe you received a "test-production kit"??!!

Because regarding to the first reviews, these problem were not mention (Leopardclub review)

The soft (not on this extreme way) was already a problem with other kits (T-90).

Best wishes

If that hull is badly warped (to the point it's unfixable), I would ask Meng for a replacement if I were you.

Cheers,

Christophe

I had the same problem with the lower hull of two Dragon M1A2 SEP kits in the past and can really understand your annoyance. Heat treatment etc. didn't turn out as suitable Solutions. So what i did was to glue in metal sheet (about 1,5mm thick or so) widespread to get correct angles again and make the upper hull fit well onto it. The result is a kinda weighty styrene model...

sounds like you just had a bad kit. Mine was flawless. Definitely contact MEng

Hey guys!

Here some quick pics to illustrate the dilemma:

Along the length axis you get this gap if you fixate the front first ... getting it glued to the rear is not the problem.
Here you see what happens if you try to get the sidewall in to a 90 degree angle ... the top deck lifts and then one would have to glue the top to the rear and under pressure try to keep the 90 degrees along the whole length of the hull.

It's not that I am a novice in "straightening out" things .... the Dragon M1A2 is a piece of cake in comparison.
And getting a replacement from MENG (and they have a great costumer service) is not the solution ... one would still have to "level" the deck close to the turret ring as well.
Structurally trying to apply and keep such tension to force it back into shape is sheer impossible.

It's actually an engineering/design flaw and bound to happen due to the open engine bay so close to the turret ring without any structural support across the width, the bulk wall separating turret from the engine compartment should be integrated into the mold (at least partially/hight) ... the open rear section cannot provide any structural integrity along both length axis (sidewalls) either. If the rear grill would have been part of the mold "closing" it into angle and shape ... or some kind of provisional skeleton to be removed once top and bottom hull section are married, that could have worked.
TAMIYAs Leo 2A5/6 have a similar issue which can be "braced" quite easily and they have the engine bay closed.
The top hull section on both kits is too long to be kept stable without any supporting structural measures/beams" across the width.
So I don't think there is a quick fix possible under existing circumstances.
MENG tried to be as flexible as possible which I really appreciate ... but structurally there are limits.
So I have already wasted 2 kits and I know some will say the defects are only minimal ... but I hoped for a proper/correct kit of the Leo 2A4 (not even talking money !) and once identified I will always "see" the sidewalls not properly aligned no matter how good the rest of the kit might be.

Cheers
Christopher

That stinks, but I had no such issues with mine. My upper and lower hull parts went together without any problem or alignment issue at all.

Judging by reviews of the kit, you seem to have a defective part. However, you are in luck! Meng just started an after-sales service program, so if you send them pictures of the deformed part, they'll send you a new one!
http://meng-model.com/new.php?id=474

They have had this a long time, but don't expect they are fast by sending replacement parts, i have had 2 kits that i have contacted them to get replacement parts, first time it took almost 3 months to get a missing decal and the next time it was a big burn mark in the cougar upper hull and to get a new one of that took over 2 months... They send it but it take time and need to send them some emails and ask when they will send the parts

Thankx for the info !
But as I mentioned I believe it's a general design/structural issue.

Cheers
Christopher

Here are some more pics describing the problem I have run into.

Here you can imagine how warped the whole hull is, Kit#2:

And here you can see an angle with the sidewalls when all parts are connected on Kit#1

I don't see how to get this corrected in any satisfactory way ...

Cheers
Christopher

Hello,

after checking my three kits i think its a mix of an error in Design of the kit and stowing the parts in the box.

First: There should be a stiffening piece under the small part of the upper hull between turretring and the opening for the enginedeck.
To keep the sides of the upper hull at 90 degrees there should be some triangle pieces to keep the sides and the upper deck at 90 degree.

Second: The parts for the hull are stowed under the turret and under some sprues.
The Box is pressing on the sprues in the box, the sprues are forcing the turret down and apply pressure to the "weak" upper hull and so the upper hull gets out of shape.

My three kits show a small fit issue in the same area as yours but after a quick check its easy to solve on my kits.

I think in your case the problem should be solved by gluing in some straightening parts made of plastic or metal in the specific areas under the upper hull to get it straight.

Cheers

Markus

One method is to glue the short side of a rectangle to the inside of the side, let it set for a few days and then use the rectangle as a lever to force the side and top into the correct angle. The problem is that the hull top will probably flex upward and there would be no change.

If I had this problem I would scribe into the angle between
side and top from the inside, almost but not quite through the
plastic, bend/force it into the correct angle and then glue stiffeners from the inside.
Maybe some (fraction of a millimetre) plastic needs to be removed from the edge of the "shelf" over the tracks in case it pushes the lower edge of the sides outwards
/ Robin

I may be revealing my ignorance here, but are the hull sides meant to be truly vertical? Looking at the slight angle on the rear vent grille in your last pic, it seems to match the slight angle on the hull side-top joint. There may be an upward warp behind the turret ring due to poor packing that can be ironed out, but before writing off those non-90degree sides I'd check to see if they really are a problem.

Maybe they are not exactly at 90 degrees to the horizontal but they are a lot more vertical then in the latest image
above. They are definitely at the same angle as the rear (with all the wents) so the bottom of the side needs to be
moved inwards even if it isn't all the way to exactly vertical.

Straight from behind, nearly vertical but not exactly
http://data.primeportal.net/apc/leopards/leopard2a5/Dsc00759.jpg

Join between rear and side
http://data.primeportal.net/apc/sascha/leopard_2a4_walk/00763m.jpg
Compare with join in images above.
I think I remember having, manageable, issues with this with Revell, Italeri and Tamiya kits but memory is an unreliable function of the human brain ....
/ Robin

Hey guys !

I have been doing some "research" if you like and this is what I have come up with.

1. The from section of the sidewalls accepting the hinges/attachments for whatever heavy side-skirts is vertical.
2. On the left side (looking front) the metal sheet plate right up to the door of the NBC filters ... NBC door also vertical, and then the small exhaust grill.
On the other side metal sheet plate right up to the small exhaust grill vertical as well.
3. The last metal plate on both sides with the storage-doors ending at the rear grill could have a very slight angle but almost vertical.
If there is a recess to prove this then it's covered up by the weld seam of the exhaust grill.

So even if Tom is revealing his ignorance here
and Robin's observations conclude a not exactly 90 degree vertical angle
.... my problem still exists because I can't achieve a close enough vertical angle in the front still revealing the default with the attachment of the front side -skirts.
My only real option is to "chop" the hull at the side exhaust grills ... stabilize the front section into a vertical position ... connect the rear side walls to the rear plate and then "cover up" the recess at the small exhaust grill with a new weld seam.
Looks like I got myself two "twisted sisters" kits here
But I don't think I'll go through all this trouble ... I'll wait and see what HobbyBoss comes up with and try to utilize this kit's very nice turret somehow.

Cheers
Christopher