Meng announces a British R-R Armoured Car Pattern 1914/1920

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Thanks!

Excellent news.

One of the very few kits I look forward to seeing and buying!

As used by El-Aurens in the desert?

Would this one be appropriate for the Irish Civil War?

Thanks in advance!

With Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

No, that would be a 1914 Pattern Rolls with a significantly shorter turret. Presumably, Meng will eventually offer that version as well. Ir's available now from Roden, but the kit is primitive, and expensive.

No, the first version shown is an interim vehicle with the 1914 Pattern wire wheels and solid radiator doors with the later, taller 1920 Pattern turret. The second version has correct vented radiator doors, but the 1939-40 pattern wheels and sand tires. If you use the resin replacement wheels from Trax (which have the solid wheel rims of the 1920 Pattern Rolls), you would have the parts to do an Irish Civil War vehicle or an Army or RAF vehicle in Iraq in the 1920's..

Better get on a build my Roden one then before I get one of these...

For those interested in a "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" RR AC now, (Lawrence of Arabia) the best kit out there is the Resicast 1/35 1914 RR in resin, followed by the now dated Scale Link 1/32 1914 RR AC in white metal. Both are OOP, but can be found occasionally, with the Resicast version being a little pricey (nobody likes white metal but me I guess, so the Scale Link versions are relatively cheap-- probably cheaper than this new Meng offering will be). This Meng version looks very promising-- and it shows a 1914 version, which wouldn't be too hard to convert. I have the Resicast and Scale Link versions, and owned the Roden version before trading it away (it was a little crude in detail in my opinion). I'd love to compare them to this Meng version. For those interested here's an Armorama look at the Resicast version:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/news/4487

VR, Russ

Now all we need are some 1914 pattern camels

Well, there's actually a Tiger or two that still needs to be done, so a bit of a disappointment. Ha ha! This weird car reminds me of that old "Battle" or "War" (Commando maybe) comic where the English officer is driving around the desert. It would be interesting to finish it in a unique way - in German or foreign service maybe?

I am getting this one. I had the Roden kit with Black Dog resin update and MB weapons. It turned pretty well. I am really looking forward to this.

The wheels on the Meng kit look a little bit overscaled to me.

The Resicast resin kit has been updated recently and is very accurate.

I bought the three versions of the Roden RR and although they lack some details, they are a more than decent base.

Just a reminder-- the Resicast kit is out of production. Which set of wheels-- the 1940s version or the 1914 version? the 1914 version looks pretty good to me in the CAD photos, but I can't really tell. I too bought one of the Roden kits (as mentioned above). You are right, they are passable with a lot of work, but are characterized by soft detail, incomplete engine compartment, overly thick sprue gates, and sadly, Roden style "fit" (as in poor). I gave away my half- built Roden kit in a deal for the Resicast version with a local distributor (RJ productions, now out of business) with an added cash incentive ($100!) The Resicast version is superb if you can find one. The Scale Link version is also rather nice, but again in 1/32 scale, and "heavy" as its white metal--also it's a true craftsman kit, since you can't just "slap it together" with polystyrene cement. So this new offering from Meng looks promising. again, I'd love to compare it to the others.
VR, Russ

Are you positive both kits have the same longer turret? It doesn't look that way from the single photo of the 1914 version, but I could be wrong.

Bill, I think you are correct-- it looks OK to me too, but its hard to tell from the CAD drawings alone. the Box art is of course the turret from 1940 with the Boys anti-tank rifle, and it's my understanding that many of these vehicles had the top of the turret removed, some had a larger (as in taller) turret modification. Of course we won't be able to verify anything until the kit plastic comes out. But for now, the CAD drawings of the 1914 version look OK for a WWI vehicle. Wonder what the price will be.
VR, Russ

Any idea when it's going to be released?

Interesting variant upgrade/conversions would be the 1914 RR with the 3 Pdr (Hotchkiss 47mm) or the RR with the 1 Pdr Pom-Pom.

eBay had some listed. Shipping from China. $49.95 plus $10.00 for airmail. Am waiting fro arrival.

Related discussion

H.P.

The fine print on the box art says Parts for WW1 and WW2 versions included. Al

The 1920 turret is taller, not longer, and the vertical section of the later turret is about twice as high as that section of the 1914 turret. It's very noticeable.

Of course, it may be that Meng is also going to include the early turret in the box. We won't know until we see the sprues. But based on the released images, it looks like they are offering two versions not covered by Roden's releases, at least initially.

The early variant they show may technically be a WW1 version, as a small number were delivered in that configuration at war's end.