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Armor/AFV: Axis - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Axis forces during World War II.
Hosted by Darren Baker
Meng King Tiger...wow!
cabasner
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Nevada, United States
Joined: February 12, 2012
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Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 10:28 AM UTC
Hey All,

I've been spending almost all of time over the last year on 'the dark side', with "wingie things". But...I wanted to be ready when I come back into the armor fold. I have a Dragon Henschel turret King Tiger, but I kind of messed it up, put the commander's cupola on wrong not once, but TWICE, and started to do weathering and mud before even getting close to finished with the hull...it was, and is, just a mess. I have another Dragon King Tiger with the Porsche turret, which I will definitely build one day. But, for now, to replace the Henschel tank, I decided to go with the newer Meng version. And I got all the crazy pieces/parts to go with it. I got the Meng full interior, a kit unto itself, the Royal Model Tiger II Tools and Holders set, the Voyager misc photo etch set (PE358740), the Voyager King Tiger Schurzen photo etch side fender set, and the ATAK resin Zimmerit set, because I've never been impressed with the Meng Zimmerit sets that I've seen, whereas I haven't ever seen a 'bad' ATAK Zimmerit set.

So...lots to work on, and this tank should be a wonderful piece when it's done...if I ever get there! Wish me luck!
RobinNilsson
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Stockholm, Sweden
Joined: November 29, 2006
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Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 10:38 AM UTC
ColinEdm
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ARMORAMA
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Alberta, Canada
Joined: October 15, 2013
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Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 10:55 AM UTC
Good luck and have fun with it!
dhines
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Nova Scotia, Canada
Joined: November 17, 2015
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Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 12:23 PM UTC
Good luck Curt I will look forward to seeing some updates after you get started. You sure have a nice list of goodies for it.
cabasner
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Nevada, United States
Joined: February 12, 2012
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Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 01:14 PM UTC
Like many of you, I'm doubting the wisdom of putting all that incredible detail inside the tank, where the only aspects that will be seen are through open hatches. However, I'm also like many of you who are of the opinion that "I'Il know it's in there", and that's enough for me. I'd like, perhaps, to do some kind of diorama where at least one hull top hatch, covering the engine, would be off and set aside, maybe on the ground. I'll be doing a lot of research to try to duplicate a real life situation with hatches open, and crew, maybe not 'swarming' over the tanks, but at least several of them performing various tasks of maintenance. I am the world's worst figure painter, but maybe this will be a motivator for me to improve my skills in that area. And, that would be a cross-over skill into painting pilots for my airplane models!
dhines
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Nova Scotia, Canada
Joined: November 17, 2015
KitMaker: 407 posts
Armorama: 373 posts
Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 02:52 PM UTC
Not to go off script Curt, but you could do a wreck to show off all of the internal details. There is a great pic of a King Tiger wreck on the cover of the book titled Tomb of the Panzerwaffe by Aleksei Isaev covering the battles in Hungary 1945. The pic shows a blown off turret from an internal explosion with the turret laying against the side of the hull. It would be a great way to show off some interior work. Best regards....Dale
GeraldOwens
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Joined: March 30, 2006
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Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 06:20 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Not to go off script Curt, but you could do a wreck to show off all of the internal details. There is a great pic of a King Tiger wreck on the cover of the book titled Tomb of the Panzerwaffe by Aleksei Isaev covering the battles in Hungary 1945. The pic shows a blown off turret from an internal explosion with the turret laying against the side of the hull. It would be a great way to show off some interior work. Best regards....Dale


The downside of an internal explosion diorama is that most of that lovely detail is destroyed by the blast. All sheet metal items are crushed and torn. I've seen a close up of the interior of a postwar tank that had blown up, and the hull floor looked like it was covered with shredded beer cans. Very little was recognizable.

On the other hand, there are now Fries Crane model kits that can allow a diorama builder show a Tiger turret lifted off, or an engine or transmission in the process of being replaced, where all the lovely detail is pristine.
Byrden
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Wien, Austria
Joined: July 12, 2005
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Posted: Monday, July 06, 2020 - 07:12 PM UTC

Quoted Text

there are now Fries Crane model kits that can allow a diorama builder show a Tiger turret lifted off



It sounds good, but it raises another problem: what will you see at the turret-to-hull joint?
A kit may boast a full interior but not have this feature correct, because there was no expectation of the turret being lifted.

David

cabasner
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Nevada, United States
Joined: February 12, 2012
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Posted: Thursday, July 09, 2020 - 01:53 PM UTC
Hey guys...it just occurred to me that the exterior plastic, contrary to the red plastic that many folks had either good or bad things to say about...in my kit is not red, and, rather, is 'regular' tan plastic. I don't know why it took me until now to realize this. Has anyone else gotten a Meng King Tiger exterior kit and found the plastic to be a normal plastic color? When did Meng change over from the red plastic? Did they get enough complaints about the red plastic that they finally changed? When did they start molding in tan plastic?

By the way, I just got a couple of bottles of the red oxide color Stynylrez primer. I know, if i want to be fully 'realistic', and If I plan to do hairspray chipping (which I do), that I won't be able to use the Stynylrez as the base chipping coat, and will need to put a coat of red oxide color paint over the red primer, but...then again?? Has anyone used the Red Synylrez as their base coat, the layer which you see when you chip the next layer up? Thoughts? I do have plenty of Vallejo Cavalry Brown, which Michael Rinaldi, and I presume, others, have used as their red oxide color which you see when chipping their top paint layers. It will be interesting. Since I have the very nice ATAK Zimmerit, which I will be cutting to represent battle damage, and I guess I plan to do the priming over the top of, wondering if I really need the extra paint color on top of the Stynylrez...
cabasner
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Nevada, United States
Joined: February 12, 2012
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Posted: Thursday, July 09, 2020 - 02:02 PM UTC
Guys...I need to add one more thought here. I decided to glance through the instructions for both the interior and exterior kits, and found that the exterior kit seems to have some directions to tell you to leave out/off certain parts if you are planning to do the interior build also, but I'm wondering how easy, for those who have built the interior/exterior together, you found it to 'integrate' the instructions. That is, it doesn't seem obvious how you are expected to start at step 1 of the exterior kit, and then when do you start doing the interior kit? What steps for each of the interior/exterior kits do you build at what time? Are there any direction to tell you what order to do which steps? Or....is the modeler left to use his/her 'craft capability' and just figure it out as you go???
barleeni
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Napier, New Zealand
Joined: June 12, 2015
KitMaker: 43 posts
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Posted: Thursday, July 09, 2020 - 05:06 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Hey guys...it just occurred to me that the exterior plastic, contrary to the red plastic that many folks had either good or bad things to say about...in my kit is not red, and, rather, is 'regular' tan plastic. I don't know why it took me until now to realize this. Has anyone else gotten a Meng King Tiger exterior kit and found the plastic to be a normal plastic color? When did Meng change over from the red plastic? Did they get enough complaints about the red plastic that they finally changed? When did they start molding in tan plastic?

By the way, I just got a couple of bottles of the red oxide color Stynylrez primer. I know, if i want to be fully 'realistic', and If I plan to do hairspray chipping (which I do), that I won't be able to use the Stynylrez as the base chipping coat, and will need to put a coat of red oxide color paint over the red primer, but...then again?? Has anyone used the Red Synylrez as their base coat, the layer which you see when you chip the next layer up? Thoughts? I do have plenty of Vallejo Cavalry Brown, which Michael Rinaldi, and I presume, others, have used as their red oxide color which you see when chipping their top paint layers. It will be interesting. Since I have the very nice ATAK Zimmerit, which I will be cutting to represent battle damage, and I guess I plan to do the priming over the top of, wondering if I really need the extra paint color on top of the Stynylrez...


Hi Curt, I received the same kit about 3 weeks. I was also surprised when I opened the box and found tan plastic! I actually thought I had been sent the wrong kit! I think I prefer the tan..... not sure when the change occurred.

Its a good looking kit. Im currently building Takoms Blitz Jagdtiger, which is interesting to compare with. Som things Meng looks to have done better, some things Takom have done better.

Im pretty hampered at the moment though, its very difficult getting aftermarket items at present - no items from hobbyeasy are being shipped to New Zealand!

Good luck with your build, I will be following closely!
Ringleheim
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Florida, United States
Joined: September 04, 2009
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Posted: Friday, July 10, 2020 - 03:41 AM UTC
I built the Meng production turret King Tiger a year or so ago.

My plastic was the dark red.

It's a nice kit, but beware the problem with the running gear. The shafts that the wheels slide onto should stick out from the lower hull in a horizontal fashion, parallel to the ground.

On the Meng kit, they want to angle upward and outward as I recall (or was it the other way around?! Anyway, they don't want to sit level.

There's a piece that goes inside the lower hull on either side that lines up with the wheels holes. It's critical to get that piece lined up correctly, but even then, I had the problem a little bit on one side but not on the other.

I ended up resolving it by literally pushing on all the wheels and applying a bending force to the plastic to get it to sit right.

It's the only flaw of that kit that I remember.

Though in general, I was not as impressed with this kit as I have been with other Meng products, such as the M3 Bradley. The M3 seems to have been designed by the "A" team and the King Tiger by the "B" team.

It will still look nice when it's done. Good luck with the project!


Removed by original poster on 07/10/20 - 16:14:21 (GMT).
18Bravo
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Joined: January 20, 2005
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Posted: Friday, July 10, 2020 - 04:13 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Though in general, I was not as impressed with this kit as I have been with other Meng products, such as the M3 Bradley. The M3 seems to have been designed by the "A" team and the King Tiger by the "B" team.


That's nice to hear. I was actually on the A team for that one.


Quoted Text


Quoted Text

there are now Fries Crane model kits that can allow a diorama builder show a Tiger turret lifted off



It sounds good, but it raises another problem: what will you see at the turret-to-hull joint?
A kit may boast a full interior but not have this feature correct, because there was no expectation of the turret being lifted.

David



I'm sure someone can Google this and find images, but I imagine it's a simple ring gear - just teeth all the way around the circumference of the opening. I did this with a Merkava by cutting a very thin strip of Evergreen siding and cementing it all the way around. It certainly looks convincing.

Here's a photo from said Merkava. Obviously the ring goes inside the hull, but since I didn't intend to have the turret removed, I achieved the same look by installing it in the turret itself.

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