MENG Model Sd.Kfz.182 King Tiger with Henschel Turret [WIP - Partial Turret & More Hull Details]

Assembly of the MENG King Tiger is very close to completion now. In this latest series of steps, I managed to finish assembling the hull and partially complete the turret. That leaves just the main gun barrel, a few more turret parts and the figures to work on before the German heavy tank is ready to receive a coat of primer. So here then is the penultimate post on the King Tiger assembly process. 

MENG King Tiger work-in-progress: Partially completed turret with spare tracks

MENG King Tiger work-in-progress: Assembling and attaching the headlight on the front glacis

MENG King Tiger work-in-progress: Assembling and adding a lifting jack to the rear hull

Assembly of the King Tiger hull is now complete with the assembly/addition of the following: a lifting jack and its supporting brackets as well as tow hooks on the rear hull; a front headlight; and the left front fender. Both side skirts and the front right fender were not utilized in this build version so as to stay true to Tank 124 of Pz.Abt. 505 found in Poland sometime in late 1944. Actually, my version isn't 100% accurate as the historical version is missing its headlights. It was an error on my part so I might still remove the headlights. But I'll leave it where it is for now and only decide later.     

Step 21: Assembly and attachment of the lifting jack (rear fenders were excluded from this build version)

Step 22: Assembly and attachment of the headlights on the front glacis

Step 23: Attachment of the front fenders, side skirts (excluded in this build) and rear tow hooks

Subsequently, more details were added to the King Tiger turret such as hooks for the spare tracks; covers for the viewports and other miscellaneous parts. This leaves only the gun barrel and main hatches left unattached to the turret. So the German heavy tank is essentially 98% assembled. 

Step 29 and 30: Attaching turret parts such as hooks for spare tracks, viewport covers, etc.

Step 31: Adding more hooks for spare tracks and other miscellaneous turret parts

Step 32: Assembling and attaching spare tracks on the hooks, gun mantlet and miscellaneous parts

A pair of crewmen is included in the kit and that together with the rest of the King Tiger should be assembled by the next post. Until then, I'll hold off on sharing my thoughts regarding how the MENG model kit compares to Tamiya kits. Soon the iconic WW2 tank will be ready for its coat of primer. And only then will the hard work of painting begin. Now though, it's back to the assembly process.

Setting up an Airbrush Spray Booth for a Test Run

So when am I going to airbrush something other than a plastic spoon? Forgive this old dog and his new tricks but I'm getting there, slowly. In fact, I've taken a big step by setting up an airbrush spray booth to ensure a less toxic painting environment. Retailing for RM420, the HSeng Spray Booth with LED Light (Model: HS-E420DCLK) isn't overly expensive but it's still a big investment for most modellers to make. Having bided my time in order to secure the best possible deal, I finally took the plunge and bought one at a local hobby store sale for 20% off. So starting now, a huge obstacle to regular airbrushing sessions -  i.e. overexposure to paint/thinner fumes - have been overcome.    

An airbrush spray booth at last ... yet another item ticked off in my things-to-get-before-airbrushing-actual models  

HSeng Spray Booth with LED Light (model HS-E420DCLK) obtained during a recent sale at my local hobby shop

This particular spray booth model conveniently comes with its own LED lights. While it's possible to set up a separate lighting system using IKEA work lamps, the existence of internal LED strip lights allows for a less cluttered work environment. And because the spray booth is designed to be portable, the LED strip lights can actually be detached and disassembled into three separate pieces. Apart from portability, this just means you can choose to disable the internal lighting if you so choose.

My airbrush spray booth setup inclusive of a cheap do-it-yourself exhaust hose extension

When the airbrush spray booth is switched on, both the LED lights and suction fans will come online together

Also included in this spray booth model is an exhaust duct system that serves to channel air - that is being sucked from the spray booth - away from the immediate area. There was, however, one DIY modification I had to make before the system could be of any use to me. The issue stemmed from the length of plastic hose provided which wasn't long enough for my purpose. To rectify this, I purchased a flexible aluminium foil hose from the local hardware shop in order to extend the overall length of the exhaust duct system. The ends where aluminium foil met plastic was secured using cling wrap. 

Gray plastic exhaust hose came with the booth while the shiny aluminum foil extension was obtained separately

In yet another nice touch, this spray booth model came with a round black plastic turntable roughly 192 mm in diameter. This should be useful especially when priming or when painting large surface areas in a single color as each part of the model kit can be exposed to paint just by spinning the turntable. In keeping with the booth's portable design, the turntable isn't fixed rigidly to it. Instead, the turntable is a separate piece that sits securely in place thanks to rubber-like tabs underneath it.

A small black turntable is included as an accessory to the spray booth

Spray booth with all three of its LED lighting bars swtiched on

A 100 ml Tamiya spray can and a 17 ml Vallejo Model Color paint bottle are used as a scale comparison

To keep things tidy and clean, I layered the spray booth's lower section with some plain white A3 paper. Disposable and easily replaced, the papers help to collect most of the paint overspray as well as prevent heavy buildup of paint on the inner walls of the spray booth.  

Pieces of white paper form disposable protective layers to prevent buildup of paint on the spray booth

Noise level specified in the instruction booklet at maxing at 47 dB, supposedly similar to the sound level generated by the air compressor. But this can't be right because the noise generated by the spray booth is rather loud and easily drowned out the noise emitting from the air compressor. Below is a quick one minute YouTube video showing the noise level generated by the spray booth. 

In a quick test run, black primer - in this case Mr Hobby Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Black diluted with Mr Color Leveling Thinner in a 50:50 ratio - was used to prime and preshade some plastic spoons. Thankfully, the spray booth worked like a charm with paint overspray effectively eliminated by the filter and suction fans. All in all I was very please with the performance of this spray booth. In fact, the only negative I can think of is the noise generated by the booth. While barely noticing the sound when I was deeply focused on airbrushing, it's still loud enough to be irritating to some. 

Airbrush spray booth worked like a charm when a test run involving black primer was carried out

With the spray booth having passed the test run with relatively flying colors, the path to more regular airbrushing sessions is now open. Actually not quite. With my existing equipment, airbrushing AFV or Sci-fi kits shouldn't be much of an issue going forward. But that's not the case for resin miniature figurines. These require a finesse in paint application that my cheap low-end airbrushes can't provide. So I got myself a mid-range airbrush, for use especially when painting skin tones. I'll do a review of the said airbrush and then the pandora box of airbrushing will finally be opened for good.

MENG Model Sd.Kfz.182 King Tiger with Henschel Turret [WIP - Upper Hull Armor & Misc. Details]

Having survived the link-and-length tracks, it was time to move on to relatively easier assembly processes namely the King Tiger's upper hull armor and its detailed parts. In this series of steps, the main challenges revolved around the use of photo-etched and extremely tiny parts. In the previous steps when it was being prepped for zimmerit decals, the upper hull had only the bare essentials assembled. Now it was time to add more details to it beginning first with the engine cooling vent covers and grilles as well as the tow cable for the right side of the hull.  

MENG King Tiger work-in-progress: Upper hull armor attached with miscellaneous details

To achieve finer details that molded parts could not, the square and round-shaped grilles came in the form of photo-etched parts. Apart from being careful when cutting these off the sprue, it was pretty straightforward working with the photo-etched grilles as there wasn't any bending or shaping required (this came later). Meanwhile, the tow cables comprised the molded plastic variety. In comparison on the T-55A Russian medium tank I worked on previously, a simple mesh was used to simulate the engine deck grilles while its tow cables made from out of a sewing thread/string. 

Step 14: Attaching the King Tiger engine cooling vent covers/grilles and tow cable

My doubts about the instructions being not 100% accurate is unfortunately slowly being confirmed. It is inaccurate not in a major way but enough to slow down proceedings unnecessarily. For you see, in the previous post I had left something out - the number of links actually used to assemble the tracks never tallied with the number called for in the instructions. I wrote this off as a minor oversight but discrepancies have resurfaced again. The latest involved the driver's compartment hatches (parts D1 and D2) seems to have been mixed up in the instructions so I used D1 in place of D2 and vice versa.  

Step 15: Assembly of the engine deck and driver compartment hatches

In a reoccurring issue, tiny parts in the form of handles for the driver compartment hatches and a rounded grille for the engine deck as well as minuscule hooks for both proved to be a handful (see above). I've broken my fair share of tiny handles or lost them when they've 'pinged' across the room. Luckily MENG sometimes provide extra backup handles in such emergencies. And while the hooks were less fragile than the handles they were far easier to lose due to their relatively smaller size. Lastly the rounded grille seemed almost easy to work with in comparison to the handles and hooks.

Step 16: Attaching engine deck and driver's compartment hatches as well as tow cable and misc. tools

With the engine deck and driver's compartment hatches assembled, there remained the left side tow cable and pioneers tools. These required no assembly but were difficult to prep because of their fragility. Once cleaned, the tow cable and pioneer tools together with the drivers compartment and ending deck were glued onto the King Tiger's upper hull at the side and top. 

Step 17: Attaching pioneer tools onto the top and right side of the upper hull

Inaccuracies in the instructions happened again one more time. Worse still, this time around the repercussions would've been bad if I had not taken the time to assess the instructions before diving in. To understand the issue here, it should be noted that the trapezium-shaped grille had two different kind of textures on either side. Long story short, it's my believe - based on my research - that the instruction has mixed up parts W7 in place of W10 and vice versa. However, this is just my take on Step 18 (see below) of the assembly process and not a definitive final word on the subject.   

Step 18: Assembly of more photo-etched grilles for the engine cooling vent covers

Step 19: Attaching grilles, more pioneer tools and miscellaneous upper hull parts

You would think I would've learned by now that being impatient during the assembly process never ends well. Ahh well. For some unfathomable reason be it a loss of concentration or a misplaced overconfidence I could quickly complete the presumably simple Step 20. After all, I only had to glue the upper hull to the lower hull. How hard could that be! To spare you the boring details, the end result was a gap of about one millimeter or so on the front glacis when there should've been none. It seems trivial but it bugged me enough that I had to fixed it using Vallejo plastic putty (see below).   

Step 20: Combining the upper and lower hulls; and using Vallejo plastic putty to fix the resulting gap

So far, almost each step of the assembly process has thrown up its own little unwanted surprise. For someone used to the quick assembly of miniature figurines, the comparatively longer drawn out affair for AFV (armored fighting vehicle) model kits is rewarding in its own masochistic way. To a modeller, the sense of accomplishment is higher before even a drop of paint has been applied. Not everyone's cup of tea granted. But I've found it to be rewarding despite the occasional setbacks. And as long as the brain keeps churning out dopamine for every completed step, the project continues! 

MENG Model Sd.Kfz.182 King Tiger with Henschel Turret [WIP - Rear Hull Armor and Tracks]

With zimmerit decals already applied on the rear hull armor, next to be attached were accessory parts for the said section. From here on out, one can perhaps begin to better appreciate the details inherent in the molded parts. Based on MENG model kits I own, I've noticed that this level of detail extends to offering modellers choices of parts to use on a particular assembly step. And the choices made will be determined by a specific version of the King Tiger you're trying to build, within limits of course. In this model kit there are four variants of the German heavy tank from which to choose from.   

MENG King Tiger work-in-progress: Rear hull armor with detailed parts on top of zimmerit coating

King Tiger's exposed lower hull with its front tow hooks, rear hull armor and tracks attached

On the rear hull armor, a decision had to be made as to which the exhaust pipe cover version to use. I made my choice based on a historical photo of Tank 124 of Pz.Abt. 505 that presumably saw action in Poland during September 1944. (Actually even as early as the first step - wheel assembly - MENG had provided modellers a choice of different types of wheel hub.) Apart from historical references, I also used online references of David Parker's excellent model work of a 1/16 scale Tank 124. Steps 6 through 9 set things up for the more difficult task of putting a link-and-length track together.

Steps 06 through 08: Attaching detailed accessories on the rear hull armor

Step 09: Assembly of rear hull armor and miscellaneous bits to the lower hull

While putting on link-and-length tracks wasn't as hard as I expected it to be, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park either. The kit came with a custom jig which took the guess work out of shaping the sag on the track's upper section. Using the jig itself was straightforward enough with only one note of caution. If you're using thin plastic glue that works based on capillary action then there is a likelihood the glue may seep into the holes on the jig and glue the tracks to the jig. As long as you're looking out for such occurrences, you should be able to pry the tracks loose from the jig before the glue sets.

Step 10: Assembly of link-and-length tracks using a jig to help shape the upper sag  

Track pieces of the King Tiger range from individual links to longer sections and the jig

Upper track sag was shaped by gluing the individual pieces/sections with the jig as a guide

Once the glue dries, the track is then removed from the jig with a perfectly shaped sag

Reverse view of the sagged upper tank track clearly showing links with and without the guide horn

After the upper section of the tracks had been assembled, then came the tricky part of matching the shape of the sag to the top of the wheels. Once happy with the alignment between sag and wheels, I proceeded to wedge the tracks firmly in place on top of the wheels by using wads of tissue paper. Following this, the rest of the links as well as sections of tracks were then glued around the wheels.  

Sagged upper track was held in place by wads of tissue prior to attaching the rest of the track sections and links

Two major issues arose during the assembly of the link-and-length tracks. Firstly, the inward tilt of the wheels became more pronounced with the tracks glued on. It remains to be seen if this issue can be mitigated after painting and weathering. Secondly, engineering design of the tracks is such that  every link containing a guide horn for the wheels is separated by a plain intermediate link. However, the assembly of the track on the right side didn't go to plan resulting in two guide horn links being placed side by side (see last two photos). In my defense, more experienced modellers have encountered similar issues with both the inward tilt and the lack of an intermediate link.       

Front view of the tracks after they had been attached to the swing arms of the lower hull

Unfortunately there is a noticeably tilt inwards on both tracks, more so on the right one

Inward tilt is not as obvious when the tracks are viewed from the side

... but the tilt is still noticeable towards the back-end of the track on the right

For painting purposes, the tracks and wheels were removed as a single combined unit from the lower hull. A disadvantage of link-and-length tracks is it's almost inevitable you'll end up assembling the wheels and track together before painting them. That's not to say you can't still paint the wheel and links individually first before gluing them together but I rarely see them done that way in such cases.

After the individual track links and sections had been glued onto the road wheels ...

... both the track and wheels could then be removed as a single combined piece

But painting the track-and-wheels as a single unit will entail the modeller having to accept the fact certain parts of the wheels will be positioned in such a way that paint will never reach them. Some modellers won't condone this and fair-play to them as I used to be like that. Nowadays I'm okay with leaving certain sections of the kit unpainted, but only if they will be completely hidden from view anyway. Moreover the track and wheels of a tank tends to see significant weathering at the latter stages, which will in turn further conceal any trace of the unpainted sections.

Side of the tank tracks which faces outwards away from the lower hull

Side of the tank tracks which will be hidden from view i.e. facing the lower hull

As mentioned earlier, due either to an inherent faulty kit design or modeller error during assembly, two guide horn links ended up side by side without a flat intermediated link between them. And in a double whammy, this actually causes the tracks to tilt ever so slightly more inwards. Thankfully though, this error won't be that visible once the tracks have been painted and weathered. 

There should be an intermediate link positioned in between two guide horn links ...

... but there wasn't enough space for one on the right-sided track; possibly an assembly error on my part

So the worse for me - assembling link-and-length tracks - is over. At least I hope it is. So it's going to be pretty much smooth sailing in the King Tiger's assembly process from now on ... I think. Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough as the week's has only just begun. Carpe diem and all that jazz!