Meng VsKfz Minenraumer construction comments

This is really a nice kit overall but I noticed a couple minor issues...

The PMMS review commented on poor fit on the upper/lower hull at the back. I had no such issue here but I think that is because of how I fit part B12 to the lower hull. B12 is the lower hull end cap and it naturally will sit "down" with the top edge slightly below the level of the top of the hull sides. If you push the part all the way down so it seems to seat in the lower hull, its too low. You will also have a slight step on the bottom of the lower hull where B12 hangs down. Instead, pull B12 up slightly. You can test fit the upper hull to the lower hull to see how B12 will fit.

The "frontal armor" B11 fits well to the chassis but be sure to carefully remove some faint mold marks and flash along the gluing edge of the chassis first. Otherwise B11 may not fit flush especially along the front edge.

Part B28 the driver's "cab armor" does not fit really tightly against the upper hull. Because of the weld detail molded around B28 you cant just putty it, but something like Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer or Mr. Surfacer will fill any minor gaps and make B28 seem to be actually welded tightly to the hull top.

If you dont want the big wheels to roll there is no reason why you cant glue the hull together and add the wheels last. With the way the "track" fits you wont be really rolling the model anyway, so if you want to add the wheels last you can.

The "large links" for the main track fit a bit snug into each other because the top plate A16 is a bit big. The links fit better if you sand down the inside plates on the links where they fit into the adjacent link. This is more obvious if you look at the parts. Sanding the inside of the link is not visible in the end so you dont have to be real neat about it.

The tracks fit snugly around the main wheels. You can make them fit a bit better by sanding wheel outer half A8 on some coarse sand paper before gluing the wheel halves together. You dont have to be super neat here either as the edge of the wheels is 100% invisible with the track fitted. If you cut down the gluing surface on A8 by .5mm or so, the tracks will move more freely to help in positioning them.

One of the small links for the tail wheel in my kit was not molded right and I could not fit the linking pins A17 properly. I hid the bad link under the brace for the tail wheel which totally hides it.



The turret machine guns (asymmetrical) seem to be reversed on the instruction sheet.