Tracks
The relatively new manufacturer, Meng, has raised the bar on accuracy and ease of construction on all their kits. Fit was perfect, mold seams and ejector pin marks were hidden and very little clean-up was needed. Which is great when you have a large parts count. The kit comes complete with tracks. No aftermarket tracks necessary, helping offset the hefty price tag of the kit. Molded in black styrene, the tracks are supplied in one bag and removed from the sprue. Minor clean up on the track links is needed and snap together quite easily. The tracks are nicely detailed and once assembled are fully workable.
Running gear
The only issue I had with the construction of the kit was the fragility of the running gear. When pushing the torsion bars into the lower hull, care should be taken. I learned this the hard way by breaking one during construction.
As I mentioned earlier the Meng engineers have taken great strides in offering well detailed and yet easy to assemble models. With the Bradley Busk III they did not disappoint. The model assembled nicely with no problem.
Interior painting
After attaching the running gear to the lower hull tub the fun began; I started with the interior painting. I chose to follow the color callout in the instruction manual and used Vallejo Green Sky.
Although the color seemed a bit bright to me at first, I reasoned that it would display nicely once I attached the hull pieces together.
Engine
Special care was taken when assembling and painting the engine. My plan was to leave the engine hatch open and felt that it would draw the viewer’s eye. With that in mind I went about building the various sub assemblies that make up the Bradley power plant. Once that was completed I painted the three parts separately in order to make painting easier. The engine assembly was painted Vallejo Metallic Black and was buffed to a satin finish utilizing A.K Interactive Dark Steel pigments.
Following the painting of the engine I went about painting the transmission assembly. After a coat of silver was applied, I followed it up with a wash of Streaking Grime produced by AMMO