Building the Meng Models M2A3 Bradley BUSK III

Armor

Building the Meng Models M2A3 Bradley BUSK III – 1/35 scale

by Federico Collada © Modeler Site

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Meng Models is a relatively new manufacturer from China with very good and easy to assemble kits. This company is already loved for their accuracy and attention for detail. The VsKfz 617 Minenraumer is the first entry in Meng’s Stegosaurus series and from then on, the list grew quickly with very attractive kits. The subject this article is about, is the M2A3 Bradley IFV, an infantry fighting vehicle used by US Army, designed to transport infantry with armor protection and BUSK III Urban Survivability kit which is the one deployed to Irak.

The kit comprises 632 high quality parts injected in different colors such as tan, pale green and dark grey plastic. Also includes three photo-etched frets.

The individual track links are packed in a bag in pairs. Once cleaned up, these should be a click-link. Being only one-piece per link, assembly is fast and straightforward. The wheels on the Bradley have a huge overhang on the rim. Meng have got around this by using a separate rim which fits over the main wheel disc.

Unfortunately, my kit didn’t provide the necessary vinyl parts to leave the wheels play free, so I had to glue them to the suspension arms. Something interesting is that the kit has workable suspension including traverse torsion bars, so that the model may adapt to any irregular surface.

The decal sheet with markings for three vehicles deployed in Irak and a paper sheet that contains warnings, signals, and other alerts etc. Unfortunately they are written in Dari Persian which is the language Afghan population speaks and not Iraqi people.

Construction

Meng and Tamiya kits are very similar due to the quality of the plastic and excellent fit. In fact, most of the Meng kits are very easy to assemble and are made of a nice plastic that can be easily handled.

In the case of this Bradley, I started as the instruction indicates by assembling the vehicle interior parts and painting as I was completing several sub assemblies starting from the troop compartment and driver station.