Rye Field Models M-1240A1 M-ATV Build

Alex
Currently building this one as well. Surprising amount of knock-out marks and flash, some problems with the photo-etch boxes added to the back of the cabin. What's your take on this one?

Sean
Hey Alex, So far, I'm very impressed with the kit. I've built a couple Tamiya and Testors (showing my age a little) armor kits and this one is by far the most detailed of previous builds I've done. The engine and chassis were pretty straight forward. The molding of all the small parts is pretty mind blowing. I've been out of the building game for quite a while (recently getting back into the hobby) and this kit is far more detailed than pretty much any other kit I've built. I'm anxious to start the Trumpeter Object 199 Ramka BMPT to see how it compares to this kit. This kit has been a really fun build and I can't wait to see how the rest of the build goes. That being said, there are a few things that I would have liked to see Meng would have done with the kit build up to this point in the build:

1. The hydraulic lines/air hoses near the rear differential don't connect to anything. Maybe this is resolved later in the build but I flipped through the instructions and don't see what they connect to. I see how the retaining bracket connects to the chassis but the lines don't go to anything.

2. Color callouts for the engine bay and other artifacts around the chassis would be nice.

3. Hoses for the A/C and compressor would have been a nice touch to add - they have the fittings molded onto the parts. Maybe a future detail/upgrade kit part?

4. Some of the locations for some of the small suspension parts was not very clear in the instructions. The brackets for the control arm rubber stops specifically comes to mind. There were a couple other parts that I had to flip forward in the instructions or go to reference photos to see how they were positioned.

5. The ejector pin marks on the inside of some of the smaller pieces were pretty big and long. The flash left from the ejector pins has to be removed or the parts will not go together. For a kit with this much detail and engineering that went into creating this kit, I would have thought that the flash from the ejector pins would have been minimal to nonexistent. Not the case though. But they are easy to remove, most just broke off with a little pressure applied by a finger and since they were inside a half of a part, they would not be seen - nothing to fill and sand.

6. Make sure that the flash in the tire openings are trimmed, otherwise the wheels will not sit tightly against the rims. I'd gladly trim some flash from the tire openings than deal with flash around the diameter of the tire and between the treads. That would have been a nightmare.

Speaking of flash...most parts had mold lines that had to be cleaned up. However, it was quick work with a couple swipes of a sanding stick.

Thanks for the heads up about the photo etch boxes, I'll keep a special eye out for them when I get that far along. I'm just now starting the interior, starting with the radio upgrade set.

Sean
One more thing to add... Real metal springs for the suspension would have been a nice touch as well, no mold lines to sand off.

Alex
Hi Sean,
thanks for the extensive description. You are right, this is a very detailed kit, one of the most detailed I have ever built. I have only built one other model from this company so far, a Tiger I. Quality of the moulding there was so much better. That's why I was a little surprised about all the shortcomings of this kit.
I am sure that in the end everything will come together just fine, but those photo-etch boxed gave me some real grief.

Sean
Alex, Good luck with the rest of the build, sounds like you're most of the way through it. In my write up I mentioned Meng, should have been RFM. I just picked up a Meng F-106 in 1/72 so I must have had Meng on the mind! LOL Post some pics of your M-ATV (in progress or when finished), would like to see what others are doing with the kit!