MENG revised its very good 2013 Leopard kit with new parts to build a Canadian C2 Mexas with the option to fit a dozer blade.

I jumped at the opportunity to review this kit for three reasons, firstly it’s a Canadian main battle tank, it’s by MENG and last by far from least is that a fellow Canadian military specialist Anthony Sewards assisted on the kits research. He also highly recommends this kit for its accuracy which is real praise!

In the box is:

I have heard of Tru-Color Paints probably a year ago by now. They have an extensive line of railroad and car paints and they are continuously expanding their military line (aircraft, naval, armor). I’ve heard good things about them and I was interested to try them out. But honestly, the price was putting me off a bit. When I had the opportunity to review a few free samples, I jumped to it.

This review covers Tru-Paint TCP 1445 RAL 7021 Dunkelgrau, TCP-1446 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #1, TCP-1447 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #2, TCP-1448 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #3, TCP-1449 RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb #4 and TCP-1449 RAL 7008 Gray Green.

Tony Buttler was born in England in 1956 and completed his education at Prince Henry's Grammar School in Eyesham. He joined High Duty Alloys in Redditch in 1974 as a metallurgist and for nearly 20 years he was closely involved in the testing of aluminum and titanium airframe and engine components for many of the world's most important airplanes. It was during this timeframe that his interest in military aircraft grew into a passion. Tony left High Duty Alloys in 1993 Buttler and enrolled at Loughborough University, earning his Masters Degree in Archives and Library Studies. He subsequently became a freelance aviation historian specializing in the design and development of military aircraft. Since 1995, Tony has been a freelance aviation historian, with this book being his twenty-seventh major release. He has also written many titles for the Warpaint series of monographs as well as many articles for most of the popular historical aviation magazines.

Contents Description

This mask set is provided on a small Kabuki-like tape material that is die cut, and includes an instruction sheet for locating the individual pieces on the clear parts of the Tamiya Heinkel He219A-7 kit. This set also includes masks for the canopy and windscreen interior.

This will be my second Tamiya Heinkel He-219. I used the earlier version of an Eduard mask on the canopies and was satisfied with the results. The original masking set included masks for the exterior surfaces only. I looked forward to see how the new product would perform.

A small instruction sheet is provided with diagrams locating each mask for the multipaned canopy. Where the use of a liquid masking is required is also identified. The instructions walk the modeler through the process step-by-step which can be quite useful when there are many panels to mask.

Product Description

This set consists of a small steel fret with seat belts for the pilot and radar operator. It is small fret, but it does the job.

I removed each part using PE shears and buffed the small spur off with a medium sanding pad. None of the painted surfaces were marred in this process, but nonetheless care is still required to avoid possible damage. I used Gator glue to attach the belts to the seats and allowed the glue to dry thoroughly before carefully bending the parts to fit the contours of the plastic parts. Again, a small dab of Gator glue was use to fix the ends of the belts in place. I feel the Eduard steel belts are a bit easier to bend than the older brass belts and conform to the seat profile quite nicely.

Conclusion

The steel seat belts are a very nice addition to most any kit, especially when the canopies are posed open.