British Heavy Tank Mk.V Male
Meng Model 1:35 Scale Kit #TS-020
Review by Terry Ashley
Part 2 the Kit Build

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Page 3 of 4
The top mounted square Commander’s cab is in multiple parts with alternate parts to allow you to show the side hatches open of closed so you need to choose the orientation for the hatches beforehand. All the panels have excellent rivet and other details on both sides as well as separate etched pistol port covers that allow you to show these open or closed, the clean-up of the small etched ports is a little tedious and note there are two different sized port covers (parts W7 and W14) so take note of instructions and also the orientation of the ports as you attach them.

After deciding on the appropriate parts for open or closed hatches the assembly is quick and easy with excellent fit of all the panels, end frames and additional fittings and again make sure all the joins are as snug as can be for the best result.

The driver’s cab is again in multiple parts with excellent details on both sides of the panels and again separate etched pistol port covers to add, the large top hatch and the front visors can be fitted open or closed as you wish to show off a bit of the interior if fitted?

The front plate has the Hotchkiss MG ball mounting the same as described in step 23 and its best to fit this before assembling any of the cab panels, I also attached the pistol port covers before joining the panels but these can be added after just as easily.

The fit of all the panels was again excellent and providing you ensure a snug fit while gluing the assembly was trouble free and quite quick. Note there are additional handles added inside the cab used if fitting the CRIB device but if not using this device just leave these aside. The front visor hinges again have the small pins for fitting open or closed and you simply cut off the pins not required.

The assembled Commander’s and Driver’s cabs are now fitted to the roof and the fit was excellent without any problems along with the additional top rail mountings and support behind the Driver’s cab. The two rear hatches can be fitted open or closed depending if you added the interior and again the fit is excellent along with a few additional fitting added to the roof again without problems.

Top hull assembly, note the exhaust pipe already fitted as per next step.

The exhaust muffler is in two halves and it best to assemble this first and eliminate the join seam before proceeding, the long exhaust pipe has the two part mounting bracket (D1, D2) and two part pipe and I found it easier to glue the two pipe sections together but not attach to the mounting until final fitting to the hull roof to ensure the proper alignment.


The two long unditching rails have the front inner track tensioning adjuster included as well as three inside brackets for attaching the large unditching beam later, these brackets fitted without problems just note the part numbers as they are different for either rail.

This step has some inside details added to the roof armour, the poly cap for the telescopic pole fitted earlier and a couple of other fittings but again as you can’t see these they can just as easily be dispensed with if not showing off the interior.

The completed roof armour sub-assembly is attached to the lower hull sub-assembly and again  the fit was excellent without any gaps or other problems, just as with the other major assemblies, glue the front cab first and work your way back pressing each join for the snuggest fit till the roof is fully glued into place. The telescopic pole has additional etched ‘flags’ added to the top and can be positioned extended or retracted as you wish?

As mentioned the unditching rails include the front track tensioning adjuster and this makes for a very precise fit at the front with the rail fitting to the hull top supports and to the rear hull edge perfectly for a quick and easy installation.

The exhaust pipe also fits well and as mention leaving this separate from the mounting bracket until now makes it easier to get the alignment right while fitting.

Images covering steps 46 to 50




The two six-pounder guns assemble in the same manner with firstly the two breech halves glued together along with the separate breech block; this will have to be glued in place as the fit is quite loose. The two trunnion halves are then attached around the gun and just the base of the trunnion mount glued to allow for elevation, the barrel tube is fitted to the gun, this can be left unglued as the fit is nice and tight and makes it easy to update the barrel tube with an aftermarket metal barrel should you wish to improve the appearance of the bore which is oversized on the kit barrel tube.

When attaching the gun control arm (N8) only glue this to the gun and not to the trunnion if you want the gun to elevate, the same goes for the long sight (N3) as both show to be glued to both the gun and trunnion in the instructions. Note the gun control arm is provided in the bent stowed position and if you want to depict this as in action, just cut off the end of the arm and reglue in the straight or extended position.
Added to the front of the gun is the smaller curved shield with the breech block lever and the base plate also added with without any problems?

Gun assembled as per instructions

Gun assembled with control arm extended

The large curved gun shield is a single moulding but when you fit the gun collar (N10) to the shield the join seam on the outside face of the shield must be filled and eliminated completely as the shield was smooth on the outer face. There are two gun mounting brackets (N5, N6) attached inside the curved shield and the each end of these brackets will need to be clamped while gluing as the inner face of the shield isn’t flat due to the moulding process and the brackets will need a little help to sit snugly in positon due to this.

The assembled gun is then attached to the shield mounting brackets to complete the guns ready for adding to the mountings later.

Note the sponsons are asymmetrical around the gun opening which Meng have noted and this means the parts are slightly different around the sponson gun opening. But firstly you secure the poly cap beneath the gun mounting if not done previously and assemble the lower gun mounting and sponson plates, the fit is excellent here but you must make sure they are aligned correctly to avoid problems.

The large side sponson plate has the Hotchkiss MG and ball mounting added the same as previous in step 23 and again this is best done before the plate is assembled. With the MG in place the front, side and rear door plates can be added and again the fit is excellent. The rear door is separate and again there are small pins on the hinges to hold it open or closed and you simply cut off the pins not required to fit the door, also the spent shell chute in the door needs the lower edge of the door frame removed to represent this correctly.

The gun is than fitted into the mounting using the poly cap to hold the large pin in place but the gun while secure in the mount is a little loose in that it can flop about a bit side to side and to prevent this you should add a 1mm plastic card spacer inside the roof to hold the shields even and prevent any sideways movement. I simply glued 1mm plastic strips under the roof but making a circular section of card using the shield as a guide is also an option (see images). With this spacer in place the roof is attached again with excellent fit and the gun and shields were perfectly secure and traversed without any lateral movement as it should.

Finally there are the five etched pistol port covers and the assembled sponson can be attached to the right hull side opening, the fit again very good. A couple of other small hull fittings are added at this stage, the two side Epicyclic shaft boss cover (H20) and the rear hull mounting etched bracket (W11), this needed the location holes designed to fit over the hull rivets drilled out to 1mm diameter as they are too small as they come but this easily done.

Lower gun mounting sub-assembly


1mm spacer added inside the roof to secure the gun shield after assembly as per above.

Assembled right sponson with rear door open.

Sponson added to right track frame mounting.
Note this has the LionMarc metal barrel used as per the main review.


The left sponson is basically the same apart from the front gun opening frame which is made up of four smaller separate parts and you should ensure these are assembled perfectly square as the glue dries, to aid in this I attached the frame to the front plate (M15) (after fitting the MG first of course), this ensured everything was perfectly square.

When fitting the remaining plates to the lower gun mounting assembly the front plate (M12) is best added first and then the other two plates, followed by fitting the gun into the mounting. The same 1mm spacers were needed to be added inside the roof as with the right sponson to keep the gun level but other than that the assembly was perfect with the top plate and rear door fitting without problems as with the right sponson.

The sponson is then added to the hull side and again the fit was good and there is also the left side Epicyclic shaft boss cover (H20) and a choice of etched louver covers (W3, W4) which have the sides bend to shape and the holes fitting perfectly over the hull rivets. There is also alternate inverted V shaped ‘gutters’ to use in place of the covers and these are easily bent to shape using a good bending tool and again the holes for the rivets fit perfectly. The question is, which should you use? Going by the available period photos I could find the inverted V was mostly fitted to UK based vehicles while those in action in France mostly had the larger louver covers fitted.

Lower gun mounting sub-assembly

Gun opening frame assembly and outside plate with MG mounting.


1mm spacer added inside the roof to secure the gun shield after assembly as per above.

Assembled left sponson with rear door open.

Sponson added to left track frame mounting.

Etched louver covers.