Scale Plastic & Rail

1/35 Pick Up w ZPU-1 from Meng Model

1/35 Pick Up w ZPU-1
Meng Model
Catalogue # VS-001
€27.50 from Steel Models

Introduction
Meng Models of China are a newcomer to the scale modelling market, and currently have just three kits in their range. The subject of this review, a 1/35 Pick Up with ZPU-1 heavy machine gun is partnered by Pick Up with Equipment, kit #VS-002, which my colleague Robin Jenkins has already reviewed here. The third release is the ultra-esoteric Vs.Kfz.617 Minenräumer, which I believe Robin will also be covering in the near future.

What Is It?
It is not often that I have to explain exactly what the kit is that I am reviewing, but it is necessary here because Meng have brought us a generic, rather than company specific, representation of the ubiquitous flat-bed 4x4 that is seen everywhere from downtown Los Angeles to the nether regions of Afghanistan. It is clearly meant to look like a Toyota HiLux, Nissan Navara and so on, perhaps more so than the often very much larger American 4x4s. The reason for this vagueness of brand is obvious – copyright and royalty payments – but in the grand scheme of things really doesn't matter in my opinion.

The ZPU-1 is very real indeed: originally developed back in the 1950s (or late 1940s, depending upon references), the ZPU family of 14.5mm anti-aircraft guns have found themselves on trailers and vehicles in numerous countries, both as part of regular military vehicles and more improvised paramilitary ones such as Meng's pick up.

Kit Contents
The kit comes in compartmentalized box, the type of which seems to be increasingly popular (and useful) when it comes to keeping certain key components free from damage. The main section of the box houses most of the sprues, instructions etc, while the two smaller ones contain the trucks' tyres and body shell respectively.

There are seven sprues in plastic of varying colours, from white for the cab, grey for floor panel and interior, to black for the chassis and machine gun. There is a sprue for the clear parts, which is dominated by a single piece for all the windows and windscreen, and two small frets of dark photo-etch metal (the mud guards will look good in this medium). There is a decal sheet providing various letters and numbers, but to what end I am not quite sure, since neither seem to be used as far as I can tell.

The quality of moulding is very good. I found no flash, and at first glance no injector pin marks in places that will cause problems. The clear part for the windscreen and windows was crystal clear with no scratches at all, courtesy of it being double-bagged. All of the other sprues were in separate bags, so in general the packaging is top notch.

The instructions are in the form of glossy booklet, with clear line drawings in the style that many will already know. There are colour call outs for Hobby Colour, Mr Hobby and Vallejo. Construction takes 21 steps if building a regular civilian version, or 29 if you chose to add the ZPU. In the case of the latter, you also get parts for one hooded and masked figure in tracksuit / casual clothing. Watch the evening news and you're bound to see this chap in the Middle East or Africa somewhere – he does look rather convincing.

Just like a real car, construction works from the chassis upwards, and although most of it will not be seen, there are some nice details to the underside, although no engine proper is provided. The interior is similarly detailed – the seats look very good to my eye, although perhaps to plush for an insurgent's run around?! There is a decal to be added to the dashboard for the instruments, but surprisingly the pedals are not separately moulded.

In general the interior should look quite good, which makes it all the more frustrating that this kit cannot be modelled with doors open. This is a function of the one piece body shell (and one piece clear part for all the windows etc). To cut a door from the shell and model the truck as if parked with door open will not be impossible, but will be quite a bit of work; a delicate touch will be needed around the window frame in particular.

The tyres are 'rubber' with separate injection moulded plastic hubs. They are nicely detailed, and clearly meant to represent Dunlop as close as is possible without entering law suit territory - spelt Dunlcp (sic). The tyres look good in my opinion, but I guess you either love or hate these rubber affairs, and if the kit is a success I am sure aftermarket alternatives will present themselves.

The flat bed at the rear is a simple five piece assembly which can be modeled with tailgate up or down. Two photo-etch parts are used for the braces which hold the tailgate if it is posed open. If you wish to model the paramilitary version, this is where you add the three-pronged ZPU mount. The gun itself seems well detailed, and whilst I am not an expert on this weapon, I will say  its looks betray its Russian heritage. Two different barrels are provided, and both have admirably open muzzles.

The 'marking options' are really just the same truck painted different colours, the only difference being the presence (or not) of a whacking great gun on the back, and a slightly different roll bar arrangement. As I said earlier, I am slightly mystified about the decals.

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So What Do We Think?
Certainly an interesting and perhaps odd choice for your entry into the market, but it is quite well done, in so far as it goes. Whilst it will be very easy for even beginners to make this model straight out of the box, there is perhaps less scope to make more of the interior unless you can overcome the use of the one large part for all the windows in the cab. It is also a shame that it is a generic pick up rather than say the Toyota HiLux, for example. Having said that, the tooling is sharp, the moulding is crisp and the instructions are easy to follow, so all in all quite a nice little model.

Recommended.

With thanks to the team at Meng Model for the review sample.

Nicholas Mayhew