Introduction

Meng Models, as I said before in my previous review on the Meng Models Israeli Main Battle Tank, Merkava MK. 4M. Like the Merkava, I have three Bradley IFVs in 1/35th scale, in which I feel there is so much room as a scale to provide some excellent detail. So, it is a smaller vehicle than the Merkava MK. 4M, will this make the detail not as effective in scale?   

History

The Bradley is equipped with the M242 25 mm autocannon as its main weapon. The M242 has a single barrel with an integrated dual-feed mechanism and remote feed selection. The Bradley carries 300 ready rounds in two ready boxes, one of 70 rounds – usually AP-type rounds, the other of 230 rounds – usually HE-type rounds, with another 600 rounds in storage. The two ready boxes allow a selectable mix of rounds, including the M791 APDS-T (Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot (with) Tracer), and M792 HEI-T (High Explosive Incendiary (with) Tracer) rounds. The 25 mm automatic gun is primarily used for clearing bunkers and firing on lightly armoured vehicles. 

The M2's base armour consists of an all-around 1 inch (25.4 mm) thick aluminium hull (mix of no. 5083 and no. 7039 alloys), heavily sloped in the front and mostly vertical on the sides and rear. The bottom of the hull front has an additional 0.375-inch (9.5 mm) thick steel applique plate, primarily intended to protect against mines. Both sides of the vehicle have an additional 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) of high-hardness steel armour consisting of two quarter-inch applique armour plates spaced 1 inch apart from each other, the first spaced 3.5 inches from the aluminium hull. The turret, unlike the hull, is armoured only in steel. The M2A1 version has identical armour but adds a gas particulate filter unit for NBC protection. This armour offers protection against threats up to and including 14.5x114mm AP. 

The M2A2 upgrade adds additional armour. More steel applique armour is added to the vehicle's front, requiring the removal of the trim-vane. 1.25-inch (32 mm) steel plates were added to the hull sides, replacing the earlier appliqué armour, as well as to the front and sides of the turret. The new armour covered up the infantry firing ports on the vehicle's sides. Spaced laminate armour was added to the hull rear, and Kevlar spall liners were added to critical areas. Options for ERA were also added. These armour upgrades added about 3 tons to the vehicle's weight. 

Countermeasures 

The use of aluminium armour and the storage of large quantities of ammunition in the vehicle initially raised questions about its combat survivability. Spaced laminate belts and high-hardness steel skirts were added to later versions to improve armour protection, increasing overall weight to 33 tons. However, combat operations have not shown the Bradley to be deficient, with few losses. In friendly fire incidents in Desert Storm, many crew members survived hits that totally destroyed lighter USMC LAV-25 vehicles. 

All versions are equipped with two four-barreled M257 smoke grenade launchers on the front of the turret for creating defensive smoke screens or firing chaff or flares. 

In December 2018, the Army announced it would install an Israeli-made active protection system, the Iron Fist, on M2 Bradleys of one armoured brigade to enhance protection of the ageing Bradley against anti-tank rockets and missiles. However, the original configuration proved not to be sufficiently effective, delaying installation. Testing in 2022 of a reconfigured version called the Iron Fist Light Decoupled was more successful, and the Army intends to field a brigade set in 2025. Funding to equip several dozen Bradleys with Iron Fist was secured in early 2024. 

The U.S. Infantry Fighting Vehicle Bradley was first thought about as far back as the 1960’s which is amazing considering just how well this vehicle is doing in the Ukrainian War. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022, was the expansion of a war between the two countries that had begun in February 2014, when disguised Russian troops covertly invaded and took control of the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea. In the following months, Russian troops and local proxies seized territory in Ukraine’s Donbas region, resulting in ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine that killed more than 14,000 people prior to Russia’s 2022 invasion.  

First Impressions

The box art on this box is very good, and as I have said numerous times eye eye-catching artwork is a real selling point as it is usually the first thing you see, and for a lot of the older generation, not everyone is on the internet.  

Show for those older generation like me, but obviously, I do have the internet, or I would not be able to do the reviews. So, going back to what I was saying, I remember when I used to earn money doing a paper round later a Milk run too, so after work on a Saturday morning, I would get on the local bus to town and go to the Saturday morning pictures and buy some popcorn, then after walk down to the toyshop and buy a new model. When the Toyshop started to stock other model kits, namely Airfix with artwork by Roy Cross, I was sold the moment I saw it and the start of making artwork backgrounds for my models, this led me on to making dioramas, and the rest is history. The artwork is really well done of the said model kit M2A3 Bradley w/Busk III traversing across a desert scene with sand being kicked up from the tracks. The box is made in the same fashion as the Merkava was meaning it should be in excellent condition when it arrives  

Review

Upon opening the box, you are presented with a clear plastic bag with six very light grey coloured sprues, one small decal sheet one clear plastic sprue that has a lens for viewing outside the tank whilst keeping your head down. After opening the bag, I was left quite stunned by the level of detail on show.  

Sprue A contains the upper body of the Bradley IFV, and, albeit in 1/72nd scale, the detail is far more than my expectations. Two molded hatches, one on the right-hand side front over the engine for maintenance or repair, and the other in the middle of the upper hull, right at the back, is a storage lift hatch. The tools on the left-hand side of the upper hull, although molded it are quite easy to make out exactly what they are, as the shovel, axe and sledgehammer, all of which have definition that appears to look as if not molded in place.  

Another part that surprised me, as its detail is the molded in place, but with the added busk, will be difficult to see much of it, and that is the running gear and in particular, the suspension and torsion bar. Other parts of note are the added armour to the front slope  

Sprue B includes the luxurious bench seats! For the squad inside, the rear door, which again has some incredible moulded detail on the exterior and on the interior too, the more you look, the more you find. The interior floor has some molded detail and looks really good, and when combined with the instructions, you begin to realise that there are a lot of parts which give you almost a complete interior.  

Sprue C contains the wheels and length, and link parts of the tracks. The tracks themselves look like what I would expect to see, but maybe the only part that some detail may be missing? That said, it is good enough for what you would see. The wheels, to all intents and purposes, are more than adequate on a small-scale model kit; if they look like wheels and roll like wheels, they must be wheels. 

Sprue D. This Sprue carries some of the details for Busk III or Bradley Urban Survivability Kit III or Busk III, a suite of upgrades for the U.S. Army's M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle that enhances its protection and survivability in urban combat environments. Developed in response to threats like IEDs, the kit includes modifications such as a blast-proof fuel cell, a blast-resistant driver's seat, improved turret and sight protection, and an emergency ramp release. Thus, allowing the squad in the back of the Bradley to evacuate in an emergency or life-threatening situation.    

So, I have cut off some of the reactive armour to check on the fit, which I am very pleased to say was an excellent fit, and it looks the part, giving a real impact. Finally, the drive cogs are superb in detail, as are the rollers.  

Sprue E, this sprue is all about the turret structure, and detail is sublime, and that is without all the many different parts that are ready to glue on, so there are the smoke cannisters, which are almost identical to those shown on a real M2A3 Bradley w/BUSK III. On the back of the turret are the two large aerials on the back of the turret of an M2A3 Bradley with the BUSK III kit are long-range radio antennas. They are part of the vehicle's upgraded digital command and control system.  The long-range whip antennas should not be confused with the thicker, shorter anti-IED antennas, which serve a different purpose and may also be present on the vehicle.  The commanders' hatch and gunners' hatch are both decent representations of the actual versions, and I believe you could have these open  

Sprue F is mostly smaller pieces that are parts of the Busk III. A couple of smaller panels are present, like most of the parts to the Tow system screens, around the commander's hatch to protect him against small arms fire. 

Final thought  

Just like the Merkava Mk. 4M that I just reviewed, Meng have definitely found a way to produce some amazing detail for these small-scale kits and as for the build, the parts that I took off to try the fit, really do fit nicely together. I will start a build review on this kit very soon to make sure it really does come together.  

Conclusion

The model kit is very well presented to that of the real Bradley down to its nuts and bolts. The enhanced equipment Busk III really does make a difference, and not just the saving of lives in the real thing; on the model, it really elevates the whole model, giving a real sense of something much bigger.  

This is the second 1/72nd armour kit that I have been lucky enough to review, and this kit, and I thought the first one the Merkava, was very good, but they have surpassed themselves with this M2A3 Bradley, a stunning bit of engineering in small-scale plastic that just comes to life.  

Couple this with a retail price of £13.99, and you cannot really go wrong. I definitely recommend this kit.