Assembling the Hood

 

In theory, the Meng kit pushes together, but in the same way I don't do plastic kits without paint, I don't do them without glue either. 

Not that the model was likely to fall apart. Most of the holes into which parts are supposed to locate were on the tight side, probably not helped by a layer of paint. All needed to be slightly eased with a broach normally used for metal kits. 

The upper and lower hull parts benefited from some glue and clamping to avoid a tiny gap between them. These little clamps were just big enough to do the job. 

If you know the prototype, you can appreciate the effort the designer has gone into with the bridge area. Everything that should be there is there, just in cartoon form. The trick with the model is to pre-paint everything as the build (to my mind) needs to be very clean. I didn't plan on weathering the ship as I don't want any hint of realism about the finished product.