This set is not just large, but has many variant builds you can create with it. As such, I’m splitting it into 3 parts. The Body, The Treads and the Turrets. After I publish all three articles, there will be links to each of the articles for the other two parts.

Mega Construx Designer Series UNSC Scorpion Tank Part 1: The Body

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 45 minutes to sort, roughly 1 1/2 to 2 hours to build. Your time will vary greatly as I took pics along the way for this review. Not to mention, each variant tread and turret has different building times.
Set Piece Count: 1014
Minifigures: Red Spartan Mark IV
Weapons: 5 different variant turrets for Scorpion, Gold 10th Anniversary Rocket Launcher for figure
Accessories: figure baseplate
Special Features: 4 different variant builds of treads
Cost: Between $70-100 US. Depending on where you purchase it from. I got mine from Target for $70.

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The front box art shows the Scorpion in an action move. As well, on the right it shows the other turret variants.

The back of the box shows the turrets and treads, along with some of the action features for the turrets.

Here a shot of the graphic for the now buildable treads!
Previously, Mega has made rubber treads. While they worked just fine before, they had a tendency of breaking over time. This mostly due to the rubber drying out, cracking and splitting.

This now piece built system for treads is a VERY WELCOME change!

In the box you get an sheet showing the variations of the treads and turrets, a large and small MCX Bags, 6 bags of parts for the body of the Scorpion. These are labeled 1-6 with the body portion of the scorpion filled in on the graphic of the bag. In doing so, Mega helps to keep any confusion down as to which bags belong with which section of the build. There are 4 bags for the tread parts, labeled 7-10, with the treads filled in on the graphic. Finally, there are 5 bags labeled 11-15 that are for the turret pieces.

This set does NOT come with an instruction manual. Instead, Mega chose to make it available online only. This is likely a cost saving measure due to the various turrets and treads. Printing costs would have been high. The net result being a more pricey set. So in this digital age, it works for most people.

If you follow the link or QR code, you will go to the page for the Scorpion on Mega’s website.

This is the page you will see.

On the right of the page, you will see the column below. These do not note which part of the manual you are going to view. So you’ll have to go through them to find the ones you want for your choice of turret and treads.

If you scroll a little bit more on the page however, you’ll find this section. Clicking on each subsequent picture within the boxes will take you to that specific part of the manual. I highly recommend doing it this way.

This is a cleaner version of the sheet included in the box. Again, it shows all the variants.
With so many to choose from, which one will you pick? Read all three of my articles on this set to see which ones I ultimately went with.

Here is the parts list for the set. Might not seem like much, but there are many multiple pieces included to make the different sections.

Okay, let’s get into the build, shall we?

The Body!

Now as I wasn’t sure which of the “MCX” bags the following graphic in the instructions was referring to, I opened both. As you can see, we also need to open bags 1 and 2 of the body pieces.

Here are some interesting pieces from the MCX bag. Printed pieces and rubber pieces.

The smaller of the two MCX bags.
It contains these parts.

As it turns out, less than half of the pieces in the MCX bags are used for the body. Here is what you get in both of them.

Bags 1 and 2 respectively, followed by their contents.

Okay, with all four of those bags sorted, we’re finally ready to begin!

We start by building the base of the body of the scorpion. Those brown pieces you see will eventually be the seat for the figure. Hmm, leather?? LOL
So as you can see in the bottom right corner, there is the driver’s area, a cargo hold in the back and just to the side of the driver’s area, a grey area that will house the gunner.

Bags 3 and 4, followed by their respective contents.

So now we build up more of the front of the body of the Scorpion. I like those angular ridges on the front. As well, as seen by the inset, we attach the gunner’s mount. This rotates!

The two bulky angled sections shown at right are attached to the body. These will serve as both back armor as well as part of the storage door mechanism.

Bags 5 and 6 followed by their parts.

More area is built up along the mid-back section. This to house your choice of turret later on.

This small build is the hatch for the driver.

Below you can see how it’s attached and pivots. I like that Mega used transparent pieces to give the illusion of thin windows.

Next we build the rear cargo hatches. Following in clockwise order, the hatch, where it clips onto, flipping it over, and attaching it.

The rear top hatch is built and clipped on.

These pivot enough to fit the long crate included with the set. The crate is unencumbered by any of the turret designs, so you can leave it in there, if you choose to.

Next up the machine gun attaches to the gunner’s seat.

So here is what we have so far. Note the many side holes, “cross” Ts and such. These will be used for various treads.

These were the parts I had left over from the body build.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “that’s it”? Well, of course not. This is just part 1 of the review. There are two more parts with LOADS more pics. Once I have them all published, I’ll put those links here.

Summary: The set’s build time is moderate and will vary greatly depending on which set of treads and which turret you choose to build. The whole set can be assembled in a few hours though, regardless of which versions you choose.

Overall Rating: I give the Body portion of this set a 10 out of 10 medals.
Why did I give it a 10 out of 10?
• The build is pretty solid. It was designed very well, with the notion of various types of treads to be attached.

Normally this is where I give my opinion on the value of the set and if I recommend it. I’m saving that until the end of part three, so you won’t have to read the same text again and again.

Here are the links to the other parts of this review:
Halo Toy Review: Mega Construx Designer Series UNSC Scorpion Tank Part 2 The Treads
Halo Toy Review: Mega Construx Designer Series UNSC Scorpion Tank Part 3 The Turrets

If you have any questions about this set that I didn’t cover in the review, please do not hesitate to ask me. Either reply below or e-mail me at [email protected].

If this review gives you an informed decision on whether to purchase the toy or not, please consider a small donation (50 cents) to the blog.You can donate via PayPal to [email protected]. Or just click the paypal link at the right on the main page of the site.  It’s much appreciated and helps ensure that HFFL stays registered/active on the internet. Thank You.

-Sal