Abrams II Group Build

Modeling Subjects Group Builds
1

Launching simultaneously with my artillery GB, I’d like to welcome armour builders to the second round of the M1 Abrams plastic factory:

“Abrams II Group Build”

The rules are the same as before, any scale or brand, OOB or AM, covering the entire history of the Abrams MBT from inception to latest combat service.

Start date August 1st 2013, running one year to a close on or around July 31st 2014.

There have been a number of expressions of interest in resuming this theme, so please drop by and let me know what you’ll be working on. I’ll be tackling that Trumpeter M1-A1 HA.

There’ll be a Roll Call list, badges and an Honour Wall for finished projects, as always.

Looking forward to registrations!

Cheers, Mike/TB379

Roll Call

Thunderbolt379 (host): Trumpeter 1:35 M1A1HA DONE

MikeyBugs95: Dragon 1:35 M1A1 AIM

Taxtp: Revell 1:72 M1A1HA DONE

Buffirn: AMT 1:35 M1 and Trumpeter 5-in-1 kit (time permitting)

Pyrman64: Academy 1:35 M1A1 Abrams (Iraq 2003)

Klik: Zvezda 1:100 M1A1 (gaming piece) DONE

Jayjay82: Academy 1:35 M1A1 Abrams (Iraq 2003) DONE

Badges

Coming soon!

Honour Wall

Klik 25 Jan 2014

Taxtp 4 Feb 2014

Jayjay82 Mar. 5th 2014

TB379 31 May 2014

2

Does this include variants on the M1 chassis? Are What if’s permitted?

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Hi perman64 – certainly, the Panther II, the Grizzly, anything on an Abrams chassis, and what-ifs are most welcome!

M/TB379

4

I’d like this. I’d enter… With a Dragon M1A1 AIM that I will be receiving it between August 14th to August 19th.

5

Welcome aboard Mikey, I’ll get the Roll Call underway right now!

Mike/TB379

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Hi Mike,

I’ll enter with a Revell 1/72 M1A1 (HA) please

Cheers

Tony

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Welcome aboard, Tony! M/TB379

8

Oh. I forgot about this. Sorry. Well I got my Dragon M1A1 AIM in today and let me tell you… it’s crazy… The amount of detail put into that kit is astounding. Currently, I’ve completed the main gun and breech, and I’ve been working on the hull and suspension. I’m going to start paint tomorrow, mainly the road wheels so I can get the detail painting on that over and out of the way. I have some pictures but none of the main gun yet.

And now to wait and continue in the morn.

And now I have a picture of the main gun.

I opted for plastic over metal because I though it’d be easier. And it was. Although it would’ve been nice to have a metal barrel.

9

Mike,

I’ll do the AMT M-1 I have. It should be a challenge. If I get that done, I have the Trumpeter 5 in 1 kit.

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Welcome to the battalion, Jim! have added you to the roll,

Mike/TB379

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I painted most of the pieces between Saturday, yesterday, and today and got one of the photoetch pieces done:

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Well…I guess I’ll toss my hat into the ring, with the Academy 1/35 M1A1 Abrams (Iraq 2003) kit

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Mikey – great progress, I confess I’m most interested in the technique of painting the main hull parts on the tree, I’ve never seen it done but heard about it a few times. Great work!

Pyrman, welcome to the battalion!

Mike/TB379

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All I did was take some (3 cans of paint. Still need another can to paint various pieces still unpainted… like some finished PE) Model Master Modern Desert Sand #1963 FS33722 and spray the sprues. Sometimes I sprayed a bit too heavy and had to wipe off the paint and start anew but most of the time it worked well… I’m not an airbrush guy right now. Much bad luck with airbrushing. I also mixed my own colors for the .50 cal. and M240. I also have some Trumpeter M4A1/M4 w/ M203 (even though I meant to order the M4 RIS version) that I painted and sort of brush-weathered. This is what I came up with:

The M240 and M249 are a bit out of scale. They may be closer to 1/36-1/37 than 1/35 but they’re Tamiya weapons.

Oh, I also finished the suspension and wheels assembly on the tank. I plan on starting the tracks, at least getting one dealt with, tomorrow.

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Here’s the Academy M1A1 Abrams (Iraq 2003) kit for this GB:

Here’s the goodies in the box

this build is going be be primarily an OOB build with the addition of some Tamiya & Academy accessories added on.

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Here’s what I accomplished after spending 3-hours at my lhs last evening for the weekly build night:

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Nice progress! Good seam work, too, especially that back seam between body and stern plate, on the Tamiya kits it invariably needs filling. Academy based their basic kit on Tamiya’s but might have corrected aspects like that. I look forward to seeing it come together!

M/TB379

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Mike: thanks for the compliment. What you can’t see is that the rear plate is not as wide as the upper hull - I need to add some Evergreen strips.

Update: yesterday morning I managed to start on the turret…look at all that putty![:'(] the turret basket fitted, but not glued yet. Now to go sand all that putty.[:(]

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What happened to the turret that you need so much putty???

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The Academy M1 is a copy of the Tamiya, to almost the last detail, and the Tamiyas always need a load of putty on the underside turret seam too… M/TB379