Trumpeter 1/35th AS90 Completed Page 2

Modeling Subjects Armor
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Earlier in the year i built a Dragon Pz II and said it would probably be my only armour build of the year. Well, i was wrong, things have gone so well i am able to fit this beastie in, though whether it will be finihsed before the end of the year is another matter.

The AS90 entered service with the British Army in the early 90’s, replacing both the Abbot and M109 guns. It has been deployed to the Balkans and Iraq and currently equips one Regiment of the RHA and two of the RA.

I have been fortunate enough not only to stand in one of these but see them in action, both at the firing end and the landing end, not to close of course, so really chuffed to get a chance to build one.

And for extras, i will be adding Bronco’s indy tracks.

And, to correct the errors in what Accurate Armour claim is a badly designed pirate copy of their own resin kit, i will be adding the AA update set. Lots of resin in this, and i should hope so for the price.

I made a start last week while i my current build was drying by working on the tracks first, and good job i did. These tracks are very nice but very fiddly. Each link comprises 6 parts.

And over several evenings, i spent 2 to 3 hours on each track, thats not including the guide horns.

And then i put the suspension together. One good feature is that the arms for the rear idlers, right side in the pic, are very tight fit. This meant i could put them in without glue. I have left off the extension ram to paint seperatly, and i can add this and adjust the idler when the tracks are fitted to get the proper tension. Well, thats the plan.

Thats all there is for now. I will be finished with my current build by the end of the week (he says hopefully) and can get to this full time. Though i should be able to get some filling and clean up of the upper hull done in the mean time.

Thanks for looking.

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Big project,should be interesting

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I’ll be watching.

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Hello!

Lookin’ good! That track sure is a nuisance - do you have it workable? What did you use to glue those? I’ve had the same system track for my CEV and I had to modify them a little in order to stay sane and still get tracks on my vehicle.

Can you write more about that “bad copy of their resin kit” - sure sounds interesting. Accurates should be happy - not only it’s the “Chinese sign of respect” (when they copy you), they’ll get to sell way more of their update sets than they ever would full sets.

Looking forward to see more of your build, good luck with it and have a nice day

Paweł

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This should be good! I’ll be watching for pointers.

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Thanks for looking in guys.

Pawel, the track is mostly workable. It was fine until the guide horns went in. I used CA and it was pretty easy to out the track together without getting glue on the bits i didn’t want it. But when i put the horns on, some of it got on the links to the side. I was able to free most of it by just working the track, so it should be ok when fitting. I have not tried test fitting yet though so will see.

I think AA may be over stating things a little, but from what i have seen so far, the gun is to long in front of the fume extractor. On the box art i thought it looked to big, but the kit give you the option of the longer barreled 52 Cal gun which did not enter production, but i was sure the box art was not showing that option, and indeed it is to long.

I believe the 2 turrets built with the longer barrel are now in Polish service.

The gun travel lock is wrong for the 39 Cal gun, its for the longer barrel. It can be modified, but Trump don’t tell you this, the AA set has the correct one. Also the smoke grenade launchers and top rollers on the kit are wrong.

From what i can tell, AA have taken their orriginal resin kit, removed the hull, suspension and turret and put everything else in the box as the update set. Some of the kit parts they replace don’t look that bad, so its just a case of replacing platic parts with resin ones with nicer detail.

As i go through the build i plan on comparing kit parts with the resin so will see what else pops up. At £53, this resin set is not cheap, time will tell if its worth it. And i know AA make mistake in their sets, i have the Warrior 511 conversion and there is a big error in that.

Edit: Just been looking at the build review on PMMS, according to Terry, the kit barrel is 21mm to long, which sounds about right when i compared it to the resin one. Scaled up, thats 2 foot 4 inches. No wounder it looks to big on the box.

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Oh wow, very cool Bish!!!

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Bish - I stand in salute to you for your patience on those tracks! A far cry from the Tamiya plastic tracks I’ve encountered! This one looks like youll be busy for quite a while.

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Thanks guys.

MM, ye, i think it mght.

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Will be watching this. I have their 1/72 version. Those tracks look sweet.

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Glad to have you on board RX.

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Wow Bish,

That is a wonderful looking kit…I will definitely be along to watch and learn. I never got to be at either end of one of these monsters, but got to see one up close at Fort Sills (Oklahoma) while I was in the Army. It was something to stand next to such a beast! I have 2 U.S. Paladin M109A6 Howitzers in the stash I am saving.

Image result for paladin howitzer

I hope you enjoy your build, and I can’t wait to see more!

P.S. - The tracks turned out GREAT! Patience does pay off [Y]

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Bish,

Looks like a really cool build. The resin bits are really going to liven this one up!

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Looking forward to seeing all the comparisons between the kit and resin

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Nice project. I hope it turns ou the way you want it to.

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Thanks for looking in guys, should be able to get on this properly by tomorrow.

Hunter, its impressive when it fies a 3 round burts in 10 seconds, and sitting on the training area at Suffield in Canada and watching the results of a battery firing was somthing else. What was an AS90 doing at Fort Sills.

I never got to see the M109, they had been replaced by the time my Battalion moved to the armoured role. Look forward to seeing your builds, i beliefe Italeri do one with UK markings.

Bruce, i think it will, been checking them over and some very nice detail.

Clint, i am keen to see how much of the resin is really needed and how much is for show.

Wood, i hope so, never know until the end.

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I apologize Bish, it was the M109 not the AS90 (Should have clarified that in my first post). I would have loved to seen those rounds fired off, and the final results. How long where you at Suffield?

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Got ur.

I made 4 trips there, the longest being 3 months for 2 of them. An armoured Inf Battalion had to go there to final confirmation excersises before it could be certified operational. The usual time out there was 6 weeks with 4 of that in the field.

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Hey Bish,

You got me wondering if I had the UK marking so I cut open the box to see if they might be in there. It has the markings for 2003 Iraq, and 1999 US forces in Kosovo.

And I just got this one 2 days ago in the mail.

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We only used the original and the A2/A3 version. I was checking Scalemates, and there is an Italeri boxing that has Brit markings.

Nice job getting the Wespe, thats a nice little kit.