What IF ! M1A2 SEP with TUSK 2 urban warfare armour !

[schweinhund227]

First I must confess that THIS IS NOT a Real tank !

The reason I say that is because the tank pictured here is equipped with a Belly Armour plate and therefore it is impossible for the Mine Plow to be mounted on the Tank ! The Attachment point are covered by the Belly plate and therefore I had to modify the Plow to fit !!!

The real thing would be just Too heavy !!!

Some M1A2 were seen with Mine Rollers with partial TUSK II Armour on !!! but once again... I have stuff on this model that was never used on the real thing ! So now you know !

Real connoisseurs will be offended but I just wanted to make a FUN Armour kit for kicks !
Sometimes it is all about the fun and not about the Real machine ! it was my very first kit
where I used AK interactive washes and mud effects...

This is my philosophy now to have fun with my kits and I am not a pro at what ever I do !
please be gentle ! LOL










Hope you like it ?

Norm.

[Lee]

That's cool Norm, nothing like a little imagination - looks like it's been lit up from the inside?

[schweinhund227]

Nope ! its all coming from the ""Mirror film"" reflection in the periscopes and optics...

[coladito1]

nice Norm!! love the optics!!

[Gav0909]

Yeah man the optics are awesome, care to share how you achieve the effect?

[Lee]

Yeah man the optics are awesome, care to share how you achieve the effect?

Ooh good idea Gav...

[Paul]

That's one awesome looking tank

[schweinhund227]

Yeah man the optics are awesome, care to share how you achieve the effect?

Well I decided to Post it here! instead ! if you guys don't mind ?

Since it applies to this kind of tank.

Its only an Overview of the process. and is more a Money saver than anything else !!!
The technique its not mine !!! I used Greame Davidson's technique; I saw in Fine_Scale Magazine.
which I mention in the video as well !

[youtube]mnqDgQY3XKg[/youtube]

There are plenty of New products on the market now a days that facilitate
our lives... when it comes to Tanks Optics or Airplanes HUD...

Hobby Link Japan is big on that sort of Iridescent products... in their scratch-building section

The already made products are Cool looking and easy to use but can be pricey !!! and sometimes directed to a very specific Model and not always adaptable to other brands or similar models !!! i.e. AFV Club Stryker pré-cut periscopes are great on AFV Club Stykers but not as much on the Trumpeter's Strykers but can be... massaged to fit !

Please Look at this video and Tweak it to fit your needs !!! what you will see here is mainly Aimed at those types of Optics that need a "Clear Inserts" to simulate the glass!

I will do a "new video" to complement this one later this summer to show other ways of accomplishing convincing optics on "opaque molded" periscopes...

Hope this helps and if you have any questions... ? shoot me a PM or post it here !

Norm.

[Fredrik64]

A superb build !
I have ofc seen it many times before
And Norm this beutiful kit you have done is what made me start with armour kits so thank you for that !

Fredrik

[HobbyModeller]

Splendid piece of armour!

[schweinhund227]

A superb build !
I have ofc seen it many times before
And Norm this beutiful kit you have done is what made me start with armour kits so thank you for that !

Fredrik

Wow ! I am very humbled by your comment !

Glad you like it and very glad it inspired you to model Armour ! Most excellent !


Thanks guys for commenting...

[RollingThunderModels]

for a "fake" tank, it looks very realistic! great build mate!

[Tiger131]

superb work on this beast ive got the dragon m1a2 and i was thinking of getting the tusk upgrade and i think you have just made my mind up norm and i love that you have thought out side the box with the plow 10/10 all the way bud

[schweinhund227]

superb work on this beast ive got the dragon m1a2 and i was thinking of getting the tusk upgrade and i think you have just made my mind up norm and i love that you have thought out side the box with the plow 10/10 all the way bud

You are very welcome and I wish you success with your Dragon M1A2 TUSK II

It is quite the undertaking to assemble the Legend Productions set !!! but well worth the effort if done ... in steps to keep your sanity in check ! LOL

Take care and thanks for your kind words !

I also have the Dragon M1A2 and its calling my name for a maybe a variation on the theme ! TUSK I or Maybe TUSK II again but not as complete !!! just to enable even more shading and fading !

later my friend !

[Modelpro72]

WOW!!!!!!

No need to be gentle Norm. That is an amazing bit of work. The build, paint and weathering is awesome.

Lenny

[schweinhund227]

You are welcome Lenny ! it was a fun Kit to put together... well quite a few kits...

Voyager photo etch Rear RPG Deflector, Legend Productions TUSK II Armour, Trumpeter Mine Plow, Bronco Movable Tracks and the Tank of course... Good old faithful Tamiya M1A2 which sadly !!! needs a full ((Anti-Slip surface)) which I had to tape and Spray ! no as easy as it seems ! but the effect is worth the effort !

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment Lenny !!! most appreciated ! I am glad you like it !

[Coen]

Nice piece of work. I just saw a review of a Tamiya kit similar to this, maybe it's the same one (I don't keep up with the modern armour) in FSM.
I think that I like your version much more. Holy doodads. They really like to add the gadgetry to those machines. You certainly captured that. I like the finesse you used in the paint job. It's not easy with a monotone camo scheme.