1/35 Meng Abrams M1A2 and HobbyBoss M1070

[ScaleModelJedi]

For this group build I will be building Meng's 1/35 Abrams M1A2 with TUSK I and the HobbyBoss M1070 truck tractor & M1000 heavy equipment transport semi-trailer.
I Plan to do these on a Dio/Display base with a few figures if I can fit it all in with the time and other builds.

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[ScaleModelJedi]

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[ScaleModelJedi]

Some reference pictures for my build. I don't plan on doing my dio like this as I want it so I can change what's displayed on it.

[ScaleModelJedi]

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[ScaleModelJedi]

[ScaleModelJedi]

As the main area for this group build is the Facebook group I have been posting all my updates on there and I am a bit behind on this thread. I will try and get this up to the point where I am currently with the build and try and keep it up to date.

Starting off with the Instructions for the Meng Abrams M1A2 SEP TUSK I/II



















The colour callouts. I will be doing scheme C

[Stokesy44]

You've got your hands full there Mate. What an awesome prospect.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Starting off with the torsion bar assembly for the working suspension. The front two torsion bars need to be built up from several parts, some of these parts are quite small and I found them difficult to hold in place whilst trying to glue. The rest of the torsion bars only require a little bit of clean up of where they were cut from the sprues.



The torsion bars fit in place really easy and require only a drop of cement on the one end to keep them in place. The torsion bars have a square end which locates in a slot on the inside of the lower hull which prevents them from rotating and keeps them in place. This allows the rods to twist slightly so the wheels can move up and down.

The torsion bars all in position on the lower hull


Next I added the parts to the side of the hull. There are some parts for lifting points, supports for the side skirts and the final drive. All the parts fit in place with no real major problems. The lifting hooks fit into slots on the side of the hull which are a littel bit to big and leave some gaps around the parts.These are not visible when the wheels, tracks and side skirts are in place.



Fitting the belly armour plate is the last step on the lower hull for now.



Fitting the upper hull.



There are some holes that need to be drilled out from the under side of the upper hull before fitting in place. These are for some of the parts to be fitted. There are also a couple of parts that need to be cut out.




Before fitting the upper section there are also a couple of parts that need removing on the lower hull. These are easily cut out and cleaned with a sanding stick.



The upper section fitted in place reasonably well but it did need clamping as there was a slight twist in it. I clamped it down using various clamps whilst the cement cured.



There is some PE to be fitted to the top of the hull for the grills over various places. This is all straight forward to fit with some CA glue.



The engine exhaust grills are made up of several parts and fit together really. These are built up separately in two parts left and right and can be opened/closed when fitted to the hull. Also some of the other parts were fitted in place.



The drivers hatch. I masked off the vision blocks with some 1.5mm Aizu micron tape before fixing them in place.



Drivers hatch and all the other parts fitted to the top of the hull.



The side skirts are made up of three parts for each side.



The explosive reactive armour is then fitted to these. You have a choice between the TUSK I and the TUSK II ERA depending which version you are doing. I will be using the TUSK I.



The side skirts dry fitted in place to check the fit. I will be leaving these off for painting and also so I can get the wheels and tracks on before fitting these in place permanently.



The one side there is a gap at the rear end this will pull up and should not be a problem when I come to fix the side skirts in place.



The rear of the lower hull has some PE to be fitted. The instructions tell you to fit these at the same time as the exhaust grills which I did. When fitting the side skirts there are two tabs that need to be lined up with the PE parts. I had to remove the PE as they did not quite line up and then re-position them after the side skirts where in place.



The wheels all go together OK and only require the usual clean up.



The wheels fitted in place. I will remove these and paint separately.

[ScaleModelJedi]

You've got your hands full there Mate. What an awesome prospect.

Thank you , It's going to be a big project and one that I'm really enjoying so far. Should be making a start on the M1070 soon.

[ScaleModelJedi]

The turret has some holes to be drilled out on both parts from the inside before fitting together. I used a 1mm drill bit in a pin vice for these.




The gun trunnion fitted in place.



The two sections fitted together. The fit is excellent on these parts.



Hatches and other parts fitted to the rear of the turret.



Storage boxes fitted to the sides.



Some more parts for the turret all cleaned up and ready to be fitted in place.



They all fit in place with no problems.



Fitting the rear stowage basket and VCSU A/C compressor.



The other stowage basket. These are really well molded and fit together with out any problems. There is some PE for the bottom which is straight forward to fit in place.



The barrel is molded in two halves and fits together reasonably well. They required clamping and because there are only two locating pins either end the middle did come out of alignment and had to be checked to make sure they stayed in the right place. The seam was a little bit tricky to sand in places due to some of the detail.



The gun assembly built up.



The co-axial machine gun. Really well detailed and easy to put together. I used a drop of maskol to mask the clear part.



The commanders cupola all built up ready to be fitted in place. I used Tamiya masking tape to mask all the clear parts. These were masked before fitting in position.



The loaders machine gun.



The turret with all the parts fitted and masked ready for painting. The turret is extremely detailed and has taken a fair amount of work to complete.



The tank all built up ready for painting. The side skirts and wheels will all be painted separately. I have still got the tracks to build which look like they will be fun

[ScaleModelJedi]

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[ScaleModelJedi]

I primed all the parts with Ultimate Gelb primer. I thought i would try this as the base colour is a sandy yellow colour I thought this may be easier to cover. I also was doing post shading using the colours in the AK set so didn't need to use black as a present shader.

Parts all primed up.


The hull and turret all painted using the AK colours from the modern U.S vehicles set.


Desert tan was applied all over, I then used the Desert shade to darken the recesses, corners and lower sections. The Desert highlight was used to lightened the more exposed areas.

The wheels and side skirts all painted. The tires were painted by hand using the Rubber black from the set.


The detail painting done on the guns and ammo boxes. Also painted the rubber parts around the gunners Shields.



The whole tank was then given a filter using Mig filter Ochre for light sand A.MIG-1503. I then applied a gloss clear coat using Mr Hobby Aqueous H30 clear ready for decals and a wash.

The barrel has some decals for the stripes. In trying to fit this I managed to completely destroy the decal. I used some 2mm Aizu masking tape and masked off the stripes and painted them using Vallejo Nato black.




All the decals done. Apart from the stripes all the others went down with no problems at all.


After the decals I applied a wash using Mig US modern vehicle's wash A.MIG-1007. This was applied as a pin wash to the panel lines and around raised parts. Any excess was cleaned off with some odourless thinners. I also added some light chipping and scratches to the lower parts and wheels. I didn't apply this to much as all the photo's I have for reference show very minimal chipping.

I'm currently applying a matt coat to the whole tank and then I can do the final weathering.

Thank you for looking

[ScaleModelJedi]

Not having done any work on this for awhile I thought it best to get some progress done. I want to get the Abrams all finished before starting on the M1070 so really need to get it done soon.
After having trouble with using Vallejo Matt varnish ( Three coats and the Abrams was still super shiny) I tried some createx acrylic matt and two light coats of this seemed to flat done the paint enough to take the shine off it. I will probably stick to using Aqua gloss for a clear coat on armour as using the Mr.Hobby clear and self levelling thinner seemed a bit overkill.

Once I was happy with the matt coat I have the wheels tracks and lower sections of the hull all dusting with some Vallejo model air IDF Sand and Grey sand. I then assembled the tracks and fitted the side skirts in place.

Last night I made a start on the weathering using Abteilung oils to do some fading and add some shadows to areas. I will leave this toff dry before adding some light streaking and some more dust effects using pigments.


Hopefully get this all done this week and I can get cracking on the rest of the build.
Thanks for looking

[ElCapitan]

I'm not usually into armour, but this looks like a great kit. So much detail

[ScaleModelJedi]

I'm not usually into armour, but this looks like a great kit. So much detail

Yeah it's a great kit and just out of the box has an excellent amount of detail. Looking forward to trying out a few more Meng kits.

[schweinhund227]

Looking mighty fine !!! keep up the good work !