Famous in the Desert

[NAMBiohazard]

So here is my entry into GB



The M1 Abrams is an American third-generation main battle tank produced by the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of U.S. military forces in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972.
Highly mobile, designed for modern armored ground warfare, the M1 is well armed and heavily armored.
Notable features include the use of a powerful multi-fuel turbine engine, the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety.
Weighing nearly 68 short tons (almost 62 metric tons), it is one of the heaviest main battle tanks in service.

The M1 Abrams entered U.S. service in 1980, replacing the M60 tank.It served for over a decade alongside the improved M60A3, which had entered service in 1978. The M1 remains the principal main battle tank of the United States Army and Marine Corps, and the armies of Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Iraq.

Three main versions of the M1 Abrams have been deployed, the M1, M1A1, and M1A2, incorporating improved armament, protection and electronics. These improvements and other upgrades to in-service tanks have allowed this long-serving vehicle to remain in front-line service. In addition, development for the improved M1A3 version has been known since 2009.

So....now for whats inside the box









and this is the new tooling sprue........... the only one



vinyl tracks





the detail on the top hull is quite good at the engine deck



and also the weld seams are well done



Turret detail not too bad either



and then the version I am gonna build



I will have to add the anti slip texture as there is none on the model... but hey, I'm up for the challenge

[wookiee76]

This will be interesting for me as i have the self same kit in the stash and am thinking on how to get around the antislip myself.

[NAMBiohazard]

First update>>>>

Here is how I made the anti slip int he tank and what materials I used

I read this somewhere on the internet but not sure where:

I did this on a sample piece of plasticard..
Materials needed: PVA glue ( i found that the arts and craft works best as it mixes easier with water than the Ponal type wood glue)
Water
Drop of dish washing liquid
small jar or plastic cup
medium and small flat brush
any type of masking agent ( Humbrol Maskol, masking tape etc)
embossing powder
large container lid in which the model can stand when you work on it





As you can see from the second picture I already put some PVA in the small jar, I then added water while stirring till most of the PVA has dissolved and also added a drop of dish washing liquid to break the surface tension of the water. I also added some acrylic paint to the mixture to make it more visible when on the card.



I marked off a part of the card so you can see how easily it is to add to round and sharp edges and painted on the mixture in a thin cote



Using the embossing powder

I then sprinkled it on the painted area in thin layers, build it up gradually otherwise its not gonna look as good.



When doing this on a model you can use masking tape or maskol to cover weld seams or hatches etc that should not get covered.

Here is a picture of the hull with anti slip and primed to show the outcome. This was my first time doing this so its not perfect but I like the worn look




The building phase is almost complete and then I will give feed back on the actual kit

Comment always appreciated and ask question if you have any

[NAMBiohazard]

Ok so here we are with the latest update.........

Finished the turret....

Here the anti-slip was applied but silly me forgot to added dish washing liquid to the mix and it came out like this
Also the antennas was made from garden broom strands and the bottom springs came from a printer I recently took apart


Added some extra detail to the turret.. Made the hooks for the tow cables as the kit made them look like they were floating



Here you can also see a closeup of the antenna. I added the plate to which the spare wheel will be mounted as there is none for the wheel.
The turret basket did not go together all that well and a large gap can be seen here between the side rails and rear guard. Also the making of the mesh for the bottom of the basket was a nightmare.


So next up is all the wheels and then paint....

[Coen]

Nice bit of experimentation with the embossing powder... I must say, that's a new one on me.
Threw almost never a day where I don't learn something new. Thanks for that bud.
I love those tiny springs on the antennas. That's freaking cool work!!!

[NAMBiohazard]

Just a quick update on my progress....

Thank you for the comments Coen, I was a bit skeptical about trying the whole embossing powder idea....but here some pictures of the model base coated and gloss coated







It does look a bit out of scale but I think it did not come out too bad.....

All comments will be appreciated and
THANK YOU for having a look on my thread.....

[TheTroyster]

I really liked this kit, I thought it was awesome to build. Funny thing, for this gb I am building the Tamiya made Abrams. I just compared the two side by side and this Academy has much better detail, weld marks, depth of lines, etc... .

[NAMBiohazard]

I really liked this kit, I thought it was awesome to build. Funny thing, for this gb I am building the Tamiya made Abrams. I just compared the two side by side and this Academy has much better detail, weld marks, depth of lines, etc... .

I have to agree with you on that... I have a Tamiya Abrams too but preferred to build this one rather as it seems a bit more "crisp" in detail.
Though it has its faults.

[gaz45]

Nice work so far mate

[Nige201980]

Great work so far mate

[NAMBiohazard]

Nice work so far mate

Great work so far mate

Thank you very much for the comments...

Here is some picture of the current status of the kit...



I have done most of the detail painting on the tank. I made the rear part green as to make it look as if the parts have been replaced after a IED exploded
next to the tank.
Most of the spare parts for the Abrams are painted in the NATO green color. so most of the time the parts in green on pictures have been replaced.
I still need to do the dusting affects and some chipping but that will only be do once all the stowage is on

Next I did the commander figure.....





This was not easy to paint as can be seen the white and black dots does look a bit out of scale, but this was my first time painting figure camouflaged uniforms and I am happy with it.

Also did most of the stowage to go on the tank but there is still more on order...




Thank you again for those leaving comment and following my thread..
Please feel to give your opinions and comment