Reilly Posted September 18, 2016 Author Share Posted September 18, 2016 (edited) On 16 September 2016 at 11:09 PM, FrancisGL said: Looks very solid... what a beast..., cheers mate Thanks Francis, unfortunately this was the weekend of screw ups. Part of the turret TUSK has been added but the forward section hasn't. The f#%%! launcher is in the way. I was focussed on the detail of a launcher I had in some photos and failed to realised that it was for an M1A2 without TUSK. The version for TUSK has a slightly different form and allows the addition off the armour and yes, sure enough they were in the box. I fitted the wrong ones and in the manner of "right, that won't be coming off". I've decided to fill the extra holes and leave the plates off. I've enough pictures of the Abrams in Iraq in varying states of undress so it shouldn't look out of place. Still annoyed and it becomes more tempting to pick up the Meng kit. I see from the picture I've also knocked off the securing pin for the tow cable while mucking around. It should be lying on the bench somewhere. Edited September 18, 2016 by Reilly 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted September 25, 2016 Author Share Posted September 25, 2016 (edited) Have filled up the extra holes and now working on finishing the brass for the secondary armament along with the commander's cupola. Had a picture but something seems to have changed regarding photo insertion. I suspect photobucket may be to blame. It has become increasingly more irritating with its endless popups. (I'm too cheap to pay the couple of dollars for add free.) I'll look into it later and see if maybe Flickr would be a better option. The addition of the extra armour to the commander's cupola hasn't been easy. The extra armour on the RHS of the cupola doesn't fit. Trimming isn't really an option as there simply isn't anything to trim and bending with a bit of heat isn't really an option. It should fit the circumference of the cupola ring which it does but the rest is out of place. The lower holes have to match up with the periscopes but then the parts of the machine gun mount are in the way with no wiggle room. I've managed to get a reasonable fit but I'm not entirely happy with it. I sometimes wonder if there's somebody at Tamiya that does this intentionally just to screw around with folks. I had similar with one of their large scale Ferraris and had to re-engineer most of the kit. 3 hours later: Result, pictures again. Edited September 25, 2016 by Reilly 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 What a puzzle... , cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted October 8, 2016 Author Share Posted October 8, 2016 Secondary armament completed, Now the little guys. Cupola structure complete. And then I went to my first model show last weekend...... ......and kept seeing the Meng kit on display and finally couldn't resist. It was that or drop a bundle on a pile of other stuff. Had a look in the box and it looks good. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted October 9, 2016 Share Posted October 9, 2016 Looks massive!!!..., cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted October 14, 2016 Author Share Posted October 14, 2016 (edited) It hasn't been a good week so thought I'd relax and unwind with Abrams. Tamiya had other ideas. Here's the problem: On the RHS is the 7.62 ammo box Tamiya provided for the gunners M240. On the LHS is the size it should be as provided by Eduard. No problem here and it looks a lot better than the Tamiya lump of plastic. Right, lets mount it on the panzer and %$#^ it! it doesn't fit. The red circle shows the problem area. The angle on the support for the armoured window isn't quite right so Tamiya thought, fnek it we'll just made the ammo box and tray smaller so that it will fit. Not sure what the solution is yet but I'm fed up with it and Meng version is calling out from the top of the stash. I'm certainly not putting the Tamiya lump of plastic back in place of the Eduard effort. Edited October 14, 2016 by Reilly 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 ....cheers Reilly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 On 15/10/2016 at 0:18 AM, Reilly said: The red circle shows the problem area. The angle on the support for the armoured window isn't quite right so Tamiya thought, fnek it we'll just made the ammo box and tray smaller so that it will fit. Not sure what the solution is yet but I'm fed up with it and Meng version is calling out from the top of the stash. I'm certainly not putting the Tamiya lump of plastic back in place of the Eduard effort. Hello, did you find a solution for your GPMG mount ? E 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmerit Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 Have you considered making a resin cast of the equivalent part (if there is one) in the meng panzer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 Spent some time last night trying to fix my GPMG problem. Well, first off was to correct the mong error of trying to feed the belt into a random hole on the side of the gun mount created by Tamiya for their part. I'm a bit worried that I looked at that a few times and didn't spot the blunder until I was thinking about it while doing something else. Putting things in the correct place helped a bit but not completely. Next I thought about bending the screen a little by the gentle application of heat. That didn't work too well and the mount broke. However now that its broken I may have more opportunities to correct things. 22 hours ago, simmerit said: Have you considered making a resin cast of the equivalent part (if there is one) in the meng panzer? Cracking idea. I had a look at the Meng part and thought about casting. It's a different design so I'd have to adjust the complete mount. The Meng detail is just better. I was also tempted by LiveResin's offerings but at the end decided to see if I can't make the best of a bad job with what I've got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 This hasn't been going well. I managed to fit the GPMG by remaking part of the mount and repairing the parts I broke while using the heat gun. I then though I might be on a finish and added some pigment to some of the surfaces. Left it overnight and found this the next day. I'm still not sure what I was thinking about when I wrecked the paint job. Tried to get the pigment off by vigorous scrubbing with cotton buds, firstly soaked in water and then in airbrush cleaner. Still couldn't remove all of it so decided that a wash over the top might be good idea. The thing now looks like its been sprayed with fake tan. Frustrated with that, I turned my attention to the little guys. Could I get them to fit their positions in the turret? I don't think so. The arms have been chopped in a few places but no luck, or only with a pose that would be completely unnatural. The commander fits just but sticks out too far. Fitting the gunner was just impossible and I ended up breaking the GPMG. I'll repair the GPMG, leave out the gunner and call it a day. Maybe I can use him in Humvee turret or something. He also needs a clean up to remove some of the pigment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmerit Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Bummer John. Is this turning into a bit of a mare? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 6 hours ago, simmerit said: Bummer John. Is this turning into a bit of a mare? I'm afraid so. I seem to have made meal of this one. Time for some basic repairs to the paint work and see if I can still get the bleached look that the paint layer has once its been in the sun. I want to crack on with an F-16 next but that will be a long term project. I'm being lured to some of the Russian kit that's appearing on the market. I've seen quite a bit of it on travels and it would be interesting to give to a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 Hello, sorry to read about your mishaps with pigments ... however, even if you are disappointed, it gives the M1 a weathered look, as if the crew tried to applied wet dirt to break the monotony of the desert camo. Perhaps, if you can just reduce the contrast, that will be enough. E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted November 2, 2016 Share Posted November 2, 2016 It's a shame the damage, but still can be fixed sure ..., cheers mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 (edited) Right, that's it. I'm calling this one done. Wasn't quite the result I was looking for but it will do. Repaired the damaged screen, gave up on the gunner and will stick with a commander only. Knocked the exhaust deflector of while working on the paintwork and could not get the thing glued back on so decided to hang it from the bin railings which is what often happens. Went over the pigment disaster by dry brushing with the base colour lightened with some white. Seems to have helped. Here's the end result. More hires pictures can be found on my Flickr site at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/113106574@N02/albums/72157660966170149 Edited November 11, 2016 by Reilly 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Stunnig beast!!, very nice look..., cheers mate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widow 65 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Well recovered!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmerit Posted November 14, 2016 Share Posted November 14, 2016 Very nice John. as said, you must be chuffed with the recovery. What next? Cheers Si 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reilly Posted November 15, 2016 Author Share Posted November 15, 2016 Thanks guys. I'm going to have a think about the next one. Have to do some of the travelling thing for my lords and masters with plenty time for a ponder. I know it won't be the Meng Abrams. I'll let that collect some dust in the stash for a bit and have a try at something else when I get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Great save sir! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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