1/35 M1070/M1000 HET and Abrams M1A2 Tusk1/2 Project

[danimalmagic]

Hi all, i have decided a while back that it was well pass time i stepped away from commission work and took a bit of time for yours truly, i had been pondering dipping my toe into an armour project for some years and i thought i may as well do something a bit challenging, words i may come to regret. So some time ago i started saving my pennies and trolling Ebay for all the parts i needed, the last and most delicate obstacle was negotiating the time with SWMBO but a quick bribe with some hard cash sorted that, needless to say i am now Broke!!!😀
The project will be based around the awesome looking Hobby Boss M1070 Oshkosh and M1000 Trailer, initially i thought that would do nicely but what is the point of having a big empty trailer so i may as well just add an Abrams M1A2. During this time i was led astray by another modeller as to the resin goodies available from Real Models and when you see that the kit M1070 has just a great big empty hole for the engine my mind was made up, engine it is, well engine, cab externals, internals, armour, drive train and wheels for for the rig and trailer.
Needless to say at this point the parts count for the kit models alone is around 3300, less a few parts that the resin wheels replace then add all the other additional resin details and the etch, needless to say there is plenty to do. If all goes to plan it should end up with a basic dessert road diorama so to facilitate that i bought some some figures and support equipment to help fill it out a bit as there was not quite enough to do as it stood.
The Meng Abrams is pretty good as is and the only real thing i thought poor was the kit gun barrel, a real ugly seam that would be a pain to 100% clean up, a quick search and i found the rather nice and also very cheap RB Models machined barrel. I have not decided on Tusk 1 or 2 as yet, for the most part it is just the reactive armour but i have some time to consider that.
I have some other minor bits and pieces to add a little realism but essentially that is it for the parts so i am now just getting started, i have got 12 weeks to get it all done before i will need to get back to paid work, not sure what the reality will be but i cant wait to get stuck in.

From my own perspective i would have loved to put a Challenger 2 on the back but the British Oshkosh has a number of differences, it is probably at this very point that Accurate Armour re release there full resin UK Spec version but i cant await around for that to happen so time to get started. If they do, nobody tell me!!!!🤬

I am going to start with cleaning up the resin parts first, should keep me going for a while.


First update should be at the weekend, see ya then.

Edited May 7, 2019 by danimalmagic

[Yetifan]

This will be epic, pulling up a chair 🙂

[Kingsman]

1 hour ago, danimalmagic said:

i would have loved to put a Challenger 2 on the back but the British Oshkosh has a number of differences,

The trailer is completely different.  Tractor differences are primarily the front end.  Not convert-able.

 

I'm not convinced that the baseline US HET spec as kitted can carry the upgraded M1A2 TUSK although on ops the rules might get ignored.  I think it's too heavy.  US have been upgrading the HET tractors to A1 spec with more engine power, but I don't believe there are any noticeable external differences.  More importantly, the trailer doesn't have enough wheels for the increased weight, and they really need a new one.  In fact they're looking at replacing HET completely and the UK was at one time interested in buying-in: might still be.  PFI leasing has proved costly and inflexible.

 

M1A2s are certainly not a road-legal load on US HET anywhere in the EU because of the axle loading.  Recognising this potential problem, UK specified a new trailer with more wheels for its leased fleet and has for the last couple of years loaned 18 of them to US Army Germany because their few HETs can't legally carry M1A2 or M88A2 on public roads and they were spending a fortune on civilian transport while moving pre-positioned equipment back into Germany.  Ironically, Challenger 2 at fully-equipped weight with all the add-on armour etc is also now about 2 tonnes too heavy to be road-legal on UK HET, although the trailer structure is capable of it.  Road rules might be different in the US, and on ops no-one cares about road-legality!

[danimalmagic]

Thats why I did not get too much into the Brit version, I will stick to my plan.

[robw_uk]

holy moly that looks huge... watching

[flashlight]

Very interesting project!

 

Have a nice day!

Nick

[Vaastav]

Looks quite interesting. I think I will open a bottle of Thums-Up, sit in the corner & observe . If that is fine.