U.S. Main Battle Tank M1A2 Abrams - Tamiya 1/48 - now finished and in the RFI section

[PlaStix]

Well it’s been a while since I've built anything in this section of Britmodeller - I've been spending most of my time in the Group Build section recently. Anyway, I have a bit of time before the next GB I want to take part in - so I had a quick look through the stash to find something relatively quick to build. I've been building a Tiran 5 recently so thought I'd like to do something more modern again. Also, having been looking at some of the excellent AFV 1/48 models being built here, I decided to do something in 1/48 - and this is what I have decided on:

 

I've made Tamiya's 1/48 JGSDF Type 10 Tank back in 2018 and this M1A2 looks to be of a similar high quality. I hope so.

 

I'll post some photos of the box contents later.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited April 4, 2020 by PlaStix

[FrancisGL]

Looks Nice!, Tamiya is always synonymous with quality.

Cheers Stix and HNY 

[JeroenS]

Nice, count me in. It's always a pleasure watching you do the magic with your brushes 🙂 

[GREG DESTEC]

Cool start to 2020!

 

I have a few tanks in the stash and a Tiger to finish. So this should provide some inspiration.

 

Looking forward to seeing all the bits.

 

Cheers Greg

[PlaStix]

Hi @FrancisGL @JeroenS and @GREG DESTEC. Thank you very much for you interest and comments. As promised here are the contents of the box photos. I had intended to get this started today but the base for my Tiran 5 took longer to finish than I was expecting.

Everything in the box except the instructions:

 

Both the hull deck and the upper turret have nicely done non-slip textures:

 

 

The individual sprues:

 

 

 

There are two of these:

 

The decals:

 

A metal weight is included to add some weight to the lower hull:

 

Sample of the instructions:

 

Finally the painting instructions:

 

I'm looking forward to getting started on this but it may not be until the weekend now...........I'm back at work tomorrow

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

Edited January 1, 2020 by PlaStix

[GREG DESTEC]

Looks like a really nice kit Stix 👍

 

Sorry to hear you are back to work so soon, but at least it's only for two days! 😃

 

All the best,

 

Greg 

[Ozzy]

Nice looking kit Stix, can I see a slip and non slip turret and hull?

[Bullbasket]

Nice to see you back in this scale again Stix. How does that metal weight attach? Is it screwed to the lower hull? It's got to be an improvement over their metal hulls.

 

John.

[PlaStix]

On 01/01/2020 at 16:22, GREG DESTEC said:

Looks like a really nice kit Stix 👍

Sorry to hear you are back to work so soon, but at least it's only for two days! 😃

All the best,

Greg 

Hi Greg. Yeah these Tamiya 1/48 kits do seem really good. I have made a few now and they are usually very enjoyable to make.....and it was quite difficult having to be back at work on the 2nd day of the new year!! 

 

On 01/01/2020 at 18:30, Ozzy said:

Nice looking kit Stix, can I see a slip and non slip turret and hull?

Hi Ozzy - no it's the same turret and hull with the non-slip texture just the lighting in our kitchem washes out some of the detail.

 

On 02/01/2020 at 11:21, Bullbasket said:

Nice to see you back in this scale again Stix. How does that metal weight attach? Is it screwed to the lower hull? It's got to be an improvement over their metal hulls.

John.

Hi John and yes it is nice to be building in 1/48 again - it is a nice scale both for AFVs and aircraft. Luckily I enjoy building in a variety of scales...........actually I just enjoy making stuff no matter what the scale!

With regards the metal weight I thought the diagram from the instructions would explain it better than I could in words!:

Looks fairly straight forward.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[Bullbasket]

Yep, got it. Thanks Stix.

 

John.

[PlaStix]

Over the past couple of days of the weekend I have made a proper start on this project. First thing I spotted, when taking a proper look at the kit, was the amount of these on the lower hull sides!:

Now I realise that these ejector pin marks are going to be hidden by the outer skirts but I had to remove them - it would have annoyed me knowing they were still there!

 

So after removing them by scraping them with a scalpel blade and smoothing them off with some very, very fine wet'n'dry paper - now assembled with the rest of the lower hull - they looked like this:

 

From underneath it looks like this:

 

I also assembled the parts onto the rear section of the hull before gluing it into place:

 

Then I added the side skirts to the upper hull deck:

 

The last thing on Saturday was to add the weight into the lower hull:

 

Today I started work on the turret - including adding a few parts to the turret:

 

Plus I started work on some of the parts that will be added to the hull and turret once I have painted them and started the weathering on them - some just had seam lines removed others had some assembly:

 

So a reasonable start and so far it's been a nice relaxed build.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[Bullbasket]

14 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Just more of the same. You seem to have it all covered just fine.

 

John.

[GREG DESTEC]

Hi Stixs,

 

The kit looks comprehensive and nicely detailed. I wonder how it compares to the 1/35 version. 

 

Great start to your build. I look forward to the next update.

 

Cheers Greg 👍

[PlaStix]

On 06/01/2020 at 09:15, Bullbasket said:

Just more of the same. You seem to have it all covered just fine.

John.

Thank you John.

 

On 06/01/2020 at 09:26, GREG DESTEC said:

Hi Stixs,

The kit looks comprehensive and nicely detailed. I wonder how it compares to the 1/35 version. 

Great start to your build. I look forward to the next update.

Cheers Greg 👍

Thank you Greg. Yes it is a nicely detailed kit and in some ways, I think, it's better than the 1/35 version as it comes with the non-slip surfaces already on. From what I can see on reviews via Scalemates the 1/35 Tamiya versions don't have it on. I was interested after you mentioned it and decided most currently available 1/35 versions have some issues here and there but there is a new kit out from a new company called Voiio which seems like it could be a good option for a M1A2 SEP V2 Abrams. It mostly seems to be available from abroad at the moment but it's supposed to be value for money when and if it arrives here. Details can be found here: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/voiio-01101-m1a2-sep-v2--1221012

 

I have done some work on my 1/48th version but, from the photos, you wouldn't guess there was a lot done. Firstly I ended up cleaning up the remaining parts and assembling any substructures I felt I could make without compromising the painting. If you've seen my projects before you'll probably know that, because I brush paint, I try and do a lot of my painting and base weathering before I assemble most of the parts. So this photo shows everything that has been cleaned up (eg seam lines and sprue connection points scraped with a scalpel blade, filed and sanded) plus any of the substructures built:

 

One job that took a little bit of time was removing the two ejection pin marks from inside surfaces of every other track link. The one in the foreground is the one that still has them in place. The one in the background has had them removed with a scalpel blade:

 

My next job is to get some paint on everything.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited January 13, 2020 by PlaStix

[GREG DESTEC]

Although tedious, removing the election pin marks has been worthwhile Stix. The tracks and running gear are my least favourite part of an armour build.

 

Very interesting observations 're the comparison with the 1/35 scale kits the 1/48 option sounds like a good one. 

 

Looking forward to the next update.

 

Cheers Greg 😁

[FrancisGL]

Good job with the model, that incongruity that the anti-slip surface is in the 1/48 and not in the 1/35 ...
I wonder how you get to paint before, and then use glue without it noticing, because I do it backwards, and still, it shows ... lol
Cheers Stix. 👍

 

[Hewy]

Hello stix ,i see your squeezing a crafty kit in  under the radar before your next gb build, you've prepped everything well ,it'll be a beauty I'll wager

[Vaastav]

Nice, I think I will tag along here, if you don't mind

[PlaStix]

On 13/01/2020 at 17:05, GREG DESTEC said:

Although tedious, removing the election pin marks has been worthwhile Stix. The tracks and running gear are my least favourite part of an armour build.

Very interesting observations 're the comparison with the 1/35 scale kits the 1/48 option sounds like a good one. 

Looking forward to the next update.

Cheers Greg 😁

Hi Greg. thank you for your comments. I know what you mean about the tracks. I have to be in the right frame of mind to work on them. These Tamiya Link & Length tracks are much better to work with. They are usually nicely detailed and not as fiddly to work on as individual links. It is odd that Tamiya can do a good version of the non-slip surfaces in 1/48 when some 1/35 versions don't have it. I'm still looking forward to the day when Tamiya make some of their kits with the Zimmerit already moulded on rather than having to use their stickers.

 

On 14/01/2020 at 17:55, FrancisGL said:

Good job with the model, that incongruity that the anti-slip surface is in the 1/48 and not in the 1/35 ...
I wonder how you get to paint before, and then use glue without it noticing, because I do it backwards, and still, it shows ... lol
Cheers Stix. 👍

 

Hi Francis and thank you for your comments. As I said to Greg - above - it is odd how well they have done the anti-slip in this scale where some 1/35 kits do not include it.

With regards gluing together after painting and weathering has been started - it takes a bit of planning to start with. I have to think where I can get away with gluing something together later - parts with pins and holes for them to locate in are usually fairly straight forward - I always apply a small amount of glue into the holes......if I apply it to the pins I find the glue is scraped off by the sides of the hole. I work out places where the glue can be applied to rear areas - so if it does ooze out it isn't visible. In some cases I build some subsections and paint those seperately. With the way I work - adding washes abd doing the drybrushing before adding runs and streaks - it's much easier with the parts not in the way. In some cases a bit of glue does ooze out but I'm usually fairly quick to remove it with some kitchen roll. In some cases the paint may get damaged so I end up sanding it back a bit with very fine wet'n'dry paper and then I use the same paints as before, but more thinned than to start with, to slowly repair the area. Often weathering can hide any imperfections!!!

 

On 16/01/2020 at 16:59, Hewy said:

Hello stix ,i see your squeezing a crafty kit in  under the radar before your next gb build, you've prepped everything well ,it'll be a beauty I'll wager

 Hi Glynn. Yes - thought I should build something outside a GB for a change! I've got plans for something in the 'In the Navy' GB next. Hopefully you can see the current state of play of the Abrams below.

 

On 18/01/2020 at 08:37, Vaastav said:

Nice, I think I will tag along here, if you don't mind

Certainly don't mind at all. Hopefully it be interesting enough!

 

First off - apologies for the two week wait for an update! I've been struggling to find time to update this thread. So there's two weeks worth of progress to view - so there will be a few photos although some will not be particularly interesting.

 

The light quality in some of these photos isn't great so it might be difficult to see what I have done! First off last weekend I got the base colour of Humbrol's Desert Yellow applied to all the parts it needed to be on. I used a medium flat brush and the paint was quite well thinned with water:

 

 

 

 

 

I also got some Revell Antracite on the tracks and some other bits in the same manner:

 

 

These are the paints and brushes I used:

 

........and yes, the brushes looked pretty much like that when I started. I actually prefer brushes when they have a had a bit of use rather than being brand new. I must also say a big thank you to @modelling minion who very kindly found the tub of Humbrol Desert Yellow I'm using. I mentioned a while back that newer batches are not as good and he very kindly found one from an older batch at a model show he went to. Thank you Craig - it is much, much better. I put a tick on it to indicate it's better than the others I have.

 

Next job was to get the washes on. First off I applied some very, very thinned Revell Gunship Grey with a very soft pointed brush. Unfortunately the light in the photos does not show it at all well:

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend just gone I started by adding a thinned wash of Revell's Anthracite in and around the details:

 

 

 

 

 

Finally this weekend I started dry-brushing with a lightened version of Desert Yellow:

 

 

 

The detail on some of the parts is really nice and the dry-brushing brings it out really well:

 

Next up I need to start doing some detail painting, add some of the decals and then do some more weathering.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited January 27, 2020 by PlaStix

[Bullbasket]

Hi Stix. First of all, let me declare a disinterest here. I'm not a great fan of modern armour. Chieftain is about as far forward that I will go. But I have to say that I watch all of your builds as I like to see the way that it comes alive with your brush painting. Fascinating. Now I have a question for you about Revell acrylic paints. I was given a load by my ex next door neighbour a couple of years ago whose partner sadly passed away. Just about everyone of them is quite thick. Is that how they normally come? Do you then thin them? He'd only recently purchased them, just before he died, so it's not as if they are old paints.

Thanks.

 

John.

[PlaStix]

3 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Hi Stix. First of all, let me declare a disinterest here. I'm not a great fan of modern armour. Chieftain is about as far forward that I will go. But I have to say that I watch all of your builds as I like to see the way that it comes alive with your brush painting. Fascinating. Now I have a question for you about Revell acrylic paints. I was given a load by my ex next door neighbour a couple of years ago whose partner sadly passed away. Just about everyone of them is quite thick. Is that how they normally come? Do you then thin them? He'd only recently purchased them, just before he died, so it's not as if they are old paints.

Thanks.

John.

Hi John and thank you for your post.

 

3 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

First of all, let me declare a disinterest here. I'm not a great fan of modern armour.

I totally understand. I am not as intersted in them as I am in WW2 stuff but sometimes I just like a change and Tamiya 1/48 kits are really fun to build - what ever era they are from. The detail on them is very crisp and comes up well under what I do. Thank you for your comments.

 

3 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Just about everyone of them is quite thick. Is that how they normally come?

Yes that is how Revell acrylic paints are. First of all you will need to stir them really well. If they are too thick to stir then I usually add a few drops of water.

 

3 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Do you then thin them?

If you check out my video on YouTube - there's a link in the signature at the bottom of this post - you can see me using some Revell Dark Earth acrylic paint on another 1/48 modern armour build from Tamiya. If you check from about 1 minute 30 seconds in you can see me mixing some with water. I do thin them a lot but Revell paints usually apply beautifully with soft flat brushes when they have been thinned. Let me know if you cannot see the link and I will PM it you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

 

 

Edited January 27, 2020 by PlaStix

[FrancisGL]

Hi Stix,

Thank you very much for your notes and infos, it is certainly a method that gives a very good result, although I imagine that you also have to be very good for it to work ... lol

I love how the model is coming to life, the Abrams is a modern tank that still has charm for me, although in the versions without the modern add-ons, which, as in the Challenger, all that is diluted ...
One of these days I would like to do one to 1/35 in my case, but I don't know why, the sand color is not easy for me to "tame" ...
Cheers Stix 👍

[GREG DESTEC]

Hi Stix,

 

Nice progress there.

 

I really enjoy seeing the painting stage particularly the wash and dry brushing. How long do you leave the wash on before removing the excess? 

 

I have tried using Revell or heavily thinned humbrol acrylics for wash purposes but find them hard for removing excess hence the question about timing. 

 

I'm really enjoying seeing your build progress.

 

Cheers, Greg 👍

[PlaStix]

18 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

Hi Stix,

Thank you very much for your notes and infos, it is certainly a method that gives a very good result, although I imagine that you also have to be very good for it to work ... lol

I love how the model is coming to life, the Abrams is a modern tank that still has charm for me, although in the versions without the modern add-ons, which, as in the Challenger, all that is diluted ...
One of these days I would like to do one to 1/35 in my case, but I don't know why, the sand color is not easy for me to "tame" ...
Cheers Stix 👍

Hi Francis. I hope the notes prove useful at some point and I think I have got the process to a place where I have practiced it enough times now for it to be a fairly reliable way of getting the base effects I require.

I would certainly follow one of your fantastic builds if you made something like a Challenger or Abrams. To be fair though - I always like seeing you builds in progress.

 

16 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

Hi Stix,

Nice progress there.

I really enjoy seeing the painting stage particularly the wash and dry brushing. How long do you leave the wash on before removing the excess? 

I have tried using Revell or heavily thinned humbrol acrylics for wash purposes but find them hard for removing excess hence the question about timing. 

I'm really enjoying seeing your build progress.

Cheers, Greg 👍

Hi Greg and thank you for your post.

 

16 hours ago, GREG DESTEC said:

I have tried using Revell or heavily thinned humbrol acrylics for wash purposes but find them hard for removing excess hence the question about timing. 

I don't remove any at all. What I do put on I allow to dry. As I mentioned before - I sometimes use a soft brush to agitate the wash as it dries - if it looks like there are significant tide marks building up. Minor tide marks I don't bother with as I know some will disappear under the dry-brushing and some will add to the weathering effect. I thought it might be useful to see the three stages, from above, together for the deck.

This photo shows just the Gunship Grey wash once it has dried:

You can see in some areas where it has built up more but, I must stress, the wash is very, very thinned with water.

 

The next photo shows the Anthracite wash that I applied in and around the detail - giving, I hope, artificial depth to the shadows:

For me this helps bring out the detail - especially once the dry-brushing has been done as in the final photo here:

You may be able to see that the darker areas from the Gunship Grey wash are still present and, I thnk, add to the overall effect.

 

As I always mention - all of these processes have developed for me over time but I didn't do any original testing of them on actual kits - I always find some scrap bits and pieces to practice on first.

 

Yesterday evening I decided I wanted to do a little something on this project so I thought about starting on the decals. I usually try and apply them at about this stage as I want any further weathering I do to go over them as well. Tamiya have supplied decals this time for the vision ports and other glass parts. When I looked at them though, I decided I would rather paint and gloss these areas.

 

So - for the cuppola vision ports I painted them with very thinned Anthracite before applying some Tamiya Clear Red Gloss acrylic paint - to give them a bit of a tint. Unfortunately the tint doesn't show up that well under electric light which I had to take the photos under:

 

These are the areas on the turret top that I painted with Antracite first before I applied some Johnsons Pledge - the new version of Klear:

 

And this is the same for the driver's vision ports:

 

They all need a bit of tidying up but I'm happier with them than trying to get the decals to fit.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited January 28, 2020 by PlaStix

[GREG DESTEC]

Cheers Stix 👍

 

Looks great. I must try harder.......😀