hi everyone
yes its another of dragons m1a1 abrams.well if they do have to keep on releasing these amazing kits then where going to keep building and discussing them. it's not finished yet and its not perfect but ive enjoyed every bit of the build and paint. hopefully i'll be able to upload some more pic's soon.
all the best
neil.

Looks really good,I hope to start mine early next year !!

That's a damn fine looking Abrams.

Looks pretty darn good to me also.
Nice clean build.
But some want it all beat to Hell.
Me I like them clean.
Nice job again.

thanks for the nice comments here's a few more pictures all taken in the kitchen!!!!





thanks for looking and feedback is greatly appreciated.
neil.

Hi

Looks great and I really like the flesh colours on the figures too.
Very well done

Ryally

I'm no Abrams expert but it certainly looks like an excellent job to me. I like the subtle weathering job you did and as Paul said, your flesh color on the figures is spot on. Whose figures are they?

One suggestion though. The wheels hubs should be black. On a real Abrams they are clear to show the level of the lubricating oil. Go here for a good pic of one: Prime Portal pic

hi gary
the figures are verlinden,(us tankers crew iraq. 2277) as for the wheel hubs my reference pictures came from concords excellant book 'thunder run' and it looks to me as if some of the 3rd id abram's wheel hubs were painted in the same colour as the rest of the tank.all the painting was done using vallejo acrylics apart from the wash wich is mig produtions industrial dirt.
thanks alot for your interest.
neil.

Really nice Abrams and figures like everyone say, but just a few little things just to make it just right. Take this from a Army soldier and not the modeler.

Cary is right on the wheel hubs. They might be crusted with mud, dirt and dust, but will never be sprayed over witht he hull color due o the fact that they have to be inspected by the crew for their fluid level.

As for the "smoke poppers," the 3 short ones on the outside should be painted black as you see in the picture below.


The last thing is the figures. really good, but they should be wearing on of four colored IBA'sand not solid green: Woodland Camo, 3 colored Desert Camo, Marine Coyate Tan, or ACU pattern. The way you have this beast decaled up, they should be wearing Woodland Camo IBA's.

Beautiful job!

neil, thats one mighty fine abrams you've got there...

what colour did you use to paint the tank though? can you maybe give me the paint number...

once again...awesome tank

WOW
thanks for such great feedback. first of all, chris the paint colour it is vallejo model air sand 075 (fs33531) if you havent tried these paints before give them a go i personally think they are the best on the market.secondly pete thanks alot for your time and advice. it's people like yourself that make this such a great hobby and web site.i'm of to get out my vallejo paints and start on the wheel hubs.
thanks again
neil

thanks for the swift reply...

i think i have the model air sand. i'll have to check.

ive also got the model master sand which ive heard is a pretty close match to the actual colour of the tank.
so which colour would be best in comparison? the vallejo model air sand or the model master sand?

Neil,
Glad I could help out sir.

Hey, do you know over in the gallery, there is a file that is pen to the public that has OIF water bottle boxes and soda can boxes on it. You should down load it and add some to your beast.




File Located Here

Pete, two questions for you. First, what is the different between the long and short smoke poppers? And second, at what level did the oil level indicators require maintenance, i.e. refilling? Thanks.

p.s. Don't mean to hijack your thread Neil.

pete ive tried printing these on my printer and they keep coming out slightly blurred maybe its the printer i'll probably buy some from real model. i have never used mm paints but vallejo are a very good match to the turret stickers that come with the kit plus they are non toxic so i can spray when ever i want to and i won't upset my wife
neil
be my guest gary the more the better!!!!

Cary,
I'm not the m! expert around here. Rob(Sabot) and Mike Mummy are the actual M1 A1 tankers here. But from playing around on the Abrams we have out back in our motor pool, the fluid level is kept at half.

On the grenades, i think one is thinker than the other, but then again, guys like SABOT or HEAVYARTY can answer that one better. Just found the answer, one is a regular phosperus smoke and the other is an IR screening smoke.