Nice work. I just got my kit in the mail, and have the Echelon decals and Bronco tracks on order. Will get the Legends stuff for the bins later on.

Nice work Max

thank you guys,
John, found something that might be of interest for you

http://knighthawk.smugmug.com/Travel/North-to-Baghdad/260401_ytatM#10296028_5TUgT-X3-LB

Cheers Max

Very nice. It's not easy painting monotone camo on a vehicle but you pulled it off nicely. Love the tone variations.

cheers

Max,

VERY nice USMC Abrams!! The desert paint and weathering is top notch!

Unfortunately, the tow cable bracket at the back of the turret under the right side bustle rack is too low.



This image from Prime Portal shows how it should look:



I don't know if you can correct it without ruining your excellent paint finish.

Thank you Rick,

Jeff, I noticed that too, but it has to do with the size of the side stowage bins, hence I'd have to replace the entire bins just to get the tow cables in place... naw naw naw... anyway the whole build is full of inaccuracies, so I'm just going to leave everything as it is and focus on the paint job

here's a small update, added some more dots and streaks as well as some stowage, followed by a thick coat of gunze's flat clear.
Next up I'll try to get the entire sowage done, and then it's time for some dusting!

note the folded up fuel bladder.








just noticed I forgot to post these pics last time:







Cheers Max

Wow, thanks Max! Nothing like super sized reference photos.

On the right of the turret (as you view image) you can see the sand coloured duck tape strips, on the left you can see where the velcro strips were.
The photo is the perfect size.The replication of the CIP's are not going to be easy but will be a challenge I'm looking forward too.

Busy browsing my way through the rest of them too.

yeah, great stuff over there... glad you like it.
how about maybe some hairspray to replicate the chipped CIP's?

cheers

So if I'm following you, create the CIP out of plastic card, base coat in white/silver, apply the hairspray, spray on the sand colour and then gently remove?
The final result will look natural and throw on a wash for some stuck on dirt and viola.

Question, how do we create the impression of the horizontal strips? I was thinking you could scribe them into the panel before painting but it might be too uniform and won't look layered.

Something I was thinking about thanks to "mishaps" was applying some liquid cement onto the panel, then apply thin strips of tamiya masking tape in a layered manner. Once the glue has dried and bonded gently scrape off the tape that will come off.

Problem with my idea, how do you avoid the panel becoming too thick?

I believe this image from Prime Portal shows how the real item looks for the "paint chipping".




The real items are actually a Z-shaped continuous metal sheet (I assume aluminum), which this picture from Prime Portal shows in the upper right corner:


My suggestion would be to layer strips about 0.020" thick or so such that they overlap like roof shingles, and then you can form aluminum or lead foil over it to make the panels. Then you can make the frames from think plastic sheet, plastic angle/C, or metal strips.

I hope this helps...

Jeff, thanks for the photos and the input.

However, we're referring to the CIP panels on the front of the turret (facing the tank head on)

Certain units applied duct tape onto the panels, if you look back at Pg.1 you'll see an example.

Hey John,
this is what I thought of:

scribe the basic CIP shape into some aluminum foil


cut out the single strips (be very careful and note: your tank had seven instead of the usual five strips on the right side front CIP)


add the battle damage (mirror inverted)


glue on the CIP using super glue (I think PVA would also do)
rear:

front:


then carefully cut away the remaining foil. be careful not to cut the sides of the aluminum foil in the beginning, since they help keeping the strips aligned properly.


when you're done attatch the last details (velcro stip in the upper left corner and tan strip in the upper center),simply paint it the way mentioned above and you're done!
(sorry for my crappy brush painting attempt, but I just couldn't resist )



overall time per CIP less than 20 minutes

Cheers Max

Max, that looks fantastic!!

I'll send you my postal address while you decide on your CIP panel pricing structure

Thanks for the step-by-step photo guide, I'm going to try this tonight when I get home.

Will post some photos once I've created one.

Max, made a damaged panel last night.

The super glue was extremely eager to get out of the tube which led to the panel being glued on skew

However it came out OK for my first attempt.

Will upload a photo tonight, couldn't find the usb cable for the camera this morning

Here is my attempt at the panel

Sorry, that should teach me to review and make sure I know what people are talking about before I jump in and put my foot/feet in my mouth!

I REALLY like the front CIPs with the duct tape added! They look quite realistic.

Jeff,
no problem as long as you don't start chewing However, nice pics esp. like the chips on the A1's CIP.

John,
sorry for my delayed reply... my semester break is nearing its end, so I've got a lot of organisational stuff to do...

Your CIP looks great, the single strips seem perfectly aligned!
keep us updated on your build!

Cheers Max

Well,
time for an update.
needed a little break from painting and so I decided to finally get the italeri kit done. I also Changed my plans on building it into another OIF version, instead it's going to be built into a really muddy KFOR hog!











Hope you'll like it...

Cheers Max

A lot of work you are putting in this kit, always thought that the Italerie/Revell kit wasn‘t that bad with some effort ... until Dragon released their AIM.
The deep wading kit is also something I am still looking for, looks like one of the M1 on training in Canjeurs/France 1996 or 97.

Cheers
Christopher

Yupp, an awful lot of work and it's still not even close to the dragon kit's level of detail... Yet not even considering that the overall fit is more than horrible...
The DWF is something I found in my spares box, it's from an old dragon kit (base kit for "got oil"). don't you have one already assembled on your dozer abrams? is there another MC tank one in the works?

here are some pics of the original:




more can be found here: http://www.panzerbaer.de/archiv/us_kfor_usmc_mbt_m1a1_abrams-a.htm

Cheers Max

Although in French this book is an excellent ref. with some very good USMC pics.
Thats if you don‘t have yet.

M1 Abrams (Materiels Militaires Du Monde) (Hardcover)
by Yves Debay (Author), Eric Baltzer (Author)

The two new M1 I‘m working on are Army, finalizing the USMC dozer one at the moment, would need the wading kit for that one.

Cheers
Christopher

Chris, looking forward to seeing how your build is going to turn out...

Here's a little update, got the track areas painted and weathered, meanwhile the side skirts are on as well, so now I'm ready to start out on painting the rest...
let me know what you think!




Cheers Max

Max, looking good!

The Citizane M1 Abrams factory seems to be operating in over drive.

Like the hull effects on the KFOR build, artist oils and pigments?

thank you john,
oh yeah, if I continue like this I'm likely to outdo lima and anniston

for the hull effects I used oils, pigments and acrylics...
oil filters and washes first (the effects that can be seen on the second last road wheel in the second pic, then some pigments dabbed onto/into some flat acrylic varnish(vallejo), and last some acrylic gloss varnish(gunze) thinned with water for the wet effects... the water will make the varnish spread out on the pigments, so it behaves just like on the real tank...

btw. how's it going with your "baghdad's nightmare"

cheers Max

well...it isn't going at all at the moment

Been reading Abrams books instead of building them last few weeks. Finished Heavy Metal: A Tank Company's Battle To Baghdad and have 86 pages of Once A Marine left.

Then I should be "abrams inspired"

Actually I'm undecided on which kit I want to use for Baghdads Nightmare. The Dragon AIM kit or the Tamiya kit.

Do I want a nice shake & bake Tamiya build or do I want the complex but more accurate build?

I have the Bronco tracks for the AIM kit as well but after looking at their complexity the box was quickly packed away.
Each track link consists of 5-6 pieces, 4x pad sections, the join links and the guide horn.

Maybe I should start a build log to get myself in the "zone"