Just wanted to share the story of this M1A2 TUSK II with you all. This model started as an Italeri M1A2 which I purchased 12 years ago. I slowly built the kit over a few years and then the kit made the first of several moves. Imagine all of the detail on the turret gone except for the Dog House = Destruction Number 01.
I glued the broken pieces back together and then decided to upgrade the kit with the Legend Productions M1A2 TUSK II kit. I had the entire lower hull done and the majority of the turret when it was time to move yet again. Upon seeing the badly damaged packing box I knew that the contents were just as damaged. All the other models were fine - except for this one = Destruction Number 02.
In between grad school classes I managed to rebuild most of what had been destroyed to a point where I was able to get some primer on it and start preparing for the conclusion. However, some short notice work requirements resulted in me having to store it at my parents house. Unfortunately, this tank could not stand up to the powers of the dusting rag and it hit the floor in a spectacular fashion = Destruction Number 03.
So to catch up between initial build and destruction 03 spanned roughly 8 years!
Now we are up to about three years ago with very little work completed on it. I made the decision that the damage over the years either required tossing it or going drastic. At this point it was a personal quest to finish this tank off and put it on my shelf. Unfortunately, due to my job it sat in the box for the next three years. Also, another move occurred and I personally bubble wrapped this one and averted Destruction Number 04!
So now we are up to about a year ago when my job permitted me time to get back into the hobby and this was number one on the list. However, years of damage and fixes had taken its toll and there weren't enough pieces left in the Legend upgrade to do the work. Drastic resulted in purchasing the new (at the time) Tamiya M1A2 TUSK II as a donor vehicle.
Work continued and even the Tamiya kit wasn't able to mitigate all the damage. However, with lots of time and patience (especially from my wife) it is now finished and displayed proudly in my office. So all in all we have:
12 years in the making
4 total moves
3 total destructions
Countless hours...
...and comprised of...
M1A2 Italeri Kit
Legend Productions M1A2 TUSK II upgrade
Donor parts from Tamiya M1A2 TUSK II
Voyager Models photo etch parts
ET Models Crew Antennas
DEF Models view port coatings...
...all of which resulted in the following. There are some errors as compared to the "real thing" but frankly I am over joyed just to have this on the shelf finally, hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!
Tim
Finally after 11 years base coated and ready for more!
A few pictures of the final build/painting just before weathering:
Finally, all finished after such a long drawn out saga - I am very proud of this one and it sits on my desk at work now!
PS - the crew antenna color is RAL 7018 Dunkelgelb as '44 DG III A. MIG-012 and looks almost perfect, and the CREW and COM 201 antennas are not straight as I built them for very easy removal...for the next move!
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