¹⁄35

M981 FISTV

George shares his US cold warrior, an M981 FISTV artillery spotter based on the ubiquitous M113 platform. The 1:35 kit, including two crew members, is from Academy. The additional stowage items are from Tamiya’s “Modern US equipment” set. He primed and pre-shaded the vehicle and applied NATO tri – tone color using Tamiya acrylics diluted with their X20 thinner to get a faded, semi - opaque effect. Then he went over the tank with AK Interactive, MiG and Ammo of Mig enamel weathering products, washes and filters. Some dry brushing was done to highlight the edgy, boxy look of this M113 variant. Lastly he applied Vallejo pigments to the tracks and lower part of the hull to suggest a slightly dirty & dusty vehicle back from an exercise in central Europe. For the figures George used mainly Vallejo and Citadel acrylics, but also Tamiya’s. Living in Germany, George actually used to see such vehicles a lot when he was a teenager, so when he saw this kit at a local hobby store he bought it straight away, only to realize that he had probably mistaken it for an M901 ITV. The M981 is made to alike, so as to be less conspicuous on the battlefield...and to modelers like him!