¹⁄35

Updating an Italeri M4A1

The Upper Hull

The upper hull was not changed except for the substitution of details with Aber’s PE set. It provided a boatload of detail parts and I only used about 2/3 of the fret. The PE on the upper hull alone took a better part of a week and a half to do. This is only my second time with PE and I felt like “a bear cub wearing boxing gloves.” All totaled I probably spent two whole evening’s worth of build time searching for pieces dropped on the floor or shot across the garage from too much tweezer pressure. Patience, patience, patience and the right tools! Nuff said!

After gluing the hull halves together, I decided to add sand bags to the front for “soft” armor, effectively covering up all the work on the scratch built lights and PE. I used self-hardening modeling clay, and together with Conor and Camden and their Play-Dough, we had a modeling clay night at the house. My wife even let me clean up the floor when it was done too! I cut the clay in strips with a hobby knife and straight edge and then cut each strip to rectangles using a 1/35 plastic sand bag from Tamiya’s M5 Stuart as a guide for size. I glued a piece of angle iron taken from a beach obstacle at Normandy and welded it to the transmission cover between the fenders. I then formed the bags and laid them in rows, using photos from references.

Here is a tip. Take it slow and only do one row a night to let them dry before piling on the next row. I did it all at one time and the bags shrunk as they dried, leaving gaps. I filled the cracks with white glue and baking soda to represent dirt from broken bags, so all was not lost.

Some of the bags got pieces of tissue stuck in the ends to represent the tied end and a couple were “torn” with the tip of a knife for realism. I used an old undershirt to press texture in the bags and a knife tip for seams. I will try a nylon stocking or a piece of Muslin next time so the texture stands out more.

Copyright ©2002 - Text and Photos by Lauren Blakley (chief). All Rights Reserved.