I know it seems I've got a lot of projects on teh go at the moment, but the shelves in my workshop look like a post Six Day War Israeli Army scrap yard, and I have been endeavouring to get some hulks sitting on track with at least a fresh coat of paint.

So far I have an M47 and Staghound ready for painting, two Centurion 5/1s all but finished and three M113A1s almost ready for paint.

The next project I took a look at was this - an AFV Club M88 my parents gave me for my birthday eight years ago which has laguished as a bare hulk for at least the last five years.

Since I started the stalled build, I have discovered Mr Surfacer, which is a great way to add some cast texture and it also covers a multitude of sins and blemishes.

Anyway, after a day I had the hull all tidied up and I've started to add some detail:







I previously built an M88A1 back in 97, and it was one of the best 1/35 armoured kits around at the time:



The only big argument I had with the kit was the light guards, which were impossible to remove from the sprue with exploding them in to a million pieces, but AFV added etched metal items in the Nam version, so it should go easier.

I have since been spoiled by building two of the superb AFV Club Centurion 5/1s, but the M88 has aged well, and it still builds as an impressive kit.

Some of the upper hull needed some re-shaping - particularly around the APU - but the Mr Surfacer has tidied up all the work nicely. I will basically build the M88 from the bow, but I will be repacing the runs on the A frame with brass rod, and the plastic bits are too flimsy, and it is hard to remove the mould lines around them.

Paiting should be a no-brainer because these beasts were plain olive drab, and I've learnt some quick and effective Vietnam weathering tricks when I built the Cents.

The build is starting to look like something that approximates as a 1/35th M88:



I replaced all he rungs on the A frame with brass rod ... I removed the easily broken plastic ones and comprehensively sanded the A frame to remove a prominent seam line:

Hi Mick,
Looking good so far. In looking at the last post it appears you've got a "twist" in the A-frame.
Didn't know if you saw that or not.

Excellent job on the first one. I'm sure the second one will be equally impressive.
An easy way to remove delicate parts from the sprue is with a heated X-Acto blade.

Mick great work!. Im trying to find the Vietnam version over here!.

Still no luck!

Great work keep it up buddy

Thanks for that ... spotted it myself when I put thepics up and fixed it ...

Funny how that works. Glad to see it was fixed. You could of left it and said the load shifted and bend the A-frame. I've heard stories of that happening with the M88's A-frame.

Nice job!

Could you tell which kit it is exactly? I got one in stash, but that one has more green plastic. Anyway, I'm gonna use this thread as a reference for my future build.

Lars

Some years ago I had both the AFV Club modern M88 and the Revell M88G under way, and got so tired with both, I sold them half-built. I guess it was more of an era interest-change than kit quality, but they are quite busy kits when all the smaller details are fixed. Hopefully you can keep the momentum going now to finish! What you´ve done so far looks good. Im another fan of Mr. Surfacer as well!

The vehicle is starting to look "busy" ... apart from the texturing, this is pretty much an "out of the box" build, although you will notice I put a brace at the apex of the A Frame (and straightened the pulley assembly).



There is almost no need for filler, although the A frame needed a bit of clean up, and I replaced the rungs with brass rod, as described in the previous picture update. I also replaced the grad handles around the side door ... I don't think the plastic bits would have lasted long with the all handling of the hull during the build.:




Tomorrow I'll have a crack at fitting the photo etched headlight guards, which look nice. About my only gripe with the M88A1 build was the fragile headlight injection moulded guards.

It's the AFV Club M88 Vietnam kit - based on their earlier M88A1 but with a new hull top, individual track links, photo etched light guards and a shield for the gun.

I believe the kit was the basis for the German version from Revell.

About the only gripe I had with the original kit was the light guards, which were impossible to remove from the sprue, and were broken all ready.

The A frame needs a bit of a tidy up, but otherwise these kits go together really well.

Being eight years older, it doesn't have the finesse of the AFV Club Centurions, but I think that it is a better basic kit that needs fewer enhancements, and the result looks a lot more complex than what it was to build.

I enjoyed my M88A1 so much that I pledged to build an M88 ... being all green and with a shield on the gun, it will have a different look.

Hi Mick, nice work mate. A good start.

How is this kit? My Dad drove these guys back in the 80's (said they were a real PITA) and is begging me to build one. AFV Club is the only game in town, so it will be under my belt eventually....

Starting to get a bit more detail on to the beast - have fitted the light guards and cables. The photo etched light guards are streets ahead of the injection moulded ones, but I found the rear strips snapped when I tried to bend them to shape ... no big deal, I'll just add some plastic strip:



I soaked the cable in ultra thin super glue , which it readily soaked up. This not holds the cable in place, but also give it some stifness, like the real steel cable:





After work tomorrow I'll fit the comander's hatchand will ponder how to mount some steel jerries in racks. When I built the M88A1, I remember that I painted the vehicle "clean, without fittings and cable, but ran in to trouble fitting them to the painted surfaces ... since this vehicle will be a single colour, it should be a simpler paint job.

Nice build Mick. You should enter the "Get the Job Done Again" campaign as this would fit right in. An easy way to complete a campaign if ever there was one. Godd luck with the remainder of the build. "Q"

Excellent progress Mick, looking good. Like that Mr. Surfacer too! Keep at it, hope you get some paint on it soon!
Cheers -
Tim

I'm just about to fire up the spray gun on this project and was wondering if anyone has a reccomendation for Vietnam era "US Olive Drab"? Looking at period colour photos, US Army vehicles tend to look satin dark/emerald green.

The colour of the M88 aside, the cam pattern in the APC in the foreground is interesting:



The darker green is evident here:

hello mick , nice build of a great kit . theres good black and white photos of m88's in the book Vietnam Tracks if you can get hold of it . ( wont help your colour querie but great photos ) . I added some chains to the A frame as on the box top . keep up the good work

Mick, looking great so far! I am currently working on the Revell kit. Can't stand the light guards, either! Keep up the good work!

Had a bit of a "tracking" weekend and managed to get tracks on my painted M109 Nam build, and on the M88.

I generally fully paint and weather all the bits before installing suspension and wheels, but I thought I'd do something different this time:







I'm all out of OD at the moment, but the project isn't far away from a final coat.

Then I'll decide if I go with a mud or dust weathering process ...