l] It's a couple weeks past the original deadline, but my entries into the Cold War Cook Off are complete.

The first is Tamiya's ancient M60A2. Details include AFV workable track, updated barrel (aluminum tude cut to size and mated witht he original tip, and window screen for the bustle rack. MERDC Winter Verdant scheme has spare box black stars and codes. Pastel chalk provides a coating of dust, blending and toning down the camo. A tissue mantlet cover was added as were two protrusions on the turret sides aft of the mantlet cover.

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RADLAp4TcI5FJToUbtCrKHxv2Ah9VLMzfzMoV0vUwLnMPvtcSW6jGEdvzv8M2SVxd2nz33fcK8P287lTBeN4cQ!bdvc*ihVlwS9Zz9AtLc8/Dsc00015.jpg?dc=4675430405683610269" TARGET="_blank">M60A2 Image 1

M60A2 Image 2

M60A2 Image 3

Next comes Tamiya's M48A3, again with AFV's workable track including the extras on the turret sides. This represents a Marine version somewhere in Viet Nam in 1970. I added braces to the exhaust and window screen to the bustle rack, which was filled with various stuff. There is an extra spare wheel added as well. The .50 was drilled out and a Barrel Depot barrel was added for the main gun. The figure is doing some in country R&R with a few bottles of Rolling Rock, (check the label) his favorite tunes on a state of the art cassette tape player while reading the articles in his stash of Playboy magazines. (The centerfold is correct for the summer of 1970). The beer bucket is clear epoxy with some chunks of clear sprue to simulate ice. The bottles are from an Academy modern armor clear sprue painted Tamiya clear green with scaled down labels added. His head comes from the DML MAC-SOG group while the rest of him is the Mule driver from the same company. Tissue mantlet coversfor the turret and cupola and a tissue tarp for the spotligt were added as well. Pastel chalk adds a bit of use to the vehicle.

M48A3 Image 1

M48A3 Image 2

M48A3 Image 3

M48A3 Image 4

M48A3 Image 5

M48A3 Image 6

M48A3 Image 7

M48A3 Image 8

Damm AJ that sure is one snappy A-2. I plan on building an M-60 collection. Hope my A-2 looks as good. So far, I've got an A-3 built, ordered another to convert toanM-60 and got the blade version. Now if I can just get the AVLB setup, though I did score the M-48 40 scale version of it. Then all I need to do is pick up the Tamiya A-2 and the Italeri M-60a1 and maybe a blaser with those roller thingys

Wow - two submissions! Gonna call you "Jacques" soon...

Nice to see another 'A2 completed. With the one I built so long ago and the two entered here in the CWCO Campaign - that makes only 4 M60A2's I've seen built. The ugly sucker needs more love than that!

Gunnie

Great job, excellent work. The tissue mantlet cover, how did you do that?

One of the easier tricks I've learned.

Take Kleenex type tissue, not toilet paper. Cut a swatch to a little larger hthan you are going to need. Cut a hole for the gun tube. Make a mixture of 1bout 1:1 water and white (Elmer's type) glue. I lay some down then lay the tissue on top. Dab it down with a brush soaked in the thined glue. Natural folds occur. Get it to the edges and push it back as needed. Don't worry about tears. If one happens at this point, apply a patch of dry tissue. cut slits for vision ports, co-axial mg's etc. and push the soaked tisue to where you want it. Allow it to dry thouroughly. The surface will retain some texture, yet have folds and be quite sloid. Paint and weather with enamel;s, oils, or acrylics. Iy you've gon over the are you want to cover, you can cut a nice edge with a sharp #11 when the tissue is dry.

hey AJ, looks nice! I like the paint scheme on the A2...reminds me of the Nat Guard!

and another hint for tissue, just take and tape ne across a medium sized model box cover flipped over, so it "bridges" the inside of the cover. Then apply, quickly, a solution of about 40% water and 60% elmers glue with a large brush. Let it dry, it may sag quite a bit, and then you have pre-made tarp material. You can cut it out and apply water to it and Viola! it is just as pliable as before. HOWEVER if you prepaint it, it will significantly stiffen up and may not be as nice to work with. I have used it this way many times and have had no adverse effects.

And Gunnie, watch your mouth! There is only one Jacques!

Very nice models Al. I think it's the second time I see an A2 built, and there something "intriguing" (I hope it's not a bad word in English...) in it and I love its camo too.
Bravo!!!

"Intriguing" is not a bad word in English under any conditions, though I have not heard it used for a tank. LOL. In the days of my youth, I'd use it more for a fascinating young lady. It typically impies wanting to know more about something or someone, and has a connotation of slightly mysterious. (So much for the colloquial Englilsh lesson for tonight. )

Coming form one as skilled as yourself, a "bravo" means a lot! :-)

Thanks a lot Al for your "english lesson" as far as I can see the meaning is exactly the same as in Italian. The bravo is more than well deserved.
Ciao

Great job on the A2 Al.
As I was Deros-ing from Germany to America,they were just starting to camo the tanks in our Battalion.That looks like the scheme I saw on Our CO's tank.
I will dig into some pictures I may have,and maybe the movies I converted to video,to look long and hard at the mantlet cover.I want to do one for my entry,but I want to do it right,without messing up what I have already.
Did you do a smaller one around the .50? That had one too. (++) (++) (++) (++)

These look great. I like the paint work on the A-2. I built one of these a couple of years ago. You produce great models. Thanks for sharing them.

Yep, it's there. It shows up best in the overhead shot.

Double your pleasure - Nice submission.

I like the M60 - its well done. I built it last year and it was fun. Gotta say the tracks really make it stand out. I love the exhaust braces.
Please share your secret on getting the front hull seam to be invisible.
The 50 cal is great.
The figure is well done. The finish is wonderfully blended. My only niggle is the seam line on the bottom of his left arm. I can't see it at all on the other photos, and would never have seen it without the last photo. Try a different angle and you'd be good to go.

Thanks for all the nice comments, Slodder.




Just a lot of sanding and polishing. Up and down, then side to side. I must have used my auto polishing pads to finish it off. The harder part was getting the decals for the mouth to lay down. Fortunately, I had two sets. The first one really reeked. I wound up carefully cutting darts along the compound curve and applying a lot of Microl Sol and Set.




DOH! #:-) How'd I miss that? Stevie Wonder Modeling School! Thanks. Gotta get that #11 out and do some surgery. :-) Slodder, that's not a niggle at all, that's the durn Continental Divide!

Missed this thread completely...

Great builds AJLaFleche! :-) You just gave NATO a big boost with your 2 tanks. Which means more targets for our Warsaw Pact forces! But seriously, wonderful builds, especially the M48 with the mouth decal.

This has been a great campaign!