Been making a little progress on my M60A1. I still need to add a gunner's periscope and the tow cables on the rear, then it's off to the paint shop! (The jerry can racks are based on photos, and I replaced the tight kit mesh with some wedding-decoration lace to get a more "open" feel like I've seen in photos.) Tons of stowage will need to be added...







Tom

Very nice Tom - the rack with your 'field mod' should look the part when painted. One thing I noticed is the tracks are kinda loose on there - maybe some CA glue will help them sit down more at the front & back wheels (sprocket/idler)? Keep up the good work!

Hi Greg!

Yeah, the tracks are very loose at the moment. I reckon they are at least one link (or possibly two) too long as supplied. Once I paint the wheels and add the gimmicky rubber tyres to get the true diameter I plan to remove a link or two to get the tracks the right length before fitting. (I need to paint first, because I hear lots of folk complaining the rubber tyres ate into the bare plastic wheels! I'm not expecting them to stand the test of time.)

I found a great set of photos on the Web of Desert Storm M60A1 tanks that really helped with the turret stowage and those spare links on the front. The one thing I haven't tackled yet is the soft stowage (packs, sleeping mats, etc) that were crammed in the rack and wedged under the ERA brackets. Tamiya offered some as a sprue in its M113A2 kit, but I may have to roll my own...

Tom

Greg, the M60A1 build is coming out great. Looking forward to updated pictures once the paint is on. Just one stupid question. I've always painted the wheels and tracks off the tank, as it just seems a lot easier. How are you planning on doing the inside wheels? Looks like a tricky deal.

Hi Joel,

I think you meant me with the M60A1. The wheels are only press-fit (with poly caps) at this stage so they will come off for painting. To make it more fiddly, there are rubber tyres to fit (after painting)...

Tom

Success!! Once again, sorry for the pictures...I'm a modeler, not a photographer

The base is just a picture frame and the ground is glued onto the frame’s glass. These frames are pretty universal and can be picked up for no more than $6 at Michael’s and come in a bunch of different sizes. (Better pictures of the base to follow.) Highly recommended!


I couldn’t get a very good shot of the winch for whatever reason, but it was very detailed and the included string and chain look great with just a little bit of dirtying up. The PE grill slats were kind of fussy, but look really good with the cut-up star decal. And yes, I only put on one headlight. The other one was a real pain, so I omitted it as “authentic battle damage.”




One can down, one more on the way!


The turret went together fairly easily, and I’m pretty amazed that I was able to get all the guns aimed at the same angle.


Major Burns in all his glory. I still don’t know why this figure reminds me of him, but it makes me smile every time I see him.


This sentry is the only component that’s glued to the ground. I forgot this a few times and nearly dropped the halftrack while walking around.


Another shot of the ammo loaders.




Here’s the bored sentry, lazing around while the war rages on.


The undercarriage is also very detailed, and that’s why I decided not to glue it to the base. All the figures are glued down, though, making this a pretty humorous picture.


All done!


Concerning the weathering, I decided not to do much. I just used my Dark Dirt Pro-Modeller's wash over all the surfaces and figures. It darkened up the decals, panel lines, and people very well, but there still isn't any "dirt" under the tracks. I have the old Tamiya Gepard on my bench (after the USMC and Great War campaigns...so much modeling, so little time...) so I'll be trying some severe weathering when I break out that kit. But for this one diorama, I'm pleased with my end result.

Nice work on the HT. In the first pic the reflection of the table looked like water and I thought, "wow he's going all out to make it look like the Bridge at Remagen" - at least another idea then if you re-shoot. Maj Burns? I thought it was the Gunny!

Oh boy, I wish I had the time, equipment, plans, and ability to make an entire scene like that! For now I'll just settle for that 8x8 slice of land. And the commander is supposed to be a sergeant...you can see in the close-up shots the raised part on his arms where his stripes should be painted/decaled on. I just left them off because I don't have the decals and I didn't trust my painting abilities just yet!

Picture has been added to the gallery. With that done, all I have to do now is sit back and watch the builds go by. Best of luck to everyone else...I look forward to seeing your tracks!

Nicely done. Nothing like the feeling of a job well done, then getting ready to start one's next modeling project.

OK. I bought Dragon's M1A2 SEP recently. I've started the build, but have a couple of replacement parts on order and will be adding some pe and barrel as soon as they arrive. I'm out of town, but will post progress photos as soon as I'm home.

Looking good guys!

Well done Robby that is a very nice clean build just remember to post your pics in the gallery.

Thanks Scott! And don't worry, I submitted a shot to the campaign gallery. You just need one picture there, right?

Hey Guys !

The base coat is done and the tracks are painted, there is a lot of weathering and detail painting to be done

The Crew are discussing the progress of the project

Here's where I'm at before a lot of work !





Cheers

Paul

Paul, if you were to slap on the decals right now, I'd be thrilled to have a build as clean and as realistic as your post here! You've done an outstanding job on your figures...something I clearly struggle with Can't wait to see how you make this impressive model even better!

Hey Robby, thanks for your kind words !

There'a a bit of work to be done here

And a few days to go,

Cheers,

Paul

Awesome work Paul! Love the figures

Paul, your Stuart is coming out great. The pre-shading, paint, and weathering is tremendous. Can't wait to see it finished.

I just completed the Academy M3A1 Stuart that I did as a build thread in the constructive Feedback forum since I already did my M4A1 DV Sherman for this campaign. I thought I'd share some of the finished photos with you guys since it's certainly fits into the All American Tracks Campaign as my 2nd build.

Paul, WOW that is looking fantastic well done it will look great when you get the decals on and some weathering.

Joel, well done it looks great just remember to post your pics in the gallery

Will do. I completely forgot.

all of them look great guys.

Joel sweet build, congrats

Scott, tried to post the pictures of the Stuart M3A1 to the Gallery last night. I kept on getting that they were uploaded, but they never appeared in the gallery. I have no idea where they went. Should I retry today, or was there a technical glitch, and I should wait a few days?

Hey Joel, first I want to say that your Stewie looks great all around (and inside--nice work on the interior)! Your picture probably isn't uploading--despite the fact that it says "Upload Successful!"--because it's too large a file. I should know, since I spent an entire day trying to figure out the damn KitMaker Gallery...honestly, I'm still not a big fan of our gallery system, but anyway. They say that the file has to be 3mb or smaller, but I'd recommend bringing it to about 2.7 for some buffer room. Just open the file with a simple photo editor and shrink the file size (look up how to do that online or in the help bar if you need to) down to a desirable size. If memory serves me right, the size doesn't have as much to do with the physical dimensions of the picture as much as the complexity, so just go ahead and lower the mb count and you should be golden!

Robby, Thanks for the compliments on the Stuart. Took your advice and resized my photos, and they loaded just fine.