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Armor/AFV: Modern Armor
Modern armor in general.
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Finished C1 Ariete (Trumpeter 1:35)
Gelerth
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Wojewodztwo Mazowieckie, Poland
Joined: October 29, 2010
KitMaker: 169 posts
Armorama: 136 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 09:34 AM UTC
In last few days I had a bad flu and I had to stay at home. This way I had some extra time to finish model which I started few months ago. It was not painted and I had to finish a ground for it.
BTW model is OOB except Bronco tracks.

Ground work:






Base colors used to paint model:






Adding some small scratch:




Wash:




And Go:




And finished model.
Conception was to present tank during test in Oto-Melara test facility. That's why model is only a little bit dusted and looks quite new:










SGTJKJ
#041
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Kobenhavn, Denmark
Joined: July 20, 2006
KitMaker: 10,069 posts
Armorama: 4,677 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 10:11 AM UTC
Beautiful paint job, Przemek. It might only be a little to worn for a freshly produced vehicle, but it fits perfectly for a vehicle sent back for some factory repairs.

The second last photo shows the tracks at a strange angle. They are bending outwards. Is that just the picture or is it this way in reality?
Did you have any problems with the tracks? I have this kit in the stash, so it would be nice to know if there are something to look out for.

Great build and a great way to show the vehicle at an interesting angle.
Thanks for sharing
Gelerth
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Wojewodztwo Mazowieckie, Poland
Joined: October 29, 2010
KitMaker: 169 posts
Armorama: 136 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 10:28 AM UTC
Tracks are really good. No pin marks, nothing to correct. Just a lot of cutting and gluing (there is about 600 parts as I remember).
The only problem is number of links. I don't know how much is in reality but in this model I used about 85 elements per track. When I tried to glue them on wheels I find out that tracks are too tight. I was worried that I might broke something I add one more link. This way track are a little bit too loose and that's why you see bending effect on some photos.
majjanelson
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South Carolina, United States
Joined: December 14, 2006
KitMaker: 1,355 posts
Armorama: 979 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 02:55 PM UTC
Przemek,

Very nice Ariete, and I think the base is quite original and different than how most diorama bases usually are.

One suggestion, though The headlights look like they are just painted silver. If you replaced them with Aftermarket lenses (i.e.; MV Lenses or such) or a clearcoat / epoxy, they would match the rest of your excellent paint finish (images from PrimePortal):





But otherwise your Ariete looks great...
Firecap4
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Georgia, United States
Joined: December 12, 2007
KitMaker: 309 posts
Armorama: 288 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 03:06 PM UTC
VERY nice job.....my LHS has the uparmored version on the shelf and darned if this don't make me want to run out and get it, LOL.

P.S. does anyone else ever look at the Ariete and think of it as "Leopard Lite"? LOL
flugwuzzi
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Lower Austria, Austria
Joined: November 02, 2007
KitMaker: 633 posts
Armorama: 599 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 07:44 PM UTC
Very nice paintjob.
I also like your presentation idea with the facility concrete - great!

Thanks for sharing.
cheers
Walter
Gelerth
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Wojewodztwo Mazowieckie, Poland
Joined: October 29, 2010
KitMaker: 169 posts
Armorama: 136 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 08:06 PM UTC
Jeff - thank you for your comment and suggestion about lenses. I will follow it on my next model. Thank you one more time.

Also big thanks goes to Chuck Yeargin and Walter Lampel for their nice comment of my work.
GeraldOwens
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Florida, United States
Joined: March 30, 2006
KitMaker: 3,736 posts
Armorama: 3,697 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 10:25 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Przemek,

Very nice Ariete, and I think the base is quite original and different than how most diorama bases usually are.

One suggestion, though The headlights look like they are just painted silver. If you replaced them with Aftermarket lenses (i.e.; MV Lenses or such) or a clearcoat / epoxy, they would match the rest of your excellent paint finish (images from PrimePortal):




But otherwise your Ariete looks great...


If you look at the upper picture in Jeff's post, you'll also see a detail that Trumpeter missed: the slot to the left of the main gun for the coaxial machine gun. They simply forgot to include it. I'm sure you don't feel like drilling and cutting the turret front of your now-completed model, but there is an easy fix. In service, Italian troops often cover the slot with strips of green plastic tape to keep dust out. You can make up strips of simulated tape with glossy green decal material. Operational photos from Iraq also show the spare track links bolted to the hull rear have a coat of light orange rust.
spaarndammer
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Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: January 28, 2007
KitMaker: 1,945 posts
Armorama: 282 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 - 11:34 PM UTC
Beautiful model,

I like the test-setting very much!



Jelger
Karl187
#284
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Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Joined: October 04, 2006
KitMaker: 3,094 posts
Armorama: 2,942 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 02:31 AM UTC
Brilliant work, the finish and and setting are both perfect.

How was the kit to build?
majjanelson
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South Carolina, United States
Joined: December 14, 2006
KitMaker: 1,355 posts
Armorama: 979 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 04:35 AM UTC
I believe these are the slots Gary is refering to (image from PrimePortal):



I'm not that familiar with the Ariete, but my guess is the larger slot with the open cover is for a secondary gunsight, and the other is for the coax, but I'm just guessing - they could be the opposite. The primary gunsight should be the one to the top left, similiar to the one on an Abrams or a Leopard.
bison126
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Correze, France
Joined: June 10, 2004
KitMaker: 5,329 posts
Armorama: 5,204 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 06:49 AM UTC
Very nice C1 indeed. The paint job is spot on and the idea of the concret slope is very original.
Concerning the missing MG slot (on the left of the gun from breech to muzzle), you can do just like Gerald mentions, put a small bit of green masking tape.

Olivier
Spiderfrommars
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Milano, Italy
Joined: July 13, 2010
KitMaker: 3,845 posts
Armorama: 3,543 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 11:11 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Very nice C1 indeed. The paint job is spot on and the idea of the concret slope is very original.
Concerning the missing MG slot (on the left of the gun from breech to muzzle), you can do just like Gerald mentions, put a small bit of green masking tape.

Olivier


Green or tyre black:





Anyway, a stunning work indeed. I like a lot the realistic paint job and the original diorama


If somebody else want more references about the MBT Ariete, here there's a lot of pics and an exhsaustve article (unfortunately written n italian language.
To see the others pics click on the word "SUCCESSIVA") :

http://www.ferreamole.it/images/mbt_ariete/mbtariete01.htm

Here some others italian tank references:

http://www.ferreamole.it/indici/index_tank.htm

Here references and manuals images of almost all italian army modern wehicles
http://www.ferreamole.it/index.htm#sommario

Congrats again

Cheers
 _GOTOTOP