I'm normally a 1/24-1/25 model car builder with a focus on the Chevy Corvette, however my sub-specialty is a small collection of armor showcasing vehicles from all conflicts. My latest project is the Academy M1A1 which I got from my mom for my birthday. I'm building it mostly box stock except for the addition of a DML mine plow kit. I may add a set of AFV club tracks depending if my finances shake out.
This kit to the best of my knowledge is a bad knock off of the Tamiya M1A1 with additional parts for a OIF vehicles. That being said Academy retained the toy motor holes which i filled with sheet styrene and Bondo putty.

The rear panel was a bear to install namely because it left a huge wedge shaped gap between it and the upper hull that needed more wedges of styrene and bondo to fill in. Normally I would box in the upper hull with .020 styrene, however since you would need to be adept at yoga to see up in here after the side skirts and tracks are on and it's glued to it's base.

Then the whole bottom was primed with generic auto body primer to check for gaps.

The last thing I did so far was to add the non slip texture on the top of the hull. Alot of people reccomend Terra Cotta spray, i like my method of brushing Model Master Acryl on to the surface then sprinkling baking soda on to it while it's still wet. Just my preference as I can avoid alot of masking and I feel it gives me more control.


Thanks for loking

-Mike

I really like your non skid. What type of paint did you use? clear or a color? One thing I remember from my days as a tanker was that the non skid was not really applied neatly it overlapped or covered bolts and seams. Again very nice waiting to see how it develops.

Tom

It was Model Master Acryl Light Ghost Gray. This was my first try at this, next time I will add retarder to it so it dries a little slower or use enamel.
This afternoon's work tidied up the rear panel. Academy left out the lifting eyes on the top of the rear panel which I replicated with fine solder that was bent to shape and pressed flat. They are not 100% the correct shape but it's better than completely missing.



-Mike