Two washes on. Gonna let this dry and see how it looks tomorrow. If it looks like I think its gonna we might be on to clear flat and pigments/pastels. Just have to finish all those little fiddly bits now. . . .

Oil washes seem to be where I want them and the fuel stains that I added seem to be spot on if I do say so myself. Let me know what you think and I will add more pictures later today as well as I have touched up the fuel stains a bit with some extra colour and once the flat coat is on will add some linseed oil to keep that "wet" look. Cheers.





this is provided as a reference photo:

Ahh, very nice! The older Tamiya kit shows its age, but the work you've done on it really brings it to life! The weathering in particular! My Army Instructor was with the 3rd AD during ODS, while he served on a m113 APC, he would always go on about how these things were the masters of the battlefield there.

Look sick!!!!! love it, man

Jay

Thank you both for the kind comments, really appreciated.
Added the flat clear just 20min ago and waiting for that to set. The crew serve weapons and the tracks have just received their first oil washes and not sure how much more they are going to get honestly, as they look pretty good so far.

Once the tracks are sealed with flat these will go on and I will start with the final touches and last additions. So far this has been a quick and mostly enjoyable kit to build. I have found that as great as these Tamiya kits were at the time (sometimes the ONLY options) they are lacking in some key elements. The M1A1 they based this kit off of must have been an early prototype or production model as they issue that we had was very different in some key elements. There are also many items just left out. And while this maybe good for inexperienced modellers I think if you wanted to really detail this thing out it would make a good challenge. One thing I would LOVE to see is someone come out with some Desert Storm decals (not 2-67 armor!) as I think that there are some great build opportunities from that era. All for now will have some more pics later. Cheers.

Hey Damon,

very nice looking build! I really like how your weathering is working. Great markings as well. I was thinking of doing my ODS era M1A1 in 3rd AD markings as I liked the number over black on the side skirt. Ended up doing a 2-70 tank instead.

Ill be following your finish!

Regards,
Andy

Post some pics of that Andy would love to see it. Cheers.

Crew serve weapons are on. Tracks are on. Side skirts are on. Pastels are on. Stowage and antennas will be the last thing and I am gonna start on the stowage soon. The stowage is really just a painting session and I need to make a heavy flak vest and LBE for my station. Other than that we are pretty close. Let me know what you think. Cheers.

Added my dust and now just working on stowage. Will post some new pics on Wednesday. Looking pretty good if I do say so my self. Still need to find the tow hooks/clevis for the rear so that I can mount the tow cables.

Hi, Damon,
Looks very well, this M1.
You deserved a cool beer!
The only thing missing now is a Hobby Boss M1070 with its trailer!

Killing me Paul, killing me.

Hello Damon,

M1A1 is comin along a real treat buddy. Outstanding work Damon!

been trying to get all of the stowage done but it is coming along SLOWLY. Still trying to figure out how to create my heavy vest and LBE as well as all of the rest of our gear. I set up a new dedicated photo booth so that my photos will hopefully look better (more professional) and so that I do not have to keep switching the spray booth from spray to photo and back again al the time. Let me know what you think of the pics. Cheers.





Yes, that is a hair in those top two pics. A gift from my pooch.

Ok gonna call this one complete. Finished the last of the stowage today, thank you to those folks that chimed in on the Milliput post that I posted and especially to those that offered suggestions on replacement ideas. The last piece that I needed the putty for was for my heavy flak vest which I always had stowed over my hatch so that it was quick on and off with all my LBE and stuff, since I was the johnny on the spot when the tank stopped. Especially useful when taking prisoners and such.
So the vest was made from some epoxy putty I found at HD, not the best but worked in the pinch. The LBE was lead foil with the original Tamiya Modern US Accessory set from back in the day. The equipment was painted 20+ years ago and all I did was snip and glue. Some items should have been sanded, but I was ready to be finished.
The water bottle was made from clear sprue turned in a dremel and hit with the following, razor saw, emery board, sand paper and corus cloth. I always had water there.
Near the antenna you might notice a little something for emergencies. Made from rolled up paper strip glued and quick paint.
The helmet bag behind the loaders sponson box was mine, so were the wo rucks on that sides rungs. The helmet bag was made from same putty with foil handles. Pretty easy to do and I think it came out well.

The tarp was in honor of my LT, who had this tarp with us the whole time. We thought he was nuts, but his idea saved much of our personal gear from getting soaked and ruined. Not even sure where the tarp was from or how he came by it. Should ask him one day. . . .

So this is basically how it looked towards the move from Iraq back into Kuwait on or abouts April 2, 1990. Let me know what you think and feel free to ask questions. Cheers.

Some thing I forgot to mention was that my loaders station, was mine. It was my little home for 6 months while we were there and I had it dialed in so that it was completely functional. M16 was always right there in front when we were at "checkpoint charlie" which was the intersection of the roads to Safwan, Basra, and Nasiriya. We were the northern most regular unit in Iraq at the time and did a lot of vehicle searches. My CVC helmet and kevlar helmet were often interchangeable and one was either on or near at any time. The heavy vest was an added layer of protection when I was off the vehicle. I think I was the only guy that used them when we were there. Anyway, thought I would add a bit of history for any of you still following along. This was a great build and I plan on doing an after action report on the whole of it in the coming weeks. Cheers.

Damon, This is a magnificent build my friend! Every little extra detail you added has come together to represent a battle hardened veteran tank. I really like EVERYTHING about it....well done!

Cheers,
Gary

Thanks Gary.

Damon,

Very nice!

I especially like the weathering and finish.

One thing, though, you forgot the 0.50 cal ammo can bracket on the TC's Weapon Station.



Like this one from Prime Portal:



HTH

Haven't forgot it, it's just not finished yet, same with the tow hooks and cables. Those will be added soon. Cheers.

Jeff;
Great pic of the hatch interiors though, gonna need to make a copy of those for future reference. Cheers.

added the tow cables to the back end (thanks for the hooks Ben!) and added the front tow hooks too. The Commanders MG ammo bracket and ammo box have also been added. A bit of rust on the cables and I will stop tweaking.

Too busy now to post a full AA report but I will follow up in a week or two with that. Cheers.

Ok took these a few weeks ago but my 1:1 projects are keeping me busy.
enjoy, let me know how it looks. Cheers.




















So, what did we learn from this? Well, I learned that no matter how long I wait, waiting does not get me better at building, building does. Although, had I tried to complete this back then, I would have failed miserably as I did not know how to accomplish many of the challenges back in the day, such as the non slip textured surface nor the worn paint that our vehicles had in spades. Having this site as a resource for information and learning from other more experienced modellers is an amazing tool that had I had back then, I would have never stopped building.
The Tamiya kit is good, but is now beginning to show its age and simplicity both good and bad. Having it to do over again I would either get the PE set for this kit or work on scratch building many items, or both. A set of after market tracks would also be a great addition as the rubber band style are easy to assemble but hard to weather properly.
Was it a fun build, yes. Absolutely. I am glad that I waited to finish it only so that I could turn out a good product, with my knowledge gleaned from this site over the past two years. And realistically having fun and improving ones skills is what this hobby "should" be about on its best days. Thank you to all that lent assistance both physical and virtual it is all appreciated. Cheers.