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Constructive Feedback
For in-progress or completed build photos. Give and get contructive feedback!
Hosted by Darren Baker, Dave O'Meara
M1A2 Sep Abrams
andromeda673
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: July 30, 2013
KitMaker: 584 posts
Armorama: 525 posts
Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 09:55 AM UTC
Hey guys, here are some pictures from my latest build for the protection campaign, built out of the box, it's the Tamiya kit, and painted with model master and Tamiya paints.

Thanks for looking





















210cav
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Virginia, United States
Joined: February 05, 2002
KitMaker: 6,149 posts
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Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 11:11 AM UTC
Beautiful! A marvelous job
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 16, 2002
KitMaker: 17,694 posts
Armorama: 13,742 posts
Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 11:56 AM UTC
It looks really good overall. A pretty good job.

There are a couple things you missed though. First is the driver's periscope glass. It looks like you missed painting them. Next is the roadwheel center caps. They should be a dark brown/black color. In actuality, they are clear and filled with gear oil.



Next, the cradles on the MGs should be sand like the rest of the tank. Only the guns themselves are gunmetal.




Lastly, modern gunpowder is smokeless and burns clean. As such, modern tank barrels do not get black soot at the tip. They may be slightly discolored from cleaning solution, but are not black.

It looks good overall, a few tweaks and it can look great. Keep up the good work.

andromeda673
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: July 30, 2013
KitMaker: 584 posts
Armorama: 525 posts
Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 12:09 PM UTC
I did paint the periscope glass as it called for clear blue, and also clear smoke on the other viewing panels, I realized after looking at the instructions again regarding the ammo box holder being sand color, that will be corrected, I will make the changes regarding the wheels too, and will probally end up re shooting the barrel.
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 16, 2002
KitMaker: 17,694 posts
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Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 02:05 PM UTC
If you painted the driver's periscope glass, that is cool. It just didn't look like it in the next to last pic, from the front. To make them all stand out better and give them the anti-laser coating look (which is reddish), I coat them with clear red and then a couple coats of clear gloss. Also, the air intake on the VCU and the left side of the hull really shouldn't be black and sooty either. They are air cleaner intakes and will only be as dirty as the rest of the tank. If you are going to repaint the barrel, you may want to hit them as well.

Like I said, it is looking good. A few tweaks and it will be spot-on for an operational M1A2 SEP.
andromeda673
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: July 30, 2013
KitMaker: 584 posts
Armorama: 525 posts
Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 - 02:33 PM UTC

Quoted Text

If you painted the driver's periscope glass, that is cool. It just didn't look like it in the next to last pic, from the front. To make them all stand out better and give them the anti-laser coating look (which is reddish), I coat them with clear red and then a couple coats of clear gloss. Also, the air intake on the VCU and the left side of the hull really shouldn't be black and sooty either. They are air cleaner intakes and will only be as dirty as the rest of the tank. If you are going to repaint the barrel, you may want to hit them as well.

Like I said, it is looking good. A few tweaks and it will be spot-on for an operational M1A2 SEP.


The lighting isn't very good for taking pictures, but I did apply a few coats of Tamiya clear blue and clear smoke, but I like idea of the clear red, which I have a container of from doing the tail lights.

I had tried to capture the weathered and heavily abused tank look, but I think I might have gone a bit over the top with this one. I also realized instead of using black and nato black to do panel lines, I should have just used a rust color.

But thank you for all the tips, truly appreciated.
metooshelah
#011
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Jerusalem, Israel
Joined: February 06, 2009
KitMaker: 1,507 posts
Armorama: 1,304 posts
Posted: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - 08:02 AM UTC
Very nice and clean build! Really, well done. I would, however, suggest that you add some wash to "pop out" the details of your model.
andromeda673
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: July 30, 2013
KitMaker: 584 posts
Armorama: 525 posts
Posted: Thursday, August 29, 2013 - 07:07 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Very nice and clean build! Really, well done. I would, however, suggest that you add some wash to "pop out" the details of your model.


thanks for the tip, but what details are you talking about? I guess I don't follow you.

I pre shaded all the panel lines and the area's I had wanted to stand out.
andromeda673
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: July 30, 2013
KitMaker: 584 posts
Armorama: 525 posts
Posted: Sunday, October 13, 2013 - 11:24 AM UTC
well I finally got around to adding some bags and other various pieces of equipment, MRE boxes, binocs, and some baggage.













HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 16, 2002
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Armorama: 13,742 posts
Posted: Sunday, October 13, 2013 - 11:38 AM UTC
Looks pretty good. All your gear has a nasty mold seam line around them though. I would file/sand them down and repaint. They will look much better and not so "plastic" if you do this.
andromeda673
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Wisconsin, United States
Joined: July 30, 2013
KitMaker: 584 posts
Armorama: 525 posts
Posted: Saturday, October 19, 2013 - 10:38 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Looks pretty good. All your gear has a nasty mold seam line around them though. I would file/sand them down and repaint. They will look much better and not so "plastic" if you do this.


Yeah I realized that after I painted them and hung them, I did take them off and fix the seams, I'm going to add a wash now too just to give that a try. Thank you though for the help.
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