Here is what I've got on the bench for September....



The plan is to add the TUSK I parts to the Abrams on the left which will be built as an M1A1. The Abrams on the right will be built as a straight M1A2 SEP.

The M1A1 TUSK will be inspired by Bad Blessing and Bad Blood of the 35th Armor Regiment. It will be NATO camo with the TUSK parts in sand. These were seen in Al-Rahman, Iraq, circa December of 2008, with the mine rollers. I’m still looking for the mine roller parts (hint, hint) though I may just use the “base” that attaches to the hull and not the rollers themselves.

The M1A2 SEP will be built as Heavens No, Hell Yeah!

As you can see in the photos, I’ve got some leftover parts from the Dragon SEP and AIM kits that I’ll be adding to spruce things up a bit: APU, tow cables, smoke grenade launchers, tracks, tow bar, BRE etc., along with the decals and taxi sign for Heavens No, Hell Yeah!

In order to speed the builds along, I originally planned to avoid using aftermarket and keep this as an "out of the boxes" build (albeit several boxes involved). However, I happened to have an Eduard PE set, designed for the original Tamiya M1A1, sitting in the stash. So, I might end up raiding it for a few items (grill, stowage box handles and turret basket mesh) to use on my TUSK Abrams.

I’m going to try and do this as a build log. It might spur me along if I know there is an audience watching.

That's it for now....

Will you build them simultaneously and hsare them in a single Blog topic?
Anyway it sounds interesting. Do you intend to complete both models by the end of September?

Good luck

I'll be building them simultaneously and posting the progress of each in this thread.

I think a realistic goal is for me to at least have them built by the end of September. Painting and weathering are always my downfall when it comes to finishing a project.

Well. I' m a big fan of Abrams in all its variants so I'll follow your build.
Hope that this encourages you to post your progress

Just started work on a Tamiya TUSK so I'll be watching

I'm tuned in and locked on! I love building Tamiya's abrams, total shake and bake kits!

It's a small start but a journey of a thousand pieces starts with a single tube of glue....



I'm impressed with the side skirt detail, almost a shame to cover it up with the tiles.


Some of the differences between the newer SEP parts on top and the older parts on the bottom.


I appreciate you guys stopping by to take a look and a special thanks to andromeda673 for the heads up on Advantage Hobby ($60 Tamiya SEP with free shipping)

I'm glad your making progress, I will buy another SEP TUSK at some point, I could have a whole shelf dedicated to Abram models.

I'm sure once you are done, yours is going to look great!

I feel the same way. I haven't gotten very far with this one and I already want to buy another one fully decked out with the TUSK II armor.

Spent a little time today masking the hull for the anti-slip. Still plenty of places left to mask.

Sherb, what are you using for your anti slip?

I'll be using Rustoleum Multicolor Textured paint for the anti-slip.
The "deep forest" color is shown on this Bradley of mine.

I'd like to see some pictures of that process once you get to that point, maybe even a little step by step.

There isn't much too it, mask, spray, unmask. The paint does all the work. I'll take some step by step shots of the hulls tomorrow after spraying and removing the masks.

I thought it was going to be incredibly difficult to do but the Bradley above is one of my early attempts spraying anti-slip on an AFV and I think it turned out okay.

Masking complete:



After two very light coats of Rustoleum textured paint:



Done after five passes:



Close up, less is more:



Oops, forgot to mask the handles:



Masking removed:

looks really good, I can't wait to see how this one turns out, I never even thought of using textured paint, but I think for my next build I will give this technique a shot!

Two builds at once is great too!

The no-slip texture has been added to the turrets along some of the basic components.

Out of curiousity, what did you use as a reference for where to apply the non-skid?

Great work!!

Thanks. I primarily used this diagram in Majjanelson's gallery.

I also referenced Andy Renshaw's TUSK Abrams build in his "Operation Iraqi Freedom US Army" book.

The SEP non slip is based off the same diagram, so it may not be 100% accurate. In fact, I added the no slip to the area where I have to add the plow junction box.

looks like things are coming along nicely, the finished product should look great!