I was wondering if anyone has built this model yet (#35033). How is its form and fit? Accuracy? Would you guys recommend this kit?? Thanks

Well, I just finished building the kit. It is a typical DML M1A1 tank. Turret basket and side "bars" need some love, and I used the Eduard PE mainly for the turret basket mesh, but otherwise, no real problems.



I will let the pic speak for itself.

I too have the Dragon M1A1HA 3533 & I've read some negative reviews about it. But from my point of view, it's really up to you who build it. You could either make the best of a bad situation or just be frustrated by it. I haven't started on it yet & the only thing that I see that could be difficult for me are the indy tracks of which I have no experience in building. Anyway, there's always the guys around, like Jaques, that you could always learn from.

Please use tank talk when discussing my beloved Abrams tank. Bustle rack and grunt rails are the proper terms.

BTW, superb build on that Abrams!

The Pic does speak for itself...great looking piece of work Jacques. I think I will get it then..I am a fanatic of Marine Armor..so its a must have. Now I just have to build up the courage to wash and weather it when I am done! I have about 47 models completed and painted with their base coat..mainly desert armor sand...and they look so nice and new :-) . Afraid of screwing them up!!! Any helpful suggestions on weathering my Abrams platoon???

Oh geez Rob...us ground pounders and artillery folks usually just called armor "targets"...but I digress.

Replace the words "turret Basket" with Bustle rack or Pogey Bait holder.

Replace the words "side bars" with Grunt Rails or FM holders.

Ta da! #:-)

Also available soon will be the Tamiya M1A2 kit which will make a Marine M1A1HA as well.

As for weathering, go to a good art supply store like Micheals,Hobby Lobby, or Dick Blick or the like, and get a set of earth tone pastel chalks. Make sure they are NOT OIL BASED but actual chalk. Use this to start weathering. If you screw something up, you can easily wipe or wash it off. Just remember to watch out for finger prints and the weathering tends to disappear when a flat coat is applied. This should help you get your feet under you for weathering.

I just finished building this one as well, and would agree with what Jacques as already said. I would only add that the fit between the upper and lower turret was not pretty on mine. I had to use a bit of sheet styrene and putty to fill them in.

Still, a pleasant build overall. I would recommend it.

The best thing I ever did on a DML Abrams required learning how to straighten brass wire into brass rod. The bustle racks/ grunt handles are about 1" to 1.25" thick. This scales out to .035" to .040" and I just happen to have some .040" brass wire, so I thought I would see if I could straighten it and use it as a replacement for the kit parts. Here's the result:





The chicken wire has since been replaced with Eduards screen. I wish I had a camera so I could show off my technique for straightening the wire, it kicks butt.

Rob

Sure would like to know you do that, even without pictures Looks great!

Thanks alot for the help guys....I do have a question though...if I weather with chalk...can I overdo it to compensate for the dull coat application fading the weathering afterwards???

I wouldn't Wade, I would weather it after the dullcote layer. Weathering done with pastel chalks are very delicate and ovedoing them would make for a bad combination after the dullcote "melts" them. Doing it after just means you have to be careful where you touch it, which is why many guys put it on a base to handle it.

The falt coat may darken the pastels slightly and even blow some of them away completely. I do use a flat coat after pastels because I use pastels as part of the overall weathering and at various times depepending on the effect I am looking for. Flat coat is my last step to make the model as 'bullet proof' as I can (sometimes I spill things and a model might be in the way!).

You can also make a wash out of the pastels. Mix ground up pastels with a bit of water and a small bit of alcohol. Then brush on and let dry. If you look at the braille Merkava in my gallery you will see that most of the weathering comes from pastels.

It's hard to do single color camo jobs!

The only way to see what works is to practice and practice more. Remember, you can always build another...

Steve

Rob,
NIce looking bustle rack. Nice uniform bends in the brass rod. Did you use a jig or was it freehanded??

I have found that the DML/SD bustle rack is not wide enough to match up with the side rails, which forces the modeler to bend hte side rails in to match the width of rack. I'm not too sure whether the turret boxes are too wide or the bustle is just undersized

John

Jim, I am sory, I missed your reply. I will try and make something tonight to show how I do it.

John, I used a piece of tube to do it and then played with the corners to get them right. If you look closely at the first pictue, you will see that the left side is bent in ever so slightly to match up, while the bustle sides extend just a hair over the kit piece, but that is covered some by the strip of styene at the bottom. I am unsure where the fault lies, pehaps I will track that down and throw it into my article. Thanks for the heads up on it.

Rob

I just wrote a short article about straightening the wire in the general modeling forum here

Rob