Alrighty, today I got the build of Italeri's M4A1 underway, so, I thought I'd share some early experiences with the 1st step.
This is the second time I built this kit. The first time was about 15 years ago, so anything learned from that build is quite foggy.
Step one is the construction of the bogies. There is a little flash and quite a bit of mould seams that need cleaning on all parts concerned with the first step, 48 in all. Not too surprising with a 25 year old kit, yet nothing that can't be easily fixed with a sharp knife and a little time. On my kit, a couple sinks need a little filler and the two major halves (parts 9A + 8A, and 1A + 7A) that sandwhich the suspension arms could use a little filler too.
I'm building the suspension so that all possible parts will be "working". This includes the wheels, because for me, it's easier to paint the entire wheel if it spins. It's easier to get to.
Also, I'd like to add this model in a dio to show off the working suspension feature, maybe cruising over some rubble.
I also weathered (distressed) two of the road wheels with an exacto, and these will appear on one side of the vehicle.
I should have a pic or two in another day or two.

Anyone else get started today? Have you had similar areas needing fixing? Are you building the bogies so they will be "working"?

Hi Ken

I finished that kit about six months ago, so I'll chip in to the group build occasionally!

I had the same problems with lots of seam clean up required. Overall, the bogie assemblies went together smoothly, after a fair bit of scraping with the old xacto knife!

I built the suspension 'workable' too. It does help with painting! Until you get too much paint in spots, then the wheels don't turn any more!

You have to be careful attaching the tracks later. I used a set of the three-bar Academy tracks instead of the very stiff Italeri track. I think the latter will give you some problems with the moving bogies. Once I got the track glued on, and I superglued the upper runs to the return-rollers, the track behaved nicely.

I've read that some folks boil or heat the Italeri tracks to soften them. I'm not sure how successful that would be.

Cheers
Andy

Same for me: file, file, file; putty, putty, putty; sand, sand, sand...

I left mine semi-workable too since handpainting the road wheels is a necessity, though mine is not destined for a diorama setting.

Gunnie

Well, unfortunately I haven't had a chance to start yet....work calls. But I do plan on making the suspension non-workable. I've seen a few models with the kit tracks, and the 1st set of bogeys move up. This is gonna be a static model, on level ground, so I'll just glue on a level surface.

I did notice that there are some seams to be filled, etc, but they would be covered with weathering. (GOT MUD?) I plan on "distressing" the # 1,2, and 6 roadwheels. From the pics I've seen these seem to get the most wear.

Hopefully I'll get some time this weekend.....I have a lot of building to do.....

John

I would not boil the tracks, they will melt and be ruined. Use hot tap water to form them to the desired bents.

Additionally, when assembling Italeri M4 running gear, the suspension arms need to be glued in place when using the kit tracks. If you don't, then you end up with the "rocker effect". That is, the tightness of the tracks makes the front and rear bogies lean upwards toward the sprocket and idler wheel.

Hi,

I just recently build the kit, and I have another on the shelf and will (probably) start on it on Saturday.

On little warning I must give away about the tracks. Last time I used the kit tracks and 3 weeks after I have made the kit, one of the tracks "exploded" because of the tension. It broke of most of the suspension :-(

Now I will get aftermarket tracks

#:-)

I dug out my kit yesterday and now know what everybody meant about the gun tube. Guess I will need to acquire a replacement. I'm getting lazy in my old age Somewhere I have a back issue of Ordnance Magazine (from the Army Ordnance Museum) with an article on correcting some errors in the kit, - mostly minor stuff.

I received confirmation today that my order from Modelexpo had shipped so I am in the game. Should be able to catch up with the group build. I do need to get a gun tube though from what I am reading.

Tonight's the night...end of a stress filled week with an x-acto in one hand and Tenax in the other! #:-)

There does seem to be a problem with the recent tracks by Italeri. I have a M4A1 I built several years ago issued through Testors. Have never had a problem with it. Just recently I built the Italert M7 and the left track broke in several places about 2 to 3 weeks after completion. I melted the track back together but it broke again in a different section.

Jeff---did you try the Barrel Depot in Canada? I thought their selection was excellant and very reasonably priced. Did you get the PM I sent?
DJ

I will give Barrel Depot a try. Thanks.

OK, the order can Friday, ordered it on Monday. Really can't beat that service. Will crack the box tonight and catch up.

Ranger, I think you will like doing business with Frank at the Barrel Depot. He's a nice guy and very quick with responses to phone calls, e-mails and sending out orders.

Week 2:
I just about finished the second step of the group build. This step is an easy one which consists of attaching the drive sprocket, idlers, bogies (from step one) and the rear hull panel. I opted to leave the bogies off for better access come paint time.
As usual, these parts needed some cleaning of seam lines and a little flash. Also the rear hull panel needs some filler for a cleaner fit.

How's everyone else coming along?

Well, I have almost caught up to you guys now after my trip to Boston. I spent the past couple of nights cleaning all of the pieces for step 1 and put all of the wheel assemblies together and got putty onto the seam lines. Tonight I will sand the putty and get everything smooth and will be done. As for step 2, I've got all of the parts cleaned and ready except the drive sprockets which I will also do tonight. By the end of the weekend I should be totally caught up and ready to begin step 3. I will post pictures of the first two steps soon.

This may be helpfull for some of you and may be old hat to others. I like to paint as many parts as I can while there still on the sprue. They are easier to handle that way and I can paint the whole part at one time instead of in sections while trying to hold it with clamps or what ever. Removing the paint from glue points has always been a tedious job but of course neccessary. But not anymore. I have discovered liquid mask. Now I paint the glue points with liquid mask, let it dry then paint the parts. After the paint dries it is easy to remove the liquid mask and glue up the parts. Now I paint everything and then build in the same order as the instructions. #:-)

I always assmeble the entire tank and then paint at the end like Shep Paine and Tony Greenland suggest in their books. This has always worked well for me.

There are some cases where I wouldn't mind painting some parts first though so in that light I ask this question: Does the liquid mask work with acrylic paints? The bottle I have at home suggests that it only works for enamels, but I paint my base coat and camo exclusively in acrylics.

Personally, I like to paint after assembly. I'm building a Dragon Flakpanzer for my buddy and this time I glued on all the stuff. I saw that in a magazine an thought I might give it a try. What is the best way to model mud. The last one I tried was squadron putty roughed up with my finger and painted several shades of brown (my wife's acrilic paint :-)) Any better ways.

At last, I have finished step one without incident. In fact I started remembering how much I enjoyed building models. Most likely will finish steps two and three this coming week and will be caught up. Actually looks like a neat little model.

I don't know Adam I work in enamals. The product is water soluble so that may be the hang up.
I started out quoting you but I would like to clarify some points from other posts while I'm here. The point missed seems to be one of using established techniques. Regardless of ones preferred method the idea is to insure that what is glued together stays together. Gluing as much bare plastic together as possible is indeed the only way to go. It works as the manufactorer intended. But most of us don't leave them bare. We want to paint, detail, and weather them. How we do this is as much a matter of shared knowledge as it is experiance. I know that I can assemble many of the parts and then paint but I also need to paint some parts before I glue them on. I know this and most of you do to. How this is done without destroying the completed work is where experiance and shared knowledge come in. I've used all the tricks and techniques most of you have used and still do. Some of these I have discovered on my own (flash of inspiration or too much perspiration) but most I have learned from others who have kindly shared them with us. The basic point is still to get the damn thing to stay together. Liquid mask is just another way to help glue bare plastic to bare plastic and to keep paint where you wanted it to be in the first place. This is just another tool I wished to share with you. How helpful it will be depends entirley up to you.
What has this got to do with building the M4A1? Well I built the hull and all its components as they will all be the same color. But the bogies create a problem. The road wheels must be mounted to the bogies and the rubber tires need to be painted before you do this (one technique anyway). But if you paint the hull with the bogies attached there goes your black tires. Ok, I paint the hull attachment point for the bogies with liquid mask, paint the hull and after it dries, remove the mask. No paint. Bare plastic. I paint the bogies parts and the wheels on the sprue after painting the attachment points with the, you guessed it liquid mask. Paint the tires black (use your favorite technique here), assemble the bogies and glue them suckers on. No scratching paint no mess no fuss. I like to drill out the view ports and apply clear glue or window maker. It's hard to get to look realistic if applied from the outside and almost impossible to apply to the inside after assembling the model. This is ok if your going to just paint and not weather. To keep them clear I use the liquid mask on them, weather, then remove the mask. Head lights and tail lights need to be painted the approprate color. To me their a bear to paint on the vehicle. I paint the parts the hull color then the correct lens color while part is on the spue and easier to work with. Apply the mask and attach them to the model. After painting and weathering I remove the mask. Just another way to take some of tedium out of the project. I'm sure there are many more ways to do this and look forward to reading about them and using them. This is a group build and the point is to share what were doing and how we are doing it right?

Uh, I think I just got promoted. Best I ever did in the Army was Sgt E-5. Twice actually. Made E-4 twice also. Never tell a REMF Captain he cain't find his butt with both hands. Ahem. He couldn't but don't tell him that and never try to explain it to him.

ARMDCAV,




That is what I was afraid of. I do most of my work in acrylics so I bet I wasted the money that I spent to buy the liquid mask. Oh well, I bought it a couple of years ago and it may come in handy one day.




Your post sounds like you got a bit perturbed with the posts that said that they assemble the entire tank and then paint and I wanted to assure you that at least in my case it wasn't meant to try and say that you are wrong. In fact, I was merely doing what you said at the end of your post about sharing what I was doing. I plan to build the entire vehicle and then paint it with the exception of leaving the bogies off so that I can get better access to the wheels. This is just the way I will do things. Not the right way or the wrong way, just my way.

Try the mask. Couldn't hurt.

Hmm. Must apologize for the consruct of my reply then. My use of your post was required to respond to the question about the liquid mask. I assumed (made an ass out of me I guess) that when I said that I wanted to clarify a point in another post that you would understand that I wasn't replying to yours any longer. Please except my apology. You further stated that I seemed to be perturbed with the post that said they preferred to assemble the entire tank. Sorry again guys. It was me I was preturbed with not you. My first post should have been stated more clearly that the liquid mask was just another method or technique you may want to try if you haven't already. Rereading my post and the response to it made me realize that one should be careful when assuming the obvious. I assumed that the post would be construed as another helpful technique to add to our skills not as a replacement for any as some suggested I was doing. You guys were perfectly right in chastizing me for it. Obvious only to me I guess. Will work on my communicating skills before posting again.

Oh yes it could!!

I believe the instructions for liquid mask clearly state not to use it on water soluble paint. I think it will strip off any paint underneath the mask! For the applications you describe, it should be ok, but I would test it first with acrylics on some spare parts. If you can't put liquid mask over acrylic, I wonder how it will react to acrylic overcoats? And I wonder if this varies depending on airbrushing or brush painting?

I paint after as much assembly as possible. Having said that, I often have some very minor subassemblies. Painting the wheels on the M4A1 was easy because I built the running gear workable. So the wheels could spin, and my dark grey was easy to get on the tires. I've had less luck painting after assembling all the running gear on a Pz IV chassis. I brushpaint (by choice, I HATE airbrushes - they smell, are loud, and take too long to clean up after ), and there were some very difficult to reach parts.

Sounds like the group build is going well!
Is anyone going to try adding more texture to the armor?

Andy