I received a Tamiya M2A2 as a gift this year. I now need to build it, as the sender and kids,will be visiting me for the holidays. I am sure they will be happy to see that I built and enjoyed the kit. The problem is I have never built armor before.

I have done a bit of research, and read some reviews, and this should be a fairly simple box stock buildup. I plan to smooth out the bottom, of the hull, to cover up the switch hole, and remove the logos. That's probably about all I am going to do, except for paint detailing, and mild weathering. I assume the tracks are okay for a shelf buildup, even though they are vinyl. How close is this kit to the Bradleys that were used in Desert Storm? Would the Desert Yellow, (Tamiya # XF59) be appropriate for a Desert Shield/Desert Storm vehicle? The kit is copyrighted 1990, so I am assuming that the subject was correct for the late '80s, early '90s. Were there any special changes made to these before they went to Iraq? Different paint? Markings? changes to external features, or equipment stowed on them?

I want to keep this simple, and fairly quick, but I would like to get it as close to correct as I can too. It will serve it's duty as a nice looking shelf model, not a contest piece. I will probably use the kit decals, it they are appropriate, but I would gladly get a set of aftermarket decals if necessary. This should be a fun buildup, if it goes together anything like the Tamiya Aircraft kits I have built up. I am ordering the paint from Squadron this week, so I need to figure out if there is anything else I need for the kit. Any other special colors that I don't already have in my Aircraft collection?

Thanks for your advice,
Dave

Dave,
The M2A2 kit is accurate for Desert Storm. I don't know about Tamiya Desert Yellow, I don't use Tamiya paints. Testor's Model Master Sand is an exact match to US Federal Standard sand used in Desert Storm and currently on US vehicles. Here is a previos post with info on the Tamiya M2A2: M2A2 Post It has lots of info on things you can add to the bradley if you would like, however, it builds up fine OOB.

Here is a little place that has some photos and stuff.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m2.htm

I think the desert yellow goes on the Desert Storm vehicle is Tamoya XF-59. HTH

Thanks, all. I had seen the earlier post, but I was more interested in a stock buildup. (First real armor model here, no sense in going crazy!) Gino, thanks for the advice. I thought that it would be accurate for Desert Storm, but I wasn't sure. I am also glad to hear that it's great out of the box too. Cool link Jeff, a lot of good photos there. I had found several other sites, but not that one. Also, thanks Dave, for the paint reference. I mostly use acrylics when I can, so I will match up some Tamiya 59 to Testor's Sand, and see if it is a match. If so I will use it.

I just started mocking it up last night, and so far, the fit is absolutely perfect. Looks like a real nice kit. I may have to get an Iraqi vehicle to share a shelf with it. Anybody know how the Dragon SCUD kits are?

The DML SCUD-B isn't a bad kit - it's just one of their early releases and calls for some modeling skill and patience to put it together. Out of the Box it's impressive and is receptive to superdetailing if a modeler is so inclined. I'd recommend it to intermediate to advanced level modelers accustomed to dealing with brittle, thin, plastic parts; skilled with reinforcing weak joints; keen on dealing with alignment issues; and comfortable with finishing & blending completed subassemblies together into a single model.

Gunnie