Finished this one last night. The recent thread about building without references is what has brought on these pics. This kit was built without referring to a single reference.

Kit is the 1/35 Tamiya M2A2, and has been done 100% OOB, right down to using the kit paint suggestions (a first for me I might add). Yes, I know XF-59 Desert Yellow is incorrect, but that's what the instructions call for. Weathered with artist oils and the new Tamiya Weathering Master sets (think makeup for models). A quick spray of my "dust" mix finished it off. Antennae are stretched sprue (another first for me). A special thanks goes to HeavyArty , who kindly supplied the decals, after the carpet monster ate mine (still haven't found them BTW). Thanks again Gino.

A few pics for your amusement.







Thanks for looking.

Next up is one of two things:

a) Tamiya M113A2 Desert Version with full interior from Academy kit and AFV Club workable tracks. Will be done up in NATO camo scheme for Bosnia era.

or

b) Academy M163 Vulcan with Friulmodel tracks, and converted to IDF Machbet using Legend set

I think that it looks great. Building out of the box is a great way to relieve stress and as far as the paint colors go it's your model and if your happy were're happy

Nice Bradly. I allways plan to build something out of the box, but it never happens. I allways have to add some details and AM parts.

Erik

Looks like a great build to me. The paint color looks fine also. Only one thing I would have different would have been to paint the ammo cans in the holders on the turret but that is nit picking on my part.

Excellent job!!

How is the kit overall? I have one and was thinking of selling it to finance my other wants. I read reviews on the TAM M2A2, but really wonder if it's worth keeping.

Looks good!

thats a fantastically done M2A2 Kevin. This beast really shows off when you do a really effective wash, which happens to be one of the skills im trying to perfect.

Great job and yes OOTB is going back to basics which i really love sometimes.

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement folks. Always appreciated.

And yes, 100% OOB was kind of refreshing. Nice way to recharge the batteries.




Peter, I can't comment on accuracy in any way, as I don't know enough about the subject. Buildwise it was quite straightforward. One thing I found odd is that Tamiya gives you the option to have pretty much every hatch or door open (or be moveable), but there's absolutely nothing to see inside if you do.

One thing I liked about the build sequence is that the upper and lower sections of the vehicle are two separate pieces. Turret is a third sub-assembly. This makes painting, weathering, etc much easier to do. Upper and lower halves are held together with poly-caps They're still not glued together, despite being in the display case.

I would actually recommend you build it instead of trade it off. This was a fun build, 2 weeks from start to finish. And when you're done it looks like a Bradley. Good enough for me.

Nice work....

After seeing your final product though, im definitely going to be setting the humvee aside and getting this kit.

Kevin,

Thanks for the info. Since you encountered few problems in your build, I'll keep mine. :

Good 'ol Tamiya....almost never fails in fit and quality

Nice looking Bradley buddy, happy to see that people from North America, with all the aftermarket available for you, likes and enjoy to built OOB.
best regards.

Great job... Now I wish I could finish something.