hi all,

I have finished painting and would like to share some photos (for constructive input) with the big A forum.

next phase is slight chipping, wheatering and pigments

best regards
Morten

Looking good so far. I love that old beast with its ad on armor. Nice chipping job on the front mud flaps.Do you plan on filling up the storage rack with misc equipment?

Hi Dakota,

Yes - I have the CMK set with frag vests, pouches, bed-rolls etc plus some more from the sparebox

Best regards
Morten

Looking pretty good. Biggest thing I see are the tracks. They are way too rusty, especially for the desert. TRacks become very polished and have very little, to no rust in the desert. Here is an example from TankHeaven


More pics here.

Roadwheels need some dust to blnd them in better too.

Rear lights look off too. Only the left upper oval should be red. The lower left side shuold have one black slit. The right sid eshould have two black slits, a shorter one in the upper portion, and a longer wone in the lower portion. Like this:



Good job, a few tweaks and it can be great.

Beautiful looking tank there. I do notice the red tail lights. Only one portion of the left tail light is a red lens. All others look black. See Gino's bottom photo for an example.

Hi Robin and Gino (you guys rule!!)

Appreciate your feed back - especially on the tracks as I was a bit in doubt with these. Thank god it's the AFV tracks that are easy to take off again

Need to figure out that taillight and also the two handles on the lower exhaust grilles.

Best regards
Morten

Yea, for a desert vehicle those tracks aren't corret but if you'd made it be a tank from Okinawa, those tracks would be perfect. lol The salt air rusts those babies up on the ramp real easily.

Smoke grenade launchers need to have the round and rectangular holes drilled out--would have been easier before they were installed. Possible alternative would be to put a canvas cover over the mounts.
Couldn't tell from the photos whether you'd installed the optics for the rangefinders. Most modelers skip this on M46, M47, M48 and M60 series tanks, but it is very apparent on the real vehicles.
The contrast between the centers of the ERA panels and bolts on the edges seems severe, though an overspray of dust might even it out. This campaign was quite short, and deterioration of the paint was most often due to sand storms stripping chunks of it off rather than the severe sun fading which is popular with model builders at the moment. Compare the model to the real vehicle in the photos.
Usually paint chipping is way overdone these days, but this subject would be a legitimate exception. Pictures from Desert Storm show that the sand colored paint didn't always adhere well due to its application to dusty or greasy surfaces in field conditions, but the factory or depot-applied green paint underneath was remarkably durable.

I agree about the rusted tracks. The color is too pinkish. I think you could still suggest some rust with using brown mixed with a little red, and then over that rub on some toned down silver (oil umber mixed with silver) and you will be left with hints of rust.

For my taste, the pre/post shading is way over done...the eye focussed on those high contrasts and has a hard time actually seeing the tank. Concur withthe comments on the tracks as well. I like the driver, though. Good job on the choco-chip camo.

I think you've gotten some pretty good advice. Go back repaint the tracks a good steel color. Fix the tail-lights then give it a good dusty weathering which will tone down your top and blend in your roadwheels and you'll have a real showpiece. Nice assembly job and I like the way you flaked the paint off the front mudflaps. No need to "chip" paint as this would be highly unlikely as the crew would spot paint anythng that ever showed up

Howdy all, the actual tank that Morten is modeling is the real "hog" in the grill door shot above. It is located at the Marine base in Quantico, VA. That is the very same tank, C-51, that Tamiya used for its box art and markings. The tank is the former mount of the Commanding Officer of C Co, 3rd Tank Bn during Operation DESERT STORM. C-51 came off of the MPS(Maritime Pre-position Squadron) ship in a sand CARC paint in August, 1990. After DS some dummy ERA(Explosive Reactive Armor) were re-installed and the tank sent to the museum in the summer of 1991. C-51 did not recieve any touch up paint before coming state side, so what chipping and wear you see in that photo is what it had after nine months of continuous field operations. And the crew, especially that one, never spot painted anything. Happy USMC modeling! Out here.

I don't have any advice really. Looks like the experts here really have given you (and me) valuable advice. I think your build looks great and I think the camo on the driver is especially good.

Gary