Hi, Am starting once again on the Abrams, hoepfully with no major disasters this time round, and have a couple small questions on it.

1. I've noticed the wheel hubs-S10- are in clear plastic, an have been told that the reason is so the crew on the actual vehicles can tell just by a glance how much lubrication fluid is in each one. Now since Dragon has gone to the trouble to mold these in the clear, would it be better to put them on after the wheel is all painted so they stand out a little bit, or just go ahead and mount them and paint over the whole thing? Just curious as to which way other builders are doing it.

2. Am also having a little trouble on the cannon where it going into it's mounting. Parts N-42, -58, -,24, -23, and -31. They don't seem to fit together very well on this particular kit. Appears that some shaving and sanding could be in order here and there. But before I do anything rash I wanted to see if anybody else who is building this model having any problems in this area, or is it just me? (Probably me.)

I'll tell ya, these new kits are so detailed anymore I'm getting a little 'gun-shy' to do any sanding or cutting unless it's specified in the instructions to do so.

Thanks. Take care, Larry

Larry,
Good to here your gonna try it again!
here is what I am gonna do withthe "hub caps." My track is gonna be painted over all sand with some road wheels green. I was gonna paint the mounting point black then on the back side of the cap, paint it Tamiya Smoke, BUT JUST AT A HALF WAY POINT. Then just mount them. This was gonna be done after everything was done on the kit but before I weather it with powders.

As for your second question, I didn't have any trouble with the main gunb and I'm on my second one.

Larry, I have been pondering the hub cover question for a while. My first thought for you is DO NOT just paint over them. They are clear for a reason. Abrams drivers are trained to get out and check the hub covers every time they stop for more than five minutes. So they would not even be covered in dust if your vehicle is shown at rest. The driver would have gotten out, wiped them off, and checked the levels.

The gun needed some cleanup but not a ton of it. Just take care that all the flash is removed and use a good liquid cement that will slightly melt the parts. The fit will be just fine.

Use a very dark brown. The lubricant is 30wt motor oil. Drivers usually only clean them once a day. They will check every stop to make sure none where broken or are leaking. If the seals are in good repair. They will almost never need refilling.

If they're clear, I'd paint the inside with the Tamyia smoke color to simulate the staining effect of the oil, and then paint whatever will be the lower half of the hub in a dark brown to simulate the settled oil.

Here are some pics, I linked them because the pics are on the large side:

http://data3.primeportal.net/tanks/rob_mccune/m1a1/images/m1a1_556_of_586.jpg

http://data3.primeportal.net/tanks/marc_peters/m1a1/images/m1a1_07_of_71.jpg

When I build mine I'm going to leave the hubs clear and stain the back sides, then weather over them with the wheels. Our drivers would check the hubs during maintenance stops. During turn in after weekend drills the crews would clean the hubs with CLP and a wire brush so they always had a crazed look to them unless brand new then they were crystal clear.

Tom

Sorry I haven't got to the main gun yet.

Tom

Clean them with water. Lubricants and solvants will yellow or craze the plastic. Using water will keep them clear for years. CLP does make it eaier to to clean if you put it on before you goto the field, but with 8weapons to keep clean we never used it.

Very true but the turn in area at Fort Dix had no water available it is a big sand pit and the crews had plenty of CLP for cleaning gun tubes. The Wire brush can't have helped either. In The NG equipment is handled a lot differently when a crew doesn't have real ownership of the tank. You do what is needed to have a successful turn-in so you can go home no more.

When I was active duty in Germany I took care of my M60A1 like it was my own car. My life might depend on it. Its very much like the way folks abuse rental cars.

Tom
Retired in 2003

Thats kind of funny, I really don't take that good care of my car, to me its just a beater, works good enough to get me from point A to point B. BUT While I was in a line unit in Germany, My tank was my lifeline. I wouldn't even let people piss on the tracks. The inside was always spotless, and it purrrrrrrrred like a kitten. Ya know what, she took really great care of me while I was in Iraq. It just goes to show, you take care of your baby girl, she's gonna take care of you..

[:::]

I used to hate people pissing on my tracks or road wheels. I might have to work on that one. When I caught them I would always run them off.

Hey model that the piss caught in the road wheel :-)
hey why does that water have a yellow tint?


Tom

HI, Thanks for the answers here. Pretty interesting. I went ahead and painted those hub interiors a Polly S "Grimy Black," which is really something of a darkish-grey color. I'm hoping that once the whole model is done, weathered and dusted this will show through just a tad bit and give some more color variation to the wheels.

I fiddled and fiddled with those cannon parts Saturday, on and off between doing other things that needed done around the house, and low and behold after some careful sanding here and a lot of dry fitting, they did go together, with even the little rear cover part working! I quickly thanked the model gods and grabbed the liquid glue jar and after removing the excess liquid, ran a line of the stuff around the to-be-glued joint areas.
Then went ahead and built up the commander's cupola sub assembly as well-(might as well go for it if luck seems to be with you at the moment). Magnificent stuff, both in the amount of detail and the engineering technology that Dragon is using on their new kits nowadays! We are truly blessed in this hobby.

The future is scary.

Take care, Larry

I was picky about all my tanks too. I would take a deck brush to the entire outside of the tank when we washed it. Of course my tanks in Germany and Ft Knox both had brand spanking new paint jobs.

It is true if you take care of your tank like it was your best freind it will take care of you.

Why not have one with a tank crewman wiping off the cap to check the 'level'? The rest can just have 'dust' on them?

Just a thought.


Jeff