Here are a few pics of my first model in about 25 years. It has been sitting in a box for months as i got a little disheartened with it. After giving it a clearcoat after applying decals, the clearcoat came out with a bit of a satin sheen. Anyone got any tips to why this happened. i don't want to try and rectify it or I might make it worse.
There are a few things wrong with it I know, such as missing tow pintle (carpet monster) which as yet I don't have a replacement for and a smoke discharger missing that needs replacing.
I didn't try and stay exactly accurate to the maniaco vehicle as I just wanted to see what I could produce.
I did add a few extras such as the fender springs in brass rod and also the turret side baskets are in brass rod after the kit parts broke while trying to remove them from the sprue. Fuse wire is used for the discharger conduits and rear light cable.
I didn't try and get too clever with the painting as I don't think I'm up to it yet but maybe on the next one (Luchs in progress now).
Anyway any help with the clearcoat and general comments please feel free to say.
Cheers
Max

Hi,
it looks pretty good to me. Knowing it's your first one in 25 years, you've done a very good job on it. I would just tone down the bright look of some gear elements in the BRE. The kind of hinged flap behind the gun mantlet should rest on the turret.
Give it a little dusty look and you'll get a winner.

Olivier

Thanks for the rapid reply, yeah the gear in the BRE is the result of the so called matt clearcoat. Just wondering if I should apply it neat instead of diluting it? Never noticed the flap above the gun but I'll secure that down as well.

A dull coat should do the trick Max. It will take the shinyness off the tank. You should also add the antennas. They should be 7 cm in 1:35 scale. It seems like you have used a 3ID BRE for a Marine Corps tank as well. I'm pretty sure the Marines did not use this type of BRE. All in all you have made a great tank after returning to the hobby. The first one I built when returning looked pretty much like rubbish.

Erik

Looks good. Maybe a little weathering with some pastels will take the sheen off. Nothing hard or complicated.

Hi Max,
Thas is certainly a good start! As Olivier and Erik suggested, adding the antenae and a little dust will give the final touch to your good work.
Interesting MRE and water carboard boxes you have added. Something to bought or you creater yourselft? I also like the plastic crate.. nice touch of color. Is that something you got in the kit of you purchase it separatelly?

Regards,
Sarek

Thanks for the comments guys, yes I should have added the antennas Erik but as it's been in a box I hadn't bothered. The BRE is what came with the kit so it went on, actually not too sure what the differences are between marine/army BRE's? I think I will give it a going over with pastels mainly around the track/ rear deck area and see what it turns out like.
Sarek the boxes are stuff I've downloaded off here so If you want a copy PM me your mail addy and I'll mail them to you. The coolbox on the turret top is one I scratched myself, basically a copy of the one I had on my wagon on TELIC.
Now all I have to do is convince the long haired Sgt Major that it deserves putting somewhere and not back in the box.

This is the Marine version of the BRE.


It is Dragons old M1A1 with a BRE from an Academy kit. To my knowledge this is now the standard BRE for both the USMC and US Army.

Erik

Great looking tank there Max.

Very well done ditto and what has been said.

after 25 years you must of been one heck of a modeler

Question what kit?

Looks like you're back in the hobby with a hiss & a roar Max! Not bad for a 25 year hiatus - now that you're hooked for the next 25 years your workbench will rapidly fill up with 1/2 and 3/4 finished models.

No I wasn't, I was a kid when I last made one and only got back into it after coming back from Iraq. I found this website and read articles and looked at models for months before attempting this. Everything I did I learnt from here and beleive me it was time consuming. I even bought a compressor and airbrush off e-bay as I felt that if I wanted to do it I was going to do it right.
The kit is Dragons M1A1 HA OIF an old kit but still very good compared to what I was used to. All the stowage is from various kits collected up to now with the odd scratched item.
Thanks for the pic Erik, I've seen different BRE's on tanks in Baghdad but thought the differences were just because they were locally manufactured by the crews/metalsmiths

max

Welcome back and excellent job,I like the stowage

I'm sure this has been mentioned before on another thread, but shouldn't the chevrons on the side of the vehicle face in the opposite direction to each other?
If it is a D Coy tank the pointy bit should face forward on the left hand side < (as it does) and the open bit should point forward on the right hand side RHS > - A Coy LHS ^ RHS ^, C Coy LHS v RHS v.

BTW sweetwork!

To tell you the truth soprano I don't know. Not too 'up' on US markings. Tell you whatever you want to know about British ones though. Well modern British anyway.

hi max great job, i like it alot!!!!

could you let me no a couple of things if its not to much bother,

matte coat? were do i get it in the uk
boxes on the back where did you get them
and lastly the strap on the back, is it scratch if so how did you do it!

thanks in advance for your time Max i am a newby!!!!

rob

Max--what brand of matte clearcoat did you use? I know the Testors kind sometimes goes bad in the can or jar and comes out satin or even glossy. You may want to look into using other brands if that is the case. You may have also laid on too thick a layer (that happened to me when I was a kid on an F-117). If you feel up to it, you may want to use Future (or Klear, as it is known in the UK) mixed with Tamiya's flat base (use a ratio of 3 parts Klear to 1 part flat base for a dead flat result).

Other than the very minor items noted by other folks, I don't see much wrong with your build. It frankly looks better than anything I've been able to crank out so far (I also came back to the hobby about a year ago). I'm working on Tamiya's M1A2 at the moment ( here is the thread I started for my build), and you've given me inspiration for it.

Oh, I forgot to mention that you should spray the Klear/flat base mixture with your airbrush at around 25 psi without diluting it. For cleanup, use any ammonia-based window cleaner (Windex is what I use here in the States).

For the Army system, yes, all the chevrons should face the same when looked at from any angle. I am not sure if the USMC uses the same system though.

Erik is right about the BREs as well. The one in the Dragon USMC kit is actually a 3 ID BRE that was only on 2 BDE (1-64 AR and 4-64 AR) M1A1s. The BRE was locally made in Kuwait and applied to PrePo stocks of M1A1s there, which 2 BDE drew.

The USMC-style, folding BRE was initially seen on USMC M1A1 HCs in Iraq and later on M1A2s and M1A2 SEPs from 3 ACR, 4 ID, and 1 CAV. It is now the standard BRE on M1A1 AIMs and M1A2 SEPs when they come from the rebuild factory. Also, units can order them for older tanks as well. It can be found in the Academy M1A1 Iraq 2003 kit and Eduard does a PE version. It will also be available in the forthcoming Dragon M1A2 SEP kit.

I guess then a Challenger II is the next one for you.

Would look good side by side

I used microscale micro flat on the model and got the satin sheen after diluting it with water as per the instructions. You can get it from hannants phillips78 for £2.50 a bottle (1 ounce) plus posting. Their website is http://hannants.co.uk. They're a cracking company with just about everything. I went to their warehouse in Lowestoft and they were so helpful, even to the point of letting me walk about the warehouse and believe me it's BIG. Well worth a visit. The boxes are stuff i've got off people on here so if you want copies PM me your mail addy and I'll send some useful stuff to you. Got quite a few bits of printable stuff now. The strap is plain old painted masking tape that I got for 20p from a diy store. The buckle is a piece of scrap etch fret bent into shape.
Thanks for the info on the BRE Gino, though I think now if I try and get it off I'll do more harm than good. But it's good info for next time round 'cos I'm sure there will be another in the offing.
I'll have to think about using a klear/flat coat mix. I'm a little dubious of using it.
I've been toying with the idea of getting a Chally 2 but the long haired Sgt Major keeps freaking at the cost of kits. Might have to sneak one into the stash, though I am always amazed at how cheap you can get kits in the states as opposed to here.
As a last thing to say if anyone has a spare tow pintle that i could have I'd be eternally grateful. It's bugging me looking at the hole. Oh and finally I'm running a stand at a big military exhibition late June. Just about every peice of British military hardware will be there so if anyone has any requests for photos give me a shout and I'll take pics of whatever you want despite the fact that I'll look like a complete geek doing it

cheers for the info max i will give them a try!!!!


rob

Very nice model!!!! Great!!!

Ah, I know that boxes...

Bye,

Marcelo

Great looking model job well done
yufkey

Hi Maximus (Ben I presume!)
A great model for your return to the fold.
We actually met up at the Model show at the templegate centre on Sunday (I'm Mark from the Cleveland IPMS club stand) & we had a good discussion. Hope you can make it to one of our meetings some time.
Saw your comments on the stowage boxes & I would be interested in them so I will send you a PM.
Looking forward to the Cattrick show day, & the washington show at the Nissan centre.
Hopefully see you there!
regards
Mark

Yes mate I'll definately be at Catterick and hoping to make the Nissan Show too. Hopefully once work calms down I'll be able to get to a meeting or 2.