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Basically a repost from the original thread. No F-16's just yet, but a 3rd Armored Division M1A1. 3rd AD stood in harm's way (Fulda Gap) in West Germany for decades.

This is Tamiya's 1/35 kit:

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Not as much detail as a Trumpy or Dragon, but builds much faster. I won it at a show raffle a few years ago.

Hull isn't together yet, just a dry fit:

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Marking option I'll be doing for an HQ tank with the APU on the back:

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The red maneuver plaque on the bustle will give it a little color.

Edited by bdt13
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Pete-

The decals say 3^2^67 and HQ 66. Might this be the 2nd Battalion, 67th Regiment, 3rd Armored Division? Army nomenclature is all greek to me! The 'HQ' is obviously headquarters, and the 66 unknown to me - the 66th HQ vehicle? Certainly there weren't 66 Abrams in the HQ unit!

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Pete-

Thanks! I had found that site, but hadn't found anything there (yet) to explicitly confirm or deny my interpretation. Now that you had me look again there is a pic of an Abrams captioned as from "4-67 AR, 3AD" taken during Certain Challenge 1990. The tank clearly has markings "3^4^67" (replace triangles for carets) and "B 23." This would seem to confirm "division^battalion^regiment" as the structure. FWIW, there is also a buff forward-facing chevron on the side of the armor skirts and a blue card with "331" on the turret.

jezones - Since you were in the Army, can you confirm my interpretation of the unit marks?

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the 3 either means 3rd armor division or 3rd Brigade both of which would fit. I was in the 3rd Infantry Division and we just put the division not the brigade. The 2-67 is 2nd Battalion 67th Armor. The HQ66 would mean this tank served in the headquarters Company and was the 66th tank in the Battalion. Its been a few years but i think thats about right. When I was in the Army I had a 5 ton expando van on the front bumper it had stenciled on it. 3ID 26FSB B215 that equals 3rd Infantry Division 26 Forward Support Battalion Bravo company 2nd platoon. the 15 was the 15 vehicle in the platoon. One day i'll build that truck. Hope that helps sorry I didnt mean to ramble

Edited by jezones
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Jezones-

Thanks! This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. And don't worry about "rambling." Some of the most interesting things I've learned in life were from when people went just a little bit off topic.

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Progress-

Detail parts like headlights and APU getting the Mr. Surfacer treatment. My Mr. Surfacer 500 had gone to about 80 with evaporation, so I added laquer thinner. Now it's more like 1200, so yes, you can add too much!

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Turret bottom. The pictures I've seen of these say the armor on the sides should be flush with the bottom surface of the turret. So much for the vaunted perfect fit of a Tamiya kit. :bandhead2: I'll live with the imperfection, I build armor more for fun than to win contests, and this shouldn't be noticeable under normal viewing conditions. Don't tell the AMPS guys.

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Bye for now. ;)

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Yikes! Forgot a pic.

The turret asks Mr. DeMille to shoot his good side.

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Haven't cut the screen for the basket yet. Won't have too much stowage, as the idea is that the tank is only out for a day trip. Suggestions?

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Does anyone remember the name of the episodes on the History Chanel showing the Armor invasion of Iraq (OIF)? I think it had "Company C" in the title. C Company USMC.

I need some inspiration and reference.

Curt

sorry to hijack the thread.....

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  • 1 month later...

OK, there has been some progress in the past month.

The crew is primed. I did add a lead foil band around the helmet to act as the goggles strap.

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I'm trying to paint all the wheels and tracks first so they can go under the skirts. Too hard to force paint under there later.

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I thought I was smart spraying the tracks in rust color first, then painting the rubber blocks black. Boy, was I wrong. :bandhead2: I'll never do that again!

I did paint the wheels black first, then sprayed the green through templates. Seems to look OK.

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Thanks, Deacon. I've been using a smaller template for years for aircraft and smaller scale armor wheels. I had to buy a new one for this 1/35 tank. I've accumulated quite a bit of model building 'kit,' as well as kits! ;)

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OK, I decided that I didn't like the look of the tracks. Hand painting Tamiya NATO Black on the rubber parts was taking a lifetime, and wasn't fully covering the rust color, leaving them looking distinctly off. I have put them in a ziplock bag with EZ-Off (the toxic taco, as it is often known), and hope to be re-painting them black later today.

Any suggestions for the more orange rust color tank tracks often get? The Testors Acryl rust I bought looks like dark hull red to me.

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Sorry you are having to go back over the tracks mate. :crying2:

I used MIG Pigments Standard Rust, mixed with Vallejo Matt Varnish and brush painted this onto the tracks.

But then I still had to mess around as they looked too rusty.

Deacon

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I sprayed the tracks NATO black after stripping them. I'm now painting the metal parts a custom rust made with a similar blend of Testors acrylics as I used for the original spray.

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While this is nearly as tedious as the prior method, I like the results better. :D

I am working on the figures. The yellow and brown of the woodland camo is on. Green and black are still to come. All paints are Tamiya acrylics.

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Pete - I don't do the tracks all at one sitting. It will only take about an hour and a half maximum to do them, but to do all at once I go batty.

Neo - Thanks for the props, but they aren't done yet! We'll see if they still look good at the end. And I'm NOT happy with the camo pattern - I think I'm WAY over scale when I compare with period photos.

I appreciate the attention. I'll be AFK (and AFB) for the next few days, so no more work or updates!

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I was thinking about the tracks. I haven't been around any operational tracked military vehicles but been around more construction equipment than I care to talk about. If they don't move their tracks are rusty but once in used for a little time all the rust is worn and polished off of the tracks by the dirt.

Edited by Spectre711
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  • 4 weeks later...

OK, some slow progress.

Hull is together, wheels and tracks on, skirts on as well. The wheels and tracks are masked so I can paint the camo.

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The driver's windows are also masked. I primed everything NATO Black, which is what the area around the drivers ports is painted. Very convenient.

Figures. All camo is on, a dark gray wash has been applied. Still some work to do on highlights, details, and bare skin areas.

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The shot I have of their front is way out of focus.

QUESTION: Can anyone tell me how long the antennae are on this thing? I'll use wire or stretched sprue, but I don't know how long to cut it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Main paint is now on and most of the masking is off. All colors are Tamiya acrylic.

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Funny how the NATO black looks a little blue here.

Figures - mostly done.

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They're not as shiny in real life. Flat Future is in their near future nonetheless.

Comments/critiques welcome.

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