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M1A2 Abrams TUSK I - Meng 1/35


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Items I'm using:

- Meng M1A2 TUSK I/II Abrams

- Eureka 0,9mm Tow cable

- Tamiya modern us military equipment set

- Voyager Modern straps and buckels

- Live Resin M4 with M26 (will be modified without shotgun)

- Meng fridges and water bottles

- Miniart Modern US Tank crew (after they release it)


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Tracks - 960 parts in total...


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Bad solution for optics...meng made parts with fit that is to thigh...and it doesn't look well...
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I decided to correct that with some scratchbuild...
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Mirror foil 45°:
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Transparent foil to close it, and red tinted mirror foil for bottom part:
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Finished:
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Loader's hatch (same as driver's) is designed well...
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A bit more optics:
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EPLRS antenna - steel wire 0,6 mm, lenght 30mm, from plastic part up.
Other two are 0,17mm, lenght 45mm from plastic part up.
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Tow bars, from a colleague, Dragon kit I think...
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Browning mount on gun is modified to look like one without browning.

CREW Contol box is scratchbuild, DUKE antenna also.

 

Photos are without primer so you can see what is modified, and after that with primer.

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I'm about to start a pretty serious build of some vehicles from 2007-2010 Iraq, where did you find those MRE boxes???

 

Also the kit looks fantastic so far, following with interest!   

I will say this, I've never seen an Abrams with that weird rounded armor on it, all of our tanks had the traditional block reactive armor.  The TUSK upgrade was prevalent though, nothing more intimidating than looking at the business end of a tank with a .50 and 120mm coaligned

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6 minutes ago, HeavyArty said:

Looks like it is coming along nicely.  Good job so far.

 

 

 

They are part of the Tamiya Modern US Military Equipment set that he listed above.

Thanks Heavy! One more thing I gotta add to the buy list lol.

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15 hours ago, crushkill said:

Thanks Heavy! One more thing I gotta add to the buy list lol.

 

But be careful...MOLLE system slowly replaced ALICE after 2001. Also,on Croatian forum they told me that jerry can I used is not in use any more (they introduced plastic one in '93).

 

Fresh update from yesterday:

 

Some parts are painted...

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Edited by VedranJ
forgot to put photos
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3 hours ago, VedranJ said:

But be careful...MOLLE system slowly replaced ALICE after 2001. Also,on Croatian forum they told me that jerry can I used is not in use any more (they introduced plastic one in '93).

 

 

Again, depends on the unit and when.  3ID still had all ALICE packs for the invasion of Iraq in '03.  I didn't get a new MOLLE rucksack until my second trip to Iraq in '08.  There were still some metal fuel cans hanging around in the early to mid 2000s too.

Edited by HeavyArty
correction
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50 minutes ago, HeavyArty said:

 

 

Again, depends on the unit and when.  3ID still had all ALICE packs for the invasion of Iraq in '03.  I didn't get a new MOLLE rucksack until my second trip to Iraq in '08.  There were still some metal fuel cans hanging around in the early to mid 2000s too.

I'm still in the Army, and see metal fuel cans all the time.  And some of us older guys still prefer ALICE packs over MOLLE rucks.  You can get away with pretty much anything old, it's the new stuff that takes forever to get out to the force.

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Sleeping mats are made of aluminium sheet, thickness cca. 0,25mm. Little canals for straps are made using non-sharp side of skalpel blade.

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Binocular is modified one from Tamiya box, M4 is from Live Resin, also modified with homemade optics.
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Straps and buckles are Voyager.
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Big dryfit, ratchet and strap in smaller basket will be connected differently at the end, this is only a dryfit.
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Some may say that this is overkill but i like it this way, Abrams is not interesting if not loaded.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Those accessories are outstanding.  How'd you do the camo pattern on the rucks?  I have never been able replicate the ACU pattern.    Just a humble suggestion, don't forget a sling for the M4 and if it were me, I'd paint the magazine a dark aluminum/grey color instead of the same color as the weapon itself.  

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On 04.11.2016. at 0:57 AM, 11bee said:

Those accessories are outstanding.  How'd you do the camo pattern on the rucks?  I have never been able replicate the ACU pattern.    Just a humble suggestion, don't forget a sling for the M4 and if it were me, I'd paint the magazine a dark aluminum/grey color instead of the same color as the weapon itself.  

Primer first, then Revell 43 as base color. For pattern I used Revell 47 and Gunze H313 to make small "dots". Wash is MIG panel line wash Deep grey.

 

Basic painting is done. Now gloss coat and weathering. Sand color is Gunze H313.
Masks for rubber on wheels are home made, wheel hubs are painted with classic brush.
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On 11/14/2016 at 5:34 AM, Silenoz said:

nice paintjob so far. Will you add a myriad of tones to the reactive armor blocks?

I'd suggest using moderation in this area.  

 

I've seen some models with multiple different tones of ERA, to the point that they almost look checkerboarded.  While I do admit that on some tracks, there were a few blocks painted green, the vast majority of these were standard Sand color.  Also, if you are modeling a specific M1, at a specific time, I'd check references.   The supplemental, curved anti-EFP armor panels were seen much less commonly than the standard ERA bricks. 

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