1:35 RC M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank

[Guest]

Hey guys, I'm starting a new tank build using RC equiptment. Just received the 'guts' of the tank in the form of a static-RC conversion kit, built specifically for the Tamiya M1A1/A2 1:35 scale tank.

This will eventually be a 4CH RC model, which will include turret rotation and elevation, and main gun / machine gun sound effects. Both track will have independant movement to control the direction.

I've included a couple of pics of the kit received just 1 hour ago!

Can't wait for the Tamiya kit to arrive so I can start building!

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[Guest]

hey guys, ok i finally got my kit a couple of days ago, and i've done a little bit of work on it, but not a lot. Dont have any pics up yet but I will get some taken tomorrow when I get up. After lots of playing around and reading manuals, I think this is going to be a good project to work on. I also plan to have this model in a scene which I built a while back while its not in use of course - pics will follow.

[Guest]

Hey guys.. As promised.

Ok well first off, the hull of the tank had to be modified to remove all the wheel axels from the hull for use in the suspension. It took quite a bit of work and left a bit of a mess after, but I'm confident the wheels will cover this once there on. Each tension bar has a plastic wheel axel attatched to it, and is fed through a 3mm hole drilled into the hull. These are then held in place by a strip of plastic.

The next thing I did was to modify the upper hull by adding a ring gear to it for turret rotation. This was very simple as there is a plastic guide with the conversion kit to get it in the correct place.

Finally I modified the turret itself to allow for the components to fit inside and added some snap catches to allow access when its finished.

Oh yeah.. and the hex nuts were added to the drive sprockets to connect to the motor shafts.

Bill.

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[Guest]

Ok guys, heres the latest work i'v done, would have been up earlier but I had to get some new batteries for the camera.

First off it the hull, not a lot of work done here except some snap catches at the back to hold the hupper hull in place at the back of the tank. Also added the sound effects unit as per the instructions. The back of the lower hull has had a little paint detail to it, but no where near finished yet.

The Inside of the turret has had a couple of componants installed including the servos for turret rotation and gun elevation. Also the Curcuit board which controls everything is in there now, and I attatched the main gun to the front which is now (i think) fully painted and detailed.

Finally I have almost finished the wheels and suspension, just got to touch up the paint work where its been rushed a little and got sloppy. You might notice there are two random 9v batteries in there, but this is just to give you and idea of how the suspension looks.

sorry its all in bits and pieces guys, I'll try to keep you up to date as I do it from now on.

Cheers,

bill.

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[Guest]

hey guys, been doing some painting today, and working on a few techniques, wondered if anyone else had experienced this at all, I started working with humbrol enamel, whish I have found to be much easier to work with than acrylic, and I have 93 enamel paint and 93 acrylic spray, but the seem to be different colours?! Not sure what thats all about.

Anyway, I've taken loads of pics, so im gonna sort through em and post some in the morning.

Cheers,

Bill.

[Guest]

Hey guys, this mornings updates for ya

Started to work on the paint work for the upper hull. I want this tank to look like it has seen a good amount of time serving the men and women in the armed forces.

To start off, I gave the hull its basic colour and added the decals so they would be weathered along with the rest of the hull. I added a basic pin wash to this and started to add chips and water marks.

Some fo the chips and watermarks were a little rough and didn't look right so i refined them and removed some. I also pin washed the grills at the rear.

Finally I have added some further 'grubbiness' mostly to the front of the hull, but im not done yet. Some of it may be toned down a little, im not sure yet, but again, I want it to look like its seen quite a bit of time served.

Let me know how i'm doing guys, would be nice to here what you think so far, and if you have any suggestions that would be greatly appreciated

Cheers,

Bill.

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[Guest]

That looks really nice Bill-quite worn & well-used but still subtle, just like it should be.There's often a tendency to go over-board with weathering but I think you've got the balance just right. Wish I could say the same for my current build! I don't much go in for R/C stuff but I'm looking forward to seeing it with the turret & tracks on.

Patrick

[Guest]

Thanks patrick, I appreciate the feedback! I have however done a little more wearing of the hull, not a lot, and im dont with the wearing now, hopefully I havn't over done it.

My next job is going to be the turret of the tank. I've included a pic of the work I'v done so far on this, but I have a whole way to go yet with it. At the moment its the basic componants and a little paint. I have also added a thin strip of black electrical tape to the sides and front of the turret to simulate what I gather is velcro on the real thing but I can't be sure.

cheers guys,

Bill.

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[Guest]

It's all coming together nicely Bill. Have you thought about some dust, maybe using pastels or MIG pigments? I think that would be appropriate, considering the theatres that the tank would have/been serving in. I need someone to do a dusty model to show me how to do it for my next build!

Patrick

[Guest]

Hey Bill. It's looking great so far. I'm really impressed with the weathering you did on the edges of the skirt. Can you give a little insight into how you did that? I've only done 2 tanks and am going to start a Panzerkampfwagon IV next, and would to replicate what you've done here. Great work. Can't wait to see more.

[Guest]

1:35RC M1A1 Abrams MBT

Finally I have added some further 'grubbiness' mostly to the front of the hull, but im not done yet. Some of it may be toned down a little, im not sure yet, but again, I want it to look like its seen quite a bit of time served.

Let me know how i'm doing guys, would be nice to here what you think so far, and if you have any suggestions that would be greatly appreciated

Cheers,

Bill.

Hi Bill, Chris in Australia, I just want to say well done so far, I was able to have a drive of a US Marine - M1A1 version of this MBT when serving with OZ SAS in Gulf 1, as an ex tankie myself I jumped at the chance to have a go .

Now in Australia here we have a very updated version of it serving with the 1st Armoured Regt. Now one thing about weathring or adding .

ON TOP OF THE TURRET AND PARTS OF THE ENGINE DECK AND FRONTAL AREA, the tank had a thick coat of non slip paint , this is very roughish looking on the real Tank, and most people do not know it exists, but it is there if you look atsome close up pics on the Web, or see a real one.

Have a look at say a Squadron Walk Around series on the M1A1 and you will see what I mean.

If not I will upload some pics for you myself.

We have a diesel engine version here so as to be able to use the same fuel that our ASLAV's, Bushrangers, the new updated {heavily} of the M-113 , which all run on deisel and unlike the US version , it can run at speed for much further than the US version before a refuel.

Anyway give me a bell,

cheers

Chris

Perth Australia

[Guest]

Hey guys, thanks for the input. Patrick I think you might be right about the dust idea, not sure how i would do that yet, but i'll try a few things and let you know how it turns out.

beav, the skirts were weathered gradually using enamel paint, and turps. Basically I used 85, and 113 humbrol enamel (google them for colours), however the 85 is actually a satin black which caused a slight shine to the finish and had to be sprayed after with matt varnish, so maybe better to use a matt black instead.

Anyway I basically use two brushes for this part. The first was a decent brush used to paint on very small amounts of a quite thin mix of the two colours - leaning more towards the black side. The second brush was an old tattered frayed out brush with I bought from the pound shop along with about 20 others and is no use for anything else.

This colour mix was used throughout so i painted a small blob of it on my pallette first and let it dry for later colour matching.

Start by painting a small amount of the paint near to the edges with the first brush, Then either dry, or with the slightest amount of turps on the brush - then dried off with tissue, I rubbed at the area to blend the paint towards the center of the skirts with the second brush.

Once this had been complete and had dried fully, I did pretty much the same again, only this time with a slightly (only very slightly though) thicker paint and no turps on the second brush. However this time, instead of blending the paint, i stabbed at it with the brush, causing it to look like mild scrapes and scratches.

Again once fully dried out a third pass was complete, only this time I had a thicker mix again of the paint, and only used the second brush. I tapped the paint onto the brush making sure not to pick up too much. Then again tapping the edges only this time causing even deeper scrapes and scratches.

Once done, if you have any areas showing through of the original colour at the very edge of the worst hit areas, simply paint a small amount on the edge to cover it.

As for the water marks.. I tell you what, If I get time tomorrow, I will do an example and post some pics to show you how I did that, because I was going to try to explain, but even I couldn't understand what I had written, so it may be easier to show you.

For now, you can give the chipping and staining a go, but DON'T over do it. It does start to feel good when you see it working so well, and can become a bit addictive.

Phew..

I hope all that makes sense anyway guys, let me know if I missed anything there, or if you do try it yourself, let me know how it goes.

Cheers

Bill.

[Guest]

chris, thats awsome, I wish I could have the honor of driving one of these beasts! If you could maybe upload a pick of the non slip paint that would be very much appreciated, because the only ref images I could find of the clos ups, were in pristine condidition.

cheers,

Bill.

[Guest]

Fantastic work mate, this will look great when it is finished.

Well done

Andy

[Guest]

thanks for the extensive reply, that's definitely helpful. i started the panzer tonight, so hopefully i'll be able to try the technique out soon. looking forward to your water marks 101 class.