Academy 1:35 Aussie Abrams

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:05 pm

After 30 plus years of service for the Leopard 1 (AS1), Australia started looking for a new MBT. With due diligence the Defence Material Organisation hit the catalogues to find a replacement. They decided on the M1A1 Abrams.

General characteristics
Weight: 62,000 kilograms
Length: 9.83 metres
Width: 3.65 metres
Height: 2.89 metres
Crew: Four - Commander, Gunner, Loader and Driver

Overall performance
Power plant: Gas Turbine Engine 1119 kilowatts
Speed: More than 60 kilometres per hour; Cross-Country more than 40 kilometres per hour
Operational range: More than 400 kilometres
Smoke Grenade System: 66 millimetre Launcher Grenade M250
Aramment: 120 millimetre M256 Smooth Bore Cannon, 12.7 millimetre M2HB QCB Machine Gun, 2 x 7.62 millimetre MAG58 Machine Gun

The Abrams is the most powerful vehicle in the Australian inventory. While retaining the gas turbine engines, the Australian Abrams tanks use diesel fuel instead of the kerosene based JP-8 that powers American Abrams tanks.

A total of 59 M1A1's were ordered, the first arriving in mid 2007.

Training began, and the Abrams were tested out.

Satisfied, they were given there war paint and handed over to trained professionals.

Once out of the car park they were packed up for a weekend away and sent bush.

Notional enemies beware, Exercises under way. Contact.

Satisfied with a job well done. And, barely a scratch on the hardware.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:20 pm

The Kit

Going to use the Academy M1A1 kit to hopefully represent the last photo in the previous sequence a fine walk around that i'll also be using is http://www.aussiemodeller.com.au/pages/ ... 2Aust.html.

Box and Sprue shots.

The tracks in the kit aren't right for my purposes, so I'm using some link and length from a Trumpeter Abrams. Decal wise I have a few options, since I purchased some aftermarkets, forget about them, and luckily enough bought another, different set. I intend to use the markings for "Bundaberg" after my hometown.

Cheers, Russ.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:44 pm

Update 1

Wanted to try Anti Skid on this kit, as it was a bit of a fail on the Six Wheels or More SIG. I didn't have the opportunity to pick up some Gesso as Norm ( schweinhund227 ) suggested, but I did have some Mr Surfacer 1000. Gav ( Gav0909 ) suggested he might try it for some anti skid. I found an appropriate layout, and started masking off.

I applied the Mr Surfacer with a cotton bud. Dip the cotton bud into the Mr Surfacer and rolled it over the surface until it started to tack. There are some areas that could possibly do with a little more, I'll see what it looks like after undercoating.

Cheers, Russ.

schweinhund227 · Post by **schweinhund227** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:56 pm

I find amazing... from the picture you have submitted... that one of the Abram has the TUSK 1 ERA blocks on...

very cool in deed and needed subject.

I'll be adding an Australian M1A2 to my collection in 2015 for sure...
very cool Camouflage those guys have !

Thanks for sharing your progress on your M1A1

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:35 am

schweinhund227 wrote:I find amazing... from the picture you have submitted... that one of the Abram has the TUSK 1 ERA blocks on...

very cool in deed and needed subject.

I'll be adding an Australian M1A2 to my collection in 2015 for sure...
very cool Camouflage those guys have !

Thanks for sharing your progress on your M1A1

Hey there Norm.

I've been doing a little more looking around on the internet and can't find any info on the Tusk 1 blocks. I can only imagine that extras were purchased to trial. I have read one article that suggested our MBTs aren't intended for deployment, they're for crew training only. If the blocks are going to incur significant extra weight then that would be conditions requiring the crews be trained in that scenario. So much I don't Know.

I have been looking for info for the component attached to the right hand side of the periscope optics. Nothing provided for in the kit.

Thanks for looking in mate.

Russ

schweinhund227 · Post by **schweinhund227** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:07 am

Are you referring the the square box ? with the Gold foil in front ???

If so ???? (yes)

then it is a VLQ-6 MCD system
a counter measure system designed to defeat Optical Guided Missiles !
very similar to what Russians use on their T-90 known as Shtora-1

(back to M1A1) Since that possibility died quickly after the invasion of Iraq !!! The system was later replaced.
it also employs special smoke discharger..... different from the normal ones used on other M1A1's

Mostly USED if not exclusively on US Marines tanks.
http://gallery.military.ir/albums/userp ... vlq8__.jpg

any quesitons... shoot !

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:16 am

Sorry Norm, I meant this one hear.

Thanks for the help by the way.

Russ.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:19 pm

Update 2

Started by looking at the rear of the tank, wanted it to look more like this.

The idea was to expose the slats/louvers, make them out of brass, and bend and bash them. Things didn't work out. But here is some picks anyway.

That's as far as it got. It was going wrong and I kept going, so mojo got a kick in the ......... , more practice and patience is required. I went back to the kit part. If anyone can recommend a kit that might be more suitable I'd be grateful. Things still needed to be done to the kit part to make it more suitable.

Rear mudflaps were removed.

Filled a sink hole in the towing point and drilled out the tie down lugs.

I also removed the front right mudguard, the left has to be bashed up a little.

Cheers, Russ.

timtamtung · Post by **timtamtung** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:24 pm

Good work on the antislip. your masking is excellent Russ. keen to see this kit unfold.

gustavlekstal · Post by **gustavlekstal** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:28 pm

looks good mate! To bad about the rear and the lost mojo. BUT next time! Have to glue your fingers together several times before it becomes more easy

good luck and hope for continuous MOJO!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:30 pm

timtamtung wrote:Good work on the antislip. your masking is excellent Russ. keen to see this kit unfold.

I just checked out yours mate. I looked at using all Tamiya tape but I had an attack of the Lazys and used the maskol.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:36 pm

gustavlekstal wrote: looks good mate! To bad about the rear and the lost mojo. BUT next time! Have to glue your fingers together several times before it becomes more easy good luck and hope for continuous MOJO!

Cheers mate. I did glue my fingers together a couple of times as it turns out

. There was spilt glue and bits of brass and styrene all over the place. More betterer stock and planning next time. There's a Trumpeter Abrams in the stash that i'll have another go at.

gustavlekstal · Post by **gustavlekstal** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:48 pm

Russ72 wrote:
gustavlekstal wrote: looks good mate! To bad about the rear and the lost mojo. BUT next time! Have to glue your fingers together several times before it becomes more easy good luck and hope for continuous MOJO!
Cheers mate. I did glue my fingers together a couple of times as it turns out . There was spilt glue and bits of brass and styrene all over the place. More betterer stock and planning next time. There's a Trumpeter Abrams in the stash that i'll have another go at.

I remember when I did my first pe fret and bumped a new bottle of tamiya extra thin over my frets and tools...

I use this one aswell for anti-skid, rust, rough casting as mr surfacer. It dosent cook your brain!

you can sand it as mr surfacer. Just a tip. Take care mate.
http://www.true-earth.com/contents/en-u ... ivolo.html

Yevgeny · Post by **Yevgeny** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:12 pm

Neat build

Love the intro pictures with commentary

timtamtung · Post by **timtamtung** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:49 pm

I used Mr neo masking too on the bolts and hinges. I got a bit lazy with tamiya tape

schweinhund227 · Post by **schweinhund227** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:05 pm

Russ72 wrote:Sorry Norm, I meant this one hear.

Thanks for the help by the way.

Russ.

ok... this is a reinforced enclosure for the Blue Force Tracker antenna and GPS puck

Here is another view from above...

through the Translucent cover... you can see the Antenna box.

http://www.hmmwvinscale.com/photos/M115 ... S%2082.jpg

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:27 pm

gustavlekstal wrote:
Russ72 wrote:
gustavlekstal wrote: looks good mate! To bad about the rear and the lost mojo. BUT next time! Have to glue your fingers together several times before it becomes more easy good luck and hope for continuous MOJO!
Cheers mate. I did glue my fingers together a couple of times as it turns out . There was spilt glue and bits of brass and styrene all over the place. More betterer stock and planning next time. There's a Trumpeter Abrams in the stash that i'll have another go at.

I remember when I did my first pe fret and bumped a new bottle of tamiya extra thin over my frets and tools...

I use this one aswell for anti-skid, rust, rough casting as mr surfacer. It dosent cook your brain! you can sand it as mr surfacer. Just a tip. Take care mate.
http://www.true-earth.com/contents/en-u ... ivolo.html

Cheers, I'll do some investigating that looks like a fine product.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:30 pm

Yevgeny wrote:Neat build
Love the intro pictures with commentary

Cheers Mate, I try to mirror the fun I have with the build.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 11:41 pm

schweinhund227 wrote:
Russ72 wrote:Sorry Norm, I meant this one hear.

Thanks for the help by the way.

Russ.
ok... this is a reinforced enclosure for the Blue Force Tracker antenna and GPS puck

Here is another view from above...

through the Translucent cover... you can see the Antenna box.

http://www.hmmwvinscale.com/photos/M115 ... S%2082.jpg

Thanks Norm, I was torn between something satellite related and air quality monitoring/detection. I'll get the styrene out and see how I go.

Cheers, Russ

schweinhund227 · Post by **schweinhund227** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:37 am

in 1/35 scale

the Blue Force Tracker Antenna... is 6mm x 6mm and 3mm thick
you can buy pre-made Antenna blocks from Live Resin

I get mine from Lucky Model Hong Kong....
cheap cost and free shipping on that Brand....

That square piece is what you can see peer through the cover of previous picture...

Good luck with the project...
take your time.....

PaulAyrey · Post by **PaulAyrey** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:30 am

Fantastic build, love the reference photo's. You are doing a great job and can't wait too see this one develop.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 4:54 am

schweinhund227 wrote:in 1/35 scale

the Blue Force Tracker Antenna... is 6mm x 6mm and 3mm thick
you can buy pre-made Antenna blocks from Live Resin

I get mine from Lucky Model Hong Kong....
cheap cost and free shipping on that Brand....

That square piece is what you can see peer through the cover of previous picture...

Good luck with the project...
take your time.....

That's the stuff dimensions. I will be doing it cover on but have knocked this up to use for scale.

I have done a couple of boxes but still not quite happy enough. This one is a little too big so I will try again.

Thanks again mate.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 4:59 am

PaulAyrey wrote:Fantastic build, love the reference photo's. You are doing a great job and can't wait too see this one develop.

Cheers Paul. I've got a real idea of how I want this one to end up looking. Lets hope it measures up.

schweinhund227 · Post by **schweinhund227** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 11:37 am

Russ72 wrote:
schweinhund227 wrote:in 1/35 scale

the Blue Force Tracker Antenna... is 6mm x 6mm and 3mm thick
you can buy pre-made Antenna blocks from Live Resin

I get mine from Lucky Model Hong Kong....
cheap cost and free shipping on that Brand....

That square piece is what you can see peer through the cover of previous picture...

Good luck with the project...
take your time.....
That's the stuff dimensions. I will be doing it cover on but have knocked this up to use for scale.

I have done a couple of boxes but still not quite happy enough. This one is a little too big so I will try again.

Thanks again mate.

Oh! wow!

Most excellent work!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 2:18 am

Moving along with the main build as well as some mucking around.

Barrel together.

Bits going onto the turret, a little bit of damage to the nearest smoke discharger but that will be covered up.

Turret baskets made. The kit provides nylon mesh, I had some brass mesh from Secret Weapon so I gave it a try just to get used to working with medium. The nylon mesh would have worked fine though.

Made an esky/cooler/chilly bin for the stowage.

Took a figure from the Trumpeter Abrams kit. Uniform's not right, but when it's painted it'll look the part. The pictures I have been working off show hession strips all over the place, look to be used as a cheap visual disruption device. Tried a couple of different things to replicate this, ended up using small strips of dish cloth, lightly distresses and attached with PVA. Not totally convinced by this, I will reassess after painting begins.

Everything temporarily together. The Trumpeter link-and-length tracks still a bit of work, take out one or two links and distress the track pads.

Waiting on a new airbrush to come in the mail and then painting will begin.

Cheers, Russ.

timtamtung · Post by **timtamtung** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 4:50 am

that's coming together very nicely Russ!

PaulAyrey · Post by **PaulAyrey** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 6:38 am

That is looking amazing. Love it!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:33 pm

timtamtung wrote:that's coming together very nicely Russ!

Cheers Tungy, I you sure your eye have healed properly.

PaulAyrey wrote:That is looking amazing. Love it!

Cheers Paul.

JediBoer · Post by **JediBoer** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 8:28 pm

Awesome build so far!

AlkaSeltzer · Post by **AlkaSeltzer** » Thu Jan 29, 2015 12:28 am

Makes my Abrams look like it was built by Dollar General

Very great model so far sir.

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 1:22 am

AlkaSeltzer wrote:Makes my Abrams look like it was built by Dollar General Very great model so far sir.

Cheers Mate

, but doing an Australian topic seems to mean scratch building, conversion, or after market. Most conversion sets seem quite expensive to me, but quite reasonable in relative terms, so I'll take the cheapest option if I think I can get away with it.

rwsmith14 · Post by **rwsmith14** » Sat Jan 31, 2015 1:20 am

Great ! Didn't realize Australia chose the M1

eightfooticeman · Post by **eightfooticeman** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 11:01 pm

I trust you'll be making it to the finish line with your Abrams? Can I send you mine so I can finish as well?

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 9:30 am

rwsmith14 wrote:Great ! Didn't realize Australia chose the M1

Thanks for checking the thread out mate. I was reading that they are for training and home defense. On the matter of overseas deployment, we can have trained crews that can jump into tanks belonging to our allies.

eightfooticeman wrote:I trust you'll be making it to the finish line with your Abrams? Can I send you mine so I can finish as well?

Hope so, and no. No you can't.

UPDATE TIME
Hey alll. Its been a long time between drinks but some progress has been made on this build. Probably be done by the end of the SIG. I'll jump straight in.

Undercoated with Vallejo Black primer.

Base coat of Panzer Aces 339. The camo pattern was drawn in pencil with the black areas marked with "x" and green areas marked with "o".

Camo colours down. Panzer Aces 348 (Splinter Strips) and Vallejo Model Colour 168 (Black Grey). Then gloss coated.

After gloss coating I looked closer and realised I didn't do a very good job at hitting my pencil marks for the camo. I went back in and brush painted some areas and did a spot of highlighting while I was at it. Decal's have also been added, and some detail painting done.

So that's where its at. I would also like to acknowledge the Abrams Squad mag "Modelling the Abrams - Vol 1.". In particular the article by modeller Pere Pla, entitled "Aussie Abrams". I had no idea this article existed before I started this thread, if you ended up here hoping to find more information about Pere's build.....sorry you found mine.

Cheers.

timtamtung · Post by **timtamtung** » Tue Mar 10, 2015 9:55 am

Russ72 wrote:

So that's where its at. I would also like to acknowledge the Abrams Squad mag "Modelling the Abrams - Vol 1.". In particular the article by modeller Pere Pla, entitled "Aussie Abrams". I had no idea this article existed before I started this thread, if you ended up here hoping to find more information about Pere's build.....sorry you found mine.

Cheers.

Really nice aussie colors! I have the Modeeling the Abrams mag/book too. Really good for Abrams lovers

eightfooticeman · Post by **eightfooticeman** » Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:34 pm

You got one BadAzz Abrams there. Just a reminder, 10 days left, hope to see it at the finish line!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 2:09 am

Last Update

So from last update gloss coat was on, time for washes. Dark brown all over wash followed by black pin wash.

Matt Coated. Had a bit of a Hiccup here. I tried Matt coating with a Liquitex Matt. When I went to apply the first filter the matt coat bubbled and peeled like a red head in the sun. Everything underneath was fine just the matt lifted so I used white spirit and removed as much of the Liquitex that I could and proceeded to use a Tamiya Matt Coat instead.

Stowage, tracks, and figure added, some mud splatter (plaster, pigment and water stippled and flicked).

Still a few things to fix up and finish, and then some pigments.

Came across this photo the other day, its a bit late for this build, but looks like a good future project.

Cheers Blokes.

rwsmith14 · Post by **rwsmith14** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 3:41 am

OUTSTANDING !!

JediBoer · Post by **JediBoer** » Sun Mar 29, 2015 2:43 pm

Looks awesome! Great job!

Russ72 · Post by **Russ72** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:40 am

rwsmith14 wrote:OUTSTANDING !!

JediBoer wrote:Looks awesome! Great job!

Cheers Fellas.

For better or worse I'm calling this build done. Should be in the reveal section soon. Big thanks to commenters and contributers, your input and support was much appreciated.

alextheblue · Post by **alextheblue** » Mon Mar 30, 2015 9:54 am

Russ, she's an absolute beauty!!

Love the camo scheme and you've weathered it perfectly. The figure and all the stowage just finish it off - top job!