Meng M1A2 Abrams TUSK II

[thug626]

With the MiG-21 done, it was time to select another kit to build. I figured it's been a few kits since I've built any armor. So, an Abrams it is.

[Leon]

I'll be following along Dave!

[mrt51]

Yep right along with ya.

[thug626]

Leon Always glad to have you along my good man.
mrt51 It's good to have you along on the build,

[wing_nut]

I'M IN!

[thug626]

Consider yourself counted in Marc

[deafpanzer]

Hell yeah, count me in!!! Its real nice kit... box is HUGE! LOL

[thug626]

This is last nights progress. The brain would not shut off, so I made the best of it. The detail on the kit is really quite nice. The hull assembly builds up quickly without any fuss. I used a solvent cement for the joins for a quick set. It's kind of faint but there is an anti-slip coating on the upper hull.

The extra belly armor just slipped right on.

The swing arms are integral to the torsion springs. There is just enough "give" to allow the road wheels to self level. A very nice touch, as getting all road wheels to level sometimes gives me fits.

[thug626]

Good morning Andy. You snuck in on me. Consider yourself counted. It certainly is a large box, thought is not nearly as crammed as their Bradley kit with the interior. I was eyeballing that one in the stash when I decided on this one. I wanted to build a heavy hitter. Today will I will get more done on the hull, ready the road wheels for paint.

[thug626]

A bit of progress was made last evening. Today however, will be spent in front of a computer cranking out CEUs for a certification that is due for renewal in a couple of months.

The rear louvered panels are mostly assembled. I left off the outer most panels until a base coat and weathering is laid down. Especially on the turbine exhaust side. I realized when I had cut the right upper hinge point for the panel, that I had cut too much off the left upper part. Hence the missing hinge detail. Styrene stock to the rescue. The amount of detail in the kit is impressive. The towing pintle snaps into place, so that it may pivot. Does anyone know the real pintle pivots?

The tail light lenses and guards are going to be left off until a base coat is laid down.

The head lights will get their lenses after the base coat is laid down. The guards assembled with no fuss.

[Leon]

Making good progress Dave!

[Tojo72]

Looking good,I'm working on their AIM version,their Abrams kits are nice I'm sure my kit will benefit by following yours.

Had a lot of fun with that idler assembly up front !!!

[thug626]

Leon Thank you kindly my good man.
Tojo72 Thank you kindly my good man. That idler assembly was a fine motor control and dexterity check. Dang!

[thug626]

It was a productive day today. Lots of errands run, slow cooked a mess of ribs, fixed the canopy on the truck. Built a run of track for the Abrams.

Here you can see the start of the run, the track jig.


A detail shot of the track rods and guide horns. These two are assembled prior to placing the rods onto the lower pads.


This is the flip side of the rods. They come in batches of six along with the guide horns. There are 81 track pads per run.


I got one run of track build, and I needed a break from it. So, I started on the turret.

[Leon]

Nice days progress Dave! Those tracks look a little intimidating with all those parts.

[joelsmith]

That looks like a really simple way to do the tracks! Thanks for the photos!

[mrversatile]

I am interested in this build bc of all the new M1 kits out there. Unfortunately, I have the Dragon AIM kit with the Voyager Tusk II upgrade kit. These new kits seem easier to build than what faces me.

[406 Silverado]

Off to a good start. I built the same kit, except that it got shelved . just need to do the tracks.

[thug626]

Leon It was kind of a PITA, but once you find a rhythm it just goes along.
Joelsmith They are kind of tight today, but they do indeed articulate. The test section fits like a glove around the drive sprocket.
Mrversitile I've got a Dragon M1A2 SEP, and the Tamiya TUSK II kits in the stash. I'll still build them. Though not likely on the heels of this kit.
Scratchmod They actually go together quite well. I strayed from the instructions. It shows you to trim off the sprue before fitting the track pins to the lower pads while leaving the sprue on for the track pins. I kind of reversed that. After gluing the horns on I left all the sprues attached. This allowed me to apply even pressure down the middle of the pads while applying gentile pressure with a thin, sturdy straight edge to seat the pins into the lower track pads. Once this was achieved, I used my Testors glue dispenser with a custom small tip (I.D. 0.010"). This allowed me to place a wee drop of cement in the divots for the upper pads. You'll be able to knock out six track pads at a time.

I got a bit of progress today as the flu dropped me like a home sick brick last night. I can only watch so much TV. So, I trundled out to the bench for some distraction therapy.
I got the smoke dischargers, side boxes, side and rear racks along with the HVAC.


I am not going to hang the crappy pic on the digi cam...most likely operator error today.


The HVAC unit for the crew.



I painted the lens for the CITV on the back side with a custom red, them backed that with chrome paint. I have an idea rolling around in my head to add the iridescence.
The smoke dischargers are empty. I'll fill them once the base coat goes on.

[Tojo72]

Details are looking good.

[reserve]

Looks pretty high end but I think the tracks would drive me to the scotch jug. Fine work

Regards,
Mark

[thug626]

Good afternoon Tojo72. Thank you kindly my good man.
Hello Mark. The tracks really are not too bad. The commanders cupola is another story. There was a lot of time spent on it today. For anybody building this or other Meng Abrams kits, sand down the edges of the periscopes so that they are a less snug fit into the ring. Everything was such a tight fit that I ended up distorting the ring enough such that the gun ring wouldn't fit, let alone move. There was a lot of delicate sanding going on. I'll get some pics up later.

[thug626]

Here are the pics of the commanders cupola. I am still working on the idea for the iridescent effect.


The commanders cupola dry fitted to the turret. I mounted the main gun last night. The turret with the rear racks minus the main gun scaled out to just under 19 feet. That's almost two feet longer than my pickup!

Additional shield dry fitted.

I just had to dry fit the turret to the hull.

[thug626]

Here is some of last nights and todays progress.
I used an 8B graphite stick on the inner aspect of the road wheels.


The road wheels and idlers before their wash. I had never realized this before this kit, the idler is a road wheel. What a brilliant reduction of parts. Yeah, it doesn't take much for me.


Base color applied to the undersides of the hull.


Yet another detail shot of the beast. The mud scrappers were listed as optional. I opted to install them, as one just never knows when they're gonna wish they were installed.


Kind of hard to see with this pic. I used Vallejo Oiled Earth wash. This part was really an exercise, as this likely will not be seen with the TUSK II side armor on.


Here's the stuff....


On the left is the road wheel with the wash. On the right...um....no wash


All road wheels and idlers are on.

[TRM]

WOW....LOL...You just went right to town on this!! Awesome job so far Dave!

[deafpanzer]

DAMN! That kit is really looking good... I am so glad my wife gave me this kit for Christmas a year ago. Karma +1 for you for all tips you shared with us. Really appreciate it!

[joelsmith]

Dave, not tryin to be a butthead, but aren't the road wheel and idler wheel center caps supposed to be clear so the crew can visually check the oil level?

[thug626]

Joel, you’re not being a butthead. It’s actually a good point. At some point they did switch over to clear covers for the reason you stated. Not everyone had them all at once.

[joelsmith]

Thank God I'm not a butthead! Will you tell my Wife?

[thug626]

Sorry dude, but my opinion is null and void in that matter. Best of luck though. 🤣