M1 Abrams 105mm Finished 22/11/20

Can't wait for this one!

Paul were you still in chieftains then? Right got stuck into the kit today and it's certainly not tamiya quality! I tackled the upper & lower hulls first as I had an issue with the rear section being slightly warped. Some gentle persuasion and fast setting glue got it all lined up. The first correction was also worked on, that being the left hand fuel filler cap at the rear which needs the orientation changed to match the R/H one. That is when viewing the model from behind looking towards the front. Some carving and shaping plus a bit of plastic card sorts it out easily. Also some filling needed on the front hull join and some mysterious sink marks here as well. 





Sprocket & wheels now and the sprockets are made from multiple parts, trouble is they don't line up properly so I removed the locating stub and used a couple of track links to line them up correctly. Also the part with the holes is made up of two pieces, on the real thing this is a solid casting so some mr surfacer helped hide the join. Mud and weathering will further disguise it later on. The front sprocket also needs the bolts on the face sanded down flush with the surface or the retaining ring won't fit. This has little stubs on the inner face so you just need to line them up with the bolts for the proper fit.




The wheels are again made up of a few parts with separate outers & inners. I'm not a fan of this method however the bolt detail on the wheels is very good. The rubber sections however have a seam line that needs removing which isn't helped by that pesky sprue in the middle of it! I'll just clean up the front rubber sections and leave the opposite sides as is I think as they won't be seen on the finished model. 

Here we go again ! Hooked !

Sweet! This is so cool! I'll be following this as I'm building three Abrams in 1/72 scale. This should keep me motivated on those!

Aboard!
Nice start on the M1 Pete.
Clean and crisp as always.

Suspension & tracks now and the suspension arms are a very sloppy fit on the hull. It took some time to get them lined up, level and at the hopefully correct ride height. The track parts need lots of clean up with flash, mould seams and sink marks all over the place. It took me most of the day to do one side due to the clean up and that's only building half a run.

The tracks click together with the guild horns locking the pads in place and the end connectors just sliding onto the ends. I then gave them a swipe of glue to make sure they don't come apart later followed by a swift going over with a fine file to clean up any left over blemishes. Half a run is all you need as the side skirts hide the rest of the lower hull and I'm a lazy bugger! 

With that amount of cleanup I think you can be excused for taking the easy option of that won't be seen. It also avoids that dramatic moment where you discover whether the two end of the track actually meet.

I'm in Pete! Some fill and sanding here and there (normal for Panda). And in your hands, it'll be fantastic!

Indeed Pete, the same with HMEE and Husky.