Now ages ago and i am talking a decade or more here plus i got my 3rd M88 from AFV Club and it got me thinking...this is a damn old machine..been around since Vietnam and with the introduction of the M1 entering US service in the late 80s how would if fare on a modern-day battle field..well it turns out pretty well actually :lol:
But it still needed to be brought up to modern standards...hence the M88A2 Hercules was born but at to me it needed more..it was technically specking still a M48 under that armoured hull ..still M48 tracks..road wheels and the rest of thr drive train even tho its mixed with alot of M60 parts aswell its still a 52 yr old machine.
This is where the thinking became a reality and its all thanks to Old Wombat..my mate Guy sent me a few model he didnt want and amongst that lot was a Tamiya M1A2 Abrams MBT.....Tamiya cheated their arse off here..one frame is all that was included to turn their old as hell model (1982) into the A2 ..which was exactly what i wanted to build the A3-1...the -1 or dash 1 or in military terms Delta 1 is the frist stage in the upgrade process.
-2 is a newer drive train ..gearbox and engine as the dash 1 is based the on the second generation of the M1 which is the M1A1.
-3 is a massive upgrade which will include all the drive systems from the still being developed M1A3/4 Abrams MBT .
On the dash 3 it will get brand new suspension..tracks..brand new engine and gear box and cooling ..both for engine and crew ..it wasn't hard to see the air con and filter systems which the M1 had to have to deal with a desert environment ...this will no longer be needed as it will now to built into the vehicle not stuffed into the turret bussel or hanging of the rear of the tank as before.
For the first faise was to remove the entire lower hull of the M88 and replace it with the lower hull of the M1A1 MBT ..the M1A1 has largely been replaced with the M1A1HA1 now so that left a few M1A1 hulls surplus to requirements for a awhile .
The main reason for this upgrade was the speed of movement on the modern battle fields and the ability for the supporting troops to keep up or get to where their needed .
With the strength and speed of the Abrams it was only a matter of time that it was realised that the ol 88 was to slow and the biggest issues rasied by many was the noncommonailty of parts between the heavy armoured forces.
As the M60 family of vehicles have mostly been completely replaced now both in US Army and Marine Corps services with Abrams based machines parts were also becoming a problem hence the need for a common fitment of parts.
It was thought of building a ARV or AEV solely on a M1 which was built and was called the M1 HARV ( Heavy armoured recovery vehicle ) but at the time was not expected for service which im figuring it was either to expensive or they thought the M88 was still more than up for the task.
So the go ahead was issued to build a M88/M1 ARV and one thing which was wanted was to deal with the A frame..troops using the vehicle wanted a more useable crane so taking a spare incomplete crane from the M1HARV prototype the boffins set to work..they had to remove the entire left hand side for the upper hull to mount it which in itself wasnt hard to do at all as the upper hull is just a big box .
A mount was built to the hull and chassis for added strength for the crane and a entirely new hydraulic system was installed as was a entirely new electrical system.
Retaining the M88s nose kept the front 75 percent of the hull complete which ment no need to redesign anything saving time and money which kept the penny pinchers happy.
New winches were installed for the crane and main winch just to save any future issues with age.
The newly finshed vehicle entered the testing faise and passing with flying colors ..the crane which can lift 8.5 tons and 360 degrees rotation has given the vehicle a new direction which wasnt for seen sooner..its now a Armoured Engineers Vehicle ..engine replacements are 7 times faster as the vehicle doesn't need to move at all to pick up the new power pact or anything else for that matter and its still fully capable of getting even the heaviest tanks unstuck.
Of course the moment it entered service the crews added their own little ideas to make their lives even more comfortable and easier to use the vehicle..adding more storage for gear was the first thing ..adding storage of traps on the crane itself and adding a large rack over the engine ..the biggest problem was self defense..the commanders turret and hatch didnt cut the mustard so the Deacon replaced the turret with a ACAV one borrowed from a destroyed M113 APC and the .50 from a M1A2 which didnt need it anymore ;)
Now after all that to the model ;D
Alot of what i did is mentioned above ...it all just started with alot of mesurements and once happy i started cuting into 2 brand new models..once i got the layout i wanted i had to put thr upper and lower together which is easier said than done..i had to make new track guards beacuse the M88 is narrower than the M1 and getting them square was quite time consuming but once done i just glued them together .
Then the real fun begins.
Making the parts look like they were ment to be there ..i had to cut the engine deck from the M1s upper hull and remove the same from the M88 and then graft them together which worked out really well .
Before i worried about anything else ibhad to address the crane..this i would have to make from stratch .
I first needed a mount..a round one and it needed to be big but the right size big and that came from a 1/16th scale M1A1 from Trumpeter..a spare road wheel in fact..cutting a 1/4 of the wheel in half also gave me the base for the crane itself.
The rest is just sheet styrene and tubing for the hydraulic rams.
Next was the pulleys..the cranes pulleys are very small wheels from a rail car pressed onto a steel pin..easy done ;D
Then i just started playing with the parts from the M88 kitset..winch blocks and other parts were put almost in their original places with a couple in new places.
The new parts needed for the M1 converison like the road wheels and drive sprocket rings came from the spares box .
The luggage rack is just model railway bridge parts..smaller than HO or 1/76th scales they proved perfect for the idea i had ..added Meng nuts and bolts to make look like it can be removed which of course it would need to be.
Mounted one of the access doors to the new side and fore you guys peace of mind if the poop hit the fan and the crew couldnt get out of the right side door the crane can be lifted up by a hand operated system inside the vehicle..like hand cranking a turret. :lol: yup i thought of that :wacko:
The ACAV is from an old ..well M113 ACAV ;D
Pics will follow very shortly once i hit to town and use their WIFI which will be today.
As promised guys heres the pics and like normal theres a few for your viewing pleasure ;D
Its of course it starts with the cutting and continues from there ..
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058105040_24effe291d_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njcoXb)DSCF3430 (https://flic.kr/p/2njcoXb) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057617561_2f6921dd73_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9U3n)DSCF3431 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9U3n) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057853184_f52d9133ff_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njb75Q)DSCF3432 (https://flic.kr/p/2njb75Q) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057617321_ed194fa890_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9TYe)DSCF3433 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9TYe) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058104355_1b6053522f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njcoKn)DSCF3437 (https://flic.kr/p/2njcoKn) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
Now the crane is mounted and for some reason i forgot to take a pic of the building of it but here is it anyway .
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057649718_dbaa0d1ae0_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4AN)DSCF3438 (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4AN) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52056574242_c2a715fa79_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xU7)DSCF3439 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xU7) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058104070_6ffe481dc8_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njcoEs)DSCF3440 (https://flic.kr/p/2njcoEs) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52056574032_dbff1e7c9c_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xQu)DSCF3442 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xQu) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
Now with the magic of just getting on with it here it is complete ....wellll complete so far ..the crew gear is yet to be added and the gear which is in the rack is just there to see how with things in it ..alot of it will be replaced with much more modern gear .
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057852459_d11f9254e9_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njb6Sk)DSCF3443 (https://flic.kr/p/2njb6Sk) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057649258_67521cd790_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4sS)DSCF3444 (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4sS) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057852294_512b45bd6e_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njb6Pu)DSCF3445 (https://flic.kr/p/2njb6Pu) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057616231_b1ed31142f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9TDr)DSCF3448 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9TDr) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058103325_60e59ca8ab_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njcorB)DSCF3449 (https://flic.kr/p/2njcorB) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057648683_48080baa76_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4hX)DSCF3450 (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4hX) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057648638_08f624043c_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4hb)DSCF3451 (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4hb) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058103040_c4ce6c8b67_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njcomG)DSCF3452 (https://flic.kr/p/2njcomG) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057648448_697bed521d_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4dU)DSCF3453 (https://flic.kr/p/2nja4dU) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52056573087_152feec7de_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xyc)DSCF3454 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xyc) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057615751_92c66e3dfb_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9Tva)DSCF3455 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj9Tva) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52057851439_87c00cbe13_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njb6yK)DSCF3456 (https://flic.kr/p/2njb6yK) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52058102755_7aebf921f9_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2njcogM)DSCF3457 (https://flic.kr/p/2njcogM) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52056572937_b626b8d8c5_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xvB)DSCF3460 (https://flic.kr/p/2nj4xvB) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
Next is painting...its going to be in tan which is pretty much the standard colour now for US military gear ,,as for weathering its going to be dirty which is to be expected but not over done ..dry mud and dust with dirt mixed in for good measure ;D
and i get to play with Ammos new oils which i have been slowly getting a good pile of ,,kinda looking forward to this guys <_<
Way cool! Respect! :thumbsup:
Am I impressed? :unsure:
Hell, yes! Very, very good work, Phill! :mellow: :mellow: :wub: :thumbsup:
Mind boggled. I may give up building armour now. :o
Can't wait to see it painted.
looking very good so far :thumbsup:
Wow, fantastic!
And you can play....ahh....I mean conduct important engineering simulations, with the crane!
Quote from: sandiego89 on May 08, 2022, 09:34:12 AM
And you can play....ahh....I mean conduct important engineering simulations, with the crane!
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Good morning gentlemen ;D
Its early coffee o clock here in NZ and chilly..bout 9^c..lovely .
Thanks guys ..gald ya like this ..wasnt a hard build by any means but i am happy with the results until i realized one thing last night ...the amount of painting is gonna be damn near as much as the M60 digger but this is more restrained which makes it more time consuming and the crew gear and other bits like chains and stuff :o
No Dave i cant do any experimental work with the crane :lol:
I thought about it then forgot and when i remembered it was to late ;D
Dont ya dare give up armour Fred ..i wont hear of it young man :wacko:..the more the merrier matey <_<
Cheers Penguin mate :thumbsup:..took freakin long enough to come to life..just had to bite the bullet..happy i did ;D
Bloody chuffed your chuffed Guy ..told ya i had plans for that M1 :lol:...now i have a heap of parts left from both models ..already got my thinking cap on 🤔😃
Thanks Dizzy mate 😁...gald to be playing with armour agian😊 .
The next machine to go with the beast is going to take alot more thinking and work and im looking forward to that but i still have a curtain plane ..well 2 of them which i want to build..oh decisions decisions :lol:
Really nice conversion work. Looking forward to seeing it in color.
Cheers Phil....ya me to.its gonna look terrible with its main colour..cant wsit to weather it tho ;D
Terrific bit of work :bow: Can't wait to see the paintwork
Your conversion reminds me a lot of the German Pionierpanzer Dachs and its predecessor, the Pionierpanzer 1, based on the Leopard 1 chassis. And that's nothing bad! :lol:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Pionierpanzer_Dachs_%282008%29.jpg/1920px-Pionierpanzer_Dachs_%282008%29.jpg)
That's am amazing and detailed amount of scratchbuilding, Phill!
Do you have the AFV Club M151 Remote Weapon Station (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/afv-club-af35157-m151-remote-weapon-station--178983) in your stash? The M151 part is nice, but the real treasure in that kit are all the various Stryker parts on the associated sprues! Great for a project like this.
I'm totally impressed also with this build. I'm not aware of your build process but it certainly looks very well thought out. I don't think you missed a thing. And that scratch built crane is awesome! Looking forward to the paint job!
Thanks guys ;D.
Dizzy your bang on there matey...that Leo 1 ARV was the inspiration for this build...always loved the layout and the fact i like cranes aswell <_<
As for models of the Leo1 ARV ..yup there out there but way back the only one was resin and way to expensive..now ya can buy plastic 35th scale kits of this machine and yup..to pricey so i went where i went ;D
Frank i have a couple of those from some old Stryker kits and i did look at mounting one but it looked terrible mate..it stood to tall and honestly i couldnt find a place to put it :lol: so i went with the turret .
Cheers Chris ;D...should be able to throw some paint at this later this week..gotta got to Auckland tomorrow and im stopping at my LDLHS ( Long Distance Local Hobby Shop ) bout 150ks from me :o ;D
Thanks Kerick bud.. thats what im hoping too...missing things annoys me..spending ages looking at pics payed off ..me thinks ;D
More kudos coming your way.
Love everything about it.
;D Buzzy mate ..tomorrow ill get the right paint i need for this..the weekend should be painting day but if im lucky it'll be sooner <_<
Well boys here it is in all its glory so to speck ,,,im happy with it and not happy with it at the same time ...i guess its the paint..i hate sand coloured paint jobs and i think it shows with this ..well to my eyes anyway ...but it it is none the less ;D
Heres the M88 in its first stage of painting and a wee bit of a pin wash.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52121064610_73999c0c3f_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npL5D1)DSCF3470 (https://flic.kr/p/2npL5D1) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52121064335_426959f6fb_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npL5yg)DSCF3471 (https://flic.kr/p/2npL5yg) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52120810259_e0117f1755_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npJM2D)DSCF3472 (https://flic.kr/p/2npJM2D) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52120810174_9ff69a52c5_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npJM1b)DSCF3473 (https://flic.kr/p/2npJM1b) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
And now some crew gear all painted and ready to be installed on the model.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52119534692_0dddccf9e1_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeR7)DSCF3479 (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeR7) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
All done <_<
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52119534612_69f21831f2_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npCePJ)DSCF3480 (https://flic.kr/p/2npCePJ) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52119534547_3c2e21f35b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeNB)DSCF3481 (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeNB) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52120809504_eb38485b40_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npJLNC)DSCF3482 (https://flic.kr/p/2npJLNC) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52119534392_1877087ce6_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeKW)DSCF3483 (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeKW) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52121063205_beba8aa93b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npL5dM)DSCF3484 (https://flic.kr/p/2npL5dM) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52119534167_4530e58cc0_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeG4)DSCF3486 (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeG4) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52119534067_e8d2acc9f0_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeEk)DSCF3487 (https://flic.kr/p/2npCeEk) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52121062855_579d9b7ab5_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npL57K)DSCF3490 (https://flic.kr/p/2npL57K) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52120563021_0bb3ea7303_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npHvwV)DSCF3492 (https://flic.kr/p/2npHvwV) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52121062670_f8dfd052ab_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2npL54y)DSCF3493 (https://flic.kr/p/2npL54y) by Phill Harrison (https://www.flickr.com/photos/193394370@N04/), on Flickr
Kerick mate my build process is rather simple really ...come up with and idea and then try to figure out how to build it ...theres alot of thinking and looking and a wee bit more thinking after that but most times i will come up with the ideas or mods when im building the model ,,something will just pop into my head and it will ether look good or crap but i dont know until i try it out ..most times it works out ok ,,,,,,or it dont and i find a better idea which works even better :thumbsup:
Way cool, a great build! :thumbsup: :wub:
a right proper job. :thumbsup:
looks real, and has the heft of an engineers vehicle.
So VERY realistic looking! :thumbsup:
Thanks guys ;D..im already thinking of another chunk of armour to go with the beast and ive already changed the plan 4 times :o
Glad you blokes liked this thing and im glad it ending up looking like a real design .
Good job DUKWy.
:thumbsup:
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on June 04, 2022, 02:47:35 AM
....and im glad it ending up looking like a real design .
You mean it ISN'T? :o
Cor, wow, etc. :thumbsup:
Bee's knees mate :bow:
I've long wanted to build a tracked armoured mobile home. This is giving me serious inspiration.
An engineer's engineer's vehicle*, if ever I saw one, Phill! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Flippin' brilliant! Colour, layout, equipment, the Lot! :bow: :bow:
[*: I mean proper, working engineer, not one of those prats who designs cars where you need to remove the battery & the radiator to change a bloody headlight globe!]
Thank you my honoured colleagues ;D ;D
Fred mate ya know the russians did that same thing for extreme cold weather exploration ? .
Bloody huge mother of vehicles and sitting on what looks to me like a stretched T55 hull with early road wheels...i would love to see your idea for one :wacko:
Kit this thing was never a real design anywhere..the proper ARV/AEVs which look like this are alot lower ..the US did a prototype on a early Abrams hull and that went no where ..it was the US's verison of machines the Germans had already had in service for yrs .
Ohhh Guy mate if ya work on modern cars then we've all done that or having to remove almost the entire right front suspension on a Honda Integra to take the gearbox out...or having drop the motor or remove the ABS pump on a old Toyota RAV4 to change the water pump..oh cars are great :o
Wow... not my type of ride but that is amazing work!! :bow: :bow:
Cheers Doggy dude ;D..nope not your sort of ride ..yours is more like a thing with spinning things on them :lol: but much appreciated none the less matey ;D
Gonna do something weird with a Swedish S tank next :wacko:
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on June 04, 2022, 12:20:09 PM
Ohhh Guy mate if ya work on modern cars then we've all done that or having to remove almost the entire right front suspension on a Honda Integra to take the gearbox out...or having drop the motor or remove the ABS pump on a old Toyota RAV4 to change the water pump..oh cars are great :o
Hell yes, my Dad's Citroen GS had a handbrake on the FRONT wheels and the adjustment mechanism was between the flat four engine and the front cross member.
Which meant the engine had to be removed to adjust the handbrake! :banghead:
Quote from: PR19_Kit on June 04, 2022, 01:34:32 PM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on June 04, 2022, 12:20:09 PM
Ohhh Guy mate if ya work on modern cars then we've all done that or having to remove almost the entire right front suspension on a Honda Integra to take the gearbox out...or having drop the motor or remove the ABS pump on a old Toyota RAV4 to change the water pump..oh cars are great :o
Hell yes, my Dad's Citroen GS had a handbrake on the FRONT wheels and the adjustment mechanism was between the flat four engine and the front cross member.
Which meant the engine had to be removed to adjust the handbrake! :banghead:
That alone is a good enough reason to not own a Citroen of any kind ..French cars might look cool but its absolute fact they will crap out and the ideas behind the mechanicals on alot of French cars has me wondering what the designers were smoking.
Looks great.
Superb. Love the engineering types. Great to see all of the in progress pics. Always nice to see the way the pros roll ! Thanks for sharing.
:cheers:
Super, super excellent.
First class engineering and finish.
Is the name "The Deacon" a Waterworld reference ?
Cap'n ..buzzy ;D thank you guys <_<
In all honesty buzzy mate the name dont mean anything..just sounded cool and when i was thinking of a name thats what popped in first ..guess now it means this machine is the boss of the ARVs :lol:
Im at this very moment going thru this and that for my next build..theres going to be parts from 3 MBTs just for starters..big parts..i have an idea :wacko:
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on June 04, 2022, 01:45:36 PM...alot of French cars has me wondering what the designers were smoking.
Gitanes probably.
As far a armoured Winebagos go this might be why the universe made me buy that MiniArt SLA T-54 APC with the dozer blade.
Oh i do apologize Fred for making you buy a bloody good model for a very cool project :wacko: 😈😈
Oh i'm not blaming you mate. I had been fighting the urge or a while (possibly seduced by the blue paint job) and weakened when I saw the version with the big red dozer blade on the front.
Oh thats ok mate..fact i wasn't blaming myself either :wacko:
Ive been wanting a Miniart T55 of any verison since i read about em and everything i have read makes Tamiyas T55 look like a pile of crap which in alot of ways it isn't so Miniarts must be something special for sure.
So i cant wait to hear from you on what you think..ill be most interested to find out.
I looked on BNA's site & the amount of styrene that must be packed into that T-55 box is insane! :o
Tamiya kits are excellent if you want very good detail that's easy to build.
Other kits may have fantastic detail but they tend to be much more parts-heavy, fiddly, more complex to build &, often, considerably less robust.
Biggest negative in Tamiya AFV kits are the paint resistant vinyl tracks :banghead:, give me good link-&-length tracks any day :thumbsup:!
As it's an "interior kit" there is an obscene number of sprues. Most of the resulting detail would be invisible in a conventional tank build but as the SLA APC is sans turret more will be visible.
Unless of course I use it as the basis for an armoured Winebago in which case most of those bits go into parts boxes which is a bit of a waste.
Guys on the money with the info for sure..ive had like 5 Tamiya T55s and still have one i converted into a Enigma..Verlinden converison i had scored yrs back..total crap to be honest.
They are easy and yup those tracks :o but since Miniart brought theirs outs..colour me intrigued and dont want one with a interior..ya never see any off it so whats the point and i want to do a T72 track converison on one too.
Beautiful build, Phill! Everything came together nicely; I love the crew gear and various equipment cases.
Speaking of the Russian Antarctic tractor, sit back and enjoy this build on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/PeterOlsson/status/1280940641472655367)
Yup Franky thats the bugger i had seen..he mentioned the extended chassis which i think i forgot to mention ..would be a pretty serious build as you'd need either 2 complete chassis's or 4 extra wheels and suspension arms or do what id do..I'd just join them both together and make it extra long :wacko:
It is wiffy world after all :thumbsup:
While doing some stash shuffling I photographed the contents of a 1/35 Miniart SLA T54 with Dozer Blade.
I included scale reference Lego Riot Cop.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52133659168_635ec71f2c_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nqSCyy)SLA T-54 with Dozer 01 (https://flic.kr/p/2nqSCyy) by Fred Maillardet (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156376527@N06/), on Flickr
A box filling block of sprues packed in a single bag. One could glue together 10 fo these and make a pretty close approximation to a Borg cube.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52133659113_3fb9e4db41_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2nqSCxB)SLA T-54 with Dozer 02 (https://flic.kr/p/2nqSCxB) by Fred Maillardet (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156376527@N06/), on Flickr
When I open a box and see this amount of plastic I can't not build all the detail. But I probably wouldn't do it more than once.
Strewth, that must weigh a fair amount too! :o
Was it expensive, as it's a HECK of a lot of plastic in the box?
It was reduced to a price which I deemed acceptable. As I said, I had been tempted by these for a while but had been resisting. The dozer blade version made it much more tempting and then when BNA dropped the price...
TBH I can't remember exactly how much it was but it wouldn't have been expensive (although that is subjective).
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666335368_a9fd8c7946_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mHzttE)SLA APC T-54 with Dozer Blade 01 (https://flic.kr/p/2mHzttE) by Fred Maillardet (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156376527@N06/), on Flickr
Not many more things that are more subjective than price.
Oh yes, that's a SERIOUS dozer blade! :o
Fred just think that your bloody lucky that donesnt have a turret :lol:
I just looked up a price here for a Miniart T-55 and its $98.00 nz and here thats not a bad price when you consider that Tamiyas ancient M1A2 Abarms is still over $80..i wouls say its pretty good value for money really.
Even at its generic 9%-off price (standard BNA for non-new releases), it's a fairly decent price for the amount of plastic.
Many many yrs ago i built a Dargon Hunting Tiger with Porsche suspension and there was over 600 parts just for the track's so im not affraid of huge parts counts but ill admit its been awhile since I've done that ;D
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on June 10, 2022, 01:31:28 PM
Many many yrs ago i built a Dargon Hunting Tiger with Porsche suspension and there was over 600 parts just for the track's so im not affraid of huge parts counts but ill admit its been awhile since I've done that ;D
If I ever built a kit like that (and I've been tempted in the past) I'd wait until my local Scouts "Bob a Job Week" ;) :angel:
Thats the thing Chris as a dedicated armour builder for so many yrs kits with large parts counts are nothing new and ya just get used to it.
Ive got a Bronco Archer ..thats got over 1000 pts all up and one day im gonna build that but since i cant afford expensive kits anymore im going to save it for a rainy day ;D
The Legend full resin MAXPRO MRAP i got given will be saved for a very rainy day..the price will make ya butt pucker .
I think this kit scared the dude who gave it to me ..he had plenty of money but bugger all skill.
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on June 11, 2022, 01:13:40 AM
I think this kit scared the dude who gave it to me ..he had plenty of money but bugger all skill.
Possibly, but then at least he had a bit of common sense :thumbsup:
Quote from: NARSES2 on June 13, 2022, 07:07:08 AM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on June 11, 2022, 01:13:40 AM
I think this kit scared the dude who gave it to me ..he had plenty of money but bugger all skill.
Possibly, but then at least he had a bit of common sense :thumbsup:
Well yeah i guess so but if he had alot of common sense he'd not brought the Legend kit and waited and brought the plastic instead but then we fall into the area of patience which he again had bugger all off and i scored a extremely expensive model..i do wonder how much these things are now..im gonna look ;D
Ok this model is gonna get kept for a extremely rainy day..price at the mo is based on a Canadian price i could find which was CAN $249.60 .. which is about $303 NZ :o
Is that all?
;D
I've long lusted after the Kit Form Services resin and PE fully detailed 1/24 Stalwart. A mere 250 English Pounds. That's about $AU 500.
And then there is the Model Factory Hiro 1/9 Vincent Black Shadow. A multimedia motorcycle kit which if I ever did manage to get hold of i'd be scared to build in case I screwed it up. $624.99 from HLJ.
Some large scale ship models can get silly and the Border Models 1/32 Lancaster will be £619.99 if you wait until it's out at Hannants, £557.99 if you order now. The Hong Kong Model kits are a mere £399.99.
Quote from: zenrat on June 14, 2022, 05:24:16 AM
I've long lusted after the Kit Form Services resin and PE fully detailed 1/24 Stalwart. A mere 250 English Pounds. That's about $AU 500.
You and me both, it looks VERY comprehensive!
Perhaps luckily it's sold out.........
Strangely enough you mentioning the Stalwart Fred i saw one in a model mag a brought last week..24th scale and mate that looks so nice and and any scale Black Shadow is worth the money..its not one of those bikes you can just go out and buy model wise..much like the real thing .
Actuate Armour brought out the M1070 HET and the M1000 trailer in resin and PE with the low price of £379.00 ..and then i found the 1/35th scale Dora railgun and i still want one ..now a days ypu can have one for $1300 nz ;D