Elefant

Well, it didn’t take that long to decide myself.
Here is the first step of the weathering, the hull and turret are almost done, now I need to work with the wheels and tracks.

Tell me what you think as I really do not know if it is ok or not...quite tough to be objective with oneself. ��

heavyaslead

Very nice, think I am just about sold on it. LOL

Couple questions:

How do you set the gun bearing tracker?

Nice that the recoil is directional with the turret position, noticed there is no recoil on the first shot (at position) but indication thereafter, is this normal or am I missing something?

Elefant

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your word.
About the gun bearing feature, you can turn it on and off via the TX. Putting the left trim to the left and the left stick quickly to the left will turn the function on. You’ll hear a bip sound, then the turret and gun will keep their current position, whatever the hull movements. By doing the same gesture on the left stick, you’ll turn the gun barrel control system off. There is an option to turn the bip off but that would become very difficult to know if the function is active or not.
Concerning the recoil, it appears that the first time you shoot, the recoil is not very powerful, after that it works perfectly. I have no explanation.

Elefant

Anyone has an idea on how to “open” the tracks ? I can see how the links are attached but I do not want to make any mistake and damaging them.

Shorty54

@ Elefant,
"Concerning the recoil, it appears that the first time you shoot, the recoil is not very powerful, after that it works perfectly. I have no explanation"

Maybe the first shot is a warning shot, less powerful round, the next one is the real thing, lol.

Shad

Elefant

;-) Shad.

Eric, here is a short video of the ability of the gun barrel control system made by Tamiya, enjoy.

Pcomm1.v2

If your without your airbrush, I like and use Testors Spray Can Dullcote 3 oz over Tamiya paints.
Important: Best use Dullcote on a warm day (apply by dust coating in light layers over your decals and the rest of the model).
Easy to find online. Your Abrams is Looking Great!

John

Elefant

Meeting of the minds ? ;-) It is exactly what I used this WE to coat my Abrams. I had one can in stock for another project and decided to give it a try. To be honest, I was quite worried about the possible reaction with the weathering (pastels, oils) and the Tamiya paints. It finally worked like a charm. It softened quite a lot the effect of the weathering but in a good way.
I’ll try to make better daylight photos to show you the result on the hull (still need to find a way to open the tracks to do the weathering of the chassis and wheels).

Elefant

So ? Nobody tried to remove a link to the M1 tracks ?

cleong

No idea why you'd want to; it's so new I don't think it stretches so quickly.

I suspect it's no different from pulling a pin from Sherman, Pershing or Leopard tracks, they appear to share similar construction.

I imagine you could mount the tracks on a vice and start tapping it out with a punch

dsketcher

In the process of building one now.
What is the snorkel thing on the speaker box for? I've plugged it with no difference in sound quality.

TheBennyB

May depend on how "loaded" the gearbox is. Try driving a bit froward then doing your first shot. The motor only does a couple rotations for the hull recoil so any play in the gearbox would take away from the effect.

Elefant

To get the tracks on a flat surface and begin the weathering.

TheBennyB

"weathering tracks?" Completely boggles my mind, why are you weathering tracks? Is this a static model forum or a r/c forum? Run it through some shallow mud puddles, let it dry they do some spins on the sidewalk. Know the talent of detail work but come on, run the tank in some material. Will look "realistic" cause it is.

bhop73

I gotta agree. If it were the static version, I would understand ,but my RC tracks are pretty weathered just from driving them around the park.

cleong

Cos not everyone has Danville

But yeah, this. Any sort of sandbox will give you all the weathering you need. Not only that, any weathering you attempt to apply to the tracks will be worn off pretty quickly when you actually drive the tank around, only to be replaced by actual weathering.

Pcomm1.v2

Agree! John

Longsheep

Track weathering is more than just dirt though - the magnesium alloy track changes color over time - it looks brown even when completely clean.
Therefore I airbrushed mine in a very light coat of brown and seal it in flat coat. The rest I leave it for the outdoor running.

At least for my club RC tank is half static and half RC modeling. It is different from lets say RC crawlers or planes, we build to run and look realistic too.

Elefant

I see your point guys and understand your first reaction but Longsheep got it right, the weathering I plan to do on the tracks is not to simulate dirt but rather the change of color. The black of the plastic tracks is not realist at all, even weathered from driving on dirt surfaces.
I weathered the tracks of a JP I built, simulated the rust, adding pigments on the metal tracks. I sealed the whole with a good matt coat and even after long run in real dirt, they still look ok even after cleaning with water.

Elefant

I frankly have no idea...anybody ?

Pcomm1.v2

These are image reference samples of IOF Abrams and state side Abrams. Note, not all tracks turn red brown as in the unmounted Abrams' tracks image; posted above.

Tip: Rather than break your kit tracks apart, just set them on their sides, opened up, easy. Then render what you like, but what ever you paint will be gone after you run it in about 2 seconds. The Tamiya modern kit tracks do not hold paint that well. But if you must paint them, first wash them in soap and water several times and make sure they are dry, of course, before you paint.

John

Elefant

Thanks for the pics and tip, John.
I just didn’t understand this part : “...just set them on their sides, opened up, easy.”, could you help a frenchie to get it ? ;-)

cleong

I suppose he means working on them like this:



In any case, John is right. Aside from the end links, the backing bits (that each rubber track pad attaches to) are made of some kind of plastic that has a slippery texture that probably does not hold paint very well.

Pcomm1.v2

You all supposed right.

Elefant

Thanks guys.
Well, finally I gave it a try and I managed to separate the links (without breaking anything ).
99% of the work is done and I can proudly (and humbly too) present you the M1A2 in its almost final look.

The work on the tracks was just finally practicing as I plan to upgrade the model with metal tracks. Now I know what pigments and pastels should I use and how applying them.