Meng 1/35 Abrams M1A2 TUSK

[Mr Bowcat]

Hi Guys,

I pulled this one out of the stash last night. I've had it for around 3 years so time to get it built. This will be pretty much OOB with maybe a little detailing and some crew figures added. I may also get aftermarket tracks as the kit version seems very similar to the Meng Gepard I built, and the tracks on that were a PITA.



After following a couple of builds on here recently I had planned on using True Earth products to replicate the anti slip texture, but Meng have thoughtfully moulded this in.



So I got cracking last night and completed stages one to five before calling it a night.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Locked and loaded (watching )

 

[Steve Jones]

I will pull up a chair if I may Bob. I was always intrigued how the side XM19 panels explode to deflect incoming missiles. I wouldn't have wanted to be around when they tested the prototypes

 

[Jakko]

I was always intrigued how the side XM19 panels explode to deflect incoming missiles.

ERA works a little differently than that The explosion serves to send (usually) two steel plates into the missile’s path: one on the outside of the ERA panel that gets blown outward directly, the other on the inside that will bounce off the tank itself and then flies out too. These are not intended to deflect the missile or disrupt its armour penetration, but rather, to continually feed “fresh” material into the path of the missile’s HEAT warhead,* giving it something to “eat” through and thereby absorb its penetrating power. The idea is, basically, that rather than having to put very thick armour on the tank, you can put a thin armour plate on and make that move relative to the penetrator so it acts as much thicker armour. This is necessary because a well-designed HEAT round has such extremely high armour penetration** that it’s pretty much impractical to do anything else.

* A HEAT round, AKA a shaped charge, works by using an explosion to deform a metal cone into an elongated penetrator and push that into the armour at extremely high speed — typically 8,000 m/s and more — which results in the armour and the penetrator flowing as if they’re liquid, even though they’re both still completely solid. The effect is comparable to putting water in a sink and then turning on the tap: the flow from the tap will cause a “hole” in the water that’s in the sink because it pushes the latter away with its impact.

** 5–6 times its diameter of armour steel, if not more, so for a ±150 mm missile like TOW that would be 75 to 90 cm of solid steel. For comparison, a Tiger II’s hull front was 15 cm at 40°, so about 23 cm effectively (of poor-quality steel at that, but that’s not relevant here ).

I wouldn't have wanted to be around when they tested the prototypes

ERA is a definite hazard to troops near the tank — but at the same time, so is the explosion of the missile’s warhead, of course …

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Hi guys.

I've been carrying on with this build and now have the lower hull completed. I tried my hand at distressing the rubber tyres as I have seen on a couple of recent builds.

I also had a test fit of the of the side panels and have now decided to paint and fit these (along with the wheels) at this stage as I think it will be easier than trying to do it at the end.

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice work on the tyres Bob. I liked doing the wheels as there was a nice bit of paint detailing done on the hubs where the oil reservoirs are. Will you be bashing up the track pads as well?

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Steve.

I will probably be conservative with the weathering of the wheels, not much will be seen behind the ERA and they will be dusted with sand pigments a the end so I imagine they will be well obscured.

Not sure about the tracks, that will depend on how fragile they are after assembly, and whether I go after market or not. They look very similar to the Meng Gepard tracks, and the track pins on those broke as soon as you looked at them.

 

[Gauge1TrainsDK]

Looks good, Bob. How are the parts fitting, and are there any flash and mold lines?

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Thanks Christian.

The parts so far have fitted fine, however there is some flash which I've not had on previous Meng kits. Mold lines are mild and easily scraped off.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Bob
Looks a nice kit although there do seem to be rather a lot of very fragile looking parts. Glad the fit is good. Meng are usually pretty reliable.
Jim

 

[MikeC]

Chair pulled up...
Wheels look just right and not overdone.
As for the tracks, if they are like the Bronco offerings, once you get into a rythm they take no time at all, only difference is the guide horns in the middle.
Mike.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers guys.

I haven't been at the bench in almost a week, some 1:1 projects took precedence, but yesterday I managed the entire day on this build.

I've now painted and glossed the entire lower hull, side skirts and wheels. I've used black basing to get some initial tonal differences. The plan is to weather the wheels and running gear, then get the side skirts permanently installed.



With that drying I turned my attention to the turret and made some good headway. There are a serious number of parts in this section!

 

[Steve Jones]

A good day well spent Bob. Cracking update

 

[MikeC]

Bob, the work is progressing well. Second Steve on the comments.

 

[mrtintheweb]

Hi guys.

I've been carrying on with this build and now have the lower hull completed. I tried my hand at distressing the rubber tyres as I have seen on a couple of recent builds.

(along with the wheels)

the joys of a million tank wheels!

 

[Jakko]

Always the most fun part of building a AFV kit … not. Well, multi-part individual-link tracks are even more fun, of course … not. At least on an M1 Abrams you only have 16 double wheels to deal with, and they’re reasonably large.

 

[Steve Jones]

In the process of distressing 50 wheels and cleaning up 216 plastic track links with three sprue connector marks on each one Jakko. Livin the dream LOL

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers gents.

 

[papa 695]

Some very nice work so far Bob. Looking very nice.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Ian.