i have wanted to do this for a long long time but just now got
around to actually getting the resources to actually give my first
kitbashing a whirl. in my attempts to occupy my time during study hall
at school i drew up a "what if" fortification destroyer/super heavy
tank based on the M1A2 Abrams. i showed it to one of my teachers (also
a model builder and military buff) and he suggested that i build it in
scale.......... the thought had crossed my mind, but now that somebody
else suggested it i had i absolutly HAD to build it lol. I have hinted
around to this project for quite some time, but Christmas gave me the
opportunity to actually get what i needed to attempt the project. i got
the two abrams kits for about $22 each on scalehobbyist.com, they are
the trumpeter M1A1/ M1A2 5 in 1 kits (kit no. 01535) and they gave me
everything i needed: two hulls (one for chopping the other for
building) as well as almost enough road wheels and tracks, and two of
the mine plows which wil be mashed into one big one to fit the vehicles
wider hull and tracks. i did pick up some Verinden M2 .50 cals though,
as the kit supplied ones were a bit soft in detail. I will also be
scratching two of the TUSK stye turrets for the top of the main turret.
i will be posting this as a WIP. this is my first attempt at a scratch
build/kit bash, not sure which one to classify it as. I will post more
pics as the build continues...enjoy!
the entire kit has a pebbly finish, not just the non-skid surface area.
not a great pic, but a basic overview of what i plan to do.
as you can see the hull is a bit to short...
...and a bit too narrow
Doner hull is chopped on both sides...
...and the bigger hull begins to take shape. because the suspension
is offset slightly on each side i had to cut just a piece of each side
out and stretch the hull out and full on the massive gap on the bottom
with sheet styrene, its there but hard to see in the pic.
the bigger hull is then widened by 2 cm...at this point the original hull can fairly easily fit inside the bigger one.
for a bigger hull, bigger tracks are needed, so i took the M1's
standard track inks, cut one part of them off, leaving the alignment
spike attached to the track pad i wanted to keep. i then cut off the
outermost pad connector from another piece of length, sanded both edges
smooth and eve, and glued them together to make a wider track (thank
god there were plastic link-and-length tracks in this kit, because the
rubber ones were so warped they looked like a black snake slithering
around in the box)
because the tracks were wider, the drive sprocket and road wheels
needed to be wider as well. i made the sprocket wider be attaching the
inner piece of the drive sprocket from the second kit to the finished
sprocket from kit #1. and since i pan on keeping the alignment spikes
for both inside joints on the track, the inner tooth ring on the drive
sprocket had to go...Mr. Motor Tool is proving very helpful lol.
More to come soon!
1/35 XM77 "Sledgehammer", 1964 Chevy Impala Derby Car
Whats next? Aircraft for Ground Attack Group Build
"I dont just tackle to make a play, I tackle to break your will." -Ray Lewis
"In the end, we're all just chalk lines on the concrete, drawn only to be washed away"- 5 Finger Death Punch
"Ahh, my old enemy.......STAIRS"- Po, Kung Fu Panda