Many thanks.  Definitely looking at more armor at this point.

Joe

fightnjoe

Unfortunately the tracks are all of the above.  They are glued to the road wheels and the return rollers as they did not conform very well without it.  They are also glued into the rear sprockets as they seemed to "float" otherwise.  

 

All is well though.  It was a learning experience and I did learn from it.  The cammo was a challenge and learned a few how to's as well as how not to's.  Thank you all for looking in and all the information.  

 

 

Joe

 

I hate those rubber band tracks---give me some individual links any day. I wish someone would come out with a simple NON-WORKABLE set of M48-M60 tracks, I mean, how hard could it be?

I hope this gets you solidly hooked on the armor bug lol.

I love the finish on it. You did a great job and I'm glad you experimented as you did. Even if you didn't like the results and decided to change it, you still learned something and produced a solid display piece in the end.

Well done!  :)

Stik I definitely enjoyed the build.  Was a bit uncomfortable doing some of the work but that was more about not being a usual subject for me.  And you are right, most of the folks who see this will not see the things that are incorrect.  To me this build was the first where I really focused on the techniques for building armor.  Previous builds it was all about something to break up the aircraft builds and revamp the ***.  

Joe

fightnjoe

 

 

All is well though.  It was a learning experience and I did learn from it.  The cammo was a challenge and learned a few how to's as well as how not to's.  Thank you all for looking in and all the information.  

 

 

Joe

 

Well then, you're in a good place. You learned on this project, and the gigs you did make and not correct are not noticeable to the majority of the folks on here, or who will likely see it in person. And above all, I bet you enjoyed yourself getting this built. 

Unfortunately the tracks are all of the above.  They are glued to the road wheels and the return rollers as they did not conform very well without it.  They are also glued into the rear sprockets as they seemed to "float" otherwise.  

All is well though.  It was a learning experience and I did learn from it.  The cammo was a challenge and learned a few how to's as well as how not to's.  Thank you all for looking in and all the information.  

Joe

fightnjoe

As for the tracks.......AWWWWW CRAP.

Unfortunately they are in place and the only way to fix would cause much damage.  

Are the tracks glued to the road wheels and return rollers?  And is the rear sprocket glued on or just press-fitted using the poly cap?  If they are not glued and the rear sprocket is only press-fitted, you should be able to remove the rear sprocket and swap the tracks around without causing any damage.  I'd give it a try and see what happens.

Many thanks all.  Appreciate you looking in.

As for the tracks.......AWWWWW CRAP.

Unfortunately they are in place and the only way to fix would cause much damage.  Worst part is I checked and rechecked the photos on google but ended up doing it wrong anyway.  Dang it.

Joe

Great finish and weathering.  The tracks are on backwards though.  The "V" should point down when viewed from the front of the tank.

Excellent job, Joe!  The other comments say it all!

Bill

Very nice finish. I think that it looks like a tank headed for the gate guard post. 

Two things- check the orientation of your tracks against photos, I'm not sure if they are on correct or not, and, are the headlights painted? i could not tell from your finish photos.

Looks cool!!! 

I like the restrained wear on the paint and rust. 

Really well done Joe. been great following this, nice finish all round.

I like it, I'd run the searchlight power cable through the turret lift ring, that's what we normally did.

Good looking tank Joe  Far better than I could do my friend.

Well she is finished.  At least I am going to call her finished.  I did not add the antenna as my logic told me there were some things that would have been removed prior to installation as a gate guard.  I am happy with the way this looks as in the last 37 years I have done only a dozen or so armor vehicles.  Honestly not up to par with some of the work I have seen online but for this old aircraft builder it looks decent and portrays what I want.  

Again this is the Academy M48A5K, or at least that is what it says on the box.  The paints are Vellejo US Olive Drab, Gunze (I think) Dark Earth, Apple Barrel (Craft Paint) Black, Tamiya Buff, and Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer.  Built OOB.  

All comments, critique, and criticism requested.

Joe

Many thanks.

Rob again many thanks for the info.  That to me is what makes the building so satisfying.  

Joe

fightnjoe

Rob I am afraid at this point the launchers are there to stay.  I do appreciate the info though.

 

Many thanks all for looking in.

 

 

Joe

 

It was a very neat little tank that served for the blink of an eye intended to be used by second and third echelon armor formations along with the M60 while the front line forces were in M60A3 and M60A1 tanks.

Looks kinda like some of the 'rain marks' streaking I've done, didn't like and removed it. 

I'm going to let someone like Karl that understands this sort of stuff give you advice since I'm out of my depth here. 

I'm just going to say good luck and cross my fingers for you! 

Well folks here we go again. 

Warning, the pictures for the most part do not show the actual colors portrayed.  The pictures show a much "warmer" tone or yellowish tint.

Now for the not so regular update.  

Using oils the process of weathering begins.  Several different oils are used to show the streaks.  There are so far three separate sessions dedicated to this attempt.  To be honest the results are not matching up to the intent.

As you can see the pictures do not do me any favors.  

However now I believe I have taken the streaking as far as I should and can move on to the next stage.

All comments, critiques, and criticism are requested.

Joe

Rob I am afraid at this point the launchers are there to stay.  I do appreciate the info though.

Many thanks all for looking in.

Joe

Alll good critiques here, the only thing I would say is that it needs more chipping, everywhere.

Haha....just kidding.

Might be too late, but I don't recall our A5s having smoke grenade launchers.

Gamera

Well, that's one of the nice things about kits like Academy, you can experiment without messing up a sixty dollar Dragon kit.

That is so very true.  

Joe

Well, that's one of the nice things about kits like Academy, you can experiment without messing up a sixty dollar Dragon kit.

SP: Thanks for the advice from me too, I've been thinking about doing a M60 in the MERDEC scheme. 

I worried about being much too heavy for sure.  I saw some pictures using google search that showed some but not a real heavy chipping.  I wanted to give the look of a veteran that could stand proudly.

Joe

No worries Joe. You asked for honest critiques and did not get defensive about it. I know that chipping is one of the great fads currently in armor building. But in my view it's way overdone. People are building models that look like neglected museum pieces or target range hulks, not operational vehicles. But it is what's popular in certain magazines and circles...

Stik many thanks for the info.  I went back and tried to get the colors more defined.  Not sure how well I did on that.  I also went over the turret and hull to clean up the chip and paint.  Really appreciate the comment.  This is really showing my inexperience with armor.  

Joe