Here's the completed tank:
Turret interior (not shown on the last post, since the first pics I took of it turned out very blurry)
Some views of the tank:
I added some ropes, as suggested, to hold the stowage in place, made from fuse wire painted brown:
Finally, here's the M2A2 Bradley in its current state - all detail sawed/sanded off, most hull applique armour
fitted, side skirts added, gun and mantlet rebuilt, and hull/turret interior started.
- temporarily assembled (I haven't added the turret applique armour yet as I'm waiting till the turret
interior is finished; also, the gun doesn't elevate properly at the minute)
It's progressing very well, I've made most of the external armour plates, the side skirts, and the gun
mantlet. I'm now making a start on the interior - thankfully, I also have a (currently unmade) 1/35 Academy
kit for the Bradley, which has a very detailed interior, so I'm using the instructions for that kit as a reference, along
with this site - http://afvinteriors.hobbyvista.com/bradley/bradley1.html
Unfortunately I ran into a slight setback yesterday, I discovered that the day before I had, very stupidly, glued the armour
skirts onto the WRONG SIDES of the hull - the left skirt on the right side, and vice versa! (the Bradley has a somewhat
different hull shape on each sides, and so do the skirts on the M2A2) So I had to very carefully cut them off again, nevertheless their outer surface was badly marked by glue and knife marks! I glued an extra layer of very thin Plasticard
onto the outer surfaces, trimmed and sanded it to fit, and they now look OK (and have been glued back on to the hull, on the right sides this time!)
I also fixed the inaccurate turret (which had a single large hatch, presumably to put a toy figure in, rather than the
correct 2 hatches) by cutting off the top and replacing it with a Plasticard one with the new hatches cut out.
Conveniently, the "clip-together" construction of the original toy means that the upper hull fits quite securely onto the lower without gluing, so I will be able to leave it unglued (allowing it to be removed to inspect the interior detail) without the model being too prone to falling apart!
I wish now that I'd taken a picture of the original toy tank in its unmodified state (complete with spring-loaded TOW launcher!) it certainly looks very different now! I think it may have originally been an "Action Man" (GI Joe in the US)
toy, judging by the style of the toy and the size of the turret hatch.