my first armor model

Excellent work Loco, looks far better than my first attempt!

Nice loco, I am not one for US Armor, but with a little weathering (from what I can see) that kit will really stand out.

I have a suggestion about taking a better picture. Use either a blue sheet or blue oak tag paper for your background when taking pics. It will bring more focus to the model.

Cheers

Rob

That's a good-looking machine you have there. I've always liked that particular model, and have built one or two in my day...
If you don't mind, I would like to make a couple comments, particularly if you are going to do more of these for your diorama. I can't see any detail in your pictures,so I'm operating from past experience and a few assumptions. If this is totally off-base, I apologize in advance.
1. If this is a Tamiya or Tamiya knock-off kit, there may be motorization holes in the lower hull. Those need to be filled and hidden. Sheet styrene and putty should do the trick. Since your vehicles will probably be weathered for your diorama, it's important to paint AND weather the bottom of the tank as well as the top, and the inside surfaces of the road wheels, too.
2. Likewise, the drive sprocket attachment points. The older molds had cut-outs in the upper hull where track tension adjustments could be made. Those cut-outs need to be filled, sanded, etc. I used a combination of sheet styrene and putty. I can't remember this model completely, but if an axle is used for the front idler wheel, make sure it can't be seen.
3. The underside of the fenders seemed to have an awful lot of ejection pin marks. Take some .010" styrene, cut it to the length and width of the fenders, and glue in place. Problem solved.
4. Check the INSIDE of your muzzle brake. There's probably a mold seam there. It can be removed with sandpaper-on-a-stick. If you can't completely remove it, hide it with black pastel chalk dusted judiciously inside. A well-placed drop of white glue works really well, too.
5. The mantlet cover was made (I think) of canvas, and should be a different color than the rest of your machine. When I worked with the USMC in Cuba in the eary-mid '70's, the tanks were a faded olive drab, and the mantlet was a faded olive-sorta-brown color, lighter than the O.D. on the steel. I think the cloth simply weathered differently than the steel. That kind of detail can really make your model "come alive".
6. If you are going to pose figures on your cupolas, make sure that no one can see down into (or through[:0]) the tank unless you have built some form of interior. Nothing can make a realistic model look more like a toy any quicker. Take some .010" styrene and cover the hatch area where the cupola meets the turret. You can even put it just below the figure's feet to hide any lack of interior. Make sure you paint it flat black. One good rule of thumb: If you want to have an open hatch, stick a figure in it. If no figure, keep the hatches closed (unless, of course, an interior is present.).
There's probably a few other things, but they can wait, 'cause I can't remember Anyway, hope your diorama turns out great. Keep posting pictures as the project develops!
Gip Winecoff

the scene is goin to be of hill 10 near chu lai of the 9th engineers of the marine corp goin to be of the whole compound on hill 10 and surrounding it. no this isnt any weathering done to it yet until i build the scene and to figure out where i am goin to place it at then weather it to it. i did take another pic it is a little better but now i know i am buyin a new camera lol ty all for your input sorry pics wasnt better.

As mentioned above, can't really make out much from the pix, but what I can see looks good. Is it weathered at all?

What is going to be the title of your Vietnam sean? What part of the country are you going to model it after?

Looks like a good, clean build. Real good for a first.

Looks real good. Hope you enjoyed.

Looks good for a first job. I am not sure if my first is as good.

I looks nice and very neat. Keep up the good work.

Looks good (for a Bobby Labonte fan anyway ), thanks for sharing the pictures.

PS....... before I got my new camera, the only way I could get decent pictures was to take them outdoors.

Keep up the good work!

Yeah Loco! That looks good from what I can tell. Keep us updated on the progress on your armor and your dio!

Eric

Nice work locoisfubar. Looks a clean build from here. Have to agree with Tigerman about the quality of the pics, it does make it a little hard to pick out the details. With most pics, the problem isn't the camera but the lighting. What did you use for lightung and did you use the camera flash ?

P.S. Nice job on folding the laundry too !!!

yea i am sorry my camera is a 150 dollar piece of junk i will try to take better pics. i am getting ready to start
a huge vietnam war scene so i am goin to do alot of armor for it so this was my first i learned some tricks with this
one to make every other one better so this one isnt completely done until i start the scene for
weathering

Nice effort for your first time on armor. Not to sound offensive, but the photos are a little dark and blurry on my screen. From what I can see, it shows promise. What do you normally build? What made you build an M-48? Maybe you'll join the darkside and become a treadhead. Good luck on any future armor projects.