The Gulf Wars GroupBuild--Operations Desert Storm & Iraqi Freedom (2/8/08- 28/2/09)

all righty guys, this is were i am at with the hummer avenger. i had a terrible day saturday with my hands its bad when you have carpal tunnel and raynauds syndrome in them and i really couldnt do any thing with it at all. but today is another story my hands and fingers were a little siff but i manged to get all the way thru step 8 and so far not one problem. except a note to myself read the instructions more carefully. i got the wrong front bumper on the hummer thier was an extra one that wasnt suppose to be uesd and i used that one. other than that no mistakes at all. if you guys want to build this kit i say get it is a fun kit  to build. thier are a couple of flaws in thier instructions but dry fit then dry fit again  reread the instructions then cement. i should have this one done late monday. so just a little tease pic for ya.

JMart wrote:

dupes - looks good! any luck with the camera? darson - I have this piece of info written down from another thread: "modern CARC sand = FS 33531 = Model master Sand 1706" not sure now if this is correct for ODS? OIF?

Jmart - I have my camera back in a somewhat functional state...still shopping around for a replacement, though. The Sony Alpha 200 is leading the pack so far.

Darson - the FS 33531 Jmart gave you is right for OIF - I believe that ODS used a slightly different color. HeavyArty or Redleg would no doubt be able to help you out in the armor forum with the exact shade. Interested to see how your M60 comes out - that was one of the first kits I built when I got back into modeling a couple of years ago.

Got a bit of an update on my M113 - did a lot of detail painting over the weekend (as well as a lot of work on the loads of stowage), followed by a thin coat of desert yellow to bind the camo together and seal in the decals a bit. That's where I'm at in this pic:

Now it's onto the weathering! Couple of overall washes first, followed by the "oil dot" method. Then all of the extra gear will get attached, then time for dust and pigments.

Hay any of you guys remember a guy that posted some realy out standing Iraq war vehicles. Well here some of them are mybe some of you can get ideas from them. (I'm not the builder of these models).

These are some model kit that maybe still out there to buy>

 Some images of real 1:1 HEMTTs

white_r34  thanks for the comments. i dont know if thier is any pf sets out thier at all fot it. it really can use one for it.  and i remember the guy who built those he dose some outstanding work, as for the m977 and m988 i wish they would release them again they come at hight high prices on eveil bay

townsy thanks for the comments

the missle housing was painted yestered evening and i should have the body painted today.

White_R34 wrote:

Hay any of you guys remember a guy that posted some realy out standing Iraq war vehicles. Well here some of them are mybe some of you can get ideas from them. (I'm not the builder of these models).

I believe those are some of Charles King (Tiking)'s excellent models, some amazing stuff.

Ok guys I'm going to throw my hat in the ring for this GB if that's alright with you. I've put my aircraft builds on hold for now as I really need a break from wings so some tanks are the order of the day.

I'm on a real ODS/OIF kick at the moment after watching Generation Kill all the way through 5 times so far . I plan on a couple of builds for this GB, first up is the Tamiya M1A2HA USMC from OIF in three tone Euro trash camo. This will be followed by the M60 when it finally arrives from Hobbyeasy.

I started this build last Friday night and WOW what a piece of cake, it has to be one of the easiest and quickest kits I have ever built. Here are a couple of shots under construction:

Here are a couple I took tonight after construction was completed

Next stop is the paint shop!

I forgot to ask, Dupes are you going to gloss coat your M113 before weathering or do you leave it "as is"?

Cheers

Man, that Abrams kit does build up fast!

I did not end up going with a gloss coat this time - not a lot of decals, and what there was I cut out carefully with a knife to keep the silvering down. The only ones I had any problems with were the small "lift here" stencils, and they may be covered up with stowage very shortly.

Actually got a TON done last night. The stowage is all painted, just need to hit it with a wash and some highlighting then that will all get attached. Followed shortly thereafter by some final dusting and pigments...I need to try to find some pics "in theater" to see if there was ever much paint chipping on the M113, or just scuffs/dirt.

well guys the builds are looking great. and i am on the last few steps of this build. i had a little mishap while i was out side painting in the shop yesterday i broke 2 pices off the model and no telling were they landed. i can scratch build one of them but the other one thiers no way i can do that one but i may try and do it anyways.   also need some help on my airbush. latley i have been getting a lot of water drops thu it while i was spraying. i do have a mositure trap on the hose but it has a lots of water in it. is it time to replace it? so here is were i am at right now with the avenger hummer

Looking through the rear hatch of the 577, radios on the left rear (3 so far, may go with 4) cables for ICS and antennas in solder, scratched file cabinet from styrene "garage sale" sign-types (my prefered source of sheet styrene)... Solder and sprue radio/ICS cables are also in between the file and radio racks.

Looking at the left side interior at the radio racks and drop-down desktops, which were made with the troopseats from an Italeri Opel Bitz.. The radios are vacuformed from a master RT-524 and the R-442 from the Tamiya M151 w/ TOW... Detail is rather sparse on them, but they won't be easy to see in there anyway (if at all) when the TOC extension goes up...

BTW, does ANYONE know of a source for the warning placard that goes on the engine hatch door at the front of the compartment?  I can't remember what it stated, other than "WARNING", or I'd make a decal already... I think it was in the M113 kit, but I'm not buying another one just for the decal sheet...

The "Warning" placard was something aboutcarbon monoxide fumes if the access panel was not secured properly. I dont recall the exact wording, and I pitched most of my manuals when I retired last year.

Don't forget the squak boxes for the 442's. They had no built in speaker like the 524 does.

EDIT-Ok I found this on a quick image search. It's a M901 ITV, but the panels and warnings are the same for the whole family.

And a 113 interior for the rest of the placard

THAT'S IT!!!

Thanks, Stik.... Stupid me, I never thought ONCE about googling anything but M577 interior...

Probably only going to have one squawkbox up. This's an M109 battery FDC 577...  I had the same set-up in the BOC as the FDC.  We didn't use the AUX's all the time, only for the pushes we were monitoring... With three 524s and one AUX up, it'll cover the Fire Direction net, Battalion Command net, Brigade net, and can monitor the Alpha/Lima net.  

dupes wrote:

I need to try to find some pics "in theater" to see if there was ever much paint chipping on the M113, or just scuffs/dirt.

Dupes here's a couple I found in a quick search, go to the bottom of the page for some "in country" shots from Iraq.

http://www.inetres.com/gp/military/cv/inf/M113.html

Cheers

Edit : I found the problem, the html page that I was linking too had noindex and was spitting the dummy. 

Hans - great looking interior! Man, I hope some of that is visible when you're done...that's a lot of work.

Darson - your pics aren't showing up - but I copied/pasted and opened the links in a new browser. That second one is definitely what I'm looking for! Right along the lines of how much weathering I wanted to go with. Sweet.

No problems at all and I've fixed up the original post so that it now links directly to the main page.

Cheers

dupes wrote:

Hans - great looking interior! Man, I hope some of that is visible when you're done...that's a lot of work.

Ya, I'm re-thinking using the TOC extension...  Original idea was to have the FDC set up under it with their charts & darts and all the other assorted junk, but it's going to go largely unseen if I do, since the extension comes off the back of the track... I may make it removable though, I dunno...  I'm not far enough into the build to sweat it just yet...

darson - wow, that IS quick! and a clean build.

GA.modelmaker - bummer about the AWOL pieces... I had lost couple ship parts till my basement had some water come in uninvited last storm... was cleaning up and found the parts..not the method i recomment to find stuff ;)

Hans von Hammer - that is great detailing... I hope you have most of it visible, looks great!

I don't have any pictures at the moment but most of the Abrams is now NATO Green with the base coat nearly done on all the major assemblies. I tell you guys tanks 1/35 tanks sure do take a long time to paint compared to the 1/48 single seat fighters I usually do .

Also, I got confirmation from Hobby Easy that my Tamiya M60A1 ERA with AFV tracks and metal gun tube has been shipped

Cheers

Nearing completion on the M113! Got a lot more done this weekend, really only some touchups and a bit more dusting/scuffing/general weathering left to go. Hope to have this guy done (minus figs) in the next couple of days.

My camera is giving me some issues...whatever I did to mess it up (I'm going to blame the airline for this one) is causing some focusing issues - can't seem to make it lock on to what I'm aiming at. Will have to play around a bit to see what I can get for final pics. Anyhoo, here's what I've got:

now that looks great thier dupes now time to get that thing all dirted up.

as for me i am have rear door fitting issues with the avenger. if you look over in the armor section you will see what i am dealing with . so what do you say, fill it in with puttie or try scratch building a new door?

That seam is supposed to be there.  It's just a stamped metal panel that covers the opening for a rear door when the Humvee is configured into a four-seat model..

http://armyreco.ifrance.com/news/april_2004/humvee_avenger_us_army_01.jpg

http://www.armyrecognition.com/Amerique_du_nord/Etats_Unis/Combat_Land_Expo_2003/images/Humvee_Avenger_US_Army_01.jpg

Hans von Hammer wrote:

That seam is supposed to be there.  It's just a stamped metal panel that covers the opening for a rear door when the Humvee is configured into a four-seat model.. http://armyreco.ifrance.com/news/april_2004/humvee_avenger_us_army_01.jpg http://www.armyrecognition.com/Amerique_du_nord/Etats_Unis/Combat_Land_Expo_2003/images/Humvee_Avenger_US_Army_01.jpg

Hans,

For some reason your first link ain't workin.  Second one works just fine.

GA,

I'd leave it alone.  A couple of coats of paint will help give it a more scale appearance.

Great looking build dupes I can't believe how different it looks from the original pictures with just camo that you posted.

One thing, are you going to add a strap or something for that storage nearest the camera to hang on to?

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.