Hey all,
Back to the bench, and making progress on the "Black Label" MBT70 kit. I first saw this tank in the Aberdeen "sheds" where they had some un-displayed vehicles in 1983, when I took a tour of the big warehouses with Bill Atwater, director of the museum, It made a huge impression on me, a neophyte armor modeler at the time; of course, I saw an American version, while this is the German version. Still...it was kinda like seeing the Holy Grail at the time, when the Abrams was still in its earliest configurations and still having its bugs worked out. The tank was almost mythical at the time. It was just sitting there in dust, and I have pictures of it that I will eventually post here--I have to retrieve them from my parent's home in Pennsylvania...
The MBT70 was a fascinating vehicle. It was lower and faster than an M60. and had brand new version (at the time) of spaced armor. Coolest of all, it had hydropneumatic suspension, which meant it could "hull down" in defilade. One bizarre thing was that the driver sat in the turret! How weird? The weapons system however--aside from the excellent German-made main gun--was very very troublesome and too complex. Further problems with the new turbine engine spelled its doom. From Wiki: "Commentators on the MBT-70 typically assert that though it was innovative in many respects, the project was ruined by the use of too many untried and unproven technologies. Senator James W. Fulbright mentioned that "to drive a MBT-70, a master's degree in a technical institute would be required." Bummer.
I have waited many years to see this in kit form, and I"m happy to now build it, even if it's a German style. I have no doubt that the American version will be out soon. For the record, YOU CAN NOT BUILD AN AMERICAN VERSION OUT-OF-THE-BOX WITH THIS KIT!!! From the research I have done, a "Chuck4" on Armorama has posted that:
"...German engine deck has two big round openings for the radiator fans, the American one doesn't.
German rear bulkhead has horizontal air louvres, American ones don't
German turret tops usually feature two separate independent rotating pericsopic sighting heads. Most American prototypes seem to feature only one.
German vehicles have distinctive German single lens circular headlight with little blackout lamps on top, American vehicles have m-60 style twin lens head lamps. " ---so that's that!
I will be painting this model in a "clean" style, focusing on rendering a "scale effect" finish through shading and painting. I want to make it look just like it looked when I saw it---clean, but just a lttlwe bit of dust.. It'll have some age-related weathering--leaky road seals, etc. but nothing else.
First, here's the differences between the two, visually. You can't really miss the differences. Strange that the AMerican one has the big beer coolers on the turret side, but not the German one?! 
Here's the kit and some of the elements:
A nice addition is this 4-page walkaround in color. I would have preferred a fret of Photoetch for the many small chains that go around the vehicle and also the engine vent screens which are missing, but this is still a nice touch, and necessary too, as some of the instructions have rather ambiguous placement drawings. There are no available PE sets for this model as of yet, so I'm going to build it basically OOB with perhaps a few small details, like said chains.
THe kit contents.
I guess you can't have enerything---like indy track links----but this has to be a new low for DML. Two-piece rubber bands?!?!?! WHAT IS THIS nonsense?!?!? Has DML been bought out by old Italeri execs?!!? Unforgiveable!! The top one is joined.
Now, some might say "Meh, what's wrong with that?" Well, here's what you get when you join the two--see how the spaces between the links is solid now? That means you CAN see the tracks joint. Just one of many odd and questionable engineering examples that I found in this kit so far--and I"m only done with the hull!
OK, so beginning with the suspension: look at the instructions for the suspension arms---they are coded so as to be put in in pairs, with different numbered arms; Parts D30, 31, 32, 33, etc, and four steps "D1, D2, D3, D4" etc., to be placed in alternating sequence...
!However, there is absolutely NO difference between either the suspension arms. So why not just mark them with the same numbers and assemble them as a whole, single step?
A bummer here: these small arms are supposed to go on the suspension bogeys. Two of them are incompletely formed. Ugh,. It figures--a rather complex bend to have to replicate.
Half an hour or more later...the two top ones are the replacemnents..not bad, passable at least. THese parts are actually 95% hidden behind the units.
Suspension finished...
The lights are a tricky affair to build. One slighly annoying thing about this kit is the use of very light locating "indents" rather than actual "tabs and holes". It make assembly more tedious and dificult. You have to really watch that these lights get lined up and positioned correctly, This is where the color profile comes in handy.
The rear hull finished.
Another tricky assembly--the smoke dischargers. The mounts are each individually "handed", so make sure you watch the orientation of each individual one. Again, this is where the color profile helps in establishing the correct "sit".
I think I got them close to what was intended...
It's goog to have a modeling buddy to help with tedious sanding, etc..
That's it for now....back to the bench! 