M2A2 OIF WIP

Looks like it is coming along great.  The TOW in flight looks awesome.  Here's a few pointers though:

Both smoke launchers look upside down, they are pointing down.  They need to be rotated 180 degrees.  Also, the tubes should be separated and pointing in different directions.  The smoke grenades themselves should be either pale green for regular smoke, or black for IR smoke. 

You also used the old exhaust and its guard, both of these are replaced on the ODS version and new parts come in the Academy kit (F37, F40).  

The chevron on the TOW box is not correct.  From what I remember, there were none there.  If you want one though, it should point down, just like the rest of them.  One up and one down is confusing.  The downward pointing chevron denotes 3rd PLT.  The upward one denotes 1st PLT.  Both should not be on the same vehicle.  Also, the chevrons with squares were used by 1-64 AR, not 3-15 IN. 

Lastly, the coax MG, TOW box, and main gun should all be lined up with the main gun barrel, they are all connected and use the same sights. 

Did you use a gloss coat behind the decals?  If not, you will get silvering every time.

Looks like the rear vision blocks behind the roof troop/reload hatch are missing too.  After looking at the Academy directions though, that isn't your fault, they never tell you to put them on.  They just show up in later pictures as already in place.  They are on the A sprues (A52 x 3) and go into the slots on the roof behind the hinge for the hatch.

Good job so far.  Keep up the good work and keep us posted.  A few corrections and it will look great. 

I have a sweat spot for WW II stuff, but I really like this. 

I can't comment the way Gino has - no background/knowledge in modern armor.  Although, from my novice's chair, I did notice the smoke grenades looked pointing down even before reading Gino's comments.  Other than that, I thought it looked very realisitc, especially the TOW missle.

How did you secure the TOW missle?  There doesn't appear to be any droop, did you use a heavy gauge wire for support?  I seem to remember when you posted picks of the TOW missle, but I can't recall of what it is made?  Did you use light weight materials?

I also like the hint of dark smoke on the back side of the TOW launcher.  Although, I have to admit, I have never seen one launched (in person or on TV). 

lastly, is the barrel kit or aftermarket?  If it is kit, was it already drilled out or did you?

Keep up the good work and thanks for posting

 

That TOW in flight looks a lot better than I thought it would when you talked about it in the previous thread, it is really cool, sort of draws the eye right to it. Once you make some corrections, this build will be the cat's *&ss......

 

Steve

thanks guys for the nice comments.

IA, the missile is made from evergreen rod, two types, a thicker one for the body, and a thinner one for the reactive armor probe. i used small thin strips of brass for the fins. and to secure it to the launcher, i used music wire. i bought this stuff thinking it was like brass wire, this stuff is really tough, it makes dints in my cutters!! so that's what holds it up in place. also the dark smoke was lightly airbrushed with..................tamiya smoke!! hehe. being a former TOW gunner on a HMMWV, my experience is that the TOW really dosen't "smoke" that much, just in the initial launch. its the launch motor kicking the missile out far enough for the flight motors to take control. and to add to it, the TOW is very, very fast weapon. you really wouldn't have any time to see any smoke.

steve, thanks for the comment. i have been thinking baout making this for quite some time now, and i am happy with the way it is turning out.

gino, ok. the smoke launchers, . how silly of me. and to add to my embarrasment, i  noticed them and said to myself that i have to fix that some time. i just forget. same thing about the rear vision blocks. your right about the academy instructions not covering this part. i looked over and over them and couldn't find the part where they tell you how to put them on, or what part number they were. i had no idea about the exhaust, that i had the older one on. i actually thought i DID have the newer one on, hehe. the chevron on the TOW hatch was from my previous decals that i scraped off after you sent me some new ones. i was going to try and get that one off also, but it stuck pretty well, and i didn't want to ruin my paint any more than i already did. espically since i don't have any more of the same paint mixture i previsouly used, so i decided to just leave it on, and hope no one noticed it. hehe, sharp eyes gino. never knew how to tell the difference between the chevrons. i'll see what i can fix, and what i can't. just a learning experience. if there are some things that i can't take care of, i'll just display if for what its worth. a cool model with a bunch of mismatched things on it, lol. oh, and gino, what exactly is IR smoke? never heard of it. i have heard of IR illum, but not smoke.

No issues.  Most people wouldn't notice the things I pointed out anyhow.  Just chalk it up to experience for the next one. 

IR Smoke is actually IR blocking.  Normal smoke is only a visual screen, but can still be penetrated by IR sight.  The IR blocking smoke can not be seen through by IR sights.

The chevrons are used to indicate which platoon the vehicle belongs to.  Like I said, up is 1st PLT, right is 2nd PLT, down is 3rd PLT, left is 4th PLT.

ahhh, you learn something new everyday. thanks gino. but i'll still try to fix all of my gigs. thanks for your correcting of the kit, and hopefully some of it can be fixed. by the way, i photocopied the instructions and mailed it to you today. so expect it in a few days

roosterpelo wrote:

ahhh, you learn something new everyday. thanks gino. but i'll still try to fix all of my gigs. thanks for your correcting of the kit, and hopefully some of it can be fixed. by the way, i photocopied the instructions and mailed it to you today. so expect it in a few days

 

Good luck on it.  Thanks.  I'll let you know when I get them.

Nice work. I'm building the Academy OIF model and they did not include the rack on the left side. Is it scratchbuilt? Looks good!

hi constructor. no the kit dosen't have the rack on the side. i bought the external stowage kit from verlinden. it came with a rack for the side, two fuel racks, and all the stowage gear for the outside. here's the code for it at great models: 1/35 VPI1969 M2/M3 Bradley Stowage Set. if you do decide to get it, word of advice, it only comes with one rack, when actually the vehicles have one on each side, so you would need to buy two to make it acurate. and another thing to consider about the academy kit, like gino stated earlier, there is no instruction for the rear vision blocks, so heads up on that one. have fun building it, its a blast.

The storage rack and the jerry can racks are from the Verlinden Bradley Stowage set, #1969. 

 

The set is incomplete though since the 3-15 IN, 2 BDE, 3ID Bradleys that had them in Iraq had racks on both sides of the hull.

I had to use two sets on a customer's M2A2 ODS, 3ID in Iraq model.

 

Edit:  Guess Chris was replying at the same time as I was.  There you have it....

That TOW missile is very impressive. All those bolt heads are really gonna pop out with some pin washes.

Gotta say Roo, the missle coming out looks totally realistic; I did a doubletake and blew the photo up and couldn't stop a wide grin at your innovation and imagination! Well done, and what a great idea! Hail, hail!!