FUTURE SHOCK..SAUNDERS M1A2 ABRAMS

[greengiant]

You are exactly right atc. I just looked at the pictures to fast.

[ALPHA]

Great discussion guys...but what I was looking at in all the photos was the quarter panel detail...knew I had to do the hatches ...just didn't have a good shot to find the configuration of them

Set the time clock a little back....but it just seemed proper to put those in

ALPHA

[ALPHA]

GRAB HANDLES


Lucky my brain was still in grab handle fabricating mode...needed four more after scoring the hatches on the quarter deck


ALPHA

PS. There are six that didn't make the photo crop lol..Also...There are three modellers here that would probably enjoy doing this...Painless wolf...Hotte...and Sovereign Zuul ...Me????...drove me downright batty

[greengiant]

The easy way to do it for non operational handles is to find copper wire or any other wire the right thickness for the handles with thin insulation on it.
Use the insulation to represent the places the handles are mounted to by slipping it back onto the wire after you have bent it to the desired shape making sure all the wire ends are inside the insulation were you cut it before glueing only the insulation down. If your real careful in glueing the insulation down the handles can be flipped back and forth to represent a less uniform positioning of the handles themselves and there is no need to glue the handle itself down.

[ALPHA]

The easy way to do it for non operational handles is to find copper wire or any other wire the right thickness for the handles with thin insulation on it.
Use the insulation to represent the places the handles are mounted to by slipping it back onto the wire after you have bent it to the desired shape making sure all the wire ends are inside the insulation were you cut it before glueing only the insulation down. If your real careful in glueing the insulation down the handles can be flipped back and forth to represent a less uniform positioning of the handles themselves and there is no need to glue the handle itself down.

There's an EASY WAY....NO.............Think the way I did it was totally simplified....just bent brass stock as close as I could to what it's supposed to look like
Said bah to making them work lol ....Can't tell you how many times I dozed off bending those things...pliers almost penetrating my foot ...the luck came in when fortunately I didn't loose any of them....put some aside because they came out the wrong size ....but gone MIA...not a one

On to the hinges for those additional hatches...they aren't going to work either


ALPHA

[greengiant]

Well get to work. I still want to see the material you used for grills in place so I can decide if I should do mine.

[ALPHA]

Well get to work. I still want to see the material you used for grills in place so I can decide if I should do mine.

I did lol...finished the hinges...a mock spring for the front fenders...so she's almost ready to get texture...didn't know you wanted to see the mesh right away....will see if I can find a black back drop so it will be easier to see ...it has the same pattern as the mesh I used in the turret basket...but much finer matches the molded on pattern almost exactly

ALPHA

[greengiant]

Great. On mine the main reason to put them in would be to get more airflow into the hull and speaker volume out.

[ALPHA]

Great. On mine the main reason to put them in would be to get more airflow into the hull and speaker volume out.

It would certainly help in that department...the baffle holes once drilled out are right above the motors
here's the mesh

the black mesh is the one I used for the turret basket...the silver as you can see has the same diamond pattern...and is about as fine as can be found...for me anyway lol

ALPHA

PS. Apologies for the late response..has been a rather hectic beginning to the weekend

[ALPHA]

Some photos of what I did during the wee morning hours

everything finally done on the rear quarter...


Thanks to ATC's great work on his front fenders...I was able to get the information to detail the fender springs...no..I didn't make the fenders work...could have...but felt that's an area that get's handled a lot...so there is the possibility of damage...will be taking off the plastic mud guards though

Carpe Diem Gents

ALPHA