RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Thanks Shaun but I already have water slide decals on order!!
My opinions of stencils are a bit mixed at the moment!

There are many times where you see black markings on tan and then the NATO camo painted around it. So let's say the Abrams was tan when the markings were applied. Then they paint it NATO 3-color. They will mask the markings so they don't have to reapply them. You end up with a tan rectangle with black markings. You can see an example of this below on this Bradley rear storage bin:

Grief - almost anything goes!!
And I was going to ask about track colour to. I'm used to a gunmetally colour for WWII tracks but what colour are modern tracks? These seem to much closer to silver but with black rubber pads. What is the best compromise?

Some of the photos in the Haynes manual show the tracks to be painted in the same sand colour as the rest of the tank. I think colour depends on deployment, type of terrain etc. There are some very rusty looking ones, presumably from amphibious landings or storage? And some just look like overspray from painting, especially the spare tracks on the side.

SimonCornes wrote:Grief - almost anything goes!!
And I was going to ask about track colour to. I'm used to a gunmetally colour for WWII tracks but what colour are modern tracks? These seem to much closer to silver but with black rubber pads. What is the best compromise?

Hello Simon
It all depends on the terrain and the time of use in the field. New caterpillars (or not used for a long time) looks different - they are usually rusty. Otherwise, those used intensively. If they don't get rusty (which happens very quickly), they can sparkle with pure metal, and only the nooks and crannies holds some soil. mud or dust. The rubber pads rubs off and is almost never flawlessly black.

Take a look here ( skip to 29:38 ):
https://ok.ru/video/229657742010

You will find here not only the color of the new caterpillars - quite rusty as you can see . But it's worth watching the entire movie and looking at many details. Unfortunately, the original version of the youtube video was blocked at NG's request.

Also check out the primeportal - you'll find tons of photos with lots of details.

And, of course, use Google - you'll find photos that interest you in the blink of an eye. Eg.
https://www.google.com/search?q=m1a1+ab ... 36&bih=775

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=htt ... Rx6BAgAEAc

Track will vary in color. I would say most of us will paint the track black or use a bluing agent. From there you can let the tracks weather on their own or weather them yourself. A well used track will take on more of a grayish color and a less used track will have more rust. A tan track has taken on a lot of dust as it has never been painted tan. The sand in Afghanistan is like talcum powder. It's very fine and sticks to everything. I'll probably never get all of it out of my lungs... Personally I make them black and let the earth do the rest for me, but that is me.

This is all great info, thank you. I intend to watch that National Geographic film when I have an hour to spare as it seems really good after the first 8 minutes!
Thanks for the track colour suggestions. Up to now I have been spraying all my tracks with Nissan automotive 'Gunmetal' which asa you would imagine is a fairly dark grey metallic and I think I'll do the same with the Abrams, maybe with a black wash and a rust wash and then, as tandem says, run it and accept whatever natural colour gets added! I'll paint the rubber pads in dark grey and let them weather in use.
Thanks again.

Its just turned up -its Hobby Engine, not Heng Long!! I checked the eBay sale and it just said 1/16 Abrams so, like a prune, I didn't recognise it as HE, especially as it was sold ex transmitter, which would have give it away! I have PM'd Tankbear to ask for his opinion but I must admit to be feeling somewhat hacked off! But at least I have an A1 cupola!!
Ah well, I have a brand new TK6.1 for it and some Chinese decals on the way. I really am in two minds about whether to do anything with it our put it in a box and forget it!

Well Simon.
I can only say that you have a lot of work to do ... It so happened that I also bought my son a fake M1A2 but I knew about it and the price was just a bargain. In fact, Hobby Engine's Abrams is a hybrid of several Abrams versions with two APUs (on the right end of the hull as in the early M1 and second on the bustle rack like in A2 ) . With the commander's panoramic sight (as in A2) and with blow off panels as in M1. I am not sure about the engine deck, but I found that it is just a toy for my son and he has to ride for the rest, he will not pay attention anyway haha ??...

You can find some interesting reports from the conversion of this tank (but be careful - nothing fits it right away - plug and play from the parts available on the market). One of the most interesting works is the Australian version of the M1:
https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-tan ... e-max.html

and this:
https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-tan ... tions.html
I'm not sure if it's not the same (I paste without reading the whole report )

You can also take a look at my report from the rebuilt my sons HE Abrams (I have not supplemented it with a few added elements yet):
http://rctank.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?f= ... ead#unread

You can also just take a look on my videos:
Driving before and after the first modification:


from the first ride with TK 6.1 on board:

and


And also my last mod added to the TK 6.1;)


Good luck

And one more think...
Considering the number of elements from the early version of M1 - I would suggest you go this way. Maybe even with an APU early version at the rear of the lower hull. I have not seen this version of RC in 1/16 scale anywhere.
Btw. This HE holds the scale pretty well. Of course, the dimensions of the hull differ a few mm from Trumpetere, HL or Tamiya (I have Tamiya and Trupetere lower hulls) but for a modeller it is not a problem (unfortunately for me it is, because I'm not a typical modeller haha)