TT's Treadheading

[taiidantomcat]

when visiting home a month ago I realized I had never shared this on any what if site. snapped some pictures and here we are.  crazy that I did this over 10 years ago.

Believe it or not I used to consider myself a Tank/figure guy before I dabbled in airplanes, before becoming a sci fi guy that builds airplanes and dabbles in tanks! (its complicated)

Anywho this kit has a lot of history, I think I got it when I was 11 and built it up. and its worn about 5 different schemes, I was repainting it about once a year in those days. It was snow, then nato 3 tone, then flat black. Whenever I was hankering to paint something this tank was the victim. I was young and my "stash" was not much so recycling became the prudent thing.












After I got out of the military I was looking to get back into modeling and this is kind of where the what-if bug bit me.  I got an old copy of a Fine scale modeler that had a really cool Tiger on the cover. I didn't have the money to buy a tiger. I looked on the shelf and spotted my old abrams with all that history.

I like the Abrams, I think its a tank that looks good no matter how you slice it, And So I broke out an airbrush and then painted it the wrong color. (Doh!) It turns out I had put on some Afrika Corps Color and not the proper Dunkelgelb. So that was this models 4th scheme! LOL The 5th and final, I airbrushed dunkelgelb "Ah there it is!" and then brush painted the panzer red. First tank model I ever airbrushed. (done outside on the ground!) And one of my first "delibrate whiffs". I added a scratchbuilt styrene basket as well.  I like WWII stuff but didn't really have the money or desire to buy new kits, so thats where a lot of this what iffery started, along with old kits to convert.

So its not the most perfect model I have ever built by a stretch but it still makes me smile, and is a lesson that a model doesn't have to be perfect to be very satisfied with it. A little history on the shelf of where you started is a great thing.

[GTX_Admin]

 :)

[Brian da Basher]

You not only captured that scheme to a T, but by putting it on an Abrams, you've totally taken it to a new level!

Brian da Basher

[Queeg]

Its always cool to look back at old favs from time to time, esp when they have some history and fond memories. Like that colour scheme too !!!!!

Brent

[taiidantomcat]

The Abrams obsession continues. I found some helpful posts by others to help give me a sense of more options:

The E-100 with an Abrams hull. I recently got my hands on a trumpy E-100, and cursory test fits on parts still on sprues make it look like a great fit  :)



From

http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/SMF/index.php?topic=11564.0



A bit too large IMO but another interesting combo:



from

http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums/postings.asp?th=19514

Saves me the price of a 1/35 Tiger to find out!! 

Interesting sketch:



looks like a 12.8CM gun seen on a lot of paper panzers.

More greats whifs along with the above here:

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=294550

The gears keep turning in my head, just might be a while before I can show anything for it 

[taiidantomcat]

A blast from the past:

 





the turret is probably going to an M-1 Panzer hybrid, and the converted hull to something else...

[Goonie]

A bit too large IMO but another interesting combo:

Not too much, some time ago I've seen some interesting modification of Walker Bulldog for Danish Army (M41-DK1), proportions of turret were even more, hmm.. intriguing 


can't wait to see the devlopment of all / any of these 3 concepts :)

[taiidantomcat]

My Rudimentary pixel skills in action! on the top profile you can see a thin black line and that is where I cropped the middle profile, and added an approxiamatly to scale Abrams turret. I'm calling it the "haircut method" as its "just a little off the top" and then the new turret. In plastic it would be a matter of making a new top to fit after careful cutting and recycling as many pieces as possible to keep an authentic look ( for example keeping the engine deck, using the hatches etc).

Turret looks OK where it is, but I don't know If I should move it further aft?

Another Option might be taking the haircut even lower, and/or also lowering the TOP hull a tad. so as not to mess with the wheels and other running gear which would be a PITA in scale (don't ask how I know!) It may still require switching the idler and sprocket anyway. More than way to skin this cat. 

Thank you for looking   :)

[taiidantomcat]

1/48 is too small, 1/35 is too big. What to do?





Gaps taped up



Explosion!



First Result



Tamiya parts. I was curious as to how the resin would affect it. It has a kind of greasy film. It was a risk. I don't know how the styrene would handle it, but I am pretty sure I can remove the film and have it usable.





Made a second by adding more and more resin over an hour or so, rather than all at once.

So now I have some turrets to sand down, shape and play with. They will be smaller for smaller sized Panzers as well.

[taiidantomcat]

On ebay I happened across an already built (very well built it turns out) King Tiger for a good price, and even better it allowed some instant results as I didn't have to build myself, here goes the Haircut method I showed above:


Before picture


Carefully marked^



Used tape to create a guideline, and to check to see it how parallel it was with the top



Remembered to place some bracing using the kit sprue. I had to place it below the cut but above the lower half of the hull in order to not create problems



And about 25 (careful) minutes later...



Used the severed top piece to trace onto a .040 thick sheet styrene



Quick mock up



being inspected while demonstrating scale

[GTX_Admin]

Interesting...please proceed

[taiidantomcat]

So here is the original Lion I started over a decade ago:





So when I built this I removed the torsion arms and glued the Panther wheels on at a level that would put the tank at the same height. But as I look now, and with more models to mess with, there may be a much easier way:



Its turns out that the Steel wheel from a Tamiya King Tiger has a diameter 4MM more than the regular Abrams wheel. Since the wheels are centere thats only a 2MM difference, and since the wheels intermingle, the size does not affect the Torsion Arms. So in other words other than some small issues like difference sizes of wheel slots and torsion bars, I think someone would be hard pressed to see its sitting a whole 2MM higher. 



So other than the gap the Abrams has between the first few road wheels this looks pretty good, and I think I may have found a simple fix for that too.  :)

Another option I will probably do is a Leo II with an Abrams turret, and WWII wheels, because the Leo,  just looks German 

In other news I've also been looking at the VK 3002:



Might make it close to the T-34, but still German and I love the STZ T-34:



Tinkering with Turrets now:







M-41 turret, I will give it the round front and STZ style mantlet eventually



T-34/85 turret Compared to 1/48 King Tiger profile... interesting.

[taiidantomcat]

Got this on ebay already built. Tiger Hull cut down. Looking for a kind of "T-55 Look"  :)

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Looks quite promising with the cut down/chopped hull taking away that vertical shot trap at the front.  Might have to modify the front a bit more and give it some angle to promote the idea of more room inside for the driver(s) and some additional protection from penetration to the front plates.

[Brian da Basher]

That, Mr Tomcat, is some very serious modeling with an amazing result!

I don't know about you, but if that was my paint job on the turret, I'd be incredibly pleased and call it done. I don't know how you did it, but you've perfectly captured the look of painted metal. Color me beyond impressed!

Brian da Basher

[Camthalion]

Looking good. Nice work