Thunder Run

pcsguy88

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pcsguy88

Deuce Deuce
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Mar 14, 2011
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KC
www.fighting118th.com
Glorious! Wow!

Any way to open up that gunner's optic?

No, but I made my own open doors and painted lens on my Leopard 2. Pretty simple to cut 2 rectangles out of plastic and glue them on.

Is this the one you sent me the link for...

Yes, but Costway bumped the prices up by $27 each last night on their website. Last I checked, their ebay store Toolsempire and Amazon store Costzon are at $114, but I do not expect that to last.


Do the decals come with tank names?

Yes, the set I did not use was Carnivore since it is woodland IRL. They make a woodland, so must be why they did 2 sets. Mine is Soasa Saoodani which is jibberish to me. I didn't find it online in my 30sec effort.
 

pcsguy88

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Put a lens in the commander's sight since it was just an open hole. I'll put clear "glass" in the periscopes when I feel like repeating that pain of the Leo.

 

pcsguy88

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So my tank markings are 3rd Cav, 2nd squad, F troop if I did my homework correctly. They were the first troop across the burms in Desert Storm for the hook and engaged the Republican Guard. On Military Channel's Greatest Tank Battles, they have real footage of the F4 Abrams crossing the burm. The decals did have the #4 included and I would have used it had I known.

The odd thing is why did they not choose 2nd Cav Eagle troop since 73 Easting made them famous?
 

CoreyD

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My memory is foggy, but did they have the CITV in Desert Storm? I thought that was a later M1A2 modification?
 

pcsguy88

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My memory is foggy, but did they have the CITV in Desert Storm? I thought that was a later M1A2 modification?

You are right and I thought the same (which is why I named this thread Thunder Run), but for some reason Discovery modeled M1a1's and 2's for their 73 Easting program. The A2 was delivered a year later.
 

pcsguy88

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After shattering the plastic fender on a cement drain spout at full speed, I went hunting for a sheet of neoprene.




I then found a Tamiya sand weathering stick in my old stuff and decided to give it a try. It appears much more linear in the pics than to the naked eye. Road wheels and sprockets are being replaced in case you were wondering why they are clean and have no hubcaps installed.







 

CoreyD

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That weathering job looks solid. I'm motivated to pick up the T90 whenever it comes out.
 

pcsguy88

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I want that T-90 bad, but had to jump on this cheap Abrams, so not sure if I can pick it up upon release. My dreams of a $106 T-90 from Costway has been shattered since they have significantly upped the price on their current tanks. They were up to $148 yesterday.
 

pcsguy88

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How does that weathering stick work? The results look pretty dang good.

It's pretty much a pastel crayon like you used in art class. I figured out the best way was to draw a line with it and then take a damp paint brush and blot it in the direction you want it to fade. The more f'd up the brush, the better. Best part is it wipes off with water if you mess up or smears if you want or you can rub it in. Dries really well, but I'll definitely clear coat it.
 

G.I.*EDDIE

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Has a realistic randomly chunky look to it. Something I'm not even sure could be accomplished with a PITA airbrush.
 

pcsguy88

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Has a realistic randomly chunky look to it. Something I'm not even sure could be accomplished with a PITA airbrush.

Yeah. I'm sure it can be done with paint, but I couldn't. Especially in the 30min it took me to do the whole tank.


So I added glass to the 9 periscopes in the turret. I'll do the 3 for the driver next time I open up the hull. So damn tedious. Stupid ocd.

 

pcsguy88

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Basically done. Metal road wheels and sprockets will need to be painted and weathered once they arrive, but they will not change anything cosmetically. I just need to find a few mre boxes and water/fuel cans for the rear rack.

 

Slaymaker

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I got that tank for Christmas...I need to save this thread for reference pics! Thanks for the link to pick it up. I am looking forward to assembling and driving this thing around!!
 

pcsguy88

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I got that tank for Christmas...I need to save this thread for reference pics! Thanks for the link to pick it up. I am looking forward to assembling and driving this thing around!!

Be careful with the battery. Since they have switched to Li-Ion, people are having lots of problems with them dying from overcharging. Mine worked the one time I used it, but I run my tanks on NiMH batteries so I do not have to worry about them exploding and they hold a charge for sporadic use.