Mighty's M1A2 SEP

[MightyRhinox]

Hmmmmm new DML plastic mmmmmmm For now just a couple of teaser shots:

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0581.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0582.jpg

That small square of paper sitting in the box is perhaps the most startling thing I've ever seen Dragon do; It's the corrections sheet for the instructions :shock: :o :shock:
I'm probably going to start with the turret tonight :D

[panamadan]

Looking forward to this! Dan

[Larry Bates]

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

[canjuaan]

This is the kit I want to have most at the moment. Please do a very detailed report on that - I wanna see every little tiny bit of detail jammed into this beauty ;)

Johannes

[lquah]

Rod

Cool...looking forward to see your build

Lazza

[MightyRhinox]

Started with the gun, which is obviously exactly the same as the AIM kit. I went with the plastic barrel again due to the missing detail on the aluminium one. Unfortunately the I got a less than perfect sprue, so all the parts are about 0.5mm out of register :( This was easy enough to clean up though.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0585.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0586.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0587.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0588.jpg


Next I moved on to the commanders cupola which is a real dissapointment. It's nicely detailed and all, but it's been engineered into the ground with poor fit and the parts being surface to surface attachments making them really nasty to get lined up. As always dragon's instructions add to the confusion, part X33 is supposed to attach to X3, but this isn't shown clearly in the instructions and I spent ages trying to figure out how X12 (the M2 rail) was supposed to fit. The whole thing is ridiculously and unecessarily fiddly, there are definately parts there that the engineers threw in just to get the part count up, and some of this parts break up is detrimental to the detail rather than adding to it. That said, the end result looks nice.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0589.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0590.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0591.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0593.jpg

Oh did I mention the warped M2? :(

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0592.jpg

[Sturmmann]

Nice Choice Rod!

I am curious as of how DML did on this kit. So far I see they have corrected an issue the plagues most M1 kits and that is the angle of the MRS (Small sight thing at the end of the gun tube) most kits have it straight.

So far you have done an excellent job despite of the fitting issues.

I will be following closely on this build. :thumb:

Dave

[MightyRhinox]

Cheers Dave, apparently outside of the above problems they've done alright,
Check out this site and you can see what I was whining about :P
http://vodnik.primeportal.net/pages/SEP/SEP.htm#TOP

[maafei]

o,I think,this is the best kit of M1A2.
I want to one,but I don't like DS track.
so...I want to buy 3535.But it is so expensive now.

[MightyRhinox]

I have to agree with that, I do know someone who wanted to trade me the DS tracks for the 3535 Magic tracks if you're interested.

[Panzergrenadier]

Hmmm......something modern for a change...cool!:thumb:

[lquah]

I did notice a significant difference in quality of molding on my M1A1 AIM against other DML WWII german releases. It could be that it's made by a different factory.

LQ

[canjuaan]

I did notice a significant difference in quality of molding on my M1A1 AIM against other DML WWII german releases. It could be that it's made by a different factory.

LQ

In the positive or negative means?

Johannes

[MightyRhinox]

Hmmm......something modern for a change...cool!:thumb:

Shhhhh! I don't tell anyone here, they think it's one of those Paper Panzer things ;) :D

I've noticed some of the moulding isn't really up to scratch on this kit too Laz (outside of the gun sprue)

Moving along most of the rest of the turret is as per the AIM kit, with just the CITV and GPS antenna being a new addition, most of these parts are great except for S12 (the clear part on the viewer) not fitting into X36, the gap in X36 is about half a mm too small so a quick pass with a file on either side will fix that. The trickiest part here is the correct placement of the CITV cover (X29 and 30) GPS antenna (X38 and 20) and it's armoured conduit (X6 and 19), once again there is no indication of correct positioning of some of the parts so it's easy to mess up. The best way I fount to do this is to fit the CITV to the turret with out the cover, jump forward to step 16 and add X6, then attach X29 and 30, then X19 (refer to the painting chart's top down view to align it correctly) then attach X20 to X38, slip it into place and Bob's your uncle.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0595.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0596.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0597.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0598.jpg

[Sturmmann]

Nice work Rod!

I was wondering, did the kit had a wire tow cable to replace the plastic one?

It seems the plastic one has the central supports for the tow cable already molded into the cable itself.

Maybe removing the plastic ones and making the brackets in brass or Aluminum sheet may be a better choice as the real supports don't wrap around the cable.

Dave

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i259/Terraformingrd/Miscelaneous/TowCableSupports.jpg

[lquah]

In the positive or negative means?

Johannes
Well, the molding of the parts is good but not as good the German AFVs. As Rod mentioned, the register could be off, deeper punch out marks, different plastic, detail not as sharp etc.

DML outsources to a few plastic factories and I guess it's difficult to maintain the same standards from all the factories.

German AFVs are their best seller and it's only natural that the best factory will produce those kits. If you compare the M1A1/2 against the new Pz III J you will notice a difference in the molding.

Lawrence

[MightyRhinox]

Cheers Fellas ;)
@David, the kit does come with metal tow cables and the PE clips for them, same as the AIM kit, but I couldn't get the bloody little clips bent at all last time and decided I was too lazy to try this time :P

[canjuaan]

Thanks for the explanation, Lawrence :thumb:

Johannes

[MightyRhinox]

More done, got all the stowage bins and racks, smoke grenades and finishing touches on. Once again dragon decided that the new bustle rack extension and Vapour Compression Sytem plumbing on the underside of the turret are a luxury. No tips for the bustle rack, just take your time and line things up carefully, for the plumbing start with W2 on the underside of the rack and work backwards. Otherwise, everything is all pretty :D

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0599.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0600.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0601.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0602.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0603.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0604.jpg
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k95/MightyRhinox/M1A2%20SEP/IMG_0605.jpg