Fun Build: Making a Twilight 2000 M1E1
John Kelley
Hasegawa 1/72 M1E1
Kit No. 31135
I purchased mine from Hobby Cadet USA on Amazon.
Hasegawa 1/72 M1E1
Kit No. 31135
I purchased mine from Hobby Cadet USA on Amazon.
Back in the 1990s I picked up a copy of American Combat Vehicle Handbook by Loren K. Wiseman for the Twilight 2000 game ISBN-10 : 1558780610 or ISBN-13 : 978-1558780613 .
The book contained line drawings of various U.S. Vehicles, the vehicle gaming stats, unit histories and best of all-color profiles of 36 combat vehicles. Most were in use by the U.S.Army and others were either prototypes that never saw production, sold to overseas customers or just plain Sci-Fi designs.
I recently became bored with my “serious” subjects and I decided to build one just for fun. I started with the Hasegawa 1/72nd scale M1E1 kit no. 31135 which is pretty close to the book profiles and I used CMK stowage for the M1A1 that had been lying around for years - like most of my unbuilt kits!
Anyway this is what I did just to do something different and to have an excuse to really weather and dirty up a modern M.B.T. The basic premise of the game and backstory is that the nations armies have been involved in world wide conventional and nuclear warfare and are reduced to a shell of their former capacity.
Most merely surviving and defending themselves. Anything and everything of use is taken to increase combat capability in a devastated world and in this case it is a prototype M1A1.
The book contained line drawings of various U.S. Vehicles, the vehicle gaming stats, unit histories and best of all-color profiles of 36 combat vehicles. Most were in use by the U.S.Army and others were either prototypes that never saw production, sold to overseas customers or just plain Sci-Fi designs.
I recently became bored with my “serious” subjects and I decided to build one just for fun. I started with the Hasegawa 1/72nd scale M1E1 kit no. 31135 which is pretty close to the book profiles and I used CMK stowage for the M1A1 that had been lying around for years - like most of my unbuilt kits!
Anyway this is what I did just to do something different and to have an excuse to really weather and dirty up a modern M.B.T. The basic premise of the game and backstory is that the nations armies have been involved in world wide conventional and nuclear warfare and are reduced to a shell of their former capacity.
Most merely surviving and defending themselves. Anything and everything of use is taken to increase combat capability in a devastated world and in this case it is a prototype M1A1.
HULL CONSTRUCTION;
I began by assembling the lower hull components according to the instructions.
I tried to separate the single road wheels but that did not go well at all so I put them back together and cleaned up the errors I made. I added .020” plastic rod (.508 mm) to the exhaust grill hinges and drilled a hole in the lifting hook/hinge for the exhaust.
I then drilled 4 holes in each drive sprocket and carved them into a triangle shape. The drive sprockets had a square of plastic for the hub that did not match my reference photos so I removed them, punched out some discs for a more correct appearance and added them to the sprockets.
I added the wheels and tracks and left off one top run for extra tracks for the tank hull.
Well, to be honest I had a few problems adding the tracks because I didn't pay enough attention to the instructions so I had a nice length of spare tracks!
I replaced the lower hull tow hooks with tubing and added strip styrene into the open periscopes in the driver's hatch.
The rubber mud guards were roughed up with a knife to give the appearance of being damaged.
I began by assembling the lower hull components according to the instructions.
I tried to separate the single road wheels but that did not go well at all so I put them back together and cleaned up the errors I made. I added .020” plastic rod (.508 mm) to the exhaust grill hinges and drilled a hole in the lifting hook/hinge for the exhaust.
I then drilled 4 holes in each drive sprocket and carved them into a triangle shape. The drive sprockets had a square of plastic for the hub that did not match my reference photos so I removed them, punched out some discs for a more correct appearance and added them to the sprockets.
I added the wheels and tracks and left off one top run for extra tracks for the tank hull.
Well, to be honest I had a few problems adding the tracks because I didn't pay enough attention to the instructions so I had a nice length of spare tracks!
I replaced the lower hull tow hooks with tubing and added strip styrene into the open periscopes in the driver's hatch.
The rubber mud guards were roughed up with a knife to give the appearance of being damaged.
TURRET CONSTRUCTION;
The turret was built next without any problems and any seams filled and sanded down.
As simple as this kit was there was a certain amount of drama caused by me by cutting in two the left side headlight bracket, breaking off the barrel on the loader's machine gun and scratch building a ammo box that I lost for it.
I did have a little difficulty aligning the turret basket back to the sides but I eventually got it corrected. I added a muzzle reference mirror and a mantlet dust shield and hinge.
I finally removed the Gunner's Primary Sight doors and scratch built the sight and doors using sheet styrene and .010” x .020” strip styrene for the frame.
I did leave off the weight panels parts 5 and 6 to keep the model closer to the book's artwork.
At this point I added the stowage to the tank.
The turret was built next without any problems and any seams filled and sanded down.
As simple as this kit was there was a certain amount of drama caused by me by cutting in two the left side headlight bracket, breaking off the barrel on the loader's machine gun and scratch building a ammo box that I lost for it.
I did have a little difficulty aligning the turret basket back to the sides but I eventually got it corrected. I added a muzzle reference mirror and a mantlet dust shield and hinge.
I finally removed the Gunner's Primary Sight doors and scratch built the sight and doors using sheet styrene and .010” x .020” strip styrene for the frame.
I did leave off the weight panels parts 5 and 6 to keep the model closer to the book's artwork.
At this point I added the stowage to the tank.
STOWAGE;
I added the stowage from the CMK 1/72nd M1A1 Abrams Stowage Set and since this is a tank set in a world without much infrastructure and survival is the priority I added everything I could.
Additional track links were added to the turret side rails and bow plate. I used channel stock and strip styrene to make the track retainer for the bow plate links.
I added a gun shield to the loaders M240 M.G. using Plastruct Channel stock and the shield made from .010” (.254 mm) sheet styrene figuring that at one time the crew had access to metal stock and a welder.
The tow cable deflectors were undersized so I replaced them with .060'(1.524 mm) half round rod and sanded one end to a point. I cut them to .060” length and glued them in front of the tow cable eye.
I added the stowage from the CMK 1/72nd M1A1 Abrams Stowage Set and since this is a tank set in a world without much infrastructure and survival is the priority I added everything I could.
Additional track links were added to the turret side rails and bow plate. I used channel stock and strip styrene to make the track retainer for the bow plate links.
I added a gun shield to the loaders M240 M.G. using Plastruct Channel stock and the shield made from .010” (.254 mm) sheet styrene figuring that at one time the crew had access to metal stock and a welder.
The tow cable deflectors were undersized so I replaced them with .060'(1.524 mm) half round rod and sanded one end to a point. I cut them to .060” length and glued them in front of the tow cable eye.
PAINTING AND WEATHERING:
I thought about breaking out my airbrush for the primer and base coats but at the last minute I chose to brush paint the entire model.
To be honest I still enjoy simply painting with a brush plus I was too lazy to clean the airbrush afterwards.
It is not as quick and requires a little planning but for me it is relaxing. So I cracked open a bottle of Vallejo Black Surface Primer and primed the model.
I really should have added a couple of drops of distilled water to thin it but in the end you cannot see any brush strokes on the finished model.
I used all Vallejo Model Color paints except where noted with the first color being U.S. Dark Green dry brushed using a makeup brush to apply the paint.
I then added Iraqi Sand to the green and dry brushed the model again using the make up brush.
I thought about breaking out my airbrush for the primer and base coats but at the last minute I chose to brush paint the entire model.
To be honest I still enjoy simply painting with a brush plus I was too lazy to clean the airbrush afterwards.
It is not as quick and requires a little planning but for me it is relaxing. So I cracked open a bottle of Vallejo Black Surface Primer and primed the model.
I really should have added a couple of drops of distilled water to thin it but in the end you cannot see any brush strokes on the finished model.
I used all Vallejo Model Color paints except where noted with the first color being U.S. Dark Green dry brushed using a makeup brush to apply the paint.
I then added Iraqi Sand to the green and dry brushed the model again using the make up brush.
I steadily increased the amounts of sand to green until I achieved the faded appearance I was looking for.
I used the same sand for the wooden crates in the stowage basket as well. After base coating the model I airbrushed (yes, I finally stopped being lazy) a coat of Satin Varnish to protect the paint and added a pin wash of Citadel Nuln Oil Shade to the air intakes and panel lines.
The tracks and road wheels were painted Black Grey then the metal parts of the tracks were given a coat of Chocolate Brown and the pads were dry brushed Neutral Grey.
The bed rolls and ammo cans were painted various shades of green and washed with Citadel Athonian Camoshade. They were dry brushed with Panzer Aces Feldgrau Highlight 338 mixed into the various greens.
Flat Earth was applied to the lower hull and running gear followed by Tan Earth, Iraqi Sand and a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade and a finale dry brushing of Iraqi Sand on the lower and upper hull as well as the turret to simulate dust.
The center exhaust was painted black with Citadel Typhus Corrosion and then over painted with Citadel Troll Slayer Orange to show the burned metal from the hot exhaust.
The Typhus Corrosion was also used on the side armor and the fuel caps. A piece of foam paint brush was used to create paint chips after dipping in German Camouflage Brown and adding chips to areas of high wear such as the engine deck, turret rails etc.
One panel on each side armor was painted Cam. Olive Green to show a recent replacement. I used artist colored pencils to draw scratches on the side armor.
The colors were green, brown and a light gray. I still felt the model at this point was too clean so a wash of 1 drop of Iraqi Sand and 20 drops of thinner was mixed and applied with a wide brush over the whole model with concentrations in areas that were most likely to collect heavy dust.
For the Gunner's Sight and periscopes I base coated them in silver and used Citadel Bloodletter and Druchii Violet to paint the glass.
The rest of the periscopes were painted Bloodletter. The cooler was painted simply Blue and White.
I used the same sand for the wooden crates in the stowage basket as well. After base coating the model I airbrushed (yes, I finally stopped being lazy) a coat of Satin Varnish to protect the paint and added a pin wash of Citadel Nuln Oil Shade to the air intakes and panel lines.
The tracks and road wheels were painted Black Grey then the metal parts of the tracks were given a coat of Chocolate Brown and the pads were dry brushed Neutral Grey.
The bed rolls and ammo cans were painted various shades of green and washed with Citadel Athonian Camoshade. They were dry brushed with Panzer Aces Feldgrau Highlight 338 mixed into the various greens.
Flat Earth was applied to the lower hull and running gear followed by Tan Earth, Iraqi Sand and a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade and a finale dry brushing of Iraqi Sand on the lower and upper hull as well as the turret to simulate dust.
The center exhaust was painted black with Citadel Typhus Corrosion and then over painted with Citadel Troll Slayer Orange to show the burned metal from the hot exhaust.
The Typhus Corrosion was also used on the side armor and the fuel caps. A piece of foam paint brush was used to create paint chips after dipping in German Camouflage Brown and adding chips to areas of high wear such as the engine deck, turret rails etc.
One panel on each side armor was painted Cam. Olive Green to show a recent replacement. I used artist colored pencils to draw scratches on the side armor.
The colors were green, brown and a light gray. I still felt the model at this point was too clean so a wash of 1 drop of Iraqi Sand and 20 drops of thinner was mixed and applied with a wide brush over the whole model with concentrations in areas that were most likely to collect heavy dust.
For the Gunner's Sight and periscopes I base coated them in silver and used Citadel Bloodletter and Druchii Violet to paint the glass.
The rest of the periscopes were painted Bloodletter. The cooler was painted simply Blue and White.
The tank commander was painted Russian Uniform and washed with Athonian Camoshade. The face was painted with Citadel Bugman's Glow and washed with Reikland Fleshshade. Highlights were added to the uniform with a 50/50 mix of Russian Uniform and Iraqi Sand and the face with Citadel Kislev Flesh.
All in all this was a fun build and it allowed me to experiment on a variety of finishing techniques. I thank the Lord for all of the information I found through websites and tutorials that helped me build this and I hope it will inspire you to stretch out your talents and try more bolder weathering techniques and just to have some fun.
Vallejo Model Color Paints used on the stowage:
Brown Violet 70.877
Russian Uniform WWII 70.924
USA Olive Drab 889
Cam. Olive Green 70.894
Panzer Aces (Feldgrau) Highlight Germ. 338
Vallejo Model Color Paints used on the tank:
Base color:
Black Primer 70.602
U.S. Dark Green 70.893
Neutral Grey 70.992
Black Grey 70.862
Weathering colors:
Tan Earth 70.874
Flat Earth 70.983
Vallejo Model Color Paints used on the stowage:
Brown Violet 70.877
Russian Uniform WWII 70.924
USA Olive Drab 889
Cam. Olive Green 70.894
Panzer Aces (Feldgrau) Highlight Germ. 338
Vallejo Model Color Paints used on the tank:
Base color:
Black Primer 70.602
U.S. Dark Green 70.893
Neutral Grey 70.992
Black Grey 70.862
Weathering colors:
Tan Earth 70.874
Flat Earth 70.983
Iraqi Sand 70.819
Satin Varnish 70.522
Chocolate Brown 70.872
Satin Varnish 70.522
Chocolate Brown 70.872