M790 EL Pershing II missile MGM-31C w/ M1001 Tractor build

[Arch-Stanton]

Before this thread drifts away, I was once between dealerships and worked for a friend of mine as a favor in his British specialty shop.

All though I never intended to, I stayed there for almost two years because I was having so much fun. I learned a bunch of cool stuff there.

I left there to go to work for a SAAB dealership in the early 80s because the money was too good to pass up.

Girling air over hydraulic brakes came many years later.

I kid about British cars but one of my current rides was built at Castle Bromwich , is BRG and has a Bosch injected DOHC supercharged V6.

[Arch-Stanton]

M790 EL Pershing II missile MGM-31C w/ M1001 Tractor build

Thanks Kurt, I get it. I’m within 45 minutes of A&S in DC and Dulles. Haven’t been to the downtown locations since the 90s and I’ve been to the Dulles location as recently as 10 years ago. Don’t recall a Pershing at either one but I’ll check back…. The crane base sans al the control levers, lock handles, shut off levers and jack feet that I’m sure would all be bent sideways before it made it on to the truck: [IMG_4639] Mock up with crane [IMG_4619] [IMG_4621] [IMG_4620] And the exce…

I saved all these control levers for last and now I’m losing my religion.

Pepping for paint with Bondo

Almost officially out of parts; the box and all its plastic bags went into the recycling bin yesterday.

[Johnnych01]

Excellent progress Al… Going to look once the paint hits it

[Arch-Stanton]

Thanks John.

Base colors for the M1001 and components. I ran out of the stinky gray primer before I got to the crane.

[jon_a_its]

@Arch-Stanton

IMG_48723024×4032 2.56 MB

Liking the build and the Sprue ready-rack, have you got details of it?

[Arch-Stanton]

Search Amazon for sprue racks. They have dozens. This particular one is only good with small diameter sprues because of the narrow slots, like the multiples of a single sprue that come in armor, etc kits.

For months I’ve been searching for pictures of an M1001 in NATO three color camouflage without success. I’m now at the point of no return with MASSTER, which isn’t my favorite scheme…

[PolishBrigade12]

You can always wing it, Al, artistic license or the law of probability. This is looking great from here!

[BootsDMS]

Al, I think you must mean MERDC; MASSTER being way before the time of the Pershing 2 set-up, as I understand it. It looks like you’re doing MERDC so I’m assuming s slip of the tongue.

Anyway, great work all round.

[Arch-Stanton]

Appreciate it.

To be honest Brian, I’m trying to recreate a close approximation of the camouflage in the pictures.
I thought this was MASSTER scheme, but I guess I’m wrong.

MERDC?

[BootsDMS]

Sorry Al, I didn’t mean to come across as big-headed or anything. Yup, that’s the MERDC scheme or a rendition of it. The colours look pretty faded and washed out to me;I suspect they may have been a tad more vivid on such a prestige piece of kit when it was in service. That said there were several permutations of the MERDC scheme and I’m no expert on it all.

[Bkkinman]

Just very faded MERDC. The earth color has faded to a more olive/brown.

[Arch-Stanton]

Not at all Brian. I’m easily confused……

[mech]

You are doing a great job on the build.

Cheers,
Ralph

[Arch-Stanton]

I appreciate it Ralph.

Mock up with my confused camouflage that is still a work in progress.

Friction, gravity and a stack of magnets are holding everything in place. Cab is resting on the top of the engine and bumper.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Edited to add group photo

[jon_a_its]

Thanks for the tip for the Sprue rack, ordered from @m@z0n, as €b@y UK had one a a ridiculous price.

[SSGToms]

That is one impressive model Al. Your camo looks fine. Everything looks excellent.
I ordered a sprue rack, too. Thanks.

[Johnnych01]

Looks superb Al. The cam scheme is coming out great… Looks the part to me

[Arch-Stanton]

@SSGToms @Johnnych01 thanks for the feedback on the camouflage along with all you dudes who liked the pictures.

The white drove me nuts and I ended up using a cut up 1600 grit sanding stick to get most of the brush strokes out.

I used a 3/0 and 4/0 pinstripe brushes for the black lines but I think the paint was the wrong consistency and I ended up with what looks like (in the pictures) “hesitation marks” even though they were all done with a single stroke of the brush.

I’m open to any suggestions ya’ll might have to improve it. I still have not cleared the cab, although I did a few of the other assemblies.

Because so little of the stuff on the frame is visible after the subassembly’s are added, I figure I gloss coat it, do some light washes, dull coat it and then dry brush the sh!t out of everything, other than a bit of detail painting.

Painting the engine would be an exercise in futility because so little of it is seen.

Also, don’t glue the spare carrier until the cab is in place.

There is lasagna and pie and many, many cookies in my future today. There’s already been a Dutch Baby and sausage this morning….

[tankerken]

@Arch-Stanton

The white drove me nuts and I ended up using a cut up 1600 grit sanding stick to get most of the brush strokes out.

I used a 3/0 and 4/0 pinstripe brushes for the black lines but I think the paint was the wrong consistency and I ended up with what looks like (in the pictures) “hesitation marks” even though they were all done with a single stroke of the brush.

I would not worry too much about brush marks in those colors. In the MERDC scheme, the small colored areas were usually brush painted in real life, often with thick paint in a heavy handed manner. Visible brush marks were often present, which were obvious against the spray painted smoothness of the other colors.
Ken

[PolishBrigade12]

That camo work looks great and it’ll all come together once the weathering starts. Ruck On, Bby!