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M981 FISTV

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George shares his US cold warrior, an M981 FISTV artillery spotter based on the ubiquitous M113 platform. The 1:35 kit, including two crew members, is from Academy. The additional stowage items are from Tamiya’s “Modern US equipment” set. He primed and pre-shaded the vehicle and applied NATO tri – tone color using Tamiya acrylics diluted with their X20 thinner to get a faded, semi - opaque effect. Then he went over the tank with AK Interactive, MiG and Ammo of Mig enamel weathering products, washes and filters. Some dry brushing was done to highlight the edgy, boxy look of this M113 variant. Lastly he applied Vallejo pigments to the tracks and lower part of the hull to suggest a slightly dirty & dusty vehicle back from an exercise in central Europe. For the figures George used mainly Vallejo and Citadel acrylics, but also Tamiya’s. Living in Germany, George actually used to see such vehicles a lot when he was a teenager, so when he saw this kit at a local hobby store he bought it straight away, only to realize that he had probably mistaken it for an M901 ITV. The M981 is made to alike, so as to be less conspicuous on the battlefield...and to modelers like him!
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About the Author

About George Hartwig (Kybernaughty)
FROM: BAYERN, GERMANY

Like many, I started out as a kid with Airfix and Revell planes. Growing up near the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War meant that German and US AFVs were a regular sight in my hometown. Drawn to tanks, I soon splashed out on Tamiya and Italeri AFV kits...... many, many years later... I re...


Comments

Great job on it. The finish looks really nice. One thing that Academy missed is the cages around the rear antennas. There should be a protective cage around the base of each of the rearmost antennas. I used a drinking straw, cut to size and then cut out each square opening.
NOV 18, 2017 - 06:13 PM
Great job!
NOV 18, 2017 - 09:34 PM
@Heavy Arty, thanks for the hint! I had actually noticed the difference, but comforted myself by thinking that not every M981 might have had those cages. Anyways, I'll try to fix it;)
NOV 19, 2017 - 12:59 PM
That is really nice - love the camo
NOV 19, 2017 - 03:17 PM
Hi all, now I've added those cages! I used heat shrink tube with Tamiya's hole punch tool.
NOV 20, 2017 - 12:25 AM
Looks pretty good. To be correct though, the openeings are square (rectangular) not round.
NOV 20, 2017 - 12:53 AM
NOV 21, 2017 - 02:15 PM
Now with rectangular cages!
NOV 21, 2017 - 02:16 PM
Looks good.
NOV 21, 2017 - 08:24 PM