M1 A2 Abrams Group build. Building the beast.

 

 Herbert Erperderp group build. Even bigger guns.

As long as weapons have existed, people have felt the need to have better weapons. Bows to Crossbows, Crossbows to Cannons, so on. An easy way to make your weapon "better" was to make it bigger. Bigger is always better, after all!

And this lead to some ridiculous weapons, massive constructs made entirely to hurl the biggest amount of hurt towards the enemy. This Group Build is about those weapons.

Welcome to the "**EVEN BIGGER GUNS!**" Group Build!

In this build, we look at ways to throw a big projectile at your enemy from far away.

The main rule is simple: The caliber of the gun/projectile/whatever applies has to be at least 100mm.

It does not matter what it fires or how it does so. A trebuchet would need to fling a projectile of at least 100mm in diameter, while a tank cannon needs to be at least 100mm in caliber. As long as this fairly simple rule is followed, your entry is good to go!

So... 

...I'm building one of these...

Opening up the instructions we see that wheels come first.

I'll pick out the tire tyres with the black before putting the sets together.

Cutting out the wheels I simply use my box cutter knife.

I'll polish the seam marks with a little emery cloth. I leave it rough to give the tires a bit of age.

The sets are glued with the fine cement which is my go to.

Wheels...

Spokey wheels...

Part two is the rear of the hull.

I'll add a bit of weathering to the hull before I add the wheels. 

Adding the wheels to the hull.

Touching up the wheels with the not quite black paint.

The tracks are next so I will paint the tracks first.

Brown.

Ash grery for the pads.

Beige on the sides and center fo a sandy look. More later.

The tracks are simply glued and attached. I've weathered the wheels now too.

I really have no issue with the simplified tracks personally.

Maybe too much knowledge is not always a good thing.

Turret next... A big gun needs a big turret.

It's big but it's simple.

The 'Big gun' from the title.

 

It fires a 120mm shell...

...

Nice fit. Just a little polish around the seam line.

Storage boxes for... er... storage.

Every box needs a lid.

Slowly it comes together...

Electrical seeing devices.

Building the range finder. A thing that finds the... er range.

Turret accessories next.

More storage racks for more..  er... storage.

 I forgot the nesh. Shhhh... Don't tell anyone.

So far so good. It is a biggie though. 

Displaying it will be a challenge.

More turret seeing parts. I'm not even going to need all of them I don't think.

Smoke dispensers.

Getting there...

More weathering...

Trying to keep the weathering subtle...

What do you think?

More accessories... That glossy finish is going to haunt me...

That's the cola loaded up.

The recognition panels...

There is some plastic sheet for these...

Snip, snip snip.

Even more storage,,,

Painting up  the side shirts and other details. 

Thinking about the base, I found this at a discount store and thought... Why not?

I like the rugged simplicity. A  block of steel on a block of polystyrene...

Coming along nicely...

Putting the troops together at the same time.

 

Not forgetting the dog, obviously...

Using paper based clay to put a surface on it.

Looks  like the  sand is a bit soft...

Just makes something a little different...

Adding the guns and figures along with a base coat for the base. 

A base coat for the base, I suppose that makes sense....

So far so good.

I want a bit more of a course surface...

I'll keep it  simple and leave it there for now.

Just the decals and final touches...

A look at the result. I'm fairly satisfied with the result.  It  is a big bugger though. I don't  really have space for many models like this.