In the TV Series of Space:1999, there were some tanks in the show. All three of them appeared very briefly in one single episode, ‘The Infernal Machine’.
Since there are no Laser Tanks that was made for the AMT Eagle, I decided to make my own and called it version C. The original Studio Model used Tamiya’s 1/25 Chieftain Tanks as their base model. I have called on Jim Small but his were of the 1/25 Studio Scale which was too big. Since there are no 1/72 Chieftain Tanks within such short notice, I decided to get the next best thing… a 1/72 Trumpeteer British Warrior MCV.
Lastly, I just want to say, it is OK for Modelers to collect stuff such as drink stirrers, trinkets, etc, from Fast Food outlets and Restaurants as you’d never know, they will come in handy. In this case, the small spoon of the drink stirrer serves as a great cockpit piece!
Anyway, this is considered one of the sub-project as the tank is to be fitted to the MPC 1/72 Eagle Transporter in a post-Breakaway timeline.
Laser Tank ver. C 001
And so, I got a 1/72 Trumpeter British Warrior MCV. I have briefly tested its length with a friend’s AMT Eagle’s Passenger pod and there are lots of space to spare! The Warrior MCV, I think, has the closest tank tracks/wheel to the Chieftain, more or less.
Laser Tank ver. C 002
Being a 1/72 scale model, its already quite fragile and so, Trumpeter packed them with some sponge-like material for protection.
Laser Tank ver. C 003
I did not measure the length of the passenger pod as I totally forgot on that night. Anyway, the fine details on these models are amazing!
Laser Tank ver. C 004
The tank will be facing towards the engines and not the other way round since I want to make an access doorway from the Eagle’s Command Module to the walkway and then to the rear of the tank.The door in this Warrior is small but I’ll have to think of a design once my Round2 Eagle comes in.
Laser Tank ver. C 005
The two bulging sides is going to go into the tank and is also a way to hide the errors of the access way if I made some mistakes
Laser Tank ver. C 006
One thing I have about tanks is that they use vinyl tracks and even at 1/72, this is no different. Luckily, Trumpeter gave it an all static plastic tracks for the Warrior MCV. They are very fragile and I had to unroll layers of bubble-wrap to get at them.
Look at the two cylinder things that is attached to the tracks. In a working tank, it does not exist. Anyway, they are to make sure the upper tracks do not break I am going to keep them in there as it looks cool!
Laser Tank ver. C 007
Although its going into the Eagle, I cannot help but to light it up. I have drilled four tiny holes into the LED’s lens and pushed the fibre-optics in there. This LED is not very bright and so, would look great in the tank.
With 1/72 scale, lights are not supposed to be bright. These are for the tank’s rear lights.
Laser Tank ver. C 008
And here is how it looks with the fibre-optics in place. It looks so good with the two box thingy at the back!
Laser Tank ver. C 009
You can tell that by the parts I am going to use, I did not build stuff for a very long time. After an hour of searching in the house, I got as much parts as I can for the Laser Tank.
Oh, and I also found that bottle of Mr. Mark Softer. Which means, I wasted money buying Mr. Mark Setter. And although it has been explained to me many times, I still get confused between the two
Update: I have marked Mr. Mark Setter (#1) and Mr. Mark Softer (#2) so now, I know which sequence to use first.
Laser Tank ver. C 010
This is how the Laser Tank’s turret looks like. I had to bend the piano wire as its very sharp and can poke your eye out!
Laser Tank ver. C 011
Using scrap pla-plates of undetermined origin, I built a small driver’s chair and a wall. And I also found the rare drink stirrer which will be used for the tank’s bubble top.
Laser Tank ver. C 012
This is how the interior of the tank will look like. I used what was left of the scraps pla-plates. I will put a small LED in there tomorrow.
Laser Tank ver. C 013
John Vojtech’s SCR-02 came in handy when I needed to make a hole that fits the shape of the drink stirrer.
Laser Tank ver. C 014
Although it was scratched, I buffed it up as much as I could before coating it with Future for the night.
Laser Tank ver. C 015
Added some side-skirt designs and well, this is how the Laser Tank ver. C looks like!
Laser Tank ver.C 016
Again, I used the TAMIYA（タミヤ） Panel Lines. First, I used the Brown and then wiped it off with a cotton bud. Then, I repeated with Grey. At the last step, since the cotton bud is ‘wet’, I dabbed and rubbed it against the edge of the wheels.
Laser Tank ver.C 017
Looking for some yellow, the only ones I had was clear and so, I decided to use the TAMIYA（タミヤ） acrylic paint which is XF-71 Cockpit Green (IJN). As it was already ‘expired’ it was good that I can use the plastic’s natural white to give it a lighter shade. So, with all the bits and pieces of the paint, the pods looked very used. I then dry-brushed Tire Black onto the highlighted areas of the tracks before giving them another coat of Tamiya Brown Panel Line and then rubbing it off with tissue paper.
Laser Tank ver.C 018
For the Tank’s main body, I am going to do the same. But before that, I need to spray it with flat clear. Never mind if the airbrush still has some white in it. Just pour in the GAIA Notes #46 Clear and some thinner, then mix
The TAMIYA（タミヤ） Panel Lines are Grey And Brown. The first coat was brown and then wiped clean with tissue paper. By now, the same tissue paper is slightly damp, which is good. You should not throw it. Next, is the Grey Panel Line and more tissue paper.
Lastly, with tiny drops, add the Brown Panel Line on the details you want to highlight and wipe it off with a cotton bud. Once the remaining panel lines are dry, repeat the same with Grey Panel line and quickly wipe off with the same tissue paper.
Laser Tank ver.C 019
The main body is next. Using the TAMIYA（タミヤ）3 Brown Panel line, dip it liberally all over the body. This time, wait a little longer for it to dry. Once that is done, dip a small flat brush into the Grey Panel line. Using light strokes, brush the body’s sides downwards to simulate the effects of ‘Lunar rain’. For the sloping top, use the same brush but this time, wet it and wipe downwards with the damp tissue paper. As for the top which is flat, repeat but instead of wiping, dab it until the white is seen through. All this while, the Gaia Notes clear should prevent the white paint from coming off (I think)
Laser Tank ver.C 020
Repeat the same steps with the Laser Tank’s turret.
Laser Tank ver.C 021
All done!
Next would be the lighting! But for now, its time to glue the transparent bubble (clear drink stirrer) with Humbrol’s Clearfix.
Laser Tank ver.C 022
I am setting this to be 4.5volts and so, for the white LEDs, they would be using 68 Ohms while the red is 100 Ohms. I had to move the cockpit’s wall slightly back to give more space for the wiring as I measured the wires too short
Laser Tank ver.C 023
And so, here it is, the Laser Tank with front headlights, a lit cockpit and fibre-optic rear lights.
Laser Tank ver.C 024
I am using the 3806 SMD LEDs because the shops do not have 1210 Warm White. And yes, they’re very bright. Too bright for the tank. You need to tin the SMD LED first, the solder the wires. Because its very small, I had to drill two holes for the wires and still have to make sure the LED is pointing straight.
Laser Tank ver.C 025
Once thing I noticed is that the original headlight’s cage is making some very night shadows. I am glad I put it in. And if the LED has some lens, maybe the pattern would go further too.
Laser Tank ver.C 026
So, I am calling this Lunar Tank ver.C done!
Once the Eagle Transporter is ready, this tank will be its passenger.
