Dose any company make a good copy of the M1 IP Abrams? And if so what would they look like, and are they differnt from the M1 Abrams.

No one does. The easiest conversion would be to add a rear turret basket assembly to the original Tamiya M1 kit.

Gino will correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think the 105mm gun M1 was in the inventory very long. It was just being fielded (we had M60a1 Rises in Germany, though they had most of the modificatins done to them that made them A3's)when I left active duty in late 79 and by 1986 when I went to the Armor Conference they had the 120mm version for us to look at

The 105mm M1 and M1 IP were in the inventory for a while. There were still some around when Desert Shield (AUG '90) started. Most units transitioned to 120mm M1A1s before Desert Storm (Feb '91) kicked off though. Quite a few Army National Guard units had the 105mm M1 IPs into the mid and even late '90s as well.

Are there any reliable line drawings of the M1 IP turret?

Cheers,

Christophe

I knew it sounded too easy. No wonder you don't see too many M1 IP conversions.

I did an M1IP conversion for a guy in the 90s -- a vehicle his son TCed in Korea. IIRC, I started with the ESCI M1A1 and added some bits from the original Tamiya M1 and maybe a few DML parts, plus a scratch turret basket and LOTS of fittings and other details. Thank goodness I was provided photos of a 360-degree walkaround, plus some shots taken from on top of the turret. I wish I still had the pics, but I handed everything over when I finished the model.

I don't remember the unit, but the tank had the name "ARES" in black on the tube, a black playing card with "A" and "ACES" on one side of the turret front facet and a black shield with three dots above a dragon, with the under-scroll "Crusaders" on the other turret front facet. The number 1165 was stenciled in white on the turret side stowage boxes. The only reason I remember all this is because I have the "no-go" custom markings I made left over in my decal files.

I Think NYS NG still has the IP's.......... they (about 2 yrs ago) Decided to start Upgrading to the A1's.............