Please could members in the know give me an accurate time line of the Abrams service in Iraq, what I am after here is which types over what periods and with which units. I have done some work on this subject, however there is a lot of contradictory information on the web and by asking the people here who were there I hope to get a fairly accurate of where and when for some dioramas I have planned. Thank you for your time, and yes I promise my M1A2 Sep diorama is not dead, just on hold.

At the beginning of the war, in early '03, only III Corps units were fielded M1A2 and M1A2 SEP tanks. Those were 4ID, 1 CAV, and 3 ACR. All others were composed of M1A1s.

During the initial invasion, 3ID had all M1A1s. M1A2 SEPs were first brought into the fight with 4ID in late APR '03. 3 ACR had M1A2s (non-SEP) in country in May '03 as well. In early '04, 1 CAV came with M1A2 SEPs. 4ID and 1 CAV have swapped out with eachother about every year since and have brought their M1A2 SEPs with them. 3 ACR was upgraded to SEPs in '06 (I think) and brought them along in late '07. I believe 3 ID now has M1A2 SEPs too. They too have been back and forth every 12-15 mos. All other heavy units have M1A1 HC and M1A1 AIM tanks.

The USMC has all M1A1 Heavy, HC, and AIM tanks. They have been rotated back and forth constantly since '03 as well.

Hope that helps.

1st Cav still had a number of M1A1Ds in use during OIF. They weren't phased out until 2005.

Rob's right. I think 4ID had some too. Probably 3ACR as well. They looked like standard M1A1s with EPLRS or FBCB2 antennas and added digitization on the inside.

Thank you for your help so far. Would it be possible to highlight some of the changes that need to be made to up grade and down grade kits using some pictures of what needs changing please? I was looking at using the DML M1A2 SEP and M1A1 AIM as base kits while utilising items from Trumpeters 5 in 1 M1A1/2 offering + scratch work. Does the DML M1A1HC have any major flaws that are correctable without taking on a morgage?

I think Powel Vodnik did a comprehensive comparison of all the M1 kits prior to the new Dragon AIM and SEP kits and what needs to be done to correct them. I think it's still available on his web site.

Jerry

Thank you Jerry, I have looked at that and it is of some help. The question I am looking to answer here is whitch type of M1 in which time period as regards its service in Iraq. The question about the DML M1A1 HA is am I better off taking the knife and file to a DML AIM or SEP or working with the DML M1 HA or even another companies HA version for that matter.
Again thank you for the help so far.

In regards to the timeline of the M1A2 in service in Iraq, Gino hit that in his first response. I'm not sure I understand what wasn't answered by all the responses....

Dragon's AIM kit is perfect for any of the M1A1s. Externally, they are all the same. AIM simply means it has been rebuilt to a like-new condition and had all the latest modifications added at the time. The placement of the EPLRS antenna or FBCBT2 box would be unit dependant.

Their M1A2 SEP is also good for a 2003 model. Basically, anything added since then has mostly been added armor and armaments like the CROWS remote weapons system or TUSK components. The basic tank hasn't changed.

Thanks Gino. Brent I am just making sure I have all the info as I have so many contradictory statements from the WWW that I no longer could be sure that what I believed was true.

Actually, there is a big difference between M1A1s. The early ones from the late 80s have more in common with M1IPs than with AIMs being rebuilt as we speak. Out of the three "variants" (M1, M1A1, M1A2), the M1A1 has had the longest active lifespan and thus gone through the most changes of the Abrams family.

Rob,
I know that 3rd BCT, 4th ID had the M1A1Ds (1-68 Armor) to allow them to "talk" with the rest of the digital 4ID. I didn't think that 1 CD had D's (They were pretty much pure fleeted with M1A2s since the mid 90's) but could be wrong...

I know that the Armor plan of 2000 had III Corps as pure fleeted M1A2s then to M1A2SEPs when available. The rest of the force was to remain with M1A1HA(+)/HCs rolling over to M1A1AIMs when available.

John

If I'm not mistaken, the turret on the earlier DML M1's are too short. I would use the AIM kit. I think the Trumpeter turret is the right length too, but you have to fix the left front where they screwed up. Jerry

Nope, that was early Tamiya M1A1 and Academy M1A1 that had too short turrets. DML were always fine in that respect. But as others said there is really no reason to buy M1A1HC kit - you get everything needed to build HC in M1A1AIM kit and the AIM kit is light years ahead of old HC kit in terms of details, fit and accuracy.

Pawel

Vodnik,
You are indeed correct but I am not going to sacrifice a AIM kit for a turret... The older kits are fine for swaps or building the M1IP.

Thanks for your work. Now get us a M1IP from Dragon.

John

I have the DML HC and can pick up the SEP for £20 at the moment, The Stella artois of the M1 family is the DML AIM at the moment (IE reassuringly expensive ).

I built an M1IP using a Dragon M1 Panther 2 hull and a modifyed Trumpeter turret. My understanding is that the Panther hull is the early M1IP hull, so all you need is to rework a turret that is the correct size. Jerry

Jerry,
That was my plan but I was going to use an early DML M1A1 turret. I have several Tamiya bustle rack and side rail sprues that will make the rest of the hard stuff of using the DML turret easier. I just need the105mm gun (either use a Tamiya or get a CMD 105mm and scratch up the thermal shrouds.

As I see it now, the issues that I have are:
- turret conversion: remove the CITV mount, replace the welds and try to make the anti-skid look like it was unit applied, blow-out panel configuration (3 vice 2), convert the 120mm mantlet into a 105mm version
- Hull: same anti-skid issue, fab up the bottom of the sponsons
- Assembly of that danm fiddly ATM T-156 track

Not too hard hard to do...

John

John, sounds like it should work. That's pretty much what I did except I had an old VLS resin gun. I used liquid cement and a stiff brush to match up the nonskid. Copper wire for the side rails and made new blast panels and stowage boxes. I gave up looking for after market tracks and just used some early Tamiya ones I had. I know the guide horns are wrong, but it looks ok.