Hello, good evening,

i'm another newbie in this forum. My name is Bernd, i'm from Germany, 24 years old, father of two children, which i teach on my own, i smoke, read the newspaper every day, are listening to metal all the time and i'm addicted to tanks in 1:35. Is that enough information? ;-)

If the informations which i'm looking for are somewhere here in the forums please don't try to shoot me or something! Search function, Google and so on couldn't help me.

I've got to solute a few problems about my Dragon M1A2 SEP (damn lucky i got one!). I want to increase the grade of detailing, giving it a special note and convert it into the TUSKII version. So i ordered some aftermarket produkts like Eduard PE-parts, PerfectScale TUSK2 conversion set, Echelon decals and working tracks by AFV-Club.

Before i start with the PROBLEMS i would be VERY THANKFUL if somebody could/would tell me (or show me?) where i can find good pictures of TUSK (especially TUSK2) on the internet. Most of the pictures finded by Google show only the prototype with the rear slats and the M151 on the turret. And i don't own the book by Tankograd. Especially for the adding the decals good pictures are important of course.

The first problem is about the working tracks by AFV-Club. I've compared them with the vinyl tracks of the Dragon and Tamiya kits and what the f**k?! One AFV track is made out of 96 segments (or is limbs the correct discription for the parts?) but the Dragon tracks are made out of 78 (Tamiya: 76)! The AFV parts are also clearly more narrowly (becomes clearly if you look at the rubbers). So what's the problem here and which parts are correct? How many segments has a real T-158 track? I would cause trouble with the spockets mounting the AFV tracks on the Dragon SEP, wouldn't it? Did anybody already hear something about the new tracks by Bronco or Trumpeter?

Problem number two is about the PerfectScale TUSK2 conversion set. Just now i've read an article here on Armorama about this set which contains some critics about the ERA side skirts, detailing on the shields and Cal.50s. Has anybody already fixed those mistakes, added the missing details and can tell or show me some kind of "How to"? Of course photos would be best but i'm thankful for any kind of help also. I'm not sure if i have to buy some other ERA side skirts by VoyagerModel or Legend? Maybe it's possible to modify the PerfectScale parts but i don't want to do any kind of experiment on such expensive stuff.

And now problem number three which isn't really a problem: I thought about the possibility of mounting a mine plow (not rollers!) on my SEP to give it some kind of "I'll f**k up y'all!" style but i have no idea if those plows are still used if TUSK2 parts are mounted on the tank. Is it possible or makes the TUSK2 the usage of the plows impossible? If it's possible, which plows are used and where do i get them? Maybe from a Tamiya M1A1 kit?

Sorry if my english is not so good. I've been a pretty good pupil but it's been a long time since i've left school...



Greetings from Germany

Bernd

Here are some answers.




As to how many tracks it takes...as many as it takes. Each model company makes their tracks a little different. Also, the AFV Club tracks are not really correct for an M1A2 SEP. The Dragon kit tracks with open guide horns are the correct T158LL tracks and doen't look all that bad. The Bronco T158LL tracks are quite nice, but have lots of parts. There was a mini-review of them on the forums about a week ago.





The standard M1 plow as used in the Tamiya kit is correct for a tank w/TUSK II as well. I don't think the TUSK parts interfere w/the plow mounting points at all.

Good luck.

Bern,

This is the post Gino referred to for the Bronco M1A1/A2 Big Foot Tracks .

For pictures of the Abrams TUSK Armor system that is like this:

You can find some more pictures here (just look through all of the pages of the album): M1A1 Add On Skirt Armor on Prime Portal . The page this links too has pictures at the bottom of the page.
Hope this helps...

Bern if you want a mine plow for your M1A2 SEP I would get the Trumpeter M1A1/M1A2 all in kit as it has all the parts to make 1 of 5 Abrams if I remember correctly, and is less than £20. The box contains a mine plow, mine roller, 2 sets of tracks, plus other bits and pieces you may find a use for.

Thanks a lot folks! Your help is very useful for me. Please go on!

Bern,
Be advised when I sent those M1 pictures to prime portal they were not 100% sorted. There are some M1A1 pictures mixed with M1A2 and vise verse. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Good luck with your build and keep us posted on the progress
Jeff