Hi,
I've purchased the Tamiya Abrams 1/35 M1A1 with the RB barrel and Eduard PE.

Now I see that if I want workable tracks I need to buy the Bronco set, but this set is bigfoot tracks, so for newer Abrams.

My main question is, it's possible to use the Voyager conversion set, let's say the AIM one, on the Tamiya kit? The set is for Dragon but , did someone try it out? Or is there any conversion set for Tamiya?

Thanks

The voyager set will fit the Tamiya kit just fine. Both kits are basically the same size.

As to the tracks, the T158 LL tracks have been around a while and would be fine on an M1A1 (they were designed for M1A2s) with the Voyager update set. You could also get teh AFV Club T158 tracks, which are the older style, but still in use.

Hi Sandro (and welcome to Armorama )

On a side note, Trumpeter has released some workable T156 tracks for earlier M1A1s :


Maybe they'll be OK for Tamiya's M1A1 ?

Frenchy

Trumpeter's T156 track are nice, but not really accuarate for a modern(ish) M1A1. They have not been used since the ODS ('90-'91) timeframe. T158s replaced them in the early '90s.

That's why I used the word "earlier" . I thought Sandro was looking for them rather than "Big foot" tracks...

Frenchy

so in theory I could use this set with little trouble?

https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/p/Voyager+135+Modern+US+M1A1+AIM+Abrams+Basic+voype35415/9126/

And could anyone tell me if in the set are included the tracks and the main gun?

PS: thanks for the warm welcome

Yes, you can use the Vaoyager USMC Basic set. It does not include the main gun nor new tracks. I suggest the AFV Club tracks for it. They look good and are much easier to use (singe piece for each track as opposed to 5 pieces each in the Bronco set) than Bronco's T158LLs.

The set builds into a USMC M1A1 as seen in Iraq.

So I would need some decals for that?

And: http://www.hobbyeasy.com/upload/suppliers/VIVAN/PE35415B.jpg

I see one detail that is not present on the Tamiya kit, this big "box" on the left of the turret.

The link you've posted doesn't work on the computer I'm using at the moment, but I guess you're talking about the Missile Countermeasure Device (MCD) often fitted to USMC M1A1s. This part is not included in Tamiya's #35156 kit .. Is it the one you have ? The MCD is in the kit #35269, along with other USMC parts.

Frenchy

I think he means the Power Supply Unit or AC Cooling ( I didn't know) on the rack on the back of the turret. His linked picture shows a dragon aim kit without MCD from behind.

Thanks for making things clearer for me . The bustle rack-mounted APU is included in Tamiya's kit #35269 (and in other manufacturers kits as well )

Frenchy

I have this one:

http://www.tamiya.com/english/products/35156m1a1_abrams/index.htm

#35156

It's still possible to make some changes or I have to dump the conversion?

That makes sense now. The kit you have is the older Tamiya M1A1 from ODS ('90-'91). It needs a lot of work to become a modern M1A1 as used by the USMC. The conversion kit supplies most of the parts, but you are still missing the turret bustle BRE, newer gunner's primary sight cover w/out the sloped rear, newer T-158 tracks, and some others.

I would recommend getting the Dragon M1A1 AIM as a base. It is the best Abrams kit on the market and most complete. With it and the Voyager conversion, you will have a really nice model. You will still need USMC decals though. Echelon has a few nice sets, as does Archer.

Yes, That's why I've asked, something didn't come along it all that.

So now I have a "early" Abrams, do I have to do it OOB or is there any set I can put on it without making a lot of scrachbuilding?

I'm not looking for some specific model, just something that's not OOB

Hi Sandro,
With that kit, you will have more work than just tracks and some PE to update it to a current M1A1 AIM. Out of the box, that kit builds into a earlier M1A1 that still had the smaller sight housing and T156 track. You can replace the track, but that just gets you a slightly later post ODS tank.

To update this kit you will need to:
-- replace sight housing
-- replace drivers hatch with newer hatch that has the "lip"
-- update the loaders hatch
-- replace tracks
-- add APU in bustle rack w/ conduit cover on turret top
-- add infantry call box
-- and if you want a USMC tank, replace smoke dischargers with USMC type

honestly, it would be less work to find one of the more recent boxings of the taymia kit, or a Dragon M1A1 AIM kit. Or you can also start with a Dragon M1A2 SEP kit and it would have the tracks you need in the box (and then back date it to M1A1 AIM standard).

Hope this helps
Andy

It helps Andy, it's just that I receive this model from a friend, so I will not buy a new one just for this conversion, and I'm not so good in scratch building , so I'll stick with this version, put some workable tracks on it and PE set

I guess Andy beat me to it. Oh well, here is more info, for what it's worth.

I would not recommend using the M1A2 SEP kit. There is more work reworking the rear to an M1A1 than using the Tamiya kit or the Dragon IAM. The tracks are not an issue, either the T158 (AIM kit) or T158LL (in the SEP kit) tracks are correct for a current M1A1 AIM.

Legend used to do a Bustle Rack APU in resin. You would still need to correct the sight box, I don't know of any repleacement for it.

Some USMC (and Army) tanks did not have the APU in the initial phases of Iraq. The Echelon sheets show which versions were without them.

Here are all the mods you would need to do to bring it up to the same level as the Dragon AIM. Its up to you on how much you want to do on it.

US Army M1A1HC/AIM/A2 Upgrades

These are upgrades to bring the older Abrams kits up to the latest standards. Not all of the upgrades are on all tanks, you will have to check your references on the one you are building to see which upgrades/modifications it has applied to it.

EPLRS antenna mount, thin post to the right side of regular antenna.


BFT antenna (w/ GPS antenna on it) attached to gunner's doghouse.



You will not usually see both the EPLRS antenna and a BFT antenna installed on the same tank. It is usually one or the other. The EPLRS antenna mounting post will still be present when the BFT antenna is used, just with a blanking plate on it as opposed to an antenna base.

APU Power Junction box. New electrical conduit is the angle-iron piece running along the left side of the blow-out panel.


Power connection box next to the man-hole cover. There are two screw caps to connect to located on the front of the connector, toward the front of the tank.


PLGR antenna mounted somewhere on the turret roof. It is usually in front of the crosswind sensor. I have also seen it to the front right of the TC's cupola, or on the BFT antenna, as shown above. The location for it varies.


PLGR antenna on M1A2


Tank/Infantry Phone and rear Slave Cable Receptacle on right rear of hull on latest AIM tanks. These were not present until about 2006 or so.


Deep fording kit exhaust flange on HCs and AIMs.


Forward MCB power/control box connector next to driver's hatch. This feature also is a later one as part of the AIM rebulid and was not seen about '06.


Check Prime Portal for more M1A1 and M1A2 pics.
Check out my M1 Variants Article as well for more info and pics.

USMC M1A1HC/AIM Upgrades

Change out the smoke launchers to the USMC 8-shot, double-stacked type.



BFT antenna (w/ GPS antenna on it) attached to gunner's doghouse.



You will not usually see both the EPLRS antenna and a BFT antenna installed on the same tank. It is usually one or the other. The EPLRS antenna mounting post will still be present when the BFT antenna is used, just with a blanking plate on it as opposed to an antenna base.

APU Power Junction box. New electrical conduit is the angle-iron piece running along the left side of the blow-out panel.


Power connection box next to the man-hole cover. There are two screw caps to connect to located on the front of the connector, toward the front of the tank.


PLGR antenna is mounted somewhere on the turret roof. It is usually in front of the crosswind sensor. I have also seen it to the front right of the TC's cupola as well. The location for it varies.



Tank/Infantry Phone and rear Slave Cable Receptacle on right rear of hull on latest AIM tanks. (Added in '07. Prior to this, they had just the T/I box on the right rear.)



Deep fording kit exhaust flange on HCs and AIMs.


The box in front of the loader's hatch is an MCD (Missile Countermeasure Device). It is used to defeat optically and laser guided anti-tank missiles.



Some USMC M1A1HCs are using the old sprocket retaining rings as well. They were found to be an easy fix to counter the track losing tension during operations. The USMC started putting the rings back on M1A1HCs in the early-mid nineties that were stationed stateside on the West Coast (1st Tank Bn) and they were seen on tanks on deployment with the MEUs until 2006. No rings are/were on the sprockets of East Coast (2nd Tank BN) tanks though. Most USMC tanks that came off of the Maritime Preposition Ships (MPS) in Kuwait for OIF I /II did not have the sprocket retaining rings, other than at least three known tanks that came off the MPS ships with them. The USMC tanks that have been seen in Iraq with retaining rings are from stateside (1st Tank Bn). They are part of the different ocean-going Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU) that have gone to Iraq and participated in the festivities over the past few years. So, specific USMC tanks could be seen with the rings applied.

The below pic is a USMC M1A1HC in ops in Kuwait with the rings on it.


For the USMC BRE used in OIF.


Eduard makes one in PE, set # 35598. There is also one in the new(ish) Academy M1A1 Iraq 2003 kit. It is one of the few good pieces off the new J sprue. It also has a T/I Phone box on the new sprue. The rest of the kit sucks though. The Dragon M1A2 SEP kit comes with a nice PE and plastic one as well.

You can take a look at my M1 Variants Article as well for more info and pics.

You can also take a look at my USMC M1A1HC that I did a while ago.
"Angry American", USMC M1A1HC


The Tamiya M1A1/A2 kit comes with the MCD and smoke launchers. The Academy kit also includes the T/I phone box, smoke launchers and MCD as well. Echelon makes a couple great decal sheets for Marine Abrams in Iraq too. They also have another sheet coming out soon.

You can take a look at my M1 Variants Article as well for more info and pics.

thanks Gino...much more comprehensive than what I provided off the top of my head!

totaly forgot about the BFT and EPLRS, and the MCD!

hi, thanks for the pics. I recieved the kit and start building, I decided that it will be the version OOB, so no conversion will be necesary .

I have the eduard set, and I saw that there is one pcs that goes onto the drive sprocket that was used so the tracks wouldn't fall off, in this version out of the box:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Tamiya-1-35-M1A1-ABRAMS-120mm-Main-Battle-Tank-Shrink-/00/$(KGrHqR,!lQE3HG8S)H4BN-i2PvKvQ~~_3.JPG

this piece have to be added or not?

And one more thing, what's the best color to use for the cammo? Some desert yellow / sand, but what exactly?

I have some Lifecolor : FS 33711 , SAND: can I add some yellow and use it?

Bye

The sprocket retaining rings were used on early M1 and M1 IP tanks. By ODS, they were pretty much removed and not used on M1A1s then. They were later used by the USMC in the late '90s on some tanks, but not all. So, for an ODS tank, I would leave them off.

No idea on Lifecolor paints, but I recommend Testor's Model Master US Army/Marines Gulf Armor Sand. It represents a color that was used from local paints available in Saudi Arabia to quickly repaint vehicles as they came into theater. It is not a standard Federal Standard (FS) paint color.

Well thanks for that, I see that my local hobby shop have this color, so I'll stick with that.

I hope I'm not annoying, but not I need some reference photos for the this desert version ( http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10000226 ) , I'll tried to google , m1a1, abrams etc, but there are too many version and I'm not familiar so I'd like to receive some photos that can guide me through my build.

Basically, straight out of the box, it builds into an ODS tank. Here are some pics.








Good pic of T156 trcks


Some tanks form stateside units had the rear hull APU that predated the turret bustle rack APU seen today.

Gentlemen,not meaning to hijack this thread,but can someone give me a time frame for Cyberhobbies USMC M1A1 Abrams heavy armor kit#9125?Thanks ,Jeff

I'm just working on the APU, so this model have this kind of APU?

and one more thing, what is the meaning of OSD ?

It represents a mid-90s, pre-Iraq, USMC M1A1 HC (Heavy Common) tank. Heavy since it has DU (Depleted Uranium) armor and Common since it has features that were standardized as common to Army and Marine Abrams.




It can have the APU. It would be historically correct for the time-period.




ODS is short for Operation Desert Shield/Storm, or the Gulf War, in 1990-'91 where a coalition force ousted Iraq from Kuwait after they invaded and annexed the country as the 19th province of Iraq.

More here.

That is the time frame and conflict your model represents.