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Armor/AFV: Modern - USA
Modern Armor, AFVs, and Support vehicles.
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Indi Tracks for M1A2 Abrams
retiredyank
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Arkansas, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 10:07 AM UTC
Hey guys. I picked up another M1A2 Abrams at Nats. I spent nearly a year searching for indi tracks for my first one, with no luck. Is there a set being produced?
Delta42
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Georgia, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 10:38 AM UTC
I like the AFV Club set for the M1A1/A2 (AF3512). Easy set to use.
zapper
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Skåne, Sweden
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 10:42 AM UTC
Plastic:
AFV CLUB 35012
Bronco AB3522
Hobby Gallery HG35-007 http://www.diener.co.kr/board.php?board=diener10&command=body&no=356 (not sure if these are released yet)

Metal:
Spade Ace 35132 and 35132S (can be found at Hobbyeasy.com)

BTW: would you consider selling the DS tracks? Drop me a PM and we can work something out.

Cheers,
/E
retiredyank
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 11:17 AM UTC
Thanks guys.
Erik: PM inbound
HeavyArty
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 11:36 AM UTC
It depends on which version you have. If it is an M1A2 SEP, the proper tracks are T-158LL tracks with open guide teeth. All the above are T-158 tracks with solid guide teeth.

Bronco has a set pf T-158LL tracks.
retiredyank
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 11:57 AM UTC
Thanks Gino. You just saved me $36.
jwest21
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Pennsylvania, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 12:32 PM UTC
These from Spade Ace look like they have the open guide horns...would they work Gino?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spade-Ace-1-35-SAT-35132S-Metal-Track-M1A1-M1A2-/180847170047?pt=UK_ToysGames_ModelKits_ModelKits_JN&hash=item2a1b54d1ff

HeavyArty
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 07:06 PM UTC

Quoted Text

These from Spade Ace look like they have the open guide horns...would they work Gino?


Yes, those are T158 LL tracks as well.
zapper
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Skåne, Sweden
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Posted: Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - 08:05 PM UTC
The Hobby Gallery set seem have them as well.

Cheers,
/E
bill_c
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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
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New Jersey, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - 09:23 AM UTC
Those work for the M1A1 AIM?
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - 01:36 PM UTC
T158 LL tracks will also fit M1A1s, but were designed for use on the heavier M1A2s.
Tankrider
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Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - 02:24 PM UTC

Quoted Text

T158 LL tracks will also fit M1A1s, but were designed for use on the heavier M1A2s.


The T-158LL track was not designed for a specific tank, rather is replacement track for all M1A1/M1A2SEP tanks. The skeletonized center guides make it marginally lighter in weight than the T158 track.

JC
f1matt
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Manitoba, Canada
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Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - 07:48 PM UTC
I have to Bronco tracks. I really like them.

matt
retiredyank
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Arkansas, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - 09:49 PM UTC
I'm going with the Bronco tracks. I seriously doubt they can be as bad as AFV Club's T84E1 tracks.
bill_c
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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
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Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2012 - 03:35 AM UTC
My advice is to assemble, THEN paint them. I tried it the other way to insure color correctness on small parts, but the paint made the pieces brittle, and they tended to come apart.
retiredyank
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Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2012 - 05:52 AM UTC

Quoted Text

My advice is to assemble, THEN paint them. I tried it the other way to insure color correctness on small parts, but the paint made the pieces brittle, and they tended to come apart.

Thanks Bill. That is the reason I wanted to get the indi tracks. I started painting on the first set, and found it very tedious.
bill_c
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MODEL SHIPWRIGHTS
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Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2012 - 06:03 AM UTC
Matt, in order to avoid any confusion, I was talking about the Bronco AM tracks. The DML Magic Tracks for the M1A1 AIM are inferior in detail, and must be glued into position.
retiredyank
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Posted: Thursday, August 16, 2012 - 06:06 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Matt, in order to avoid any confusion, I was talking about the Bronco AM tracks. The DML Magic Tracks for the M1A1 AIM are inferior in detail, and must be glued into position.

Bill: There is no confusion. This is how most indi tracks work. I simply applied it to the topic of this thread.
Leopard-2
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Bayern, Germany
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Posted: Sunday, August 19, 2012 - 04:47 AM UTC
Well i'd buy the track set from Bronco since i got good experiences with those sets. Easy to assemble and good movement.

The track links in the AFV-Club set (at least for the Abrams) are much too narrow which leads to a too high number of links per track (more than 90 links although a real tank has about 70 to 75 if i'm right). Also the assembling with the end and midlle connectors is pretty complicated and the result is VERY fragile. The same is true for Trumpeter sets.
retiredyank
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Posted: Sunday, August 19, 2012 - 12:22 PM UTC
I've had only bad experiences with AFV Club tracks. They are far too fragile. The tracks from Trumpeter have yielded good results, but they are the ones that come with the kit. Bronco is virgin territory for me.
shopkin4
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Posted: Sunday, August 19, 2012 - 01:34 PM UTC
Bronco tracks are amazing.

Gino thanks for clarifying. I just switched my order up at Sprue Brothers.
jwest21
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Pennsylvania, United States
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Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2012 - 06:19 AM UTC
which would be correct for the USMC M1A1s in Afghanistan- the T-158LL or T-158? Or would it just depend on the tank?
HeavyArty
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Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2012 - 09:23 AM UTC
Both T158 and T158LL tracks are still in use. It just depends on what was available the last time the tank had the tracks changed.
jwest21
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Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2012 - 11:05 AM UTC
thanks Gino!
Leopard-2
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Bayern, Germany
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Posted: Friday, September 14, 2012 - 12:28 AM UTC
Do you want to build a specific tank used in Afghanistan? If so just ask Google for "M1A1 *Enter barrel name or something else here*". The open guide teeth are easy to spot.

I just searched for "M1A1 Afghanistan" and nearly all pictures showed tanks fitted with the T158LL, by the way. Maybe only generally overhauled tanks (AIMs?) where deployed to Afghanistan?
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