Hi everyone. Here a couple of Aussie M1A1's, which I built a few months ago now. The first one is in the tan scheme they were wearing when first delivered from the US and the second one is painted in Ozcam.

I used the Trumpeter M1A2 kit, which may not quite be up there with the Dragon MI kit in terms of quality, but it went together nicely and has good detail, including the non-slip / textured surfaces that many of the other M1 kits seem to lack.

Unfortunately I purchased the Trumpeter kits well before I knew about Arms Corps Models' conversion kit for the Dragon M1A2 SEP, so in addition to using Eduard's bustle rack extension, I also had to scratch-build a few parts to make the original kits resemble the Aussie version including:
- 'infantry phone boxes' on the rear of the hull;
- fridge / cooler box;
- round blanking plate in front of loader's hatch etc.

The stowage items are a combination of Verlinden and a few bits and pieces from my spares box. The Australian water jerries are from 'Mouse House'. The kit was painted with acrylics, lightly weathered with chalk pastels and decals were from Echelon. The .50 & .30 cal liner decals are from Arms Corps Models.

Thanks for looking

Greg

Ozcam looks brilliant. A pair of very inspiring models very very well executed ! Great weathering and I like the scuff marks on the skirts

Thanks for sharing
Adam

Thanks Adam

The oz cam looks very effective on this kit, I will have to attempt one.Where did you source the decals from.

Sorry just re read your post and answered my own question

Looks great! I have Dragon's M1A2 SEP, in my stash. I didn't realize that you can't see the rubber tread blocks from the inside of the tracks. I like how you were able to apply the decals, before the camo.

Thanks Matt.
The Trumpeter tracks are a bit ordinary.

They both look pretty good, but they have the same major issue on both. You used the M1A2 ICWS (Improved Commander's Weapons Station). The Aussie Abrams is an M1A1 AIM SA model, and uses the M1A1 CWS, not the M1A2 ICWS. You would have been better off starting with an M1A1 kit.

The only reason Arms Corps Models conversion says to use the Dragon M1A2 SEP kit is since it has a bunch of the parts needed for an Aussiea M1A1 AIM SA (BRE, T/I Phone, slave cable box, T158LL tracks, etc.) and it has all the M1A1 parts in the box.

There is also an issue with all of the Trumpeter Abrams on the left front turret profile. It is angled up too sharply and the front slope is too small from top to bottom. You can see what I am talking about in Part 3 of Vodnik's M1 Comparison Article.

Thanks Gino.

Great article - it would have come in handy back when I built them. I might look at replacing the commander's weapons stations down the track some time.

Cheers
Greg

Nice work there Greg, the ozcam is wery nice done and makes the model stand out.

Cheers

Gregg, nice builds. I really like the Ozcam paint scheme. Weathering has that used, but not abused look especially with those scuff marks.
Joel

Thanks fellas

I've also managed to get hold of a couple of M1A1 CWSs and will be fitting them on the weekend (thanks again for the heads-up Gino).

Replaced commander's weapons station on the sand coloured M1 (below)...just need to do the camo one now. Thanks again.