My build of the AFV M88A1 has now officially gotten out of control. Having scratch built and added the APU as well as a few other details behind the bulkhead, I've now finally decided to go ahead and complete the entire engine compartment.

I haven't found an aftermarket engine yet, but I think that either the Legend M48 or M60 should be pretty close. Certainly better than starting from nothing.

Any suggestions (other than therapy)?

I tried looking up your email address to end you my photos. It's the A2 engine removed from the vehicle, but not too far off.

Here are a few TM views of the AVDS 1790-2DR engine that is fitted to the M88A1 (the A2 is fitted with a AVDS 1790-8CR) :







Here's a rear view of the AVDS 1790-2DA that appears to be similar to the 2DR rear :



H.P.

Thanks for the views. They'll be helpful in making any changes if the other engine is significantly different.

If I was going to buy either the M48 or the M60 from Legend, does anybody know if one would be a better starting point than the other, or were those two engines pretty much the same?

I have the M60 engine from Legend. It would be a good starting point.
By now you should have the photos I sent. Consider this: How much do you want to see? I did a Sho't Kal Centurion with a "full" interior, and cheated big time on the engine. If you just want to show a realistic portion of it, without going whole hog, here's how:

I opened up just the top access hatches, and cut off the long hood from an Athearn locomotive shell. The brake cooling fans come in different styles and the ones I used were almost a perfect match in appearance and scale, unlike the ones in the photo. Even these would do in a pinch.



Like I said, there are others out there (and you can buy just the fans separately from Walther's) which match the ones below much better:



Add the details around the fans - save a lot of money and time, and no one will be the wiser. The Sho't Kal won me a trip to Japan.

I got the photos just fine and they'll be very helpful. I use line drawings from TMs all the time to do construction, but there's nothing like actual photos for painting.

I'm not certain just how far I'm going to go, but this is in the context of the fact I TOTALLY detailed the interior with just about everything there is and then after photographing the whole thing, I've glued the hull to the chassis and for the most part nobody will ever see anything but the photos.

I've already determined I'm going to cut off all the access covers and hinge them so they'll open and so now I've pretty much got to put stuff underneath them! The biggest driver of this was my decision to build the hydraulic cylinders for the boom stay line. Couldn't help myself.

One question I do have. Does anybody know the location for the SINGLE Voltage regulator??? The Dual Voltage Regulator is in the left rear corner and the TM clearly shows where. But all they do for the single is show a drawing of it, but not WHERE it's located.

Thanks again to both Frenchy and Mike for your help!

According to what is mentioned on the top of this TM page :

http://recoveryvehicles.tpub.com/TM-9-2350-256-20-2/TM-9-2350-256-20-20055.htm

It should logically be located "somewhere" under the air inlet doors :

http://recoveryvehicles.tpub.com/TM-9-2350-256-20-2/TM-9-2350-256-20-20743.htm

Sorry I can't be more precise...

H.P.

Yeah, it's pretty frustrating. As it says, there are five sets of these air inlet doors on the back deck. I've not yet been able to figure out under which set this thing is.

Somebody will know!

The same place I did the research for the A2 still has A1's. Since the dudes there are used to seeing me around, I'll see if I can't get you a photo next week.

That would be awesome!

Good news: I got found an A1 with the power pack removed, and did a whole walkaround of the empty bay. That in itself makes a pretty cool project. I also took several shots of the voltage regulators form different angles.

Bad news: I cannot upload them for you until I get on a non-gov computer - Sunday evening at the very latest.

That's GREAT news! The TMs can be hit and miss with some of the drawings. Not only are you not always sure WHERE something is, but painting becomes a real crap shoot. These are going to be VERY helpful!

HUGE thanks to Rob for sending me no less than 40 shots of the entire empty engine bay of an M88A1. This will make deciding what to detail and how to do it (and paint it!) MUCH easier.

I'd almost suggest that posting these to Prime Portal would be a great benefit to anyone else crazy enough to try a project like this.

My luck, about 2 weeks after I'm done (in about a year or so!) somebody will come out with a complete A/M pack and detailing kit!

Thanks again Rob!!

Tom

Glad to help. Like I said, the civilians there are used to seeing me. The hard part is dealing with the Army dudes. They always act a little worried when they see an SF dude walking around the area. I probably set a very bad example, but the first thing I have to say is "Don't do that" when they stand at parade rest for some guy taking pictures for a hobby. Damn I hate that.
Now let's see some progress photos.

I'd love to post, but for some reason I'm out of storage space on the site. What I've been doing is posting a link to photobucket, but I'd rather put them in my post.

In any event, I'll send you all my shots so far on WeTransfer.

Tom

If you already use Photobucket, nothing could be easier than posting your photos here. Cick on your photos in Photobucket. You'll get a menu on the right. Click on "IMG." You don't even have to hit "Copy." Go the back to Armorama and hit paste where you want the photo. It's far easier than posting from your gallery here.