Hi all,

A few dumb question so please bare with me as this is part of my steep modern learning curve.

I have the Gasoline 1/48th M1A2 (early) and am trying to make a descision for a USMC project. I either need to make a Gulf War standard Marine M1A1 or try and make an updated vehicle as deployed in Afghanistan.


Which way I go depends on the difficulty and how much work is involved. To help decide I need some info on a couple of things from the many Abrams buffs here ......


1) What needs to be done to backdate it to the USMC M1A1 standard, which I assume is the M1A1HAMC. I know the CITV needs to go and be plated over and the kit depicts some FTX gear which has to go too. But I'm not sure about other less obvious details.

The Gasoline kit ;




2) The Afghanistan deployed USMC tanks have some of the TUSK1 suite fitted. There are a reasonable ammount of pics around of the obvious stuff. The DUKE jammers have mounting brackets attached to the rear bustle extension but shots of the turret top showing changes to other aerial mountings which appear common, are hard (very) to find.

Deployed vehicle with DUKE and changed aerial mounts ; theres at least 3 other aerials on this one plus the two standard aerials at the turret rear and yet another 2 visable jammers of some sort.....



Thanks and sorry for dumbxxx questions
Brent

The Commander's cupola and .50 cal mount are totally different on an A1 as well.

Also, USMC Abrams have 8 individual tubes for their smoke grenade launchers as opposed to the one-piece six-shot unit the Army uses.

Thanks Gino, that's a start at least.

I'd totally missed the different smoke dischargers! I'll also have to find some clearer pics of the cuploa and .5 mount .....

Brent

M1A1 CWS (Commander's Weapons Station) on left, M1A2 on right. The M1A1 CWS has a remotely operated .50 cal that can be fired from within the cupola.

Thanks Gino, great pics - I know exactly what I'm looking at now.

So I assume (dangerous I know) that the TUSK upgrades for the Marine M1A1s would still be based around the CWS ... and they haven't changed the TC's station to M1A2 standard?

Brent

That is correct. The CWS does not change w/TUSK upgrades. USMC M1A1s w/TUSK still have the M1A1 CWS.

Thanks again Gino.

I'd still like to know about teh three items on the turret from mid center foward if possible. What looks like a jammer? in the middle and the two fwd aerials. Does anyone have any details of how and where exactly they're mounted ?

cheers
Brent

If you are talking about in the pic you posted above, that is another vehicle behind it. The tank (coming from the left in the pic) has two Duke anti-IED antennas (thick tubes), a medium -thick short antenna for EPLRS, and two thin radio antennas (antenna balls on top). The other antennas around the TC's area are behind it on something else.

Yeah thanks very much, the more I looked at it the more it looked odd. They're out of focus c/f the front tank which had me wondering, and there's a hint of a shadow too dammit .... unusual photo to have the second vehicle so well hidden !!!

I think I have enough info, got some pics of the USMC M1A1 PE/resin sets from Voyage and ET Models and they show a lot of the stuff I need to make ....

Thanks again Gino.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Ok, long time and a few questions later I've made some progress on my M1.

Completed the basic assembly with the fit of the outer wheel rims probably being the worst feature, other issues being what you'd expect from any resin piece, removing the big moulding plugs without damage and getting parts square without positive locating lugs.




Started making a few minor changes to bring it closer to the M1s commonly seen recently in service. I dremeled out the solid resin around the rear upper track and drive sprocket so I could remove the rear-most track guard.





I also picked the main areas on the turret and made a start on those, the gun/mantlet area, CITV, CWS, GPS-LOS and smoke launcher ammo boxes.





The gun mantlet as supplied sits back inside the front turret armour profile and shoul dbe slightly forward, enough to see the side plate detail. I spaced it out with scrap resin and reworked the detail.




The CITV was cut off and cover plate and PE bolts fitted.

The GPS-LOS needed reworking so I could model it with open doors and I cut off the side turret ammo storage boxes so they could be correctly mounted lower on the turret sides. I couldn't find any pics of them being up so high and they needed detailing anyway.

Finally I took a stab at making the CWS, hatch and cupola area. It's not 100% accurate but should look close enough under a coat of paint. The MG mount and details will go on after basic painting so they don't get broken off during handling.










Next major areas to tackle are the exhaust wading trunk and the bustle extension. Then it's all the missing lifting eyes and shackles, tow cables etc etc .....

cheers
Brent

Some more progress, got the big additions squared away, the wading trunk and bustle extension. There's a few more small things to add or adjust before priming. And a few details will have to be left till after the main painting to avoid too many breakages while handling .......

Brent

Finished most of the detailing now, just a few minors left, the biggest being the loaders armour kit.

Anyway fitted the Duke jammers, corrected the APU and detailed it and infantry phone box. Also added tow cables to the turret sides and the heavy tow bar to the front hull ..........

cheers
Brent

That looks great. Don't forget to add back the crosswind sensor.

One thing you may want to look into, is the three circles on the blowoff doors. IIRC those are an Army feature for ammo reloads and the Marines did opt for that feature. That said I have seen current tank with that feature used by Marines. I am sure others can correct if I am wrong on faulty memory or someone new upgrade/enhancement program.

Thanks Ryan,

Yeah still got a few things to add, the crosswind sensor being one of them. Also have to seal up the Duke jammers, add caps to the smoke launchers, build the loaders LAGS with thermal sight and finish off the CWS .....

As to the caps, I guess it depends on the history of the tanks. It's my understanding that the Army handed over M1A1s to the Marines in Iraq, these may have had the bulk ammo replacement system. Newer builds probably not as I think even the army has done away with it as being unnecessary, as another function was to equalise humidity so the gunnery computer wouldn't have to make compensations for ammo temp.

Despite much searching I haven't managed to find any pictures of the turret tops to confirm if vehicles in Afghanistan have them or not.

cheers
Brent

Looking good. The disks on the blow-off panels could be there or not. It depends on what was in trend when the tank was built and when the tank last went through rebuild. Basically, if they were there and undamaged, they are left. If they are damaged, they may be replaced with a new cover w/out the disks or another cover with disks. Army and Marine Abrams can both have them or not as well.

Thanks Gino,

Think I'll leave them then as it add's a bit of texture and interest to the top deck .....

cheers
Brent

Pretty much ready for priming now, a few small details left but then there always is ......

Brent

And primed .... looks a bit more like an Abrams now.

cheers
Brent

Looks like it is coming out nicely. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Gino, appreciate the comments.

Brent

The base coat is on and lightened. Brush painted with Humbrol enamels, how old school is that? .....

Tracks, roadwheels and panel lining next and then on to the weathering ....

cheers
Brent

About 90% done now. The basic colours are all blocked in and most of the panel lining done ....

cheers
Brent

Last of the details ...........

Brent

Looks really good. I like the stowage as well. The only thing I would change is the brown road wheel. Replacement ones come in either sand or forest green. Also, camo is not applied below the track line, so no brown ones would be seen.