Hey fellas. I received this kit last week from Luckymodel.com and it arrived in just 7 short days, which I really didn't expect.

Of course I opened it up to inspect it and it's a really nice kit.

I started working on it last night. I skipped ahead in the directions to step 6, to start working on the lower hull. No real reason other than the fact that I've almost be "trained" by Tamiya to do this first. Haha

This is my first Rye Field kit and so far I'm very happy with it.

I guess I plan to do a small build log for this. Nothing in depth or major.

Here are a few pics. Let me know if there are any parts you guys would like to see pictures of.







Any comments or suggestions are welcome

Cheers,
Dustin

As a Desert Storm Vet, this model has piqued my interest.

Nice to see that RMF did the anti-skid coating...that takes some time of a build not having to do that.

This kit is now on my Christmas list.

I can't speak for accuracy, but I've worked on mine and the detail and fit is great.

Looks good so far,agree on the non skid areas.

Maybe an M1A1 AIM next ?

You could actually build an M1A1 AIM from this kit. It has all the same plastic as their M1A1/M1A2 w/Interior kit (minus the interior parts). You would just need a new set of tracks for it since it includes the older T156 chevron block tracks.

Their M1A1/M1A2 with Interior kit actually has all the parts to build almost any Abrams from an early M1A1 up to an M1A2 SEP. Again, the earlier T156 or T158 tracks (it has the latest T158LL tracks) would be the only issue, which can be sourced from a few different makers.

I'm currently painting the M1A2 TUSK II, and I have Dragons AIM and SEP V2. Not real sure when I'll build those.

As soon as Jim sends it to me, I will be doing a build review/blog for the sight.

As with David, I to am a Gulf War Vet, so the build will definately be as accurate as possible with correct MRE boxes and gear.

I look forward to your build, Pete.

How does this kit compare to Dragons M1A1 AIM?

I haven't built Dragons kit, but this kit has nice detail, no flash that I can see, some seam lines that need cleaned up. But the biggest thing I did notice is the tracks have TONS of ejector pin marks. Not that big of deal. Clean the bottom run and a few others and it should be good.

Pete,

These are the correct MRE cases right?

No sir, those are not. The bottom one is the correct type for that era.



Verlinden made some, Hudson & Allen Studios, and in the older Modern Equipment set from Tamiya had some too.

On another note, I just received the same kit today from Jim, so I will start a blog also and end with a build review feature.

No, those are the more modern ones from the late '90s on.

For ODS, the boxes were flatter, like below.

Top


Side


End


Here is how they compare to the one you have. The newer one is on top.


Tamiya has the older MREs in their older Modern US Accessories Set (35141). It also has a bunch of other gear you could use on it.


They also came in the Tamiya M151A2 w/Trailer kit (35130) too as the load for the trailer.


Verlinden and a few others have/had them as well.

Great minds think a lot sir! I guess we were typing at the same time Gino.

While I watch Dustin build his Abrams, I'll also be searching for one of those Tamiya accessory sets. That looks darned handy!

Thank you fellas very much for the info. Just one more thing to buy on this already tight deadline!

I have the base created and some progress.

Nice start Dustin. It looks like yours is the first wip on this I see on the net. It looks like they have done great job with this kit and I hope we will see other variants of Abrams as well, especially the USMC M1A1 out of the box.

Great looking build Dustin, going to have to stay tuned to see how it comes out.

Robert

Looking Great - Looking forward to see the end result!

Thank you all. I have a few days off of work so I should have some really good progress to show.

I've got a bit more to show. I had a ton of honey-do's to get done today before winter sets in.

I'm definitely not as good as some of the others here that do very in depth build logs and such. My hats off to y'all.






Cheers,
Dustin

Pete, Gino -

The "longer" ones on this sheet are correct, right?

The whole sheet is correct. The longer one is the box itself. The other part is a sleeve that slides around the box to protect it.

Looking good Dustin, The only thing i can say to those boxes are beef patty and everything in BBQ sauces LOL. MRE did get better as time went by.

Robert