Hello!

I've decided to get back into modeling and for starters I am working on a trio of Bradleys with a couple from Tamiya and a kit from Meng (and some donor kit sprues). I know that the previous Tamiya Kits have their inaccuracies and the Meng kit is pretty darn awesome right out of the box. That being said, I will do my darndest (I am not a bolt counter, but I do appreciate some correct details) to build a reasonable representation of a vehicle I spent alot of time on.

Here's what I have planned:

M3A0 (PIP) Eagle Troop, 2/2 ACR (Cold War Colors + Markings)

M2A2: Eagle Troop, 2/2 ACR - Operation Desert Storm/73 Easting

M3A3: Hmmm haven't decided on which unit to portray on this one but maybe a vehicle assigned to 1st Brigade/3ID participating in Allied Spirit/JMRC maneuvers.

Welcome aboard! I can't wait to see what you have in store for the Bradley's.

I have built one Bradley so far. Orochi M3A3. It was a fun build. I'm gathering kits and AM to build a few more Bradley's.

Here is my M3A3. Not the best you'll see, but it's nice to me.



There is a huge knowledge base here when it comes to US Armor. They are great to help.

Thanks, Dustin! I am focusing on the lower hull assemblies for my builds this week. I was bored yesterday so I got a little carried away and started to put together sections of the M2A2 upper hull.

I have an incoming Meng M3A3 that I'm going to use to upgrade the road wheels on the Tamiya M2A2 kit and also part out to my existing M3A3 for spare and test parts.

Some things I'm going to address as I work on these builds are:


including/fabricating the thin "lips" along the turret face of the M3A0 which helped secure the 50 cal cans used to store the smoke grenades. I have some photo etch rubber straps which I'll use to replicate the rubber straps used to secure said 50 cal cans.

I am borrowing the observer/loader hatch from the Meng kit and will use that on the M3A0.

I have also taken some of the guards from the M2A2 ODS kit from the drivers hatch and commanders hatch and am adding that to the M3A0 as well.

Question for you: Do you know of any vendor that has 25mm ammunition boxes and markings? It would be awesome if they had resin belts of HE and AP ammunition and belts of 7.62 ammunition I could layer into the ready boxes on the Meng kit.

I have the interior of the M2 kit and I am going to strip it down to the configuration we had onboard our M2A2's during Desert Storm. Because we exchanged our M3A0's for the M2A2's the stowage was a lot different and we ended up jerry-rigging the stowage for the extra TOW's we carried over and above the standard load out.

I am also looking to buy AFV whip antennas from Adler's Nest.

Whew. Sorry for the rambling! LOL

Great job on your build by the way!

Legend makes a nice resin stowage kit. LF119. Give it a look.

Good to see someone else doing Brads. I have built a bunch over the years; a few M2A2s, M2s, M3A1, M7A2s, M7A3s, etc. I'm looking forward to seeing yours.




Djiti's Productions from France makes a set that has both the plastic and metal 25mm ammo cans in resin.


Archer makes decals for them; the right side of the sheet w/the orange warning diamonds.


I used them in my 3 ID ODS M2A2 backdated from the Meng M2A3.

After another long hiatus I am back on track with the first of my Bradley builds.

This one is an M3 PIP (Product Improvement Program) from the unit I served in, Eagle Troop, 2nd Armored Cavalry.

I took the old Tamiya M2 Kit and took parts from the Tamiya M2A2 ODS kit as and the Meng M3A3 to represent an PIP version.

1. Adding the driver's hatch guard from the ODS kit.
2. Deletion of the 7.62 ammo can stowage on the left-hand side of the turret.
3. Addition of the antenna guard from the ODS kit and adding it to the left-hand side of the turret.
4. Plastic sheet to cover over the firing ports and deletion of the vision blocks on the right rear crew compartment.
5. Filling the holes on the front slope of the turret. Our Bradleys had rubber straps for smoke grenade box stowage and did away with the previous stowage boxes.
6. Using the loader's hatch from the Meng kit.

I plan on using the drive sprockets and rear idler wheels from the Meng kit as well but need to test fit.


This all took a quite a bit of sanding and fitting. It's not obsessively perfect but I'm happy with the result.

Unless you need an earlier variant, don't waste your time with the Tamiya kits. Here is my Meng which won it all at MosquitoCon a few years ago:

Awesome build! I actually wanted to capture the representation of the Bradleys I served on in Germany and the Gulf War so yes, I still need the older kits, unless Meng or Takom or Tamiya decide to do an M3A1 or an updated M2A2 with correct suspension, etc.

Looking good so far. Keep up the good work.

Nice to see a fellow Desert Storm Vet building thier vehicle. He is mine...Tamiya's M2A0 kit, converted to a M2A1, with Legend's Stowage set. Built and painted as my personal Bradley (C-33 Lethal Tendencies) during Desert Storm, 3-15 Inf. 24






Interior...nowhere near as cluttered as it actually was, lol


Hours before crossing into Iraq.

That's cool. Now if you could do the figures as well...