Here's my version of the beast. This is Tamiya's new M1A2 kit built as a USMC M1A1HA with MCD. The only aftermarket item I added to the kit was a Barrel Depot barrel. To meet campaign requirements, this tank was named 'Cardinal Sins' after the user Cardinal. Stowage items are from Tamiya and Verlinden. I plan to dust the model and do a little pastel work.

Any questions, comments, or criticisms are welcomed.








The rest of the pics can be found here - http://gallery48601.fotopic.net/c128042.html

Hi there Jeff. Great build you have there. Nice of you to name it after my callsign. Are you planning to do a dio with it? *sigh* You're done now & I haven't even started yet. Are those things on the blow off panels only on the A2's?:| Superb build. Regards.

Hi Grasshopper,

My gosh, you have a very nice build there. I like the subtle weathering and busy stowage compartment. Well, I still have to start my own build for the project. I do hope to finish it by the deadline.

Cheers,
wanze

Thanks for your comments guys!

Cardinal - I may put it on a scenic base, but I'm not sure about a full blown dio. As for the pressure valves on the roof, I'm pretty sure they are on all tanks from M1A1HA standards and above, so if you are doing an M1A1HA or M1A2, you should be all set.

Pressure valves.... so that's what they are. The Tamiya M1A1 kit that I have doesn't have it. Do I have to scratch build it? Any suggestions?

Jeff, it looks great. At first glance, I noticed the loader's M240 skate ring. It does not get painted and remains a dark metallic color. You can easily fix it by coloring it with an ordinary lead pencil. I'll take a look at your gallery photos later tonight.

Those circular objects are not pressure relief valves, they are part of an unused ammo resupply system. Those three caps hold the ammo rack to the blast panel. You will find them on later M1A1s and early M1A2s. The system was changed so the blast panel/ammo rack remain one unit and can be replaced as a whole unit. The older system allowed the blast panel to be disconnected from the empty ammo rack and reused when the full rack was reinstalled. I've never seen it used or heard of it being used.

Thanks for the correction Sabot. Sorry about that I could swear I read that, in the event of an ammo explosion they relieved some of the pressure. I guess it's time to go over my resources again.

Good catch on the skate ring, totally missed that one.

Just looked through my resources. I saw a pic in Concord's M1A1/A2 book on pg. 23. It states that "The blow-off panels above the ammunition racks are modified with additional pressure valves." and "If the rounds explode, the resulting pressure can escape through the valves." I guess after reading this I figured that was what those fixtures were for.

Here is a scan of the "pressure relief valves". I've always thought it funny that this myth has carried on for over a decade (we picked up M1A1HAs in June 1990 and they had these). We were taught that they are for the proposed ammo reloading system that has not been used operationally as far as I know.

You can see that these three covers are used to attach the blow off panel to the ammo rack assembly. Later versions of this system have the blow off panels remain attached to the racks when the tank is reloaded. These tanks have the access covers plated over, but the three circles are still visable.

I'll let you decide what you want to think they are for.

Hmm....interesting. Def can't argue with this, thanks for the post Rob. It goes to show you that you can't always believe what you read. I had seen this and obviously was totally wrong. Interesting to see these urban legends surfacing in the world of modeling.

So, would it be okay if I do not have this on my M1A1 or do I need to scratch build it on. I'm doing my tank as one used in OIF from the 3rd Infantry Div. (Mechanized). Any suggestions, Major Rob?

Great build. What did you do to the dazzeler on the turret top? I tried to use watercolors, gloss paint, ect, nothing seems to look correct. Plus, it seems more accurate than the kit supplied one (Dragon USMC OIF), did you scratch build?
Also, the amount of gear is nice, but most marines get one compression/sleeping bag, one ISO mat, one alice pack or whatever they issue these days and personal gear., ie LBV, flak, ect. Would like to see someone here come up with a complete list of actual gear that is issued with each tank.
Great paint job BTW, my next abrams I plan on trying to do a camo job, never had the courage to do one yet. What brand/color paint did you use?

The Dazzler is right out of the Tamiya kit, I didn't add/scratch build any goodies on it. For the gold window itself I used MM Metalizer Brass. I originally tried Testor's gold, but it looked terrible, so I gave the Brass a shot and I thought it came out fairly well. For the camo I used Tamiya NATO Green, NATO Brown, and NATO Black straight out of the bottle. I drybrushed with Creative Workshop's Bleached Bone, as I have found this paint slow to dry on the brush and very controllable. I washed with oils.

Jeff, I applaud you on your choice of names, that ones pretty cool, which is just what I was hoping for when I made that rule. The kit looks great. I will look at the gallery later, but this one is definitely a winner.

Rob

Thank you! I have to admit, that rule made it a little bit tricky, lol.

Nice build .Err still looking for name!!

Thank you!

As for the name of it, you can see it here (it was hidden on the second pg of pics).



I also decided to give a new technique fr the vision blocks a try, and I hope to post those results later on today.

Nice work here. I really like the subtleness of your camo scheme and dry-brushing. Always good to see modern USMC tracks out there !

Hoorah !!

Robert

SEMPER FI, MARINES !!!