Seeing all the other M1's that have been posted recently I decided I'd put some pics of this one up. I've never been a big Italeri fan but I picked this up for a good price at my LHS last Summer thinking it might be a quick OOTB build (so much for that thought ). Once I started on the kit I recalled why I'm not an Italeri fan. As Gunnie pointed out earlier this week in a thread of his own there are some problems with the kit, nothing that can't be dealt with but a pain none the less. Chief among these problems for me are the 3 piece lower hull and the fit of the rear panels. Anyway I reached a point where I was getting a little frustrated and set it aside for a while. Maybe when I'm done with a couple of other current projects I'll get back to it and finish up. As I already said I started the build intending to do it OOTB but I had a small bout of AMS. The barrel is Modelpoint, which is excellent, the APU from the Legends accessory set, the tracks are the AFV club "bigfoot" set, the sponson box handles are from Tiger Model Designs. A few other bits and pieces I scratch built, and the coaxel machine gun tube is from the Tamiya M1A1 kit. I've also been debating on whether or not to use the kit side skirts or some from one of my other kits. The front sections to my eye at least are much too thin. Here are the pics.









All comments welcome,
Mike

That Modelpoint barrel sure looks nice. I too, have a set of the TMD sponson box handles. Before that I used the very old AEF Designs sponson box handles from their old update set. As far as the skirt thickness, you should be able to beef it up with a piece of sheet styrene.

Looks good so far, lots of work into this project.

Mike:

Nice work on this one. The Model Point and resin APU really add some snap to this kit. Nice touch on the sponson box handles also--they look good.

As a non Abram's expert I have a question regarding the front fender shown on your pics, i.e. the fender is shown raised a tad above the side skirt - is this the normal way the fenders appear, or is this a little touch you are adding for this build?--(if so, a nifty little touch).

Keep us posted.

Steve

Goin on nicely there Mike. I just wanna ask, is that conduit box (the one coming from the APU on the turret) came with the kit?

Okay so I am working on the same crappy kit {excuse the language all you Young Kids}
Any tricks on this piece of $%# kit!!
I am saving my $40.00 model point barrel for a kit worth it!!

Nice build so let me know!!

Is putty the favorite thing this kit likes

Thanks for the comments guys, Rob the Modelpoint barrel is nice, it is also a little pricey but for me at least it is well worth it. This way I can avoid sanding the seam on the kit barrel and then having to "redo" the details you messed up. I don't mind smooth barrels (like the T-55 for example) but some of the modern ones with the thermal jackets and bore evacuators are a real pain.


I might go that route Rob but I have some spare skirts from a Tamiya kit I also might use.




Steve, I actually just hung the skirt there while I was taking the pics that is why the gap is there. Once I finish it won't have one (hopefully)
Cardinal, yes the conduit box did come with the kit.
Jeff, check out Gunnies post in the campaign forum about his build, it pretty much spells it out. Oh yeah keep the putty handy.

Cheers,
Mike

Thanks will do should of known that Gunnie would get it straighted out!!

Looking great so far. That Modelpoint barrel looks fantastic ! I think I need a couple of those

Keep sending pics !

Cheers !

Robert

Thanks Robert, as I already mentioned to Rob/Sabot The Modelpoint barrel is very nice. They don't come with the MRS which is the only downside, but it isn't that hard to scratch or use the kit supplied one. I also have the L44 and L55 120mm barrels for the Leopard 2A5 & A6 respectively, and they are equally as nice. I would highly recommend these barrels to anyone.

Mike

Mike - your build looks very nice so far. How are you planning on painting it - considering everyone else has gone NATO tri-color with this kit so far. I'm compelled to do something different!

Gunnie

Thanks for the compliment Gunnie. As for the paint, right now I'm leaning toward the NATO scheme. The new Tamiya M1A2 is on the to do list (along with many others of course ) and I was planning to convert it to the SEP version and paint it desert sand. But hey as long as I take to actually build something maybe by the time I get to the paint job on the Tamiya there will be something different to do, a winter camo scheme would be nice.

Mike

and it was supposed to be a quick, out of the box build.....lol. looking good ...looking good.