Hello All:

I am doing a diorama with an Abrams attacking down a highway in IOF. I want to have both the TC and loader out of their hatches and this seems to have occurred on the thunder run the 3 ID did. I know the .50 cal can be operated remotely from inside the turret. But what would the TC be doing (ie, touching w/ his hands) if he were outside the turret? I'm pretty sure the two handles that the TC held during WWII are no longer there. Some sort of other trigger mechanism I suppose?

Alternatively, I was thinking of having the gun jammed or something, but I can not find any photos of the .50 cal in parts. Does the rear top plate hinge away from the TC? The Royal update set that I have has a piece here that is meant to replace the kit part which has a bump at the rear. I think the newer .50 cal do not have this bump anymore. Anyway, if it were jammed, is there any particular part of the .50 cal I should model opened up?

Lastly, I will have the loader firing his weapon, but the Tamiya part comes with the ammunition box lid closed, yet the figure in the kit is posed like he is ready to fire. Is there anything else I need to do to this MG to make it more correct?

Burik yes the plate over the receiver area opens and hinges away from the operator. You basicaly have a few choices in PE which may cost you an arm and a leg, or you can get Academy's new Machine gun set #1384. should give all the parts you need and plenty of spares for another project. As to the firing controls on an M1 , sorry can't help. But I reccomend searching the motorpool pics here on the ste your likely to find a shot of the TC position.

Shiryon
IDF armour group
www.idf-armour-group.org

This answer depends on whether you are depicting an M1A1 or an M1A2 as they have different commander's weapon stations (CWS vs. ICWS, aka cupola).

The commander would have his hands below the hatch, inside of the turret when firing on an A1. The hands would be on the grips directly behind the .50 when firing on an A2.

The way the ammo box secures to the mount, the lid can be closed when firing or off completely. The lid latch actually secures to the feed tray.

There is still a "bump" at the rear of the .50. It is the buffer spring housing.

Thanks fellas for the info. My Abrams is an M1A1; I forgot to mention that.

In looking at the photos I do have, it seems the lids for both ammo boxes are on, but they are not secured, and this allows the ammo to be somewhat covered, but also allows it to feed into the gun. Am I right?

The .50 cal mount on the M1A1 has a feed chute that the ammo box attaches to. The lid to the ammo box can be on, off, open, ajar or latched to the feed chute. Ammo in the feed chute is barely visible as it passes into the machine gun itself.

Thank you Sabot. I think I will go with the lid slightly ajar with the ammo belt barely showing. This seems to be the most common use in the photos I have seen of OIF vehicles (my sources are the two Concord books published on the war).

One more question off topic: I have read the Thunder Run book which describes alot of RPG hits. Are there any websites or other sources that show what these impacts look like? Maybe I should post this as a new question/subject for the whole of Armorama to see.