As we have seen in other Dragon releases, they have truly taken over the armor industry for us modelers. I recently reviewed the Tamiya Leclerc for Finescale, and although it is a nice kit, with a BIG price, I couldn't begin to say how disappointed I was in the instructions referring to the Tamiya after market photo etch set which was truly needed to make a presentable representation of the tank. The metal wheels were a nice touch, but I would have rather had the etch set with injected wheels instead.

Dragon has truly set the mark for the industry.

Brent I think I could handle you, it's Danette that scares me. Just kidding Danette.

Must... have... this.... kit!

Now all we need is an M60 (3 in 1 would be killer) and we're covered for both Army and Marine tanks. Man, I'm totally in love with DML now! lol

Just great...twelve M1's on the closet shelf, and now I gotta buy more. Whoever said DML can't entice this buyer into more.

Tease :-)


Dave

WOW!

Pawel & Co., from what I can see here this is awesome! I keep buying the "latest & greatest" M1 series and then relegating it to the HoHum stack.

This is very cool.

Jim

Please tell me it's going to include the bustle rack extensions (either marine or TF 1-64)and jerry can racks. I can't wait for it to come out, but I hate to spend more for those items.

Wow!!! Even a confirmed Panzer nut like myself might just have to pick one up. If I do, I wonder if I will self combust?

Cheers,
Willie

Oh man, I just pissed myself.


oh, I did it again.

This kit is going to be AWESOME. I am currently working on both a Tamiya M1A2 and a Trumpeter M1A1 and they do leave something to be desired. But this offereing from DML looks to take the cake. I will be buying at least 12 of these things, no lie.

As for the M1IP, Pawel, please convince DML to have mercy on my pocket book and release it as a regular kit.

I can't stand it...between this and Trumpeters SA-6 and MAZ...why, I have to think up new things to wish for.! :-)

Brent,

Thanks for showing your DML posters. Looking at them had me foaming at my mouth. As I'm M1 addict, my hands can't stop modelling m1 tanks, thanks in partly to wonderful Echeleon decals and many M1 kits. I can't wait to get my hands on new DML kit. Are AIM tanks ever in Iraq war (OIF)? Can I make it look like Army M1A1HA, so that I can use Echeleon decals on them?

An M1A1 AIM is simply a rebuilt M1A1 and looks no different than any other M1A1. So, yes, it was/is used by US Army in OIF and can depict an M1A1 in OIF using the Echelon decals.

Check out my M1 Varients article for more info on the M1A1 AIM and other M1 types.

Nope, this first release will not include them. It is meant to be US Army M1A1AIM. This means that Marine parts won't be included and 1-64 racks also won't be there because this unit didn't have AIM tanks during OIF, but rather standard M1A1HC from pre-positioned stocks.

Of course what Gino wrote above is true - M1A1HC and M1A1AIM are externally identical, so the kit can be used to make 1-64 model, but as DML decided to market the kit as AIM, they will not include 1-64 racks.

Pawel

As good as a kit is the After Market guys will still get some business. If your like me and you have plenty of the now lesser kit, you'll have plenty of parts to turn this into whatever tank you want. I just can't wait to get my hands on this one.

Tanks,
Andy

As DML already made their poster available, I'm sure they wouldn't mind that I share some additional turret pictures with you. These are Armorama.com EXCLUSIVE:






Pawel

This is very exciting new for us modern guys...now, how about a few crewmen in the box to ride these mounts?

OK , I caved! I just preordered my first piece of modern armor with this kit. What the heck, I need to broaden my horizons. I ordered it through VLS and find it hard to believe that with all the details shown on the poster this M1A1 AIM will cost less than my precious German Armor does. Nothing wrong with that, or so says my pocket book.

Cheers,
Willie

Pawel has been kind enough to send me some renderings of the hull and I must say that this is the most exciting model to me that I can imagine. I cannot wait to get mine.

One question Pawel, On the tanks with the bustle rack APU the screen in the bottom of the bustle rack only covers about half the rack. Is a full rack screen going to be included as well, as many vehicles did not have them installed? Also is there going to be extra .50 cal boxes for the rear bustle rack stroage areas?

Rob,

Tanks that are wired for the EAPU (e.g. all AIM tanks) have the base plate for the EAPU welded to the bustle rack bottom. Even when such tank does not carry the actual EAPU, the base plate remains in place, as it is not removable. This is how the DML kit is designed - the base plate is separate piece and can be left in the bustle rack when EAPU is omitted. Details of the upper side of this plate will not be accurate, as we couldn't find any photos of it, but the assumption is that when you don't install EAPU, you will fill the rack with crew gear, so the plate top won't be visible.

EDIT: I just checked current CAD drawings and it looks like DML designers modified the EAPU parts slightly to make assembly easier, so that now the base plate is molded together with a section of one EAPU wall. Still one cut with sharp No.11 blade is all that is needed to have the separate base plate.



I think that some extra ammo boxes of three types will be included.

Pawel

Ok guys! You are all acting like little kids the night before Christmas trying to sneek a peek in your presents. :-) :-) :-) :-)
Pawel, be Santa Claus and start taking down names who is trying to peek in thier presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, thanks Pawel for letting us now what is going to be in the kits.


CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow~ I'm speechless....

I think that this is a good moment to mention for the first time (I will do it many times again in the future!) that the DML kit could never be as good as I hope it will be, if it wasn't for help of some of our fellow modelers and Armorama members.

First name I want to mention is Mike Mummey - thanks to Mike I had very close and personal contact with real US Marine M1A1 tank and had opportunity to take hundreds of photos of it. Mike also answered many of my M1 related questions. Thanks Mike!

Next is Pete Becerra (Epi) - Pete spent a lot of time with measuring tape and a camera on a real M1A1 and results of these measurements and Pete's photos were essential to design the DML kit. Thanks Pete!

I received also a lot of invaluable help from Rob McCune (BroAbrams) - Rob shared some of results of his own research of M1 tanks with me. Thanks Rob!

Lawrence Goh, the man behind the Echelon Fine Details, offered many useful suggestions to improve the kit design. Thanks Larry!

Numerous other modelers here on Armorama and on other modeling forums gave a lot of valuable information, which I used to improve my knowledge of M1 family tanks. I particularly well remember useful information shared with us by Rob Gronovius (Sabot), Andy Elesky (Tankleader) and Robert Burik - Thanks guys!

And last but not least I want to mention Ralph Zwilling. Ralph opened the DML door for me and his photos were very useful during the kit design. Ralph was also DML's technical advisor in M1 Panther II kit design project and while M1A1 AIM will not share many parts with Panther II, the work on the new kit was much easier as we were able to use that great earlier model as a base. Thanks Ralph!

Pawel

...looks very nice!

Just one Dutch (me being dutch...) question; what's it gonna cost???
(with so much extra stuff in the box and so much good detail, i'm affraid it won't be a cheap one...)

Unfortunately I can't answer this question... I simply don't know - I'm only involved in the kit technical design, not in business part of the project.

Pawel

Yes, it appears we are very lucky that we had Pawel on this project. I thought we would never see an Abrams model this detailed. For those of us who have the latest Tamiya kit and used it for an Army tank, it does not appear too hard to use the Tamiya Marine parts for the Dragon kit, if we wanted to make the new Dragon kit a Marine tank. The Eduard PE set could be used too for the bustle rack extension.

Even if the new Dragon does not have the 1-64 rack extension/jerry can rack/exhuast deflector, these items can still be scratched without too much difficulty. I made them in my upcoming MIlitary Modelling article and the end result can be seen under My Profile. I would discuss how to make them but in deference to Military Modelling I do not think it is right to discuss that here, at least now. Once the article comes out I would be happy to discuss how I made mine. The only thing I did not like the way mine came out was the diamond mesh. All my sources were out of the PE mesh that I needed, so I had to go with back-up wedding veil that did not quite fit the bill, but was okay.

Finally, I'll bet there will be one or two AM companies that give these items a try if Dragon does not.

Bob

Hello
The VLS site http://www.modelmecca.com has them listed for 29.95 U.S.

Tanks
Andy