As stated, this is my first attempt at a post WWII tank. I'm almost done but not quite...still have some stuff to add and some weathering to do. This is the Tamiya M1A2 kit. Comments welcome.













I'm curious as to how the Marines would secure the end of the tow cable as seen 'floating' here in the last photo? Any Marine tankers?

I cannot help you with accuracy but I like what I see. I especially like the baby blue cooler as it's not a popular color seen in military dios. A lot of people do red coolers but we see red in tail lights all the time.

Looks very good to me. Agree with Alan about the blue cooler, nice touch.

Congrats

Nice Charles - I too cannot help with the accuracy issues, but where's the beer?

Thats a great first crack at a modern tank and you couldnt have picked a better tank to make too. Great build overall.

From your last photo, it looks like the tow cable is curving outwards which may not give it the most realistic look. I realise its made of plastic so bending it might pose as a problem unless you decide to heat it up a little to get the bend you want.

Im no abrams expert and the likes of Gino, EPI or Sabot will be correcting me if im wrong here but i havent yet seen the old smoke launchers on the M1A2. I have seen them on the M1A1s though. I mostly see the 'beehive' looking one similar to the one in this photo.


Image referenced from Primeportal.net.

Nice Abrams but as Jazza states it, it's definitely a USMC M1A1 not a A2.

I'm looking for some weathering and I'm pretty dsure it'll be a winner.

Olivier

CReading's model was built from Tamiya M1A2 kit, but it is a US Marine M1A1HC, not M1A2. The smoke grenade launchers are not new or old, they are Marine type. All USMC M1s use this style of grenade launchers, while all Army M1s use the type you showed on the photo.

Pawel

Looks good to me CReading, busy with that kit myself.
Its also my first tank model.

The Tamiya M1A2 kit has the parts and markings for 2 Army M1A2s and 3 Marine M1A1HAs.

CReading chose one of the marine tanks, you can tell from the smoke launchers, the mcd and only the commander has a machine gun. Army tanks have 2.

Hope my build turns out this well.

Thanks for sharing.

John

USMC M1A1HCs also use 2 MGs, Commander's and Loader's. If it only has one, he has left the loader's off.

Can't see the pics from here at work to comment further, but it sounds pretty good.

Marine tanks also have two machine guns - if you look closely at the third picture of the model, you can see the mount and the ammunition can for the loader's machine gun. The gun is probably also there, although photo is very blurry in this area.

Pawel

The blue watercooler, is that scratchbuilt or is it an aftermarket item?

// Torbjörn

"CReading's model was built from Tamiya M1A2 kit, but it is a US Marine M1A1HC, not M1A2. The smoke grenade launchers are not new or old, they are Marine type. All USMC M1s use this style of grenade launchers"

Yes, this was definately meant to be a Marine M1A1HC
Sorry the photos are not definative but there is indeed a loader's machine gun.
The tow cable on front has yet to be attached but in my reference photos it does kind of protrude off the front of the vehicle rather than sag or hang like a rope.
The blue cooler is part of the Verlinden M1A1 stowage. I chose blue based on a cooler I have here at the house that we use for camping.
And Gino....if you get a chance to see the pictures could you tell me how the Marines normally would attach the tow cable (the end that I haven't attached yet) My ref pictures are vague and it kinda looks like a strap to the hand hold on the right side of the tank.
Thanks for all the comments. I hope to post more photos in the near future.
Cheers,
C.

Four photos added to orig. post

You might want to paint the wheel hubs a black. They are clear in real life and show the crew the oil levels of each wheel, so they appear black from a distance.

As far as your question of mounting the cable:

first, you should move the grab handle closer to the front as Tamiya got it wrong. If you do not want to do that then you have to lengthen the tow cable to get closer to the handle. Crews use a shackle to attach it to the handle. In my model of the Abrams I had to steal a shackle from a Trumpeter Abrams kit. You may be able to bend one out of thick wirer or solder. A shackle would be used at the right front tow point as well to attach the cable there.

Since all cables are the same length it is unlikely that the cable could be "played out" too far, but of course photos of the real thing should be the most helpful. That being said, you can take a look at mine as I have modeled this after a real tank which I had lots of photos of.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/646

If this link does not work you can go to my profile and check it out there.

Very nice model on a first depiction of a modern tank.

Bob

Now I can see it. Looks good. I concur with Bob on the wheel hubs and how to attach the tow cable. I would also add the antennas. They should be about 2" long and thin for the newer ones as depicted by the bases in the Tamiya kit.. Also, they should be dark green for the spring mount and the base, the antenna itself is black. There should also be a teardrop shaped cap at the top as well. Good job.

Gino, thanks for the correction. My statement was based on what my perception/assumptions of the tamiya instructions are.

Relooked at it and realised that I didn't click that all the tanks make use of the loaders gun, no matter which option you use.

I should know better than to make a statement based on what I've seen in an instruction manual.

The loader's 240 mount can be seen in the last 3 pics.

Nice build BTW.

Where did you get the Bustle Rack Extension? Did you use one of the Eduard racks or a scratch-built one? I have the same kit and am also planning to build a Marine M1A1 (albeit in the 3-color NATO scheme instead of overall sand tan). I still can't believe they left that part out for this kit. Oh well, can't win 'em all I guess.

nice..it's a M1A1..i made the same version with an A2 smoke discharger from a tamiya M1A2 kit. nice build and details. thanks for sharing.

Here are 2 OIF Marines Abrams pics that may help a bit from combatindex.com




HTH
Frenchy