Well guys, this is my finished USMC M1A1 HC "Saddamizer" from D Coy/1st Tank Bn/1 Marine Division in Iraq 2003. The kit is Dragons USMC M1A1 Abrams with a Eduard PE set. I modified the kit with parts from Tamiyas M1A2 OIF, Academys M1A1 OIF, AFV Club T-158 tracks and a little bit of scratchbuilding. It is painted in acrylics and weathered with oils, pastels and Mig pigments. Stowage is from Tamiya, Legend, Verlinden and Accurate Armour. Card board boxes are downloaded from this site and made by our own Gino (HeavyArty). Well, he made the Coke and Mountain Dew boxes. The rest was downloaded from somewhere on the Internet. Straps are made from masking tape. Decals are Echelons excellent USMC OIF "Spearheading into Baghdad" set.

There are probably tons of stuff to nitpick at, but I guess the biggest issue is no Smoke grenades loaded in the smoke dischargers at the same time as the cover is off the DCM. The color should probably be a bit lighter as well, and the stowage got a bit dark. Well, hopefully I did not screw it up to much. This kit was pure fun to build at the same time as it was quiet challenging due to some fit issues which had to be sorted out.

Erik

Eric

Loce the detailing of the storage - especially the cases of coke and pepsi.

Andy

Beautiful work Erik, like all the details you added on it...just a question, how much did you spend in this project?

Congrats

Klaus

Weeeell, I spent some money, but all the extras was bought over a periode of time so I really don't know. I bought the kit on sale for about 12 $ and the PE for about 20. Tracks were 4, 80 $, I took most of the spare parts from other kits, which I still will be able to build (just not in a Marine version). Stowage was pretty expencive, but I still got items for two more vehicles I guess. Have no idea about the barrel, but I guess it was not for free.
However. building the kit - priceless.

Erik

Very very very cool Pepsi and Coke boxes! Where did you get them?

I downloaded them from the net.

Soda boxes

Erik

Have been privy to this magic build for a while------but only earlier saw the finished item .......Great job buddy
aye
BARV
(GOSMG)

PS .....now...how about finishing "the Office" :-)

Looks great. All the gear and stowage really captures the "Gypsy Caravan" look that we had during the invasion. Great job. Now it just needs some crew figures to complete it.

Thanks Erik!

Hi Erik,

Hope this messages finds you as I see it has been a few year since you posted the Saddamizer tank model. I was goofing around on the net and googled Saddamizer and saw this post. I was very impressed with your tank model and it brought back memories. I was the gunner on the Saddamizer in 2003. I can't take credit for naming her, as it was my driver Gregory Watts. I still remember all the great compliments we got for the name. The Rugby decal on it was the idea of our executive officer who I think played rugby in college. I now see it actually made it as a decal for model tanks.

I just wanted to reach out to you and let you know a little about the Saddamizer story. I wish we would have had cases of sodas in 2003, lol.

Thank you and take care

Cesar

Great job on the kit, Erik!

Thank you for your service, Cesar! So cool that you found this post and are able to see your old tank as a scale model! Semper fi!

Beautiful work!

Very nice. The details are brilliant.

I am building a dragon m1a1 right now and am not that far into it. The problem i am have is the the turrets 2 storage bins and the rails that go around them do not fit well at all. I bought some brass rod to scratch build because they were way out of alignment. Did you have any issues with them?

Very nicely done, impressive build sir!

Cesar, which infantry regiment & battalion were you in support of? I spent my time sucking up the exhaust of the M1s from my AAV while in direct support of I 3/4.

Wow thanks. Looks great, and I'm about to combine the same two kits as a first in the better part of a decade, although I may use a Dragon AIM I have with Tamiya tracks because individual links make me mental.

Ooo-rah! Love USMC armor. Great stowage work.

Love it, looks great!

Great looking build, love the look of the stowage.

Stephan if you sand the edges of the stowage boxes the rails fit perfectly just sand and test fit until they fit.

Hi Erik;

As We say In the Corps; "OUTSTANDING"

Just A Lil Bit Of Advice, Always Add Shoulder Straps to your Backpaks, and Replace the Molded Straps that come with the Items like Paks, Duffle Bags, anything with straps.
I always replace them with Very Thin Strips of Common Paper; Soak the Paper in Warm Water and then let them sit until they are almost Dry and then add them to the items while still Damp, then Paint them with Acrils.
OH, AND YES I AM A "DEVIL DOG"---25 YRS IN THE CORPS--
A OLD SCHOOL MARINE !!!!!!!

SEMPER FI; MIKE.

Stephane it depends which Dragon M1A1 kit is giving you problems, the older one or the newer kit (3535).
Hard to believe this was posted almost 10 years ago and built with the older kit...how things change!

Jim

Howdy Cesar aka Sgt Flores, great seeing you up on the net. How is the Gunner of D-42 aka 'Delta Four-Deuce' doing these days. I sent you a private message. Please contact me via email.
Outta here, Mike(the artist formerly known as Top Mummey) sends . . .