I have a qustion on the Dargons AIM. On the M1A1 HC thats in the Paint and Markings did it have the older Sprokets, or the newer ones?

i have reference boks that depict both !! also check out the new mmi mag it has an article on the aim hope this helps ..

Where is this mmi mag Site At Anyway?

It is in fact a monthly magazine that is an addition to the Tamiya Magine stable and MMI stands for Model Military International and in the new edition has a good article on building the M1A1 AIM.

John

Sprockets are correctly shown on diagrams in Paint and Markings. So just look closely at those pictures and you will see which tank had which sprockets. If I remember correctly only one of M1A1AIM tanks of those featured had old sprockets.

EDIT: Doh... OK, these diagrams were supposed to be correct. But are not quite...

M1A1HC tank "All Bout Da Bones" certainly had new sprocket ring on the port side - it was actually a replacement as it was painted green. I don't have any photo that would show the starboard sprocket, so it is impossible to tell what was on that side. Diagram shows new style sprocket on port side, but painted tan.

"Ancient One" M1A1D tank is incorrectly shown on these diagrams, as it had old sprockets (correctly added by author of MMI article), not new ones as shown on pics.

1-77AR M1A1AIM tank had new sprockets on both sides, not only on starboard side as shown in instructions.

One more thing: author of MMI article mentions that there should be two jerrycan racks included for 1-64AR tank. This is not quite correct - while indeed most of these tanks carried two racks, "All Bout Da Bones" only had it on starboard side. One photo in one Concord book shows clearly that there was no rack on port side on this particular tank. Again kit instructions show this rack attached to port side - this is wrong, attach it to the starboard.

Pawel

Oops, I thought I had read somewhere they all had 2, but there it is (page 9, Special Ops Vol.27). And if you want to be totally accurate, there are folding cots and a tarp on the left side, no IFF panel noticeable.
Hope you liked my article.

Cheers,
Jim

Just to clarify the two jerrycan rack thing:

I am pretty sure that all tanks in 1-64 were issued with two jerrycan racks before crossing the border. Of course, there is always the chance some only got one if enough were not made to give everybody two, but that was the idea. More likely, racks were lost along the way as they entered Baghdad. This was common, and I have seen video of tanks getting hit w/ RPGs and stuff flying off, and I have even seen video of two tanks getting hooked together up around the turret and when they pulled away all kinds of stuff fell off.

Unless you are able to interview the crew, there is never a way to be completely sure about something like this.

Bob

I concur with Bob above. All 1-64 AR tanks were issued 2 of the water can racks. Some were lost along the way., so some tanks were left with only one. Same for teh CIPs, they all started with a full compliment, and lost some alomg the way.

As to the sprockets, either way is correct. It depens on what you get when you order a replacement sprocket, you can get either the newer (scalloped) one, or the older (solid) style. Even thou you order one type, you will be sent whichever is available. Both types could be seen depending on when pictures were taken of the different tanks. Both types are still in the system as well.