introduction

A majority of modellers may have already come across The Abrams Squad magazine before, produced by Pla Editions, this is it not their first single subject title. This book is solely dedicated to the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank.

contents

This softcover publication runs to 126 pages and is lavishly illustrated throughout. The book is broken down into the following:

• Introduction by Damon Burke
• History and evolution of the M1 MBT
• The first of the Breech: M1 in REFORGER by John Murphy
• One shot, One Hit, One Kill: M1A1HA in ODS by Ricardo Merino and Jose Luis Lopez
• The picture for my Girlfriend: M1A1 AIM in KOSOVO by Lukasz Orczyc-Musialek
• Tal Afar Peace Keeper: M1A2 SEP1 in OIF by Chris Jerrett
  
• Path of Destruction: ABV in Afghanistan by Anthony Guarderas
• Aussie Abrams: M1A1 AIM in Australia by Pere Pla

review

Despite it being a softcover publication the first thing that the reader will notice is the quality of this book. The book is logically split and refreshingly the introduction is written by someone who operated the actual tank. The history of the vehicle is concise and covers the development and deployment of this easily recognisable tank.

The rest of this title is dedicated to the building and finishing of the different vehicles. Each chapter is well illustrated and actually features a number of useful tips and tricks. It is also good to see that a number of techniques are actually described and illustrated. The builds are equally well described ranging from easy to complex. Each section has a list of accessories that are used and this will prove useful to those modellers who want to replicate the tank shown.

conclusion

This is the first part of a two volume set the final volume should be out at the end of 2015. It will feature more information and more models. Overall I found this to better than I had expected, I particularly enjoyed the description of the ABV using the DEF Model conversion set. For many modellers the illustrated stages will prove invaluable as they actually show how to replicate a particular technique.