by: Rob McCune [ ]
Another one of the accessory sets I have bought recently is the M1A1 engine set from Legends. While it is probably the most accurate kit on the market, there are obvious ommissions and shortcomings. For the money however it is far better than the Kirin offering. Contents
This pakage contains 26 resin pieces representing the engine bay, hatches and engine of the A1 variant of the Abrams. The Good Things
This kit, at first glance is very accurate and will stand up to the scrutiny of most judges in a contest. The main piece, the engine bay, fits a little loose in the hull, but with the side extensions (parts 2 and 3) it tends to look pretty well. The actual detail is quite close to the real thing. It fits well against the upper hull so as to give accurate apperance fro the hatches that are removed. The Bad Things
All in all, it is fairly accurate, but a true rivet counter would find a lot of fault in it. The main gripe I have is thatit is not long enough. The engine is too short, as is the engine bay. The manufacturer does not take into account the "bitch" plate, which has to be removed in order to get the main engine hatch off the hull. Because of this the main detail is squashed into a smaller area, and therefore it is not scaled correctly. The detail tends to be a little clunky, but mostly there. There are a number of things about the engine that are either omitted or overly generalized. The shafts that turn the cooling fans are not there, nor is the accesory gearbox. The engine mount is a little funny, and the skid plates that mount to the rear of the pack are not there either. There is no starter or linkage to the engine. The throttle and transmission cables and pulleys are missing. The fuel cells don't look right and there is nothing to connect them to the hull or engine. Conclusion
In the end, this tends to be the best engine for an Abrams, but it lacks accuracy. It is better than the other offerings available, but it tends to leave me wishing for more. It will add a nice amount of depth to your model if you are not counitng rivets, but simply wish for an added amount of detail. If you ae a rivet counter, I would still suggest getting it to be used as a base to modify into accuracy. The fuel cells alone are incredibly hard to scratchbuild, and these can be easily modified for use (after you cut the main engine bay part). SUMMARY |
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About Rob McCune (BroAbrams) Copyright ©2021 text by Rob McCune [ ]. All rights reserved.
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