As soon as I took the plastic shrink wrap off of this kit, I could tell it would be a quality kit. The box containing the model is heavy duty corrugated cardboard that protects the kit from any damage.

parts overview

All parts are well molded and the details are very crisp and stand out in a crowd of model companies. The detail of the non-slip treatment is very clean and crisp and is placed in all the correct surfaces. The included figures are nicely sculpted and are well worth being put with the tank for a nice finished look to the model. Mold lines are again what you would accept from a injection mold, and clean up will be a breeze.

One of the great things about this kit is that you get two styles of tracks to choose from; the "rubber band" style and the more individual track links. The individual track links are injection molded, so they have minor ejection pin marks - but nothing to cry about; they can be fixed with ease.

The one downside to this kit is that, since the box states it is from the current OIF mission, one would think it would come with all the vehicle identification panels - but none are included in the box. Furthermore, the mine plow the M1A1 is equipped with is an old-style used in Desert Storm and, as far as my research has come up with, the M1A1's in Iraq did not have this style of mine plow - if they were equipped with a mine plow at all.

Conclusion

Even with the downsides I stated, I would still recommend this kit to anyone who wants to build an OIF M1A1 or diorama including this tank. With a little extra detail that can be scratchbuilt, you would end up with a great looking M1A1.