AMT M1A1 abrams

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Gents;
I came into possession of a 1/35 M1A1 tank kit which was about 1/2 completed. The work already done is not bad and I hope to continue but I would like to build it as a Marine M1 serving in Iraq. Where do I start?? Who has good info on Marine tanks in Iraq??? As stated it is an AMT kit. the last AMT kit I built was a klingon battlecruiser from the 70’s How do they compare today???

all the best,
Dan [8D]

2

This kit is one of the poorest Abrams kits produced. While the basic kit was fairly accurate (but crude) as an M1, Esci/AMT/Ertl skimped when they produced the “M1A1”. They basically switched a few parts between the M1 and M1A1.

This leads to several problems:

  1. The turret is too small (frontal armor was increased)
  2. The turret bustle rack was incorrectly made. The actual bustle rack goes straight back and does not cant inwards.
  3. They made no adjustments to the lower hull. They failed to add the NBC over pressurization system in place of the left sponson box.
  4. The rear engine grill was crudely molded.
  5. The center guides are molded in the wrong spot. They should be between two adjacent track blocks and not centered on a single block.

This is all I can think about off of the top of my head. When they were released in the late 1980s, the only other Abrams kit in 1/35 scale was the original Tamiya M1. This kit was the first one to offer the new style turret blast panels, 120mm gun, and man hole cover.

As a model, it is not too bad. It builds OK and looks like an Abrams when completed. If you want to build even a semi-accurate USMC Abrams serving in Iraq, I’d suggest finding another kit such as the new (expensive) Tamiya M1A2/A1 and the DML USMC OIF M1A1.

3

Well for starters is it an HA? meaning heavy armor, if not you need to upgrade the tracks,storage rack, there is a few other things as well I do not knw the correct names for them but if you check out the M1 GB forum you will see mine whuch is a marine M1here is a pic of it (not completed)


hope this helps
I knew Rob would come through he helped me out as well!!! what a guy[:D][:D]
And the above kit is the dragon/dm lkit has a few fit problems but turns out nice…

4

Main difference visually between an Army M1A1 and a Marine M1A1 is that the marines use different smoke launchers. They are 8 individual tubes on each side as opposed to the army six launcer pack. Secondly, the Marines use a Missle Countermeasure Device (MCD) on the hellhole cover on the front left of the turret. It is a box that sits on top of the plate that covers the hellhole. These can both be seen in the above pictures and below.