Another question about Tamiya's orginal M1 Abrams

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

Hello all,

I’ve recently purchased Tamiya’s orginal M1 Abrams with the intent of doing a very nice model of “Thunderbolt” - the first production M1 from February 1980. I know there is not a specific upgrade set for this tank. Does anyone know if Eduard’s M1A1 detail set (no. 35333) would work on this kit? Link here: http://www.eduard.cz/products/card.php?id_product=1436&name=abrams&catalogue_nb=&type=&pgroup=&scale=&product_month=&product_year=&page_start=0

Also, does anyone know of aftermarket tracks to replace the kit tracks?

Any other advice to improve this kit would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jesse

2

Some parts of the PE set should be usable, but most of the M1A1 parts will not. The only AM T-156 tracks are from Armour Track Models (somehow connected to Trumpeter). Their set is designed for the Korean K1A1, but are the same as US T-156 tracks.

3

I’ve been working on the old Tamiya M1 to make an M1IP this weekend. From the looks of the Big Ed set’s online instructions, most of the parts can be used on the old Tamiya M1 kit. Some would be unnecessary due to changes between the variants, but you can make use of most of it.

I’ve been using the old Eduard set (35 057) for the Academy M1A1 on my Tamiya M1. While everything except the NBC detail pieces in that set can be physically used on the Tamiya M1, about the only thing I think is useful are some parts to detail the rear engine grill area, hatches and many turret pieces.

I’ve got the tracks Gino points out and they are pretty good, but were not available for very long. They ran around $30 and have a sticker on the box that says “Limited Edition”.

4

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

5

Rob,

Are you doing anything about an interior?

Jesse

6

No, I started with a builder’s kit that had the turret halves already assembled.

7

If I wanted to put a partial interior, what would you recommend? I know the breach and ready-round storage area is different from the 105mm and 120mm versions.

8

I’ve got a few pics here that may help you, these are my personal photo’s:

regards,

Steve

9

I would start with a Dragon interior. It is a great starting place. You are right that you would have to scratch the breech. The ready rack is pretty much the same, just different sized holes.

10

I know the 105mm version carried more rounds than the 120mm version. Would this be visible with a partial interior? Also, were there any major electronic panel changes between the M1 and M1a1 that would make the Dragon interior inaccurate?

Thanks again.

11

If the ammo doors are closed, I wouldn’t think you would need to worry about that. However, I don’t have a great deal of knowledge about the M1 series.

12

In addition to the ammo storage area behind the ammo doors, the M1 had a 3 round ready rack inside the crew compartment of the turret. The vast majority of components inside the turret are a series of white boxes that were designed to be easily diagnosed and pulled for replacement. Because of this, the interiors look very much alike, even with upgraded components.

Any changes to visible control panels would be miniscule in 1/35 scale.

13

is that MRE jelly on the first pic?

14

Check the scale of Tamiya’s 105mm cannon. When I built a whole bunch of Tamiya modern armor during late 1980s, I remember M1’s 105 mm gun was distinctly smaller and shorter than those on Tamiya’s other modern armor kits that mounted the same L-7 derived NATO 105 gun, such as M-60A1, M-60A3, Leopard I A4, and Merkava MK-1. The size of the 105mm gun on those other kits agreed well between themselves. But M-1 was odd, probably a mistake in scaling.

15

The M1’s 105mm gun has more of the gun located inside the turret than the rest of the tanks you mention.