Greetings!
Old M1A1 Abrams CAV tanker here. I have the 1/35 Verlinden dry transfer called “M1 Abrams Desert Shield Markings,” and it has artwork in several sizes. One is of a Bart Simpson head, while another is a black shield with “Desert Shield 90” on it. One pair looks sized to fit on the front turret faces of an M1A1.
Is this based on an actual, documented M1A1 from Desert Shield 1990, and what would the exact bumper codes be for it? So far, I can’t seem to find historic 1990 photos of such a tank, yet I recall (???) seeing photos of this artwork on an Abrams back in 1990. Anybody else?
I have never seen a 1/35 model of an Abrams from the training up period in Saudi in 1990, called Desert Shield (NOT Desert Storm), so would love to build one- but need some solid references.
Anybody seen some for this specific M1A1?
Thanks! Best, Christian
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That’s a tough one. I’ve googled almost any combination to things to try to bring up pictures of those tanks, but no joy. I’m wondering if they may have been from a news article, or possibly a photo in one of the Verlinden published books.
As far as I recall, though some detail (resin / photo etch sets) had some questionable accuracy issues, most of the marking sheets were more accurate.
Long time, but hope its valid for you.
I did some digging on this because now I was curious too.
I can verify that this is Verlinden set VER0559, “M1 Abrams Tank Markings Desert Shield,” and the Bart Simpson head and the black “Desert Shield 90” shield are definitely part of that sheet.
What I haven’t been able to find is the important part — an actual 1990 photograph showing those exact markings on a specific M1A1 with readable bumper codes. I even found a more recent Abrams discussion where people were trying to answer essentially the same question, and they couldn’t positively tie the Verlinden markings to a documented tank either.
The markings themselves are certainly plausible for the period. There are plenty of documented examples of unofficial artwork during Desert Shield/Storm — Bart Simpson even appeared on at least one deployed F-16 — and we know the Abrams units were using tactical and recognition markings in Saudi Arabia.
So at this point I’d be comfortable saying Verlinden’s artwork is period-plausible, but I wouldn’t assign it to a specific tank or make up bumper codes unless somebody can turn up the original photograph Verlinden worked from.
Now I’m curious enough that I’d really like to see that photo too. 
