I’m building a Zvezda T-72 and want to make it Iraqi from the 2nd Regiment 3rd Armored Division Saladdin, Iraq, 1991… and I want to build an M1A1 Abrams from the same period… but I don’t know what type of Abrams used to be in that time, I supose they must be M1A1… I think in my LHS there are only M1A2 from Trumpeter… If I have to build an M1A1… what kind of modifications must be done?.. Thanks in advance.
An M1A1HC (Heavy Common), what the modeling world calls an HA for Heavy Armor, is what was around in ODS. The M1A2 was not introduced till the mid-'90’s. It has a completely new commander’s weapons station and mount for the .50 cal, and a CITV (Commander’s Independant Thermal Viewer) in front of the loader. I don’t believe the Trumpeter M1A2 kit includes the parts to backdate it to an M1A1HC.
Read more about the differances in my M1 Abrams Variants article at Armorama.