Guidance Needed on DML M1A2 SEP kit

Hi folks,

Just needing abit of guidance on this kit. Im at the stage where im mounting the exhaust shield to the rear of the tank’s engine and cant appear to find any reference images of it being mounted. While performing some dry fitting on the kit, it does appear to have a space allowance between the exhaust grilles and the shield itself.

The question is…was there meant to be abit of a gap between the shield and the exhaust grilles or was it meant to be completely flushed against the grilles? Would appreciate any guidance or info on this one.

Cheers

Jeremy

Here’s a couple of links to some pics which may or may not help…

(These are pics of an Aussie M1A1, but the rear grille configuration is the same as the M1A2)

http://anzacsteel.hobbyvista.com/Armoured%20Vehicles/Images/Abrams-03.jpg

http://anzacsteel.hobbyvista.com/Armoured%20Vehicles/Images/Abrams-04.jpg

Thanks very much for the links Phil.

I suspected they might have been flushed against the grilles. This is how the kit looks when dry fitted. Quite a large gap as you can tell.

Its easily fixed though.

Hi Jeremy,

I mounted mine right flush with the grille:

It’s kinda hard to tell in that photo but my references showed that it sits flush with the grille aswell.

Chris,

Thanks Chris and yeah you are right. Found some photos in the end which showed them completely flushed like so:

Did you have to cut away piece of the internal frame in order to flush it completely or did you do away with it altogether?

Hi Jeremy,

Yes, I’m pretty sure that I cut off a piece of the internal frame, I think I cut off a little bit of the frame where it sticks into the grille. I’m pretty sure thats what I did but I built this kit back in November and I don’t have it on hand right now. Have you picked a marking scheme yet? You should also watch out for those CIP panels because they are just normal “stickers” and I found if you do heavy oil washes during weathering that it can start to “lift” the edges a little.

HTH,

Chris,