I’m building a USMC M1A1 for the gulf wars GB “War Pig”. All the photos of the real War Pig I have been able to dig up show the vehicle with the mine plow attached. I know Tamiya makes a M1A1 with mine plow but is there an aftermarket set or way to get just the plow by itself? A google and Ebay search only turned up the full Tamiya and Trumpeter kits.
I think at one point Dragon or Academy offered up some mine plow kits separately. Beyond that, I do know that if you pick up the Trumpeter M1 Panther kit, it has the option of the mine roller or mine plow, so you could build it with the roller and still have a plow to use elsewhere.
It took a bit of digging on Ebay but I finally turned up the Dragon plow kit. I know it’s not as accurate as Tamiya but for $10 I’ll do a little updating work.
You can also get the Hobby Craft M1A1 kit with a plow. It’s cheap and the kit is not very good, I used mine copy mostly for parts to build an M1 IP and have the plow left for another project.
Also, the Trumpeter 5-in-1 Abrams kit includes a plow and a roller. It will build into an Army M1A1, Army M1A2, or an Army M1 Panther II, and has the plow and roller to give you 5 different options. It is the same plastic as the Hobby Craft kits as well. It usually goes for about $25.
Trumpeter’s Abrams are OK, but have an issue. The left front of the turret is a little short and has the wrong angle on the lower edge. It needs to be built up so it is horizontal across the front, not angles up.
(http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=96471&page=1)]Abrams Comparison ArticleYou can see how they compare to other Abrams at Vodnik’s .
www.ebay.com/…/290795415894 Dang that looks like a nice kit!
Which can be found here: http://vodnik.republika.pl/pages/m1-comparison/m1comp1.htm
Another downside to the Trumpeter kit is that the roadwheels are retained by a poly-cap representing the central wheel hub, which presses on from the outside (like some of the older Tamiya kits - eg. T-34 family). On the Tamiya and Academy kits the poly-cap is sandwiched inside the wheel pairs. On the Dragon and Italeri kits the wheels are glued directly to the suspension arms.
I wouldn’t go that far. It is an OK kit. A little better than the Tamiya kit since it includes the anti-slip coating, but it has it’s issues like Phil and I noted. The best parts are the roller and plow included.
If you are looking for a good, or even a great Abrams, go with Dragon. Their original Abrams kits with partial interior are pretty good and are cheap now. Their M1A1 AIM and M1A2 SEP are awsome and light-years beyond the Trumpeter and Tamiya kits.
Thanks for the assist Phil. I meant to post the link, but forgot to.
OH YES! The AIM and SEP kits make me drool.