Hi all,
TBOLT379 back on the air in this fab new incarnation of the site…
Does anyone remember Verlinden’s M1A1 update set produced in the early 90s for Tamiya’s old M1, in the days before M1A1 kits became available? It featured the bustle rack, and I’m in need of just such a structure.
I’m working on an M1 conversion based on that old Tamiya early-production variant, and I don’t want to raid an M1A1 kit for the rack I need for the variant I’m building, it would be a needlessly wasteful exercise, and an expensive one. I’ve tried building the rack from scratch, but I’ve found it’s just too fiddly at 1:35 for my dexterity. The old Verlinden set would seem an ideal alternative.
Any ideas where I might find an unbuilt example? It’s long out of production, but there must have been a few which were overtaken by the release of the A1 kits and as a result were never used. I’ve checked eBay, no joy at present…
Best from afar,
TB379
I serarched high and low for that kit, but wasn’t able to find one. I bought a very cheap Hobby Craft M1A1 with mine plow and robbed it of the bustle rack, tracks and plow for my other “higher” quality kits. In the end it was cheaper than the Verlinden kit would have been any way. If you go this route, you’ll find the fit of the bustle rack to the Tamiya turret a little finicky, but she’ll go with a bit of patience.
Hi Steve,
I’m thinking you’re probably right! And Hobbycraft will be the cheapest Abrams on the market, so if it’s to be sacrificed on the altar of modification the cheapest is clearly the way to go.
I’ve been looking at maybe having a set of rack parts made up by custom photoetching, but again the price will be far from comparable. It would be clever, of course, but also a pain in the rear.
Well, combining assemblies from different kits to reach a final result is nothing new, so let’s give it a go! [:)]
Cheers,
TB379
Hi again Steve,
You were definitely right! There’s now a bustle rack on my workbench awaiting assembly, drawn from a Trumpeter kit, which was strangely enough $8 cheaper than the Hobbycraft equivalent here in Aus. The parts will fit the early Tamiya turret surprisingly well, with only the most trivial modifications to the mating surfaces.
This Abrams should look really smart!
Cheers,
TB379
Good luck with it TB. I was pleased with mine. It could have been better, but it turned out quite satisfactory.
Hi Steve,
Okay, rack’s together and mated up to the turret. It’s a few scale inches too wide for the early-style flank frames, but once the accessories are hung all over it, it shouldn’t be too noticable. The parts are pretty delicate, and I don’t think they’re engineered as well as Tamiya’s racks, but cost was certainly a factor here. I’ll pull out the dress-up extras sets tomorrow and look at making up the antennae from spring steel wire.
I notice the Chinese plastic isn’t quite the same as the stuff from Japan… It doesn’t respond to cya with much enthusiasm. I noticed the same a few months ago with Russian plastic. Odd – am I imagining things?
Cheers,
TB379
I’ve noticed the same thing with the plastic from various countries. I work at them slow and make it work. I hung a bunch of stuff all over my Abrams. The size difference of the rack is barely noticable.