I don’t have any spares myself, but... if you get any of the Trumpeter 1/35 M1A1/M1A2 kits, those come with both the single piece and link and length tracks in the box. Their five in one version kit is really a huge amount of stuff in the box for a good price.

[quote user="stikpusher"]

I don’t have any spares myself, but... if you get any of the Trumpeter 1/35 M1A1/M1A2 kits, those come with both the single piece and link and length tracks in the box. Their five in one version kit is really a huge amount of stuff in the box for a good price.

Noting that you said 1/48, you must be referring to the Tamiya kit.

As far as I'm aware, the only other Abrams in this scale is the Academy kit, which does have rubber band tracks, but is little more than a motorized toy. This kit shared a common lower hull and running gear with a number of other kits and, IIRC doesn't even have the right number of wheels, so tracks from this kit are an iffy proposition.

Your only real option to save your kit is to order 2x A sprues directly from Tamiya.

https://www.tamiyausa.com/contact/contact.php 

DOH!!! I missed the 1/48 part... 

stikpusher

DOH!!! I missed the 1/48 part... 

 

You get what you pay for.  The Trumpeter Abrams kit is not that good.  The biggest issue is the angles on the left front of the turret are off, making it squat and strange-looking.  It is also soft on details, heavy on mold lines, the rubber center caps on the roadwheels are horrible, and it has a few other rough areas.  Best bet is to keep the mine roller and mine plow parts and get rid of the rest.  It is about 16 years old, dating from '02 for the original release.  There have been plenty of better Abrams models introduced since then.  With all the really nice ones released recently by the likes of Dragon, Meng and Rye Field, I wouldn't waste money on the old Trumpeter dog of a kit.  To each their own though.

HeavyArty

You get what you pay for.  The Trumpeter Abrams kit is not that good.  The biggest issue is the angles on the left front of the turret are off, making it squat and strange-looking.  It is also soft on details, heavy on mold lines, the rubber center caps on the roadwheels are horrible, and it has a few other rough areas.  Best bet is to keep the mine roller and mine plow parts and get rid of the rest.  It is about 16 years old, dating from '02 for the original release.  There have been plenty of better Abrams models introduced since then.  With all the really nice ones released recently by the likes of Dragon, Meng and Rye Field, I wouldn't waste money on the old Trumpeter dog of a kit.  To each their own though.

 

Sorry, I forgot that some people, esp. on this site, can't deal with reality nor have anything but smoke blown up their backsides.  Let me help out your ego.

The Trumpeter Abrams is the best kit ever made!  You are a genius in your purchase!  Great job!  You will have the best Abrams model ever made by anyone!  I can tell already that yours will be amazing!

Is that better?

armor 2.0

Any one have a extra set of tracks for1/48  m1a2 abrams rubber band plastic any would be appreciated. I had a set of link to length having never mess with them before I didn' do them right and got mad now the tracks on there way to the local landfill.I could buy another kit for tracks don' need all the extra parts I'm more than willing to pay for a set if anyone has extras.

Thank you

Armor

 

Even any of the older 1/48 scale Abrams kits on the market are basically black rubber one piece generic tracks designed for motorized toy tank kits and would not work with the Tamiya kit. I've got almost all the available kits by Zhengdefu, Arii, Aoshima and Kitech. I don't have the Academy one, but it is like the others with a common lower hull and inaccurate road wheel set up.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

armor 2.0

Any one have a extra set of tracks for1/48  m1a2 abrams rubber band plastic any would be appreciated. I had a set of link to length having never mess with them before I didn' do them right and got mad now the tracks on there way to the local landfill.I could buy another kit for tracks don' need all the extra parts I'm more than willing to pay for a set if anyone has extras.

Thank you

Armor

 

 

 

 

Even any of the older 1/48 scale Abrams kits on the market are basically black rubber one piece generic tracks designed for motorized toy tank kits and would not work with the Tamiya kit. I've got almost all the available kits by Zhengdefu, Arii, Aoshima and Kitech. I don't have the Academy one, but it is like the others with a common lower hull and inaccurate road wheel set up.

 

armor 2.0

Thanks for the reply I have emailed tamiya hopefully they will help.Also I like to get to your area and checkout the patton museum. I heard it' worth seeing.

No, the Patton Museum is not worth seeing any more. Once upon a time, it was probably the best armor museum in the country. When the Armor Center moved, all the unique pieces and 99% of the armor there was relocated to Fort Benning, GA in 2011.

The museum closed for a while and reopened on April 1, 2011, which was my last day in uniform (didn't officially retire for another 100 days though). The museum was a shadow of its former glory. Only a handful of tanks outside, a couple of vehicles inside and General Patton's stuff was still there. The rest was just generic ROTC stuff.

I went again a year ago and while there were a few more armor vehicles, I don't think the museum is worth the 30 some odd mile round trip detour from the I-65 corridor, let alone a dedicated trip to Fort Knox. Even the multitude of armor vehicles around the base, both current modern and display, are gone. Just a handful at the various main gates and the traffic circle.

Hey Rob if I may butt in? Thinking of driving out to Mammoth Caverns for vacation. I was out there in 2009 or so and drove up to the Patton Museum but haven't been back since. So you don't think it's worth the hour drive up at all anymore?

[quote user="Rob Gronovius"]

armor 2.0

Thanks for the reply I have emailed tamiya hopefully they will help.Also I like to get to your area and checkout the patton museum. I heard it' worth seeing.

 

No, the Patton Museum is not worth seeing any more. Once upon a time, it was probably the best armor museum in the country. When the Armor Center moved, all the unique pieces and 99% of the armor there was relocated to Fort Benning, GA in 2011.

The museum closed for a while and reopened on April 1, 2011, which was my last day in uniform (didn't officially retire for another 100 days though). The museum was a shadow of its former glory. Only a handful of tanks outside, a couple of vehicles inside and General Patton's stuff was still there. The rest was just generic ROTC stuff.

I went again a year ago and while there were a few more armor vehicles, I don't think the museum is worth the 30 some odd mile round trip detour from the I-65 corridor, let alone a dedicated trip to Fort Knox. Even the multitude of armor vehicles around the base, both current modern and display, are gone. Just a handful at the various main gates and the traffic circle.

Thanks for the heads up 

Emailed tamiya explained my situation not only are they getting me replacement tracks I get them free of charge I knew there was a reason I by alot of tamiya armor kits.

Tamiya has the best customer service out there. Period.

HeavyArty

Sorry, I forgot that some people, esp. on this site, can't deal with reality nor have anything but smoke blown up their backsides.  Let me help out your ego

 

Exactly why it is barely worth even reading this site anymore.  Except for "great job" posts on mediocre built models - relatively little else of substance is ever posted.

Gamera

Hey Rob if I may butt in? Thinking of driving out to Mammoth Caverns for vacation. I was out there in 2009 or so and drove up to the Patton Museum but haven't been back since. So you don't think it's worth the hour drive up at all anymore?

 

No, it is not worth driving up from Mammoth Caves. Mammoth Caves had some areas closed last year and the tour was only a fraction of what was once offered. I found this out when my family drove down for a day trip. It may be different this year, I don't know. I also suggest buying tickets online in advance to make sure the few tours available are not sold out before you get there.

Also some sort of issue where you had to wipe your feet on these soap pads to not bring out or in some sort of bat fungus spores.

There is a neat little splash park in the Bowling Green area called Beech Bend Park. Small, not crowded and it was fun.

Bronto

 

HeavyArty

Sorry, I forgot that some people, esp. on this site, can't deal with reality nor have anything but smoke blown up their backsides.  Let me help out your ego

 

 

 

 

 

Exactly why it is barely worth even reading this site anymore.  Except for "great job" posts on mediocre built models - relatively little else of substance is ever posted.

 

Yeah, if I don't really know the modeler on this site, I won't give a real critique.

HeavyArty

Sorry, I forgot that some people, esp. on this site, can't deal with reality nor have anything but smoke blown up their backsides.  Let me help out your ego.

The Trumpeter Abrams is the best kit ever made!  You are a genius in your purchase!  Great job!  You will have the best Abrams model ever made by anyone!  I can tell already that yours will be amazing!

Is that better?

 

For a blink of an eye, the Trumpeter kit was the best in the early 2000s. Tamiya's first M1A1 missed the mark and Academy's was an even wider miss. Dragon's was a very tricky build (I abandoned the first M1A2 of theirs I started). It wasn't until Dragon's AIM and SEP in 2006 or so that Trumpeter's were rendered obsolete.

Before the latest Dragon kits came out, I have to admit, I liked the Italeri M1A2 Abrams and built it back in 2004 as the tank I went through M1A2 New Equipment Training on. To date, it is the only plain M1A2 kit I've actually finished. The new Tamiya 1/48 scale one will be the next one I start.

Any way, the Italeri kit was a much easier build than the Dragon kit, had a better appearance than the Trumpeter kit and didn't have the bumps on the tracks nor the problem with the turret face. The downside is that the two marking options were from non-operational tanks and just demonstration unit markings.

Fully agree with you Rob.  Trumpeter's Abrams kits were great at the time they came out, but were pretty quickly eclipsed by others.  Like I said, the only reason that is really worth getting the 5-in-1 kit is for the plow and roller parts; the rest is junk.

Well for me the trumpter 5 in 1 kit is good because I don' care if there are a few inaccuracies. I build and paint to please me which means for me have fun with it relax and forget about all my worries. For me focusing on how accurate a model is takes all the fun out of the build as long as the kit is close I'm a happy man.When it stops being fun I'll move on to something else.

armor 2.0

Well for me the trumpter 5 in 1 kit is good because I don' care if there are a few inaccuracies. I build and paint to please me which means for me have fun with it relax and forget about all my worries. For me focusing on how accurate a model is takes all the fun out of the build as long as the kit is close I'm a happy man.When it stops being fun I'll move on to something else.

 

I prefer fit over accuracy. I'd rather not wrestle with parts fit and over engineering that often requires a third hand. I can fix many accuracy problems myself. One of the reasons why I liked the Italeri A2 over the old dragon or trumpeter kits. It built well.

I had a friend send me a resin copy of the M1A1 cupola so I can back date the 1/48 Tamiya M1A2 into an M1A1. I have to finish four kits before I can start it though.

[quote user="Rob Gronovius"]

armor 2.0

Well for me the trumpter 5 in 1 kit is good because I don' care if there are a few inaccuracies. I build and paint to please me which means for me have fun with it relax and forget about all my worries. For me focusing on how accurate a model is takes all the fun out of the build as long as the kit is close I'm a happy man.When it stops being fun I'll move on to something else.

 

 

I prefer fit over accuracy. I'd rather not wrestle with parts fit and over engineering that often requires a third hand. I can fix many accuracy problems myself. One of the reasons why I liked the Italeri A2 over the old dragon or trumpeter kits. It built well.

I had a friend send me a resin copy of the M1A1 cupola so I can back date the 1/48 Tamiya M1A2 into an M1A1. I have to finish four kits before I can start it though.

I don' like to fight with kits all time as far as fit issue on the other hand my skill level is no where near other people on here and fit issue help me raise the bar on my skill level and it feels good when I over come a issue and it looks good .When I frist started building armor about a year ago I was all about accuracy gettin the right color right tracks the right so on and so forth. All of that was taking all the fun out of it for me. Now I will resreach the subject a little bit to get a general idea and go for it.

Rob Gronovius

 

 

Gamera

Hey Rob if I may butt in? Thinking of driving out to Mammoth Caverns for vacation. I was out there in 2009 or so and drove up to the Patton Museum but haven't been back since. So you don't think it's worth the hour drive up at all anymore?

 

 

 

 

No, it is not worth driving up from Mammoth Caves. Mammoth Caves had some areas closed last year and the tour was only a fraction of what was once offered. I found this out when my family drove down for a day trip. It may be different this year, I don't know. I also suggest buying tickets online in advance to make sure the few tours available are not sold out before you get there.

Also some sort of issue where you had to wipe your feet on these soap pads to not bring out or in some sort of bat fungus spores.

There is a neat little splash park in the Bowling Green area called Beech Bend Park. Small, not crowded and it was fun.

 

Thanks Rob! I didn't know about the issues with the caves. Going to check their website after this. They did the same thing about the fungus back when I was there before.

Now, I'll shut up and allow you guys to get back on subject.