Last night I did some more work and started some of the painting.  Road wheels are being worked on then the side skirts.

Afraid I can't help you with accuracy issues on this one, but looks like you have made a nice start on this one. Nice to see a few modern AFV's here.

You look like you are off to a good start. As I said in Nomad's thread, this is a decent kit to build. Not the most accurate Abrams kit on the market, but a fun build regardless. The significant differences you mention are mainly cosmetic; Academy added a new sprue with really nice parts that create a more up-to-date Marine tank as used in Iraq during the post 9/11 invasion.

Your kit was one that was produced during Desert Shield/Desert Storm and represents a tank used during the late 80s and early 90s. The markings on the box art (like the blue square with 331) are from a REFORGER exercise, most likely 1988 or earlier in Germany.

Really nice start Mustang, always good to branch out into something new.

I can see the similarities to the Tamiya kit here.

I have this one on my shelf. I kept it tan though. Not too bad of a build. The racks were a pain to me, but that was probably due to shaky hands. No lens for the sights bugs me still. Good start. Bob

Worked on the build some more over the weekend.  Road wheels are painted and awaiting weathering.  Most of the model is now primed.

had the chance to work some more on this build.  Weathered the road wheels using Tamiya's weathering set.  I "attempted" to use a dot filter on the road wheel bay prior to adding the side skirts.  Let's just say it was an interesting attempt.

Don't forget that the center portion of the road wheels is made of clear plastic. It would resemble the bottom of a bottle of cola turned on its side.

Rob Gronovius

Don't forget that the center portion of the road wheels is made of clear plastic. It would resemble the bottom of a bottle of cola turned on its side.

Now I didn't know that!  Rob you wouldn't have any reference pictures of that would you?  I always assumed they were a metal cap.

Terry

Thank you for the tip.  Very much appreciated.

MrT

Rob Gronovius

Don't forget that the center portion of the road wheels is made of clear plastic. It would resemble the bottom of a bottle of cola turned on its side.

Now I didn't know that!  Rob you wouldn't have any reference pictures of that would you?  I always assumed they were a metal cap.

Terry

I still think it makes a nice model despite the accuracy issues. Then again, it should, as Academy pretty much got its start copying Tamiya kits before developing their own stuff! Seems pretty common in the industry. Maybe its the way to go. If I recall correctly, the T-60 was Zvezda's first kit. Widely regarded as maybe the worst armor kit out there, and it was an original work :)

I agree with mj70. This is a nice model when built and fairly easy to boot. It would, however, take a lot to get it to be a "wonderful", exact m1a1. But having this on my shelf "as is", OOB, is good enough for me.

And mustang is doing well! Bob

It depends on if you want an accurate model or not.  This boxing, the original M1A1 w/out the added sprue in the Iraq 2003 boxing, is even more out of wack.  The bigger issue here is the barrel is almost twice as thick and way shorter than it should be and the bore evac is huge.  Then you still have the short turret issue, no center hub on the sprockets, oversized and miss-shapened Gunner's Primary Sight box, overall soft details, etc., etc., ect...  Pretty much, "you get what you pay for."

HeavyArty

It depends on if you want an accurate model or not.  This boxing, the original M1A1 w/out the added sprue in the Iraq 2003 boxing, is even more out of wack.  The bigger issue here is the barrel is almost twice as thick and way shorter than it should be and the bore evac is huge.  Then you still have the short turret issue, no center hub on the sprockets, oversized and miss-shapened Gunner's Primary Sight box, overall soft details, etc., etc., ect...  Pretty much, "you get what you pay for."

Is there an accurate Abrams out there and if so who produces it?

Terry

Dragon's M1A1 AIM and M1A2 SEP are extremely accurate, about as near to perfect as can be. No kit is perfect, but I like to start with the best raw materials.  I would rather start with something else besides the Academy ones, which are close to the bottom on the accuracy scale.

HeavyArty

Dragon's M1A1 AIM and M1A2 SEP are extremely accurate, about as near to perfect as can be. No kit is perfect, but I like to start with the best raw materials.  I would rather start with something else besides the Academy ones, which are close to the bottom on the accuracy scale.

Thank you sir!

Terry

Thank you all for the help and suggestions.  For this build, I am just looking for a good kit to work on my skills.  Besides, I am more peeved that when I was deployed I was stuck on a post were I couldn't get good pictures of some of the subjects I would like to model. :(

MrT

Is there an accurate Abrams out there and if so who produces it?

Terry

Like Gino says, the newer Dragon AIM and SEP are great kits, about as accurate as you can get without shrinking the actual tank to 1/35 scale. Having said that, both the actual M1A1AIM and M1A2SEP are rebuilt tanks. Because of this, many variations exist between tanks based on the original age of the tank produced (the Abrams was in production for a couple decades and many different major and minor changes occurred due to upgrades, new component suppliers, etc.) and whether the tank was originally an XM1, M1, M1IP, M1A1 or M1A1 Heavy or M1A2 before it was rebuilt into an AIM or SEP.

So just because something on the Dragon kit doesn't look exactly like a photograph of a particular tank doesn't mean it isn't accurate, it just means the kit may have been based on a photo of a different tank.

I've been wanting to get my hands on a M1A2SEP.  Definitely will need to keep an eye out.

Small update, finished the tracks (to my satisfaction for now) and attached the side armor skirts.  If I have the terminology wrong on this, just let me know.  Enjoy...

Small issue, but your tracks are on backwards. The side skirts are simply called side skirts and often referred to by number 1-7 (i.e. remove the #7 side skirt before we go to the field).

Mustang: Looks good! I like the wash you did on the sides of the hull, too bad you can't even really see it with the skirts in place though.

Gino & Rob: Just curious but are the Dragon M1A2 variants more accurate than the newer Tamiya kits like their M1A2 SEP TUSK II?

PS: At least I did spot the tracks being on backwards! 

Should be an easy fix.  Can do that tonight.

The Dragon M1A2SEP, not the older Dragon M1A2, is the most accurate. The new Tamiya M1A2 SEP TUSK II has a bunch of new stuff, but I haven't gotten one to make an infomred comparison. I do have the Tamiya 3 in 1 M1A2 kit. It reuses a bunch of stuff from their older Abrams series and is a much easier build than the Dragon kit, but is a different variant than the Dragon SEP. Some of the new tooled Tamiya items are pretty decent.

Thanks Rob, as I said the last thing I need to buy is another kit but if I see the Dragon M1A2 SEP for a good price at a show I may have to indulge myself...

Gino's selling one now on M-L, but the going eBay price is in the triple digits.

Thanks Rob for the head's up- that's a little rich for me!

Rob Gronovius

Gino's selling one now on M-L, but the going eBay price is in the triple digits.

Sorry, already gone.

I meant you'd know a current going price offhand.