M1A1 Abrams

Subject:
M1A1
Abrams
Kit Used: TAMIYA 1/35

Review & model by:
Tim Howell
Pictures: R. Forys

Background: Developed to replace the aging, under armored, and out gunned M60 Main Battle Tank, the Abrams entered service in 1985 and has unarguably become one of the world's elite tanks. Benefiting from the latest technologies of the time, the Abrams is still being continually upgraded to counter new battlefield threats. Many lessons learned from previous tank designs can be seen in the Abrams tank. This includes the angular armor adopted from the Russian T-34 and German Panzer 5, (Panther). Combined with Chobham armor from the British Challenger 1 and 2, this helps protect against the kinetic energy of hollow charge projectiles.

[The Abrams entered service in 1985 and has unarguably become one of the world's elite tanks.]

Initially armed with the same 105mm gun of the M60 MBT, the Abrams underwent an improvement program to upgrade to the type M256 120mm smoothbore cannon. Extra armament includes 2x 7.62mm machine guns and 1x 0.5in.machine gun. The power plant is an Avco-Lycoming AGT 1500 turbine engine developing 1500 horsepower, which runs on the same fuel as a jet or helicopter. This propels the 56-ton Abrams battlefield beast to over 40 mph, with a range of close to 300 miles.

[The detachable mine plow is used for uncovering and neutralizing mine fields.]

The mine plow is a piece of specialized equipment used by the M1A1 and M1A2 Abrams tanks. This detachable plow is used for uncovering and neutralizing mine fields, helping to clear a path for troops that are following in support of the tanks.

[I built the Abrams with the mine plow, because of a picture I saw of one taken during Desert Storm.]

The Build: I built the Abrams with the mine plow, (Tamiya No.0158) because of a picture I saw of one taken during Desert Storm. It just seemed to be an interesting subject, and looked pretty cool too. The Tamiya kit gives the option to build either the NATO or Desert version. I chose to build the desert version. The kit went together very well and is very accurate, and of course, Tamiya's instructions are among the best in the modeling hobby. Difficulty of this kit is average, although brush up on your tweezer skills for the plow chains. Overall I rate this kit Excellent.

[Tamiya dark yellow was the closest to the color that I thought looked right.]

Paint / Finish: Tamiya dark yellow (TS-3) was the closest to the color that I thought looked right. I followed the instructions for the detail painting, for which I used a combination of acrylics and enamels. After a gloss seal coat, decals from the kit were applied. Then I did a gray sludge wash to bring out the details. This was followed by pastel chalks and a silver drawing pencil, which were used to weather the tank and to show some ware and tear. Finally, the entire tank was dull-coated with Model Master Acryl Clear Flat to seal the deal.

Figures: I think I had the most fun painting the figures. The Gunner and Commander were from the kit, but the driver came from the spare parts box. I used the painting guide in the instructions. To enhance the detail, I added microphones to their headphones, and also used a #79 drill to drill out the eyes. This is just something I tried, and thought it looked pretty good. After painting them all, I applied a gray sludge wash for depth. The spares box also yielded pieces from Tamiya kits No.141 and No.266 to fill the bustle stowage rack. Lastly, a guitar string as used for the antennas, with one tied down by some tan thread from the wife's sowing kit!

[I did a gray sludge wash to bring out the details.]

References:
Ground War DESERT STORM, Jim Mesko, Squadron/Signal, 1991
MODERN TANKS, George Forty, Southwater, 2007

[I think I had the most fun painting the figures.]