Thanks for the invitation Chuck, @uscusn

This was my last ride when I served in the US Army. We were supposed to be the very first unit in the Army to get the new A1 series of the Abrams tank back in late 1986. They equipped the 2nd Squadron first, and then the 3rd Squadron followed a little later. Our M "Mike" Company got theirs next, since they were a straight up tank Company, and not a collection of Scouts, Mortars, and Tankers like L Troop was that I served in. We were part of the 3rd Squadron, and during Desert Shield they were deployed at the same time as the 82nd Airborne was. The 3rd ACR was the very first Armor on the ground in Saudi Arabia. They were part of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

I almost reenlisted because of this tank. It was like going from your Dad's old Chevy truck to your very own hot rod Hemi Challenger R/T... when we converted from our tired old dinosaur M-60A1's to these brand spanking new M1A1's. It was a real treat to get a tank that had never been assigned to anyone else before. Our M-60's were old and tired, but we kept them up and running like new. Plus we qualified our tanks in the gunnery exercises using the much harder M1 tank table 8. My tank fired the distinguished rating on several occasions. Twice my crew was the "Top Gun" and I won a bottle of Southern Comfort in a bet...

Now don't get me wrong, the M-60 was a good tank... It just wasn't AS Good as these new M1's are. In the end it is the quality of the crew that really matters.

Enough talk for now, there will be plenty of time for this as we go.

Here are my two kits, the Tamiya M1A1,

and the DML M1A1 HA which was a Heavy Armored version. I was up late one night about 10 years ago browsing things on EBay when I ran across this kit. It was one that had decals included and a crew, with special markings for a tank that was our Regimental Command Sergeant Major's ride at the time. This one is a HA tank, which stands for Heavy Armor. Our Abrams didn't have this feature either, and I'm sure it was an improvement later down the line.


I don't remember these two big boxes being on the back of our tanks. These were probably an added on device after I left the Army.

In hindsight, I should have stayed in. Too late for that now...

Before you could say Sabot, I pulled the trigger and pressed the "Buy it now" button... I have been waiting for the perfect time, and now that time is here.

Everyone please stay tuned for more updates... I will be building both of these kits at the same time. Our tanks were delivered in overall Green. My understanding is that they were painted in Desert Sand color once they arrived in Saudi Arabia. I will most likely build the Tamiya kit in overall green color, but with markings for my tank. Then I will build the Regimental Commander's tank as it is depicted on the box cover... with the "Turret Art" and all.

As always, comments are encouraged.

Erik, @airbum
By all means you are more than welcome my friend. Here are two pictures I took of M1 Abrams when I was stationed at Ft. Knox.

These are not the A1 version, as they have a 105 MM main gun, and a few other changes.

Last night I made some considerable progress on the Tamiya kit. I was waiting for the white paint to fully cure on my Hasegawa Ki44 Shoki build, so I started working on this one.

This is a great double entry, Louis @lgardner! I will follow with pleasure and utmost interest, building up my confidence as to start my own armor...soon!

Very clean build so far, Louis - you are a really fast and efficient craftsman! Looks like you are slightly ahead of me building the opposition - the Tamiya T-72.

I was a bit lazier in going with a metal barrel on my build. The resin turret is also one piece so just clean -up needed, rather than basic construction, but it will require a lot of stuff glued on to begin to take shape. The Abrams looks huge and really dwarfs the T-72. You should have fun with stowage and other details on all that surface area, knowing what tankers carry. I haven't a clue what the Iraqi's hauled on their tanks. I am still collecting photos. I am really looking forward to watching your dual build take shape!

Last night I made some more progress on the Tamiya M1A1. These pictures will help tell the story.
These are some reference books I am using. I only was around these Abrams for a short while and it has been a long time so some details in my memory are not as sharp as what they once were.

I was in Germany for REFORGER 83. This book is also very good.

Here's the hull after it was completed. The headlights and other little details were added.

I might go back and replace the crew entry cable that is suspended below the front side skirt with some wire. I still have not decided yet if I will or not.

Jeff Bailey @mikegolf
confirmed my suspicions that our tanks didn't have the APU mounted on the right rear fender. I went ahead and buil it up as it might be better than the one in the DML / Dragon kit. This will end up in the spares box if I don't use it. It is nicely done. I also built up the storage containers. These look a lot like old ammo tubes for artillery rounds to me. We didn't have these either.

The main gun seams were taken care of and the assembly work done on the M256 main gun. Then I did some work on the turret and installed the gun tube where it belongs.


Here's how the Tamiya Abrams looks now...

This last picture shows an Abrams from my last unit, The 3rd ACR, but this one is from the 2nd Squadron and not the 3rd which I was in. Same church, different pew. This is a close up of the tank shown on the front cover of one of the books I'm using as a reference. This picture confirms my memory on the style of tracks we had on our Abrams when they were delivered. This is a rubber chevron style and not the newer "Bigfoot" version that was used primarily on the M1A1 HA versions. It was supposed to provide more of a foot print for the track pads to more evenly distribute the added weight of the HA (Heavy Armor) version of the Abrams. Now I believe this is the standard track used on all of the Abrams, but once it was not so.

As always, comments are encouraged. Tonight I might get more done... Time will tell.

Stay safe !

Nice comparison Louis of the T-55 and the M1. I believe the M60 would fall in the middle in size if you would compare all three. The one fact I know, despite its size and weight, this tank can run pretty quick even in the terrain and still maintain contact with it's targets it has acquired. It is one of the best tanks in the world despite it's age.

Here is what has been done last night to the Tamiya Abrams.

I finished building the turret, adding the bustle rack, wind sensor, grenade boxes and launchers. The Tank Commander and Loader hatches were also built and installed.

I built the Loaders 7.62 and the TC's 0.050 "Ma Deuce". I installed the .050 as I wanted to paint the MG mount the same color as the rest of the tank.

I wanted to see how it looked all together, so I temporarily placed the turret back on to snap this picture... Then it was time to start spraying on the overall green CARC paint.

From what I has read online, US Army vehicles were delivered in a special CARC paint during the 1980's. I know that ours were painted in an overall green color, so that's how I wanted to paint mine.

When the 3rd CAV arrived in Saudi Arabia with the 82nd Airborne, their tanks and Bradley's were still painted green, so they had to be painted a desert sand color in the field. From what I have found the original overall green color was close to if not exactly the same as FS 34095. I didn't have this color, so I custom mixed it up, using my Federal Standards book as a guide. This looks to be a good match from what I remember.

I took another picture of the tank from a slightly different angle to show how it looks with the light coming in from a different direction.

I also sprayed the top of the turret and the upper part of the hull from a distance at first. I wanted the paint to get a pebbly or grainy look to it. These tanks have a non slip finish on the flat surfaces when they were delivered as new. It is rough and I wanted to replicate the look. This was the best I could do with what I had on hand. Once I was happy with the rough texture in these locations, I gave the flat surfaces a closer heavy coat to seal the look I was after.

Now I have to detail paint the things like the road wheels, crew served weapons, and install the one piece rubber band "Chevron" style tracks. Then I'll add the bumper numbers and some crew items in the bustle rack.

The basic part of this build is over. I saved the extra parts for the Dragon / DML Abrams which will be coming on deck next.

As always, comments are encouraged.

That's coming along very nicely, Louis. I will also be painting my T-72 green underneath the sand (in my case MM Acryl Russian Armor Green,without worrying too much about accuracy). I may do a bit of salt method to have it poking through the sand color in places). You have a good approach to the non-slip surface. It is often overdone on models when in scale it can be as subtle as pebbly paint. I gather the roughness varies a lot and US and British tanks are the smoothest while IDF tanks are the roughest. I was wondering why one doesn't see non-slip on Russian armor, considering how Soviet/Russian soldiers typically ride their tanks in action. But looking at the T-72, I can see the design is so flat on top that there is much less chance to slip off than on other tanks. That's my take on it anyway. Looking forward to more progress on the Abrams, really looking good so far!