My best friend has done a job and a half on an Hobby Engine Abrams. I have tried to get him to post here but he's a bit shy.He has turned out an Australian Abrams. They are the latest versions of this tank , making use of all the lessons from Iraq.They also have some purely aussie mods , that the US army are looking at to adopt.

Nice detailing to make it unique. I am hoping to add some specific Canadian things to the LEO I am doing as well. You should tell your friend to quit being shy. Looks like he would have some good stuff to share with us.

Beer cooler and an engine that doubles as a BBQ

Man that looks GREAT...well done!...just be careful, there will be a lot of Tamyia-freaks that will be knocking down your door to remind you(and your buddy) that no matter how nice it looks it will still NEVER be as good as "Blessed by God" Tamiya lol....

nice work on the HE Abrams It wii look great next to a another one

Great looking abrams no need to be shy about that tank I love the detail on it especially the unique pieces.</p>

So this australian M1A1 are more advanced than M1A2? Or I missunderstood? Becouse It looks strange.
By the way I knowed some abrams had to be shipped to australian army but I never got confirm It ever happened?!

Here are some other pics of same camo but no more.
http://hsfeatures.com/aussieabramsdj_1.htm

That is a beautiful job your friend has done. Very clean nice work. Love all the stowage. I still have to get some for mine. A modern tank today wouldn't look right without it as we all know these guys live out of there tanks. Again excellent work.

The narrowing of the roadwheels looks like it is working out well. You all will have to excuse me but i still like the way my spacers keep the wheels wide. IMO it just looks better, but thats just my opinion. The Kenny Kong tracks and sprockets look great too but my way is cheaper. <div> 16.00 for the LEO sprokets and 60.00 $ US for the tracks. </div>

And maybe if Tamiya put some effort into expanding their range and produced an Abrams they might be right

Yes Sir francis , the australian army recieved 59 abrams and the colour scheme is now official.They were stripped back to shells and rebuilt to the latest standard, with some aussie mods incorporated.
Thankyou for all the kind comments, I will pass them on .

Really nice work on the Abrams. I have yet to build one. I am hoping that Tamiya is reading these forums and realizing there is a lot of money to be made if they decided to sell an Abrams kit...

There does appear to be some interest in a 1/16 abrams . It would be nice to see one come out , that requires less modification and has decent electronics. OH , by the way my friend is going to use elmod in this tank. Under the turret it has a system of photo etched rings, to make electrical contact between turret and hull . This makes the turret free to spin with no tangles. He has made his own decals, the ration boxes are simply a picture printed on thin card and folded.Someone said he would have some things to share and I believe thats true , if I can only get him here.Some things he's done seem so difficult but I know they werent, nor were they expensive. The Hobby Engine tank is a good basis for a start, but to get all the way takes time and lots of modifying. Not for the begginer.

Your very close to the money there. A fridge and an umbrella holder, ........ I think you should email them about the bbq engine idea. Tho I'd be surprised if they dont already have something. Dont laugh to hard , the US army thinks there great ideas.

I agree with the choice as I recently repurposed an old Abrams model in 1/35 for this purpose.

http://web.mac.com/ethandunsford/AMP...gger_M1A1.html

Great looking Abrams!!

Every time I see one I would love to be back in my unit......as long as I could just play with it. Not pull guard duty, not have to fix it, not do table 8, no chemical suits, and install an AC system.

Don

These were the first pics of a real abrams in that camo. Its much more interesting than desert one.
Where's the commander night visor on these tanks?

IFyou mean CITV, they don't have one as they are M1A1 AIM variants with a few mods.

(Commanders Independent Thermal Viewer)

Exactly that edoubleaz.
I used to recognise A1 and A2 versions looking at CITV presence or not. Is that right?