In case anyone is interested, Squadron currently has the trumpeter 1/16 Abrams kit for $209 plus shipping.

Once the Tamiya one is released i'd love to see the differences between the Trumpeter, HL, Tamiya, and Hooben. The Hooben seems to be vaporware though. I wish one of the manufacturers actually made a more up to date version with the add on bustle basket and/or TUSK parts. The Hooben has that basket and looks like a draw bar, but once again I don't know of anyone who actually has one.

nice....

Will probably buy one..... I want to make a Full Option USMC Variant... the M1A1 parts will help...

Just ordered this kit to steal a bunch of parts from it... I won't need the A1 parts since my build is an A2. I should have it in about a week. All of the parts I don't need will more than likely be sold or stashed for other builds.

I wish one of them or someone aftermarket would make a correct US tow bar. All the Abrams in my unit as well as the Bradley and M88 had these on each and every one. They also all and I mean ALL had a piece of Steel Roadsign channel with two rolls of razor wire on the back through the lift hooks. Tow bar was on the front

M1 Abrams 1:16 RC

He is good people, not sure if you knew of his site or not but he has some Abrams parts you may be interested in.

There are definitely some parts there I will be ordering. Also saw a video of the trumpeter kit and sprue C has the tow bar

I'll be getting my full kit on Thursday if the tracking is correct... Not sure how well Trumpeter does with ordering individual spruce from their kits. I'm stripping what I want from the kit and will be parting out the rest to offset the cost. I've seen what Chris has to offer on the Ludwigs site. I may end up ordering the TUSK side skirts from him.

PM me if you don't need the tow bar. I will make molds and off it as a kit. Not looking to make money so I would only ask for shipping.

anyone have pics of this kit?

There is a vid of the unboxing...not mine.

thanks a lot....

Sorry seen someone else had posted about Chris Ludwig parts .

Well my kit arrived and I'm happy and sad. I'm happy because it's really detailed. I'm sad because it has some glaring flaws on the lower hull. As you can see here the driver's hatch is all jacked up. The back of the hatch is sunk down, but the front is sticking up. Not sure how something this bad could get through QA. You can see from those pics that there is some nice anti-skid texture on the hull. You can also see the messed up fender bar with a messed up fake end link molding in the lower right of the pics.

The size of the hull seems to be compatible with the HL lower hull. Both are the same size and with some minor modifications it would fit.

There is another mistake in the hull. There is some onboard detail that is not supposed to be present on the right side of the tank. I verified it is not supposed to be there in all my Abrams reference books also. The funny thing about the kit is that it says it's an M1A1, but there are some details on the hull that are from an M1A2 model like the three doors over the onboard generator. The tank is supposed to have either a gas filler port (M1A1) or the three doors which houses batteries which replaced the generator (M1A2) - not both. It's funny that the HL M1A2 has the solid panel for the generator that is supposed to be on the A1 and the Trumpeter M1A1 kit has the battery compartment that is supposed to be on the A2. There are also some parts that aren't in the instructions like there is a CITV sight housing, but not enough pieces to build the sight. There is PE for the BRE (bustle rack extension), but no BRE is included, but it is shown in a page of instructions. I'm guessing it's because they are going to use this base kit to release an M1A2 version also. Overall the kit is nice except for the things I've pointed out. You would have to modify the turret to be able to take the top off without removing the bustle rack. You can see from the pics that I have cut the back of the turret and affixed it to the top. Same would need to be done if the Trumpeter turret top was to be removable.

At this point I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with the kit. I'm thinking if I can fix the driver's hatch and delete the right side detail mid hull, I might just build it as an M1A1. I'd throw an R/C hull on it. The rear engine vent detail and access doors are far superior to the HL versions. I would just continue to build my HL version as an M1A2 SEP v2. It did come with the drawbar, the heat deflector, oil drip pans, the spare road wheels, and some extra ammo boxes. The PE grills are very nice and accurate. The barrel end piece is nice, but the rest of the barrel is junk IMO. The HL metal barrel is better since the Trumpeter one is in two halves. The lower hull of the Trumpeter kit is actually stiffer than the HL lower hull, but it would be a chore the R/C the Trumpeter lower. There is actually a shadow of a battery compartment on the bottom of it where it will go on the Watherson's R/C version.

Hmmmmm....wow...these flaws...I might just wait for the Tamiya kit,,,,