M-1 Abrams US Army Main Battle Tank, 1:72 Hasegawa Options

[Mike]

M-1 Abrams US Army Main Battle Tank
1:72 Hasegawa

Conceived in the late 70s to replace the ageing M60, the M-1 Abrams MBT entered service in 1980, and has undergone many updates since to increase armour and to make it better suited to the combat conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This kit represents an early model, and turns up in a small gloss top opening box. Inside are 2 full sprues, 2 smaller sprues and a separate turret part, plus instructions and small decal sheet.

Having built this iconic MBT in 1:35 scale, I'm familiar with the shape of it from my research, and initial impressions are favourable. The large flat top deck seems to match my shape expectations, and detail is good, although the bullet splash protector isn't moulded around the base where the turret mounts, but in this scale it should hardly notice. Various filler caps festoon the surface, and grilles, latches and stowage bins are all nicely represented.

The same can be said for the turret, although the blow-off magazine panels are a little simplified, as are the cupolas, due to scale limitations. The barrel is a one piece affair, and you will need to drill out the opening if you wish to add a little extra realism to the build.

The mantlet is separate from the turret, and includes the co-ax .5 cal machine gun mount, with admirable detail around the mounting "fins". Separate crew hatches and armament in the shape of the commander's .50cal and ancillary 7.62mm machine guns are all there, as are the British style smoke dispensers. You also get a nicely moulded crew figure that can be posed in a typical pointing position, but you'll need to chop off his lower legs to get him to fit the turret.

The turret baskets are depicted a little over scale, but come with moulded in extra track links, which apart from being symmetrical are often seen on in-theatre machines.

The rear exhaust grilles are also nice, and you could add the little deflector that diverts the hot exhaust gases up to stop any infantry behind being grilled, for a little bit of individuality.

The lower hull builds up from 4 parts, onto which the roadwheels and drive sprockets are glued. The majority of the sprockets are supplied as one part for each side, with the two roadwheels depicted as a single cylinder. At first I thought that this was a bit on the lazy side, and would spoil the model, but once the side skirts are added, they will hardly be seen. The drive sprocket is also modelled as a cylinder, which is inaccurate, but again, most of the detail will be lost under the side-skirts.

Leaving the upper and lower hulls separate will allow you to paint the roadwheels, and then apply the tracks, which are supplied as various sized lengths, which you have to score to coax round the drive sprocket and front roadwheel. Great care will need to be taken here to prevent disaster. The outer surfaces of the tracks are nicely detailed, but the insides are a little odd looking, and will benefit from a little dirt to hide any inaccuracies.

You have a choice of depicting the early smooth transition rear side skirt panel, or the angled section that was introduced in an effort to prevent mud clogging the drive sprocket. To model the latter type, you will need to cut along the indentation on the inside of the two panels. The rope crew step is depicted at the front, as well as the various hinges and mounting points for the side skirts, and at the front, a simple rendition of the light cluster that glues to either side of the large glacis plate.

Markings are provided for two vehicles, as follows:

• 3/64th Armor, 3rd Inf. Div. US Army Europe (1985)
• 2/6th Cav. US Army (undated)

The former is an all over dark green, while the latter is a 3-color camouflaged machine, which would be somewhat tricky to airbrush, if the tank were not so large even at this scale!

Conclusion

A nice little kit of an iconic and powerful Main Battle Tank - one of the best in the world. With a little minor alteration it could be modelled as a later AIM version, and should build up well. Ignore the odd cylinder style roadwheels, or place a strip of black decal film around each of the end stations to simulate gaps - Once weathered, these will barely show.

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for