Tamiya m1a2 SEP v3 tusk 2

[tomhugill]

Hey folks,

A build that I've completely failed to document but has been quite enjoyable.

I picked up a Tamiya m1a2 second hand some time ago. I always liked the tusk upgrades and have obtained a tusk 1 and 2 from armoured models (both excellent kits). Something I quickly realised was that I couldn't make the version I wanted with the parts I had. In the main I needed to upgrade to SEP standard to use the tusk kits (exception to this were the marine tanks but they had other changes required).

Happily dklm bought out a SEP V2 and V3 upgrade package. I had also bought the trumpeter m1a2 SEP initially, then realised there were major changes for the SEP V2 and V3 so ordered the dklm kit. Ironically I then realised that tanks deployed only had the earlier SEP upgrade (shoot foot).

Oh well, I'm sure there's provision for fitting tusk 2 to sep v3 just I can't find the pictures!



The tank as I bought it. Was built fairly well, aside from the gearbox where the builder had mixed a couple of gears causing them to eat themselves. Luckily I was able to claim this cost back off the seller and got some replacements offered.



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[Herr Dr. Professor]

I am watching to learn what constitutes SEP, SEP 2, SEP 3, TUSK ("Tank Urban Survivial Kit," I believe). I have only a few books on the Abrams, and they seem not to be very up-to-date.
I also noticed that you used blue for the vision blocks. I have usually used a semi-gloss black for vision blocks on WWII tanks, but I was -ing of using Tamiya clear blue over a silver for the vision blocks on a Sherman.

[tomhugill]

I am watching to learn what constitutes SEP, SEP 2, SEP 3, TUSK ("Tank Urban Survivial Kit," I believe). I have only a few books on the Abrams, and they seem not to be very up-to-date.
I also noticed that you used blue for the vision blocks. I have usually used a semi-gloss black for vision blocks on WWII tanks, but I was -ing of using Tamiya clear blue over a silver for the vision blocks on a Sherman.

I think your method is a good one (I use similar on my WWII). I'll be changing the scope colours to something more accurate further down the line.

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[tomhugill]

I didn't take many pictures of the assembly of the armoured models tusk modules. They went together really nicely, the tiles needed some sanding but nothing major.
The kits a real credit to Armoured models



Next stage is fitting the SEP V3 kit from dklm. The print quality here is good, the material used is a bit of a paint to join, although my CA worked ok with activator (very very slow without). Somthing I did find was this doesn't fit the tamiya perfectly as there as some differences with the henglong (which came first).



The bits in the turret bustle were also a bit tight and needed some reworking but nothing major.

Some pictures of the rest. I was very impressed with the crows system. It comes ready for an optical fiber. It does pivot manually, I'm planning on trying to add powered rotation
q


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[tomhugill]

Next stage of the build was using my trumpeter kit to add missing details and improved pieces

Something the tamiya kit is missing is the tow shackles, pretty disappointing for some with a retail price of over £1000!



Luckily the trumpeter ones fit really nicely

More missing things, the never seen smoke grenades, the trumpeter actually has these and they do make a nice difference. Some slight drilling out was needed but nothing major.



Next bigy is the extra bustle bin, as you can see the trumpeter ones much finer scale than the okmo and came with etch grating them makes it match the tamiya much better.





Lastly is the tow bar. The dklm does provide this, although the hardware for joining it wasn't. The trumpeter one is just better detail and as I used the trumpeter headlight guards (mine were missing on arrival) it made sense to use them



Now I'd like to make clear that whilst I did find some issues fitting these to a tamiya kit and some annoying omissions (screws for the tow bar and lack of glazing for the shields) Carson has been really receptive to making improvements and adding the missing bits, so hats off to him as a retailer, they don't come much better!

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[tomhugill]

Next job was to fit the gunners sight and the CITV. I got these again from dklm, drawn in by the motorise commander scope. Also luckily the crows mount doesn't really fit properly on the tamiya kit so it made sense to use this.

The commanders sight needed so rework as the elevation servo gets in the way. Originally the motor hung right down as there nothing here on the henglong.

What I've done is move the mounting point for the shaft from the bottom of the sight into the roof and have the whole motor and gearbox move up into the sight.

The beacon was fitted at this point too with the wire hidden and runs through a notch in the bottom half of the turret to allow it all the be disassembled

https://youtube.com/shorts/PHJ-SL2CX2o?feature=share

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[jhamm]

Another one bites the tusk...
The tusk manager made a good job!

[Herr Dr. Professor]

What a load of fun stuff to add to an Abrams. I have a HengLong Abrams stored away for the future, as I hope to do a camouflage version rather than the usual desert color. I will be tempted to add all those nifty SEP and TUSK goodies, but by the time I get to the Abrams, there may be further upgrades.

[BarryC]

Coming along nicely Tom!

Will you be putting shoes in all those "shoe holders"?

Barry

[tankme]

Looking good. I have the earlier version of the TUSK kit without a lot of the other SEP items. I've been dreading sanding all 80 of the TUSK add on armor plates. I am also not using the TUSK tow bar or EBR (extended bustle rack) as the DKLM versions are not great.

If you are interested...there are a few things to note on the build. Fix if you like, if not it's only a suggestion. It's your build and you can do what you like with it.

In the image below, the part circled in red is used for mounting the spare wheel/sprocket on the front of the turret. You have it mounted backwards. The high part should be angled toward the back of the tank. Shown in the pic at the bottom.



The part in blue is the protective shield for the CITV sight with the add on GPS antenna/armored cover for the wiring to the antenna. That part is permanently fixed to the top of the turret on the rear base of the CITV as shown in the pic below.

The arrow in green is pointing to the bar between the rubber pads used to stow the CROWS station during transport. The bars connecting the two pads should be removed as they are not present on the real tank. You can see them in the pic below.