Hobby Engine M1A1

[vonrundstedt]

Picked this up today for £10 and wasted no time in stripping it down. Ive started altering the turret by removing the cupola, Mg's and spare wheel. Ive added mesh to the rear plat form.

[BREL]

Nice work and a bargain at that price

[Mackem]

I've still got a lot to do before my Abrams is ready to roll but I found this site invaluable when looking for details and version differences.

http://m1a1.primeportal.net/photos.htm

Hope this helps and good luck.
John

[vonrundstedt]

Thats great, thank you John.
Got the first coat of paint on the turret last night......

[vonrundstedt]

A bit more on the turret.

[vonrundstedt]

Coming along......

[vonrundstedt]

At this point I should state that this will be going to my 4yr old son for his birthday, so im keeping it simple. None of the internals will be changed, though, taking into acount the impressive size of these models, I will certainly be on the look out for another one or a Leopard for my self.

[vonrundstedt]

Just put a 9.6V battery in it and took it for a quick spin..........ITS BLOODY SUPER FAST!!!!!! Unfotunately ive no way of filming it, so you'll have to take my word for it.

[Saxondog]

could you provide more pictures of the suspension system,and how it looks inside you know how the wheels attach,the type of spring system,tensioner,drive sprocket the picture of the gear drive was great but how does it attach to the sprocket? Sorry for all the questions but I want to purchase one of these and because I have no US distributor I will be paying alot,I simply want to make an informed desistion.Thanks SAXONDOG

[vonrundstedt]

Alas, mine hasnt got suspension, on closer inspection, it could well be a cheaper copy, though from the out side they are identical. The gear box's, drive sprockets and road wheels are very basic. The front road wheels are braced by a steel rod which runs from either side. The drive sprockets are fixed to a shaft which is fixed into the gear box, with a rudimentry sprung loaded clutch and the whole unit slots into the lower hull, with the upper sandwiching it. Ill post some pictures of the version ive got, what ever make it is, tomorrow.That being said, it does drive great, and with the larger battery its fornominal. The only down side to mine is that, because it was 2nd hand, the rubber tracks are old,  perrished, have had dodgy repaire jobs done on them, and have split, but its only £20 for a new set.( or £450 for a new metal hull, suspension, wheels, sprockets and tracks. basicaly a Tamiya Leopard lower hull!)