Entering action in 1980 the M1 Abrams remains to this day the heaviest main battle tank in use, coupled with top of the line composite armor and a powerful main gun! Constant updates in the form of the M1A1 and M1A2 keep this tank as the core of the U.S. Army’s Armored Forces.
Introduction
I received this kit as a gift from a friend who already started to assemble it but abandoned it early on. This is why you’ll see that some sprues are missing pieces and that the tracks are almost done.
Assembly Process
Just looking at the pieces and at the instructions I could see this was an easy kit with not allot of detail. One of the things I hated (the individual links for tracks) was mostly completed so I just finished the second track and attached both to the lower hull.
Next I started work on the turret. Very simple assembly that required less than 15 minutes to do however small details were hard to stick on. This made that most of the time was spent assembling the heavy machine guns the tank sports on the upper side of the turret.
After that i finished the main body of the model by gluing the upper hull and sadly seeing that it had a grand total of less then 5 detailed pieces to be added, one of them being a big hatch on the middle of it.
And finally to simply mount the turret and complete the model!
Evaluation
| Plastic Quality | 3 (Mediocre) | The plastic is not that good. It is easily scratched but it is quite hard, so it does not bend easily. |
| Number of Details | 2 (Bad) | I think i counted less then 60 pieces for this model, which is very low. |
| Instructions | 4 (Good) | Easy to follow and no problems during assembly. |
| Building Time | 4.5 (Very Good) | Very fast. It took less then 50 minutes to build. |
| Enjoyment | 3 (Mediocre) | I’d rate it as a 4 or 4.5 because of how easy it is to put it together and how good it looks however the individual links for tracks bring it down for me. |
The kit includes decals.
It is easy and fast to build and considering that it is clearly a beginner’s kit i would recommend it just to get the hang of this hobby. If you’re going to be turned down by the track links then you’re not made for this, however i do understand your pain! As a conclusion i like the kit, as it looks very nice once it is completed.
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