Rye field Models M1A1 Abrams Desert Storm Edition and M1A1 /A2 Abrams with full interior.

RMF Models.           

Adie (Robbo) Roberts of In War and Peace takes a first look at the latest releases from Ryefield models M1A1 Abrams 1991 Desert Storm Edition, and the impressive M1A1/A2 with full interior.

History

The M1 Abrams is a third generation American main battle tank. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army chief of staff and commander of the United States military forces in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972.
The Abrams is highly mobile, designed for modern armoured ground warfare. The M1 Abrams entered service in 1980, replacing the M60 tank
The M1 remains the principal main battle tank of the United States Army and Marine Corps, and the armies of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Australia and Iraq.
Three main versions of the M1Abrams have been deployed, the M1,  M1 A1 and the M1 A2, incorporating improved armament, protection and electronics. These improvements and other upgrades to in-service tanks have allowed this long serving vehicle to remain in front line service, in addition to this, development for improved M1 A3 was reported in 2009.  

Contents

RM-5006 M1A1 Abrams 1991. Desert Storm Edition.

11. Light sand coloured sprues.

2. Dark grey.

1. Clear sprue.

1. Photo etch sheet

1. Decal Sheet.

1.Instruction booklet.

RM-5007 M1A1 / A2 Abrams with full interior.

10. Sand coloured sprues.

4. Light grey sprues.

11. Dark grey sprues.

1. Bag of Dark grey tracks.

3. Photo Etch sheet.  

2. Decal sheet.

1. Track tool.

1. Clear sprue.

1. Instruction booklet.

First Impressions.

First impressions well the art work on the box really grabs you with a war torn background of burning oil wells and the Abrams in the foreground driving past them with turret trained on the scene. The second box with a Chinook coming in to land with the Abrams in the foreground having an engine replacement, both of the art work is very good. 

So onto the first one RM-5006 the 1991 Abrams M1A1, after prising the lid of the box the amount of plastic that Rye field manage to get into the box is always amazing to say the least. It is literally packed inside like a jig saw puzzle where each sprue has a certain way of fitting.

One thing you cannot say about Rye field is that they are stingy on the plastic, both boxes are overflowing with it.

 Review

RM-5006 Abrams 1991. Desert Storm Edition.

Detail of the kit is exquisite with the non slip surface on top of the turret, the recessed inner opening commanders gunners hatches look good. It seems like Rye field really have given this a lot of thought and really brought a lot of accuracy to the kit. The commanders copula, the details on it with rivets on the outer ring and all round the optic covers for all round vision whilst inside the tank.

The wheels if they were food would be just delicious the amount of detail on the drive and idle parts had me just staring at them in disbelieve, I even went on google and took a look at some actual wheel shots Rye field you have it spot on.  The gun big bold and what you would expect from an American tank yet again Rye field have faithfully copied every part to a high standard.

The bottom of the hull although some of it you will not be able to see once built is full of detail for the road wheels and suspension, the only blemishes that I could see were two pin marks on the underside of the hull which could be easily sorted out if it was a issue to you. 

The upper hull just like the turret is full of detail with loads of non slip in all the key areas that you would expect to see it. Lots of moulded detail on the upper hull that includes the hatches and grills that add to the realism of the Abrams.

There are so many sprues full of detailed parts it is quite difficult to know where to start with them. I was shocked about the amount of detail on the 50mm machine gun the like that I have rarely seen on moulded plastic and is more like the detail from a resin part. Boxes, water containers and the fuel containers all looking exactly how you would want them too, well detailed.

The side armoured  plates to protect the wheels have some of the best detail I have seen on an Abrams tank recessed lines where the joins are.

Clear parts from screens for the drivers periscope are all well moulded their is some minor vision blur when looking through them but you are not going to be inside the tank to look outside so only minor. The clear parts also include some bottles which look like pepsi / coca cola bottles adding that extra touch if like me love dioramas.

The tracks look very good but are not like the usual tracks you get from Rye field instead of the usual single link tracks you get four large moulded track lengths with a few links to finish of around the drive and idle wheels.

The photo etch contains basket type mesh for the rear of the turret stowage space, their is also various grills some fuel caps some brackets finish of the selection of photo etch parts. 

The instruction booklet is in colour and is easy to follow it is twelve pages in total which is broken down to seven pages for the build of the tank in twelve parts. One page is for the sprue parts so you can see what you have, two pages for the colour profiles one for the M1A1 Abrams, Cia "B", 2nd Bon, Marine Battle Tanks, KTO February 1991. the second one. M1A1 Abrams, A Co., 1-37 Armour, 1st Armoured. Div., KTO, January 1991.

The decal sheet is not large but it does contain quite a lot of stencils as well as some great artwork, I have built many aircraft over the years but I don't usually see stencils for armour not to the amount including in this kit. 

 Review

RM-5007 Abrams M1A1 /A2 with full interior

The sheer size of the box and amount of plastic inside really is mind boggling, it really feels like Rye field have literally thought of everything when it comes on how much to send out with the tank.

Obviously a lot of the parts from RM-5006 are shared with this kit but of course with this one you get a full interior and the choice of two different Mks the M1A1 and the M1A2.

Opening the box is literally packed out right with plastic, I have in the past opened boxes from some manufacturers to find there is enough space inside it to place two more kits and a book. Not this one though it actually amazes me how they have got what is in it literally in it!

So where does one start when it comes to this tank, so I decided I would just pull each sprue out and take a look at it trying my hardest not to bore you with all the same review. The turret is basically the same sprue as in the RM-5006 with the same great amount of detail.             

The more you look around the sprues the more detail you find and in some cases it is so good. Looking back over the wheel sprue which again is the same as for the RM-5006 I just picked out detail that I did not see first time around on the inside of the wheels is some bolts.

The non slip surface under a magnifying glass you really get to appreciate the amount of work gone into making this kit. The only quibbles I have is that the side armour on the underside of it, it has some injector pin marks and some sync marks that will need some work especially on the front and rear panel where it maybe visible. The armour plate for the machine gun on top of the gunners hatch is a nice touch for the Mk. A2.

Top of the hull is another shared part.    

Full of ammo boxes and water and fuel containers is some of the other shared parts.

You then move on to the light grey sprues which is the full interior, the first one I start looking at is the  internal underside to the turret and each part looks up to an exceptional standard. With electronics for the sight and navigation you have to do a double take to see all the detail Rye field have managed to get into some of the smallest plastic parts I have ever seen.

The next sprue is a big one on detail and parts with the engine and gear box taking up most of it. I have to say the inclusion of an engine in some of the kits, especially where it can been seen is something that some other companies could learn from. The detail level on the parts is very good and with the inclusion of a gear box and transmission just brings to life this Abrams in a diorama.

The next sprue had more of the electronics and also shells, looking at some of the latest technology they have put into this tank there is almost the same level of buttons and levers as you would find in an aircraft. Some minor work needed on some of the sync marks some will not be seen but others will need some work to remove them.

The clear sprue is the same as the RM-5006 and carries some bottles which after a second look is definitely dead ringers for Pepsi bottles.

Now this version of the Abrams has what I have come to expect to be the normal for Rye fields and has the single link tracks. The tracks come with a handy track tool and if they are as easy to put together as there Tiger tanks tracks you really will not have any hassle with these baring the time to build them. The track building process starts with the bottom of the tracks being placed into the track tool this is followed by the pins these are double pins which you attach the teeth to, this is followed by the top layer all looking fairly straightforward.

The instruction booklet is twenty eight pages long this brakes down to twenty pages for the build twenty seven parts for the for the build instructions. Anything in green during the instructions is for the M1A2 version making it simple to sort out while building the kit. Solid black parts for the photo etch again making it fool proof and easy to know what you are looking for. 

Two pages makes up the contents on the sprues so you know what you are meant to have. Three pages are made up with the colour profile pictures these are done by Ammo of Mig and include a paint guide using his Ammo paints, A nice touch is a colour profile showing the cutaway sides to be able to paint the interior with a little guide.

The three colour profile pictures depict M1A1 in green, brown and black colour scheme The second one is for another M1A1, 4th, gun tank, 2nd Platoon, B Company, 3-7 Cavalry in desert scheme camo. The final colour profile is for a M1A2 Abrams tank it does not have any information as to unit or company.

The only minor problem with the instruction booklet was that fact that at some point during printing instruction 26 this has been rectified by a single piece of paper that Rye fields have placed inside the booklet.

   

The three photo etch sheets that come with the tank are mainly grills and some plating a few brackets all of these are holding great detail and will enhance the overall appearance.

The decal sheet includes stencils and what appears to be three to four options for the different tanks all printed by Cartograf all are thin and look very good.

 Conclusion

Rye field models have burst onto the scene in just over a year with some very strong kits and seem to be going from strength to strength, I can only see more and more positive feedback coming from their range of kits if they stick to the same way they are to improving with each new kit.

Recommending their kits is a fairly simple thing to do the boxes are strong and therefore can not only withstand the transportation side of things but also the stash stack. They seem to be producing some great detailed kits making it easy for me to recommend them.

 Final thoughts

Being someone who loves to build dioramas, bringing plastic kits to life is easy to do with fantastic kits that are being produced by some of the manufacturers out there, and Rye field are certainly knocking on the door of the top echelon. looking at these kits today and the amount of detail in them for a new company Rye field models are really upping the game. Sure there have been some teething problems and the first three kits that they produced were Tiger tanks and if you ever want to create a war zone with a new product then the Tiger is the one to do it with. For every Tiger kit produced there are 1,000 Tiger experts ? critics ? or just rivet counters to pull it apart. This said I have to say I have and have built some of their Tiger tanks and I find them very realistic and a fantastic kit able to stand shoulder to shoulder with many of the other manufacturers Tigers. As for the Abrams well it was a bold move with several other companies coming out and releasing Abrams around the same time, how will they fair ' against the others. That will come down to personal preference and other reviewers scoring the build and or review, I believe on my first impression of these kits I rate them very highly.

I will be doing a building blog and review for you all to see the kit being built, I will also be doing a blog showing you some simple techniques for doing some zimmerit using Rye fields Gruppe Fehrman Tiger one real soon.

Till then this is Adie (Robbo) Roberts of In War and Peace wishing you the very best on what ever it is you are building. Happy modelling friends.