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Armor/AFV: Modern Armor
Modern armor in general.
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Australian M1A1 SA AIM and M88A2 HERCULES
reckymech
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 04:34 AM UTC
I have seen a lot of people asking if there is any shots of the new AUSCAM pattern for the M1 and M88 and while there is less than a handful from tanks painted at the School of Armour these tanks had to be repainted after the photos because it didn't match the pattern dictated by the big wigs.

These shots were taken on December 7th 2010 at 1st Armoured Regiment in Darwin, please excuse the quality due to it being a last minute thought and only having my iPhone on me but I can get more shots if needed when I get back to work in about 2 weeks.











































reckymech
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 04:43 AM UTC
Oh and for anyone thinking of building or already building an aussie M1/M88 I can help with all the little things like callsigns, ARN's, what we do and don't carry on the vehicles and so on.
chnoone
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 06:04 AM UTC
Thankx for posting all these fabulous pics!
I love the name given to the M88 ..... cool
Got some more ?

Cheers
Christopher
Violetrock
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 07:01 AM UTC
ARSCHGESICHT- German for BUTTHEAD
Adamskii
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South Australia, Australia
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 10:53 AM UTC
Thanks so much for these pics. A seriously good walkaround.

almost makes me want to start one soon...

The m88 herc has what differences to the US one? If i got a conversion, do you know what are the significant changes to be modelled, other than markings and paint ? ie extra jerry can holders, light configurations, antenna config etc?

you help is muchly appreciated.

Adam
reckymech
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 01:11 PM UTC
@chnoone

Not sure if you are asking for more pictures but like I said I am still not back at work but when I am I can certainly take more and better pictures. If you are referring to M88 callsigns/names then you should love this:

In the period of time they have been AUSCAM (april/may 2010 the first tanks were painted) the M88's have changed names and callsigns from when they were tan.

207-101
Tan it was 58A and was called 'OAKOVER' (2007-2009) is now 88C and called 'CHOOD MARNI'

207-102
Tan it was 58B but I can't remember it's first name (if I do I will put it up) but from 2008-2009 was called 'BILLY' and is now 88B and 'BABA TUNDE' (

207-105
Tan it was 58 and has been called 'SCRAP COLLECTOR' (2006-2008) It then went without a name for about year but changed callsign to 58A in early 2008, in early 2009 it was named 'ARSCHGESICHT' and in 2010 the callsign was changed to 88A.

207-106
Tan it had no callsign until it became 58 in 2008 still with no name until 2009 when it became 'OP I ROVEN' and in 2010 the callsign changed to 88.

101 and 102 were delivered straight to the regiment in 2007, but 105 and 106 were transported from the School of Armour almost a year later in February 2008 hence 105 having a name starting with S (for support squadron) and 106 not having one at all because it was a spare tank so to speak. 101 was put into long term storage from 2008 but was brought back out of storage in 2010 due to a huge workload from within the regiment requiring us to man 4 instead of 3 M88's. The callsigns have always been 58x and names started with O but in 2009 our OC allowed us to name the tanks with the letter of the squardron they supported and in 2010 the new OC wanted the callsigns changed to 88x. More of a joke at our expense than anything else.

@Adadmskii

Off hand I can tell you the Americans (and basically all recky mechs) stow their vehicles a different way so trying to model stowage accurately can be a nightmrare. I only have my memory and some 1st Tank Battalion USMC M88's to go off but big differences are:

*We don't carry the oxygen bottle across the engine deck
*Most of our tanks (if not all by now) don't use the covers for the tow ropes in front of the crew doors
*We put Australian jerry and oil cans in the American holders on the outside
*We have FBCB2 or BFT fitted (USMC and Army ones should have this by now I think???)
*207-105 is the only Australian M88 left with it's mudflaps still on even though the condition is a little poor (personal pride on this one)
*Some American M88's don't have a cutout step on the first armour skirt but all *Australian ones have this cutout.
*We have the bridge class of 68 sprayed on the front left as you look at it
*If you are getting super intricate with detail the Australian M88 has 'DIESEL' written above the fuel cap while the American ones have 'JP8'
*Despite our M88's being attached to the line squadrons, they all have the horizontal line indicating they belong to Operations Support Squadron and not A,B,C or RHQ. USMC M88's actually belong to each squadron and so adopt the chevron of the squadron in question.
*The Australian .50 cal is mounted on an old mount from a M548 Tilley, we use this because it moves the weapon a little further forward than the original mount and makes it somewhat more user friendly.
*Australian M88's use the M1A1 antenna instead of the insanely tall and solid original ones because we found they kept snapping off in the trees and we fast ran out of spares...

That is all I can think of for now, any more questions by all means ask them



Smokeyr67
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Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 01:25 PM UTC

Quoted Text

@chnoone

Not sure if you are asking for more pictures but like I said I am still not back at work but when I am I can certainly take more and better pictures. If you are referring to M88 callsigns/names then you should love this:

In the period of time they have been AUSCAM (april/may 2010 the first tanks were painted) the M88's have changed names and callsigns from when they were tan.

207-101
Tan it was 58A and was called 'OAKOVER' (2007-2009) is now 88C and called 'CHOOD MARNI'

207-102
Tan it was 58B but I can't remember it's first name (if I do I will put it up) but from 2008-2009 was called 'BILLY' and is now 88B and 'BABA TUNDE'

207-105
Tan it was 58 and has been called 'SCRAP COLLECTOR' (2006-2008) It then went without a name for about year but changed callsign to 58A in early 2008, in early 2009 it was named 'ARSCHGESICHT' and in 2010 the callsign was changed to 88A.

207-106
Tan it had no callsign until 2008 when it became 58 in 2008 until 2009 when it was named 'OP I ROVEN' and in 2010 the callsign changed to 88.

101 and 102 were delivered straight to the regiment in 2007, but 105 and 106 were transported from the School of Armour almost a year later in February 2008 hence 105 having a name starting with S (for support squadron) and 106 not having one at all because it was a spare tank so to speak. 101 was put into long term storage from 2008 but was brought back out of storage in 2010 due to a huge workload from within the regiment requiring us to man 4 instead of 3 M88's.

@Adadmskii

Off hand I can tell you the Americans (and basically all recky mechs) stow their vehicles a different way so trying to model stowage accurately can be a nightmrare. I only have my memory and some 1st Tank Battalion USMC M88's to go off but big differences are:

*We don't carry the oxygen bottle across the engine deck
*Most of our tanks (if not all by now) don't use the covers for the tow ropes in front of the crew doors
*We put Australian jerry and oil cans in the American holders on the outside
*We have FBCB2 or BFT fitted (USMC and Army ones should have this by now I think???)
*207-105 is the only Australian M88 left with it's mudflaps still on even though the condition is a little poor (personal pride on this one)
*Some American M88's don't have a cutout step on the first armour skirt but all *Australian ones have this cutout.
*We have the bridge class of 68 sprayed on the front left as you look at it
*If you are getting super intricate with detail the Australian M88 has 'DIESEL' written above the fuel cap while the American ones have 'JP8'
*Despite our M88's being attached to the line squadrons, they all have the horizontal line indicating they belong to Operations Support Squadron and not A,B,C or RHQ. USMC M88's actually belong to each squadron and so adopt the chevron of the squadron in question.
*The Australian .50 cal is mounted on an old mount from a M548 Tilley, we use this because it moves the weapon a little further forward than the original mount and makes it somewhat more user friendly.
*Australian M88's use the M1A1 antenna instead of the insanely tall and solid original ones because we found they kept snapping off in the trees and we fast ran out of spares...

That is all I can think of for now, any more questions by all means ask them





Thats ALL you can think of?

I'm lucky to remember my shoe size

reckymech
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 01:27 PM UTC
Yeah, I am sure there is more but all I really want to remember is the old name for 102 and the name of my old Leopard ARVM
vonHengest
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 01:37 PM UTC
This is good stuff, tanks for sharing! I may hit you up for more info at some point in time later on
reckymech
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 01:57 PM UTC
Also you can't see it and I am having trouble finding a photo of it but the little stowage area on the engine deck that is meant to carry the tarp and exothermic cutter, we only carry the tarp and strap a 'jack box' onto this area.

It's a green plastic trunk about 50x50x50 (cm) and we put things like cooking gear, paper towel, soap and other random stores like that in it.

Photo of 105 before it was painted but when it had the velcro from the abandoned Barracuda trial all over it

sam_dwyer
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Victoria, Australia
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 02:29 PM UTC
Mitchell thanks sooo much for posting these shots!

Sam
KoSprueOne
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Myanmar
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 03:25 PM UTC
Thanks for sharing the awesome photos, reckymech

I have this AFV kit and want to convert it to the M88A2 Hercules and have been eyeing the AM kit by Legend




csmanning
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 03:33 PM UTC
Oh Hot Damn!!!! Thanks so much for the pictures and the information... you are now my new best friend.

Somebody get Jason Miller on the line and get him making decal sets for these bad boys!!

Cheers!
Carmen
reckymech
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 03:45 PM UTC
You guys are too kind, I am starting to think I should have twice as many with all the little details.

Now if only we had Wolverines in AUSCAM
warreni
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South Australia, Australia
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 04:13 PM UTC
Thanks Mitchell. I have my eyes out for an Italeri Leopard 1A4 to convert to an Australian Leopard, but they are very thin on the ground at the moment..

And I already have my M1 ready to go. Just have to get around to it.
jon_a_its
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 07:37 PM UTC

Quoted Text

ARSCHGESICHT- German for BUTTHEAD



More akin to @$$-face in 'Strine?
reckymech
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 08:31 PM UTC
Correct, I translated to sh*t faced as 105 was my tank and I drink Jack Daniels like it's the last bottle on earth.

And some info on the Abrams;

*the callsigns are not always fixed to an ARN since tanks go into service, breakdown out field and what have you and callsigns need to be switched to the next tank, so it isn't possible to give a definitive list of callsigns matched to ARN's.
*The callsigns themselves are made from rifle range targets sprayed tan or black and the callsign sprayed on with a crude stencil then secured by ziptie to the guard for the turret stowage bins by zip tie.
*The names for the Abrams are many and varied and can change at random, but the only two I know of that will never change are 207001 0C 'HAT DICH' and (ARN escapes me) 0D 'HILDA'
*M1A1 tank names are placed between the external fire handle and the pin for the second to last armour skirt on the left hand side and the equivalent opposite side.

As far as stowage is concerned the guys keep their packs and webbing in the turret basket as with the umbrella, cam net (not always taken on ex) tarp, water and oil jerry cans, rations, 30 pack of coke/sprite/solo and ammunition boxes behind the smoke grenade launchers.

I should be able to find some decent pictures to show all this too, I'll keep looking.
warreni
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Posted: Friday, January 14, 2011 - 08:44 PM UTC
Our next door neighbour was a WO2 on M113s and he likes a drink too. Must be a grunt thing..
Violetrock
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Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 01:28 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

ARSCHGESICHT- German for BUTTHEAD



More akin to @$$-face in 'Strine?



Word by word:
Arsch= arse
Gesicht= face

I think butthead is on the same level as Arschgesicht on the "dirty word chart"

Thomas
ozarmour
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Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 04:06 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Our next door neighbour was a WO2 on M113s and he likes a drink too. Must be a grunt thing..

hey warren being an ex grunt 6 rar its not just a grunt thing those raeme blokes go on ex and thats the first thing they pack cause they can
Citizinsane
Joined: July 27, 2006
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Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 04:48 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text


Quoted Text

ARSCHGESICHT- German for BUTTHEAD



More akin to @$$-face in 'Strine?



Word by word:
Arsch= arse
Gesicht= face

I think butthead is on the same level as Arschgesicht on the "dirty word chart"

Thomas



anyway, in german that has nothing to do with being drunk. I'd suggest "b'suffa" (bavarian for 'besoffen' - 'being drunk') as sort of a 'correct translation'.
nice name however. I can recall having seen the name "arschloch" on an alpha company cav abrams some time ago.

Cheers, Max

EDIT: P.S. thanks for the nice pics!
sauceman
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Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 04:52 AM UTC
Thanks for the pics!

Is there anybody that has the AUS M1A1 decals?


cheers
HeavyArty
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Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 05:16 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Thanks for the pics!

Is there anybody that has the AUS M1A1 decals?


cheers



Echelon makes a set of Aussie M1A1 Aim decals and Mouse House out of Australia makes as Aussie M1A1 AIM conversion set.
bison126
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Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 06:00 AM UTC
Thanks for the series of pictures and the explanations Mitchell !
Feel free to post more when you're back at work

Olivier
csmanning
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Posted: Saturday, January 15, 2011 - 06:17 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Thanks for the pics!

Is there anybody that has the AUS M1A1 decals?


cheers



Echelon makes a set of Aussie M1A1 Aim decals and Mouse House out of Australia makes as Aussie M1A1 AIM conversion set.



The Echelon Decals are for the Aussie Abrams when they first arrived in Tan, they will not work for the tri-colored Abrams. You can get the conversion from Mouse House Enterprises or directly from Jason Miller at Arms Corps Models (Send me a PM if you want his email).

Wonder if Lawrence Goh From Echelon would put out a new set for the tri-colored Abrams? Do you think it's worth approaching either of these guys about the idea?

I have another Dragon M1A2 SEP kit and ACM Conversion set ready to build another one of these bad boys... just waiting on decals. Now I just need my AFV Club M88A2 kit and Legend Conversion/Upgrade kit to arrive....

Cheers!
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