On Sunday, December 25, 2016 at 11:53:44 AM UTC-5, Doug wrote:
> My comment was based mostly on respect for my good friend and that he is very detail
> oriented. However, as you note, identifying discrepancies of any kind other than those of
> a gross overall nature may be unlikely. Will advise any comments he shares after
> receiving the model - which is going to be a while.
>
> Tank crew member - that is special! Not having the benefit of that experience or anything
> similar - how loud is it in the turret when a round is fired? Is hearing protection
> required?
>
> Thank you again Rob - very much appreciate you sharing the benefit of your experiences.
>
>
> RobG <> wrote:
>
> >On Saturday, December 24, 2016 at 12:17:17 PM UTC-5, Doug wrote:
> >> Will cut the barrel and use styrene to fill the end of the barrel. Not having a lathe
> >> will forgo trying to create the OD flare at the end of the tube.
> >>
> >> While I prefer accuracy - try not to be too anal about details. Although this build will
> >> be a gift to a good friend that crewed an M110 early in Nam - so he would most likely and
> >> very quickly note any discrepancies.
> >>
> >> Thanks again!
> >>
> >>
> >
On a tank that I crewed, and there have been a fair number, I would notice something like the wrong style track (my old M48A5 used the early style and not the later style often seen). Whereas my M60A3TTS used the later style track, but had a mixture of both old and new style road wheels. The camouflage was repainted during my ownership and photos from one time won't match photos from a different date.
Now I crewed several Abrams tanks, some of which went through modifications while I was the tank commander as well, not to mention a trip to the desert that required my second pristine 3-color tank to get a crappy sand colored paint job. Subsequent Abrams tanks came delivered in factory fresh desert sand. I can tell most of the variations between the years it's been in service.
I only crewed one M1A2 and for just a brief period so unless someone tried to pass off a very late version as my early M1A2, I'd be hard pressed to point out inaccuracies that would truly be just variations.
As a young lieutenant, I was normally asked to build a model kit of a fellow lieutenant's particular tank. Believe me, using 1989 standards, and trying to replicate markings by hand, most were very happy to have a tank that was supposed to be their tank, but not even close by my standards of the late 90s, let alone today.