Small Scale Military Headquarters

Is FOV the only guys who made the Abrams ?

I am not too much into modern stuff. Did 21st ever make one ?

Do all of the rear bustles sag on the FOV ?

It looks like mine was put in , in the sagged position. It looks like they would have just raised the basket in the rear a 1/4" or so the sag would not be there.

Or is it because of the soft platic is the reason it is sagging?

BBI and FOV (Unimax) both made 1:18th scale M1 Abrams. BBI's was the first. Some small retailers may still have them and they retailed for about $50. 21st never did make one in 1:18 scale, though they did make a huge 1:10 scale RC version several years ago.

I have two FOV M1s in desert and woodland cammo and both the rear bustles sag. I think this was an endemic problem with the model. It is due to soft plastic and can actually be fixed (temporarially at least) by soaking the piece in hot water. Some FOV M1s had worse sagging than others from what I saw when they were at Target.

The BBI M1 uses a harder plastic for the rear bustle, and also has the crew equipment lockers on the bustle and the spre wheel on the turret. It represents an earlier model of the M1 from the Desert Storm timeframe. Also, the hatches are a little odd - the figure sits in the hatch and its hard to get a larger figure (such as an FOV tanker figure) into the tight space.

The FOV M1 represents a more current variant of the M1. The figure are actually able to stand in the hatches. Overall, I think the FOV Abrams looks better. The paintjob and the weathering are pretty good. With a little touch-up such as fixing the rear bustle, painting the periscopes and replacing the rubbery .50 machine gun with the better one that comes with one of the FOV tanker figures, it really turns out to be a nice tank.

I have BBI's M1 Abrams and I'm very happy with it. It comes nicely detailed, has smoothly running tank tracks and a neat looking figure.

i have the bbi as well and quite like it. It's more of a desert storm era abrams but that's fine. It's funny, i had it one my shelf for years and didn't much care for it, never gave it a look. Then one day i repositioned it with the rear pointing outward, turned the turret a bit and now i love it.....lol. A simple change in pose.

I'm not that much into modern armour either. Just like having a nice big tank. If i found the FOV cheap some day i'd probably get it as well but i'm not going out of my way for it.

Both are nice in their own ways..

Pte also made the abrams but it was too small for the scale i thought just like the new ones that are out now. maybe its the right scale now im not sure. Anyone have input.