Don’t take my words for it. It is my guess.
The real reason could be something totally different
Trying to eliminate weak spots is a plausible explanation.
I have pretty much finished construction on it. I went with the full USMC M88A2 w/M1A1 Abrams CWS and extended exhaust stacks. It will be similar to this one, with the IED jammer antennas too.
Here it is so far.
On the below pics, I added a couple things Legend missed, or they were later features than their example had. The rear lights are swapped out with NATO tail lights and there are smaller turn signals added next to the front lights. Not sure why they didn’t add NATO turn signals to the front, but they didn’t.
I built it so the boom still raises and lowers too. Legend would have you glue it all solid. I just had to rework the rope anchors at the top of the boom and not glue the lower attachment points solid.
Here is the M1A1 CWS added. I used a Dragon one left over from their M1A2 kits.
For the exhaust stacks, I used ones left over from the AFV Club M35A1 “Nancy” guntruck. The M35A1 has an older exhaust that runs along the frame and out between the rear wheels. I added the flappers and a few other details to them.
On the side skirts, they did come up short. Instead of trying to graft a piece in them cleanly, I left the rear skirt piece off and drilled attachment holes for it. I have seen a few pics of M88A2s without them, so all is good. You can also see the missing pioneer tool box with mesh covering that I scratched up.
The tracks will be AFV Club indi-links. The rear sprockets are resin ones I picked up somewhere with mud release holes already molded in them.
The road wheels will be left over Takom steel wheels from the USMC M60A1 ERA w/Dozer kit. It includes both the steel and aluminum wheels.
Here are other pieces/parts that will go on it after painting.
Next up will be painting.
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Progress progressing progressively 
I like that you’re building this onto an already built kit that you scored
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looks good Gino im surprised legend didnt have the later LED head lights iv seen in some pics
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Great progress, taking notes for my A2 build.
Question about the sprockets: Does the M88A2 have the M48/M60 style sprocket or the M103/M88 style sprocket?
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This is kind of a rhetorical question: what’s the point of the extended exhausts if they don’t have extended air intakes?
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Thanks for the comments gents. It is coming along and hasn’t been that hard of a conversion. The only issue has been the shrinkage of the side plates, which were easy to fix.
The sprockets are technically the M103/M88 sprockets, but they look the same as M48/M60 sprockets to me. The M48/M60 T97E2 tracks are close enough as well.
There are extended intakes, but they are not often used. The intakes are at the top rear of the cabin roof, so they are pretty high already. Here is one with the extended intakes.
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I know you said rhetorical but here I am tossing in my two cents just for the sake of it. I have crewed many M88s in my military career and have been around and seen other units as well and I have seen several with the fording kit for the exhaust, but the above pic is the first time I have ever seen the Intakes. Most of the guys I knew put the exhaust stakes on for the sound that it gave the 88 not necessarily because they were doing a lot of deep-water fording.
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Nice work with the corrective mods.
I just recently built this kit using the Legend conversion. Your kit is out of scale for sure. I can see it on the front plate as well as the sides and upper hull armor in back. That’s really odd, mine fit a lot better than that but the front winch plate was slightly warped on mine.
Here is a shot of mine during the build, you can see the armor fits much better although the skirting did come up a bit short. I wish I would have done the same correction as you did.
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FYI there is no rear hatch on the roof in the A2 model from what I saw. I think the crew count was reduced for the A2 and due to that it was eliminated.
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Good to know. I hadn’t noticed that. Easy fix at this stage. It looks like the movable spotlight is no longer on the top rear either.
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According to the vehicle’s TM some vehicles do not have the hatch.
@HeavyArty you can source out the proper sprockets from the TAKOM M103a1 kit if you have one. They are included but depending the vehicle you choose to depict you can use ordinary m48 sprockets, as shown in the TAKOM instructions.
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Maybe it is removed when the M1A1 CWS is added? These Army M88A2s with the standard TC’s cupola still have the rear roof hatch. I can’t find any good overhead pics of USMC M88A2s w/the M1A1 CWS to tell for sure.
EDIT: Found this pic of a USMC M88A2 w/M1A1 CWS and it looks to still have the rear rooftop hatch. I will leave mine in place based on this one.
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I would too. I thought it was by variant that the hatch was removed but I should have know that it would not be all models. Sorry about that.
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No issue. Thanks.
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I will post up my build of the Herc in another post in case it provides any decent reference for you.
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Gino
whit the introduction of the M88A3 you plan to build it?
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I wasn’t tracking the M88A3 as accepted or even tested by the military yet. We’ll see, but I doubt I would attempt it anytime soon.
Outwardly, it looks as though the extra roadwheel and raised engine deck are the only differences. The rest looks the same.
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i think it has hydro-pneumatic suspension
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