Nice photo but a perfectly silhouetted target. 
Last tank crew.
Loader is a reservist from the Bundeswehr.
He was motivated and could sling the 120!
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That is actually a stunning image… I would have that in a frame 
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Always wanted to build a dio like this. be it an M60A1 or an M1A1, with an M88 lifting the power pack out while in the field or at the very least, the engine compartment fully open with the power pack next to the vehicle in a Motor Pool setting.
WHat parts did you use to convert the Tamiya M2 kit to an M2A1? After seeing this kit in another thread, i am curious to upgrade my M2 to an M2A1 to also replicate a Bradley from the 24th ID.
Not sure what exact parts he used, but the A1 upgrades included the larger turret bustle stowage basket, guards around the driver’s and commander’s periscopes, an NBC system for the crew (not the troops in the back), side firing ports deleted (on M3A1 only), and some other minor changes. All of the extra parts are in the Tamiya M2A2 kit.
This is all laid out in the M2/M3 Bradley Reference thread.
I know that the M3A1 deleted the hull side firing ports, having smooth flat plates instead, but this M2A1 posted above looks to have them.
You are right. The side firing ports were left on M2A1s and deleted on the M3A1. They were later deleted on M2A2s.
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Unfortunately I never got the tail numbers off of the various Hueys, Blackhawks, Mi-8’s, Ch-47’s and C-130’s that delivered me to various places. I’ll have to settle for finishing some M1114 and M1152 gun trucks I’ve started…
In fact, now that I think about it, I started an identical thread on the Archived Armorama years ago. I’ll be damned if I can find it. I thought it was named This is how I roll, but I could be wrong.
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My rides were an M923 truck with an intel hut on the back and a big generator on a trailer at my last duty station, then an ancient Dodge pickup followed by CUCV Blazers and pickups in the Maryland National Guard. I got to test drive a Humvee when they arrived in 1992 or 1993, but got out before they became the norm. In Germany we rode around in contracted Carl Domberger Reisen tour buses or VW Vans.
I do!
I think you can do it easily now.
We are a main gun range
One of the more attractive duties during my sojourn at the Junior Leaders’ Battalion RAOC(69-71) was that of Company Runner; this meant that one was effectively excused duties during the day and had to report to Company Office to be tasked at the whim of the staff there – including a very attractive civilian typist, or at the other end of the visual scale, the rather fearsome Company Sergeant Major. One reported straight after the morning muster parade and was often immediately tasked to make endless cups of tea or coffee. Part of the job involved running errands and for that there was the Army Issue bicycle, a sturdy machine with no gears, mechanical rod brakes and tyres that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a tractor. I’m sure it was designed to tow an anti-tank gun. However, it meant that I could cycle blithely around the garrison, choosing more or less whatever route I desired, and it was, in its way, a burst of freedom.
(It was something like this – filched off the www)
One of the advantages was that no matter where I chose to go – and the “adult” training depot was adjacent to ours, where Junior Leaders were seen as fair game for ambushes and completely unwarranted and indiscriminate rebukes – as a cyclist one was excused saluting, which was a huge bonus, given the number of officers around the two camps. A real perk was being tasked to visit the nearby Post Office in the village not far from the camp; that meant I cycled gaily down the hill, posted/purchased whatever I had to, then immediately headed for “Paul’s Café” where I would indulge myself in pie and chips or similar (we always seemed to be hungry). The return journey was slightly less pleasant in that I had to push this heavy beast back up the hill until the terrain levelled out, and then once more I cycled blithely through the danger area of the adult barracks back to my Company Office.
All a long ramble about what one might call literally, my first military “ride”; I wonder if I should tackle it in 1:35?
Of course you should.
I forgot I had a two wheeled ride as well at our firebase in Afghanistan. This is not me, but another guy named Rob on another ODA who preceded me:
I used to ride it around to the seven OP’s we had around the base, which were several hundred meters from us, so I got some good riding in.
As luck would have it, the plastic kit that’s available is almost identical:
Still waiting to see if one of our 3D gurus can print spokes thin enough to look in scale.
There’s also the T-62 that both he and I drove around a warlord’s compound on our very last day in country. Only cost me some fake Oakley’s and about fifteen gallons of diesel.
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Thanks for the support! I note the UAZ 469 in the background of your photo - also available in 1:35(!)
I think I’d better have a look at the Masterbox series of bikes.
I have a Tamiya M2A2 ODS kit, and i actually put the blocked-out gun ports from the base kit. Time to hit up eBay for a few extra sprues from that kit. Thanks 
Looking at the kit, i think Sprue E will have the most visible parts I need, which are the periscope guards for the driver’s hatch and around the commander’s hatch.
Oh come on, don’t you want the Tamiya German bicycle? My old AMPS club did a group entry of those at one of the local contests years ago… 
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