Amusing Hobby M1 Abrams X, U.S. Main Battle Tank 1:35 – build review

Kit Ref: 35A054
Feature Article with Colin Izatt

Just before we get started, here’s a look at how it all turned out…

The Subject…
The Abrams X is a technology demonstrator and will go into series production for the US Army, the planned introduction to service is 2030.

The original M1 Abrams was fielded in 1980 since then there have been many incremental improvements which amongst other things has seen a steady increase in weight to over 73 tons from an initial 60 tons. The gas turbine power plant was already very fuel thirsty and weight increase made the situation worse. You can read a good synopsis of the variants here.

Extract from above linked Wikipedia article: 

Abrams X is a technology demonstrator of the M1 Abrams series by General Dynamics Land Systems. The Abrams X features a lightweight Watervliet Arsenal XM360 smoothbore gun with pepper pot muzzle brake, an autoloader which reduces the crew to three, an unmanned turret, a hybrid diesel-electric Cummins ACE power pack that gives 50% more fuel efficiency, a 30 mm XM914 chain gun in a remote weapon station, Trophy active protection systems with three launchers, an augmented reality suite that would increase the crews’ situational awareness thanks to cameras and sensors mounted around the tank’s exterior, a silent mode when running on electric power, the ability to be updated more easily than existing tanks and use loitering munitions such as the AeroVironment Switchblade as well as surveillance drones and reduced weight for improved mobility. In October 2022, GDLS released a video showing the Technology Demonstrator and various technology tests.


The Kit

Amusing Hobby have been quick of the mark producing this kit as the real one had only been displayed for the first time late in 2022. The parts count is quite low as can be seen below.


You can view the sprues here.


The build…