M551A1 Sheridan, Desert Storm

This is a conversion of the Tamiya M551 Sheridan from a pre-production version to an M551A1 used by the 82nd Airborne in Desert Storm. I was initially disappointed upon opening the kit, finding out that Tamiya made no changes to it other than print out Desert Storm decals, and I left it in my soon-to-do stack of kits. Curiosity got me started on the kit; especially after going through references on Gulf War Sheridans; I toyed around with trying to convert the main gun to Gulf War standard. Success!!! And off I went with the rest of the kit.

I proceeded to add the searchlight with its support mechanism, protective panels on the commanders cupola, laser rangefinder. I added details around the hull and turret that Tamiya had missed including the fire extinguisher lever on the hull side. and the stowage rack that I made from wire and spare mesh.