Ted Hayward describes how he built Trumpeter''s massive M16 Halftrack.



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Thank you Ted,for the write up. I too made those fixes you described.
I made my own gun solenoids,and used images from Hunnicutt's halftrack book,to lead the wires into the mount.
My track is a bit tighter around the running gear,I hid the "joint" in the sprocket area. Also,I used fine fishing line to tie down the track to the sprocket and idler,this helped the overall view.
I noticed there was a top radiator hose,but no lower.The connection point on the engine is there,so I made one from a piece of wire which had black insulation on it. Also I had to fabricate an adjustment bar for the generator,as there was none on the engine.
I suppose for the missing ammo belts,a series of round sections of styrene rod,or stretched sprue glued side by side would be good to use as a substitute.

Very awesome build and write-up! I couldn't read the whole article tonight, but what I saw I did like and saved it to my favorites. I also am into 1/16th kits and have been eyeing this one for awhile and can't decide on it or waiting for the R/C version, which is slated to be released later this year.

Lots of tips so thanks for sharing it with us!

Not to detract from the amazing work done on this huge model, but the 50th Artillery Battalion (Automatic Weapons, Self Propelled) did exist. There are a number of references to this unit in Korea. It would have been equipped with the M16 during that time frame as well.

Also the M55 designation applied only to the M45C mount + the M20 trailer.

Regardless, this is a truly impressive piece and thanks for sharing.

Thank you!!!!
I've been looking for one of these blogs, good job Ted.
We still have the track problem, anybody find a good way around this?
Dan

I'm very surprised that the AM folks haven't jumped to produce extras for this kit. It's many flaws aside, it still has no rivals in this scale. I was shocked. however, to see how much it's selling for in your part of the world. For my money, I'd rather save-up and get the 1/16th King Tiger instead -far better value-for-money!