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M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage Part One

Chassis, Drivetrain, Wheels, and Tracks

Dragon Models, whose kits I have so far built several of, is a powerhouse of modeling technology and clean molding in polystyrene. This kit was no exception. With very minimal work (a little mold seam smoothing) all parts come clean and are ready to glue together.

The chassis and engine in this build are not going to be seen much at all, so I’m not putting a huge amount of detailing into them. The vehicle I am going to represent will be in a diorama depicting an M16 engaging ground pillboxes in Europe circa 1944, and as such a good bit of dirt, mud and grunge will be all up in the works underneath; not much point in seeing accurate brake lines or cables under those circumstances. The engine compartment is closed, so no detailing of the engine will be bothered with. Building of the basic chassis and engine, adding the transmission, park brake, radiator, drive shaft, rear drive axle assembly, front leaf springs and front axle: all of these components cut off cleanly, mold seams smoothed easily, and fitted in place with a bit of Testors trusty orange tube plastic model cement, which I use religiously for all the large plastic parts due to its formula, which fuses the plastic together for a high strength bond.

I tend to paint as I go along, and then blend overall with my airbrush after the assembly is together. This way I’m sure I get into places which would be difficult after assembly. Since the standard overall US Army color for all vehicles is Army Olive Drab, everything gets this, everywhere. After drying, I come back with the brush and get details like rubber boots, springs, and some things I feel need detail. I find Testors Model Master paints to be a great choice and use them almost exclusively. The chassis is getting Olive Drab overall, with details in Flat Black, Rust, and even a bit of Steel. The radiator got some drybrushing with Copper to highlight the fins of the core, which would be a bit visible through open radiator armor louvers.

A bit about the front tires. Some level of controversy has spun around the Dragon decision to sculpt a flat spot and slight bulge where the tires meet the road or ground. Some say this is completely wrong. Well, I own a US Army truck, an M35A2 2-1/2 ton cargo truck. My official military manual tells me to DEFLATE my tires for soft ground, mud, and snow operations, down as low as 3 to 5 psi. My truck weighs 10,000 lbs empty, and it bulges the front tires a bit at those pressures. The armored M16 is a good deal heavier and would certainly bulge its tires if deflated for soft ground operations. I feel Dragon made a good decision in adding this detail, it adds life and realism to the model and works just fine.

It was common to see tire chains installed on US halftracks’ front tires, and this model will also represent this common option, but I must advise caution. There are some resin front wheels from Tank Workshop, sold as US halftrack wheels with tire chains, said to be for the Dragon kits. I have included a picture of these. Well, no, they’re not the correct size. They are the correct size for the MRC/Tamiya halftracks, but they are too small for the Dragon kit.

So my halftrack will need to have tire chain sets made especially for it, by hand, using the closest chain I can find to the correct scale size. That’s another episode…