I have been waiting for this kit to be released for a long time!

I remember buying and old Nitto kit of the tractor some 25 years ago, but it was so awful that it took much more time and skill than I had to make it look decent and it has long been consigned to the trash. I have always liked the look of this vehicle. To me it seemed futuristic and reminded me of the tractor the Robinsons used in the old TV show "Lost in Space".

Now I will have something to pull my AFV CLUB LONG TOM and 8" HOWITZER.

The kit will be made by Hobby Boss, and although I have heard of them I don't know what kind of quality they produce. Anyone have any feed back on them? I also have Tamaiya's 2 1/2 ton truck. Was this truck ever used or capable of towing the 155mm or 8" Howitzer? Most of the documentary footage I've seen shows these peices being pulled by the High Speed Tractor.

I'm always suprised when Kit makers release models of thing where only a few were produced and ignore vehicles that were made in much greater numbers and far more common. That's why I was glad to see TASCA coming out with the Serman M4A1. Up to now almost all of the OOB Shermans were the welded hull model with the few cast hull releases being the later 76mm gun or the Israeli super Sherman.

Paul

Paul -

A 2 1/2 ton truck is way too light to pull an 8" Howitzer or 155mm gun. In WWII the Army used modified tank hulls (sans turret) to do the towing. The Marines used catepiller tractors to do the towing in the Pacific.

In Korea I think they used the M-4 and M-5 tractors almost exclusively.

Starting in the late 1950's to early 1960's, both Army ans Marines began using a 10 ton truck to tow those pieces. By the mid-1960's I think only the National Guard was using the towed 8" Howitzers. The towed pieces were replaced by the M-55 8 inch SPH and the M-53 155mm SPG. These were in turn replaced by the M-110 8" How and the M-107 175 Gun. In Vietnam, the Marines used both the M-55 and the M-53, before they received the M-110 and M-107. I think the Army had already made the switch to the M-110 and the M-107, although they may have used the M-55 for a while. To my knowledge, the Army never used the M-53 in Vietnam.

Dave

The kit looks pretty good. There is a thread about it from earlier in the week or late last week when it first came out. PMMS also has a review of the kit. There are no real issues listed.

To add to David's post, he is pretty much spot on. The main prime mover for the M1 155mm Long Tom (M59 was a post-war designation) in WWII was the Mack NO 7.5 ton truck though. The M4 and M5 were also used for the M1 and the M115 8", it depended on the unit. The M35 Prime Mover, a turretless M10, was used for the huge 240mm howitzer. Also, he is right about the M53 and M55, the Army had switched to the M110, M107, and M109 series by Vietnam and did not deploy any M53 or M55s.

The M33- M34 - M35 (deturreted M31 - M32 - M10A1) were used for towing the 8" GUN and 240 mm Howitzer - hauled in 2 parts: the barrel and the carriage
HTH