Heya, Folks,

I've been looking without luck for the AFV Club M548 Gun Truck kit --- ordered it last January from Lucky Models, but it never was re-stocked...wish I had known it wasn't going to happen as I would have been looking for it elsewhere all this time. Oh well. As such, I might end up making my own from the standard cargo carrier kit.

Does anyone sell the Maxon quad .50 and trailer separately? I think Kirin might have way back when. If I have to, I can raid my M-35 "Nancy" kit for the turret, but was hoping not to.

Along those lines, as this variant appears to have been a one-off, do we know for sure that the Maxon turret rested atop the trailer inside the cargo bed? I know that in the Steel Masters magazine on Vietnam builds, a gent converted the cargo carrier by dropping the turret right down into the cargo bed without the trailer. I guess, in the long run, if this is a field expedient modification, unless some has pictures or knew crew members, it is open to conjecture.

And just for laughs, does anyone know of or have photos of any other cool "one-off" modifications in Vietnam?

As always, many thanks!

Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

Johnny - the Kirin Quad Cal.50 is sometimes available on e-Bay. HobbyFan has a newer version in resin, I have a pre-production sample a couple of years old, so I believe it is available now.

I believe the Trailer and Weapon were placed inside the cargo bed of the track - but have not seen one in reference, technical manual or in person.

Every now and then, the AFV Club M458 Gun Truck kit appears on e-Bay too - at roughly the local retail price...

I have the M548 gun truck kit in my stash. IIRC, the turret is mounted on the trailer (wheels taken off) and placed in the bed.

Hobby Fan does ...You'll just have to change the ammo chests.


HTH
Frenchy

Heya, Guys,

As always, many thanks for the help!!! Jim, indeed I did find the HobbyFan trailer for the quad .50 turret at Luckymodels --- being that the cost for the trailer is $38.00 Add that to the kit cost, the PE set and it would be about $100.00. That's too beaucoup, so I figure I may hold off for a while doing it myself and hope that I can score one off of ebay, one of the armor websites or at a show or the upcoming Kit Collector's swap meet...

This is a pretty cool one-off vehicle --- anyone have pictures of any other such experiments during the Vietnam War?

Thanks, guys!

Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

what will you use for the kit?


Martyn

Hiya, Martyn,

If I decide to make my own and happen to hit the lottery, I would purchase the AFV Club M548A1 (#35003), scavenge the Maxon quad .50 turret from the AFV Club M35 "Nancy" Gun truck (#35034), and also purchase the Hobby Fan Maxon trailer (#HF061) and the Eduard PE set for the M548 Gun truck ... You'll also need to dress the interior with minigun boxes and such --- AFV's set is about $15.00

So going the DIY route would easily be in the $100.00 + range, roughly two and a half times the kit's retail cost...

Being as I've got a Hobby Boss V-100 on order, as much as I'd like to jump into this project (especially having ordered the kit last January!!), it's currently too rich for my blood to go that route. Will keep my eyes open for the Gun Truck carrier via the normal kit acquisition routes...

Good luck, Martyn!

Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

Yep. We could take Gary's wacky and kooky "old school" suggestion, get all retro and actually make the trailer... That'd certainly save the $38.00 bucks for the purchase of the trailer. Gary, promise me you will use this power ONLY for good, amigo!


Johnny B.