One thing I wondered when I've seen pictures: did the designers of the guntrucks deliberately try to make them as visible as possible to "hypnotize" ambush attackers into shooting at them instead of other soft-skinned vehicles? And if so, presumably the armored bed section would be made to stand out as much as possible for the same reason, to make the enemy shoot at the armor plated areas and try to distract them from the more vulnerable areas (at least initially), such as the engine, wheels, etc.?

Our 8th Group Commander gave his thumbs up and let the crews paint their trucks black and add the graphics to them. It was a sign of pride and a lot like the bomber pilots of WW 2 when they painted their nose art on the planes. Many of the gun trucks had bounties placed on them by the NVA. The Brutus for example had a million dollar bounty on it. Also the Group commander had all the 8th group trucks paint on the trade mark yellow nose and he wanted the gun trucks to stand out and intimidate the enemy. He also could see when "His" trucks were out in force because he flew above in a UH 1 a lot.

I figures names and artwork were morale boosters, but I was thinking that gunners would be prompted to shoot at that prominently marked armored truck which could shoot back at them as opposed to that nearby transport truck full of flammable gasoline.

Yes it is true. We were to drive out of the kill zone as fast as we could and the gun trucks crews would drive into the kill zone and draw fire so that the rest could keep going. Some times the gun trucks would push a disabled truck out of the way so the convoy could keep moving. Some of the time just having the gun truck respond was enough for the enemy to disengage and run.

Yup! Gotta have fun when you can.

Semper Fi,
Dave

Speaking of Gun Trucks, are there any after market decal sheets for them? I'm thinking of names and markings.

Thanks,

Darryl

Archer has a couple of sheets.
Check the website.
Norm Samuelson

http://www.archertransfers.com/MIDEASTAFV.html

Archer Fine Transfers has a couple of nice sets at the above link, "Little Respect" and "The Red Baron"...