I work with a guy who served on the crew of a M 109 in Vietnam. (155 mm SP gun) I searched Squadron and a couple of other sites for kits, but had no luck. Was there ever a kit made in plastic or resin of th 109, and if not, was there a kit made of a tank that shared enough chassis parts to make a good starting point for a converison? I have found several sites with photos and specs for the M 109, but not info on what else shared the chassis.

Thank you very much

Dave,

Italeri made plastic kits of almost all versions of M109, incuding IIRC those used in Nam. Most of them are OOP now, only the newest M109A6 Paladin is still easily available (but it uses completely new turret - not sutable for conversion to older version). But these older kits were very popular and produced in large numbers, so you should be able to find them somewhere. Some of these Italeri models were also reboxed by Revell of Germany.

Vehicles that shared the same chassis were: M108 105mm howitzer (also used in Nam and also issued as a kit by Italeri long time ago) and M992 FAASV ammunition vehicle (never made in plastic, but resin kits or conversions are available).

Best Regards,
Pawel

Pawel's correct. Between Italeri and Revell of Germany boxings, they make all versions of the M109 howitzer from M109, M109A1, M109A2, M109A3, M109A4, M109A5 and M109A6 Paladin.

The entire M109 (and even the earlier M108 short barreled 105mm howitzer) originate from Italeri molds. They have been boxed by Testors and Revell of Germany and they run the gambit of:
#235 M109/G short barreled 155mm Vietnam era or German version
#238 M108 short barreled 105mm
#239 M109A1/A2 Modern version that can also build an Israeli type
#246 M109E4/G/A1-A2/E4 best because it contains all options in one kit (less Paladin)
#372 M109A6 Paladin latest version currently being fielded in the US Army

The Revell of Germany version builds the German used M109A3G and the latest M109A6. Skybow makes a set of superb individual track links that are getting hard to find.

Rob,

Skybow tracks are easily available from MPK:
http://www.ebusiness.com.tw/cgi-bin/mpk/shopping.pl

I just ordered a set a few days ago and already got confirmation that it has shipped

Rgds,
Pawel

Also, kit #246 is probably the easiest to find on the open market...try looking at

http://www.greatmodels.com

or

http://www.ebay.com