Hi Ha PHAM , thanks for the kind words , the engine is from the academy M113 kit , I added some lead sinkers to make it heavier .
I just thought that I wanted to have the boom up and slinging a load . I didnt spend any effort detailing the engine as I had no references . Maybe someone has reference photos of the engines from M48's and M113's ?
I didnt intend to put it in a diorama as I do not have space to display them .
I liked the Centurion and your M88 that you built , they are very good .

Brian

Hi fellas,
Was the M88 ever used in convoy duty?
Thanks in advance guys.
Joe.

Hi Gary,
Thanks for your reply. I can understand that they were seldom used in the bush but what about along roads? I've recently finished a book called "Circle the Wagons" by Richard E Killblane & he talks a lot about convoys traversing the An Khe Pass along QL-19. Would an M88 accompany these supply convoys if they were just using the roads or would recovery be left to a recovery truck like the M543 wrecker?
Joe.

knowing just a tiny bit about that place I would say that it was either in transport to a base camp, or maybe they planned on using it (very doubtfull as there were better uses for an M88, and there never was enough of them). Besides if it was for security, an M48 would have been able to drag a truck out of the way just as well. But just maybe they had a surplus of M88's down there while everybody else was begging for one
gary

Gary,
I've got a couple of the AFV Club M88's that I want to build & was thinking about how to use them. I'd like to get the Real Model M543 5ton medium wrecker & incorporate both vehicles in some sort of dio.
To have both vehicles on some kind of a road is probably the easiest option but I need to get my facts right before I start. If the M88 was never part of a convoy or convoy security then there is no point depicting it.
If both vehicles were at the motor pool then I can depict a scene from there.
So I'm guessing here but were motor pools in main base areas & what else will I need to show? Broken & battered vehicles for instance?
Joe.

Gary,
I'd love to hear the story about the OD painted rock!
Joe.

I'm not sure of when/if the USMC adopted the M88 in Vietnam. I am inclined to say they didn't. Instead, they were big users of the M51 HRV (Heavy Recovery Vehicle), which was based on the M103 Heavy Tank, which used many components from the M48 chassis.



On the USMC M51s, the markings were in yellow though, as well on their M48s, so it would be logical that M88s (if used) would also have yellow markings.

Gary,
Now that is a great story about the colonel & the M88! Did he really think that he would get away with it?
Marcel, thanks for your input & the link to a great looking kit! I might have to invest in one of those myself! What do you think, Gary? Impressive, eh?
They also do an M149 water trailer that is compatible with the war in Vietnam which would make a great addition to a diorama. Thanks again, my friend.
Joe.

Hi Gary,
Yes, I do agree with you that the cost is pretty expensive. It's a shame that many of these kits are such a fortune as it tends to price a lot of modellers out.
Has a company ever made those blivets as an AM product? There are so many pictures from the period with those blivets in!
Joe.

Okay fellas,
Thanks James for trying & thanks Gary for the dimensions of the blivet. I'll give that scratchbuild a go when I get round to it.
All the best guys.
Joe.

I would imagine it is an old & rare item to find now though.
Difficult to get hold of?