I just bought the Dragon kit you mentioned and have yet to receive and build it. I wanted to depict a US stateside howitzer firing practice scene, but am not sure exactly how it would be set up. The scene takes place during or after WW2.

Tom,
I'm assuming you mean the M101 105mm gun. To be honest, there is no real difference between a training mission and a real call for fire. They'd still have to fuze rounds and cut powders if it was a live fire exercise. If it's a training mission you mave a few extra people observing the training. You'd have the gun emplaced as usual, with the crew readying rounds, the gun may or may not be under a camo net. The crew that comes with the DML is just the 101st Bastogne set with different arms. Verlinden has a decent 2 part gun crew set, one is the ammo handlers, the other is the gun crew. Hobby Fan also does a 2 part crew set, but those are better suited for the 155 or 8" guns.

At stated above...it has not changed much....maybe a bit lees dunnage lying around.

Figs are always the problem for artillery. The problem is that artilleryment would not wear their web belt or have anythin on them but a uniform. Even the figs that come with the DML kit have that problem.

Master Box was supposed to be coming out with a US artillery set of figs.

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks. I thought of that idea based on the old Beetle Bailey comic strip, "Go back and try firing it again." I noticed also that Beetle and Sgt. Snorkel were only wearing uniforms and not even helmets (at least Snorkel wasn't.)

Nope...always ware the brain bucket.....just take all the hanging stuff off!!

Rounds Complete!!

Hmmm... 1998 was after WWII, right? Actually, that gun weas still in the inventory at the time, albeit for ceremonial use, so I ahve actually fire it as well. These photos, however, are of the M102 at Ft. Sill.

I'm sure some of the REAL artillery types have more photos as well, but these are the best I could find for the moment out of literally thousands of non-digital photos I have scattered about.

First off, the aforementioned dunnage:



As you can see in those first two, the ammo truck is backed right up to the gun.


These are limiting stakes, to insure the gun can't be traversed outside of the safety "T", used in training and often in combat.

Note also ammo boxes used to sit on waiting for fire missions.


This is how enlisted types while away their time in the absence of officers, which is all the time since there never were any on sight. Chief of smoke was usually an E-8. The number one man (who is does not wear gloves) pulls the just fired canister out of the breech and tosses it over the trail. Every time it lands as you see it, that costs the gun chief a sixpack. We became so adept at it he finally just agreed to a keg. This photo is noteworthy because the guy in it had just thrown all three to land just as you see them. As i mentioned several months ago, you can include a tally board on the truck, as it becomes hard to keep track. (Number one mans owes beer every time he drops the hot casing on the ground, and so on...)

This is just the gratuitous view from the TC hatch on the M109:


And a view of what the setjup looks like for the gun. Note powder, projos, and fuse boxes at the ready.

For training, your piece will need this as well. It probably looked very similar 60 years ago, so you could get away with reducing it, or do one by hand, as that's what we had to do when we ran out. Place it prominently on the gun where the chief can see it. For your gun, probably the top of the left trail.

Ahhh....nice pics......you can never have enough dunnage.!!! Here is some pics of a modeled 105 in position

http://www.redleg2scale.com/model%20gallery/M102.html
or a 155mm
http://www.redleg2scale.com/model%20gallery/M198.html

Gives you some idea where to start

Rounds Complete!!