Hi all,

I have the 3 new MB nam sets and decided to do a pretty simple dio.Started with the Academy Mutt utility truck,next was the Charlie on the left set.Bit of a letdown.The driver seems to be working fine.The passenger with the M16 needed work because his left arm does not not come anywhere close to grabbing the windshied.Filler and trimming fixed that.Now moving to the gunner,very frustrating.A 50 cal.comes with the set and only arms to fit that weapon.A second set to fit the provided gun would be much better.Also his right leg is much higher and wider spread than the instructions show.The only way to use him is to have him firing forward or slightly to the left.2 standing legs would work alot better.On the upside,the Viet Cong are good.

Tom
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I have considered using the "Charlie on the Left" kit as well. Not sure I want to need to modify the figures to fit. Yours look quite nice, but the guy on the 50 is about ready to fall out of the jeep.

Hey Matt,
Yes he does.I'm going to make him fit somehow.The gun mount can only go between the seats or just behind so it is impossible for him to shoot to the left unless you take the rifle shooter out and maybe put his left foot on the seat.Even at that the mount would have to be at such an angle it would be impossible to have the driver.Nice figures,but as they depict them.As someone said on the review,maybe a gun truck.And again don't be fooled by the box art.None have flak vests on.That's the 1 thing MB po's me on.I expect to get what they show and they don't come through.I'll update on my progress.

Tom

That is rather upsetting to hear about MB. I would think that misrepresentation of the figures versus what you get would not be an issue. Too bad really.

I have them too, but have not started them yet. The body position and lack of flak vests are not big issues with me. The bigger let-down/issue is the .50 cal for a choice of weapon.

The .50 cal was hardly ever used on M151s since it would crack the aluminum frame/floor assembly. It was actually restricted from use on the M151 when the problems showed up in testing. The standard armament, and a much better choice, would have been the M60 MG that is already in the kit.

With some work, I think his hands could be converted to hold an M60. That is my plan anyways.

When I was building a large collection of M151 variants, my research concurred with Gino's...that the Ma Deuce was essentially not used on the M151 series in the field. The info I found was compelling enough taht I did not make one with a .50. There were M1919's and M60's including at least one up armored M151 with a dual M60 mount. TOW launchers, recoilless rifles and FN MAG (Israeli) were also mounted.

Hi Guys,
I decided not to aggreviate myself any longer with him.
The m151 is going back on and I'm going to use a figure from the Dragon 1st calvalry set.It's a shame because besides being useless he is a nice figure.He'll come in handy I'm sure at some other time.

Tom

Here's the next step.
I guess dios well be the next post.
I don't want to slag MB,I'm quite thankful for their releases,I'm sure my other 2 will work fine.As for most companys in aftermarket they need to make sure their figures work with the vehicle.The Humvee crew from DToys actually does that.

Tom
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Hey guys,

I also intend on getting my hands on one of the 'Charlie on the left' kits to do with Academy's M151.

I was thinking of using a spare M60D (from the Academy M48A5 Patton kit) instead of the .50 cal. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to fit the gunner's hands on the 'shovel handles' of the M60D.

How common would it have been to see an M60D on a MUTT though? I have only seen them on UH-1D/H's in Vietnam era photos.

It's not unheard of, but wasn't common either. The spade grip conversion to make it a D version was not readily available and usually only seen on helos.

Here is the only one I have ever seen.


This was the standard set-up.

Thanks Gino.

Good to know that it isn't completely historically incorrect to build one like that.