what type of mount was used for the cmdrs .50 atop the cupola and were the M60 type headlights used. this is for dragons non-mod B version. thx

The standard CDR cupola was the M1 Cupola with internal .50 cal. Some tool a piece of angle iron and a pintle mount and welded them on the top of the cupola to have an external mount .50 cal. When the external one was mounted, the internal one was usually removed.



The headlights were on a rounded mount with individual lights.

was it the same for both for USMC and was the WWII type short pintle mount used, the one on a Jumbo, which is how I'm thinking on doing this one? I've got tams pintle mount that I might use

USMC tank battalion's varied on if they did or didn't "sky mount" their .50 caliber MGs outside of on top of the M1 Cupola. I want to say that 1st Tanks didn't use the externally mounted .50 caliber while 3rd Tanks did.

John

I'm assuming you mean line ahead in a road march and not position within a plt

No, he means 1st USMC Tank Bn and 3rd USMC Tank Bn. One Bn did, and the other Bn did not mount the external .50 cal.

ahh, ok thx that's settled. now, which decals are the more accurate for C23, tam or dragon? dragon doesn't have that on the turret side but it does have C23 and "disaster" on the gun tube, whereas tam doesn't.

Check out MecModels, they have some nice decal sheets for Viet Nam M48s, including "Disaster".

Maybe a period picture would help ?



H.P.

do you know when/where that is? it'd be perfect for doing up a copy. just need more spare links and cover for the searchlight

Da Nang, February 1970.

http://mcvthf.org/names_logos.html

H.P.

There were many different ways of mounting the .50 on top of the cupola. One, as seen in Gino's photo above, was cutting the legs of the standard .50 cal tri-pod and welding the stumps to the cupola.

Cheers,
/E

2 more examples :

I guess this one may come from a M113...





H.P.

there's no way you're gonna make it easy for me, huh. for now, I'm limited to the supplied decals. pix are gonna be a guide for stowage tho

that weapon leaning against the cupola, what is it. doesn't look familiar

M3A1 sub machine gun, also known as 'grease gun'.

Cheers,
/E

no wonder I didn't recognize it. Tamiya never did it justice, if their weapons kit is any indication

in keeping with "2 things" did any USMC M48 have a shafk mouth painted on the bow, and was the searchlight mounted with the mantlet cover in place. the DS cover dragon provided doesn't fit all that well over the mantlet, so I may have for forgo it

Could be...

(reversed picture)





H.P.

keep in mind that with a twelve month rotation, the new owners would probably strip all the nicknames off the tank, and paint their own names on there.

I never saw a Marine tank with a sharkmouth, but who knows for sure. Yet I was around quite a few. Tobe exact I never saw a tank of anykind in I-Corp painted like that.

Those tanks in the first photograph are out of the "quarter CAV". They operated in and near the rubber plantations west of Saigon. Tough outfit with a very tough A.O. I have to send that picture to my brother inlaw as he was in B Troop 1/4 in 68 (the last group in Vietnam before the whole division left). That photo may have been taken at the final stand down.

In I-Corp the big end users of M48 tanks was the 5th Mech. Infantry in the far north. The 17th Cav had them as well as the 1st/1st CAV. But the 1/1 quit using them in the late summer of 68 when they swapped them for Sheridans. That pretty much narrows the A.O. to the coastline for Marines. But they did some op's as far as 60 klicks west in some areas. After that it was too mountainous for tracks. Got to know your exact time frame and unit.
gary

If you're using the DS mantlet cover your supposed to leave off part F4, it's subassembly "N" in step 12. The DS mantlet cover fits really well.

Sorry for the off-topic picture in my last post. Here's another one :



H.P.

great pix. this dragon is turning out quite nicely. still undecided on what decal to use

Regarding headlights, the type depended on which base model of M48 the vehicle began as before it was rebuilt into a diesel M48A3. If it was an M48A1, it had the round headlight guard and five return rollers. These were rebuilt into M48A3's in 1963.
The later combination headlight was used on the M48A2 and the M60 series. The M48A2's were rebuilt into M48A3's in 1968 (the M48A3 Model B or Model 1968), and retained the more modern headlight assembly. Like the M48A2, these had only three return rollers. Only a few outfits had them in Vietnam, as most equipment had been shipped over prior to that date. Newly deployed outfits did have the late version, though. Some of these later types also had the Y-shaped blast deflector seen on the prototype T-95 tanks around 1959.

wish I'd know about the headlights. the later version is included. however, it's almost done, made up of the parts given. gonna have to trim the lower edge of the mantlet cover as it's gonna interfere with the driver, when I get a crew. also had to remove the gunners sight and coax to get the cover to fit better. reused the searchlight mounting tabs, tho.

all the info here should be useful for afv clubs M48, assuming it didn't go the way of their jumbo sherman

it's finished, save for the decals. one thing I'm regretting. using that ds mantlet cover. it's a bit too big. trimmed what I could off the bottom, but it still makes contact with everything around it when fitting the turret, which means no driver hanging out the hatch. been wondering if maybe I could use tams mantlet