As my initial interest in the M4A3 Sherman grew beyond this tank I started becoming interested in more WW2 US Army vehicles and the truly superb M4 High Speed Tractor build of a fellow Dutchman inspired me to get that Hobbyboss kit and the 155 Long Tom that can be seen behind that on the boxcover, which will be the subject of this topic.

Bringing it to WW2 spec meant getting the Masters Productions set with dolly plus wheels and as the Tankograd book just came in this week I wanted to make a start this evening by cleaning a few parts in a soapy bath. Thankfully this will not be as much work as the M4A3 because all conversion parts just have to be glued together and painted.

(just because I don't like their non-existant customer service doesn't mean I do not love their kits )

Which looks like this after assembly.

Wheels dryfitted in place, bars on the lifting mechanism glued on and both trails put together.

What we are seeing here is the early war M1 limber which is a beautiful little kit offered by Masters Productions/Scale-Link out of the UK. The limber that comes with the AFV kit depicts the late war M5 Limber. Either is acceptable for use in a WWII setting but the modern uni-directional tires offered in the Long Tom kit are strictly post-war and wrong for the period. The tires need to be replaced with civilian pattern heavy truck tires.

F.Y.I. - If you wish to still use the M5 Limber, Scale-Link also offeres a kit for a slightly lessor price that contains just the tires (different tread pattern) without the inclusion of the early Limber.

Great useful info, thanks Michael. Knowing the tires should be correct (there seem to be 3 different types available for the Long Tom) this gives me something to reconsider my strategy for building this up to be mated with an M4 HST. Haven't read up on theatres of operation yet.

Willem, unless you are modeling a Korean War era 155mm coupled to a M4 HST the tires on the gun will need to be replaced with one of the civilian pattern heavy truck tires offered by Scale-Link.



Shown above is the tread pattern offered by Scale-Link in the back-dated wheel set that comes WITHOUT the M1 limber.

Here are several photos of the beautifully delicate M1 limber available from Scale-Link. Shown here is my handy work built to be towed BEHIND the 155mm gun.
(When being towed by the Mack NO the limber was not necessary and it was therefore often seen being towed behind the gun.).







Please Note: The different tread pattern on the tires that come in this more elaborate back-dated tire set which also includes the early M1 limber.f

Even if you don't need it, it is always good to have a limber behind!

Hey, I'm just quoting what the artillery guy said!

My tires have the straight grooves (ordered with the limber) instead of the wavy ones. Your limber looks great!

Many Thanks, Willem

Would like to see how your limber turned out as well.

Mike

Just now I saw that the vertical thingy on the... how do you call the thing... limber bar?... is meant to hold one of the spindle bars in place while being towed so that helps. Still need to come up with ideas what to do with it, towed or displayed with the two available AFV Club figure sets.

Well if you are going to show your 155 being towed by the High Speed Tractor then you are going to be needing either the M1 or M5 Limber attached to the gun trails. Only the Mack NO could tow the gun without requiring one of the Limbers.