Does anyone make the heavy tread tires for the long tom field artillery piece ?

I've seen 3 different types from different manufacturers so if they didn't make more than that in 1/1 then yes.

Masters Productions (FR) used to make a set of "civilian" tread tires with the correct number of holes in the hub. The set also included the M1 trailer which allowed the Long Tom or 8" Howitzer to be towed by a Mack NO truck.

There was another maker who had the civilian tires but it didn't correct the issue about # of holes.

Sadly, I think Masters Productions is OOP.

U-model is now (or at least they were) releasing the former Master Production resin sets under their name.

PSP the other one you're thinking of?

But was it also neccessary for haul behind an M4 High Speed Tractor or could either the AFV Club trailer or the Masters Productions trailer be used?

Are you sure ?





The dolly was used with the M4 HST :




On a side note, some of the original Master Productions stuff can still be ordered from Scalelink.co.uk

H.P.

The dolly is the same in both the kit and the MP set. The issue is that the MP set also has the correct wheels for the dolly as well, where the kit wheels are incorrect (post WWII). MP used to also offer just a set of 6 wheels, but the set w/the dolly has better, updated wheels.

Also, as Frenchy says, the dolly was not used w/the Mack NO since its pintle hook was high enough for the trails to clear the ground. The pintle on the M4 HST was lower and required the dolly for ground clearance of the gun's trails.

you may try to google Hussar at Air Connection or go to PMMS's reviews first.Hope it helps.

Henri-Pierre: Thanks for cleaning up my mistake -- you're right -- the M1 dolly/trailer was used to hook up the M1 155mm gun to the M4 HST, not the 6.5ton Mack NO.

wfan4503: Hussar never did an update for the AFV Club Long Tom or 8" howitzer kits.

Dear Roy
Try Hussar Production,HSR35114 Long Tom Wheels,Type 1.HSR35115 Type 2,HSR 35116 Type 3.Thanks

Well, not really. The carriages did not have a pintle eye so hook height was not an issue. The NOs set up as gun/howitzer prime movers had a special coupling mounted on the rear that replicated the large attachment fitting on the limbers. A NO without that coupling, or any other vehicle with sufficient capacity, could tow the weapon by using the limber.

KL

Thanks for the input so far but for some we are getting off topic.
For reference there is a picture of an M31 in Italy towing a long tom in Squadrons M3 Lee in Action, the spare wheel on the M31 and 2 of the long tom wheels are of a HEAVY tread which i dont think i have ever seen before in 1/35. Has anyone ?

Is this the photo?



or this?



or this?



These are 8-inch guns not the 155mm "Long Tom" gun. They are completely different weapons and arrangements. While the 155mm gun/8-inch howitzer that AFV Club makes had an integral bogie and travelled as one assembly, the 8-inch gun/240mm howitzer was split into two pieces for transport on special carriage wagons. The wagon tires in these photos are about 64 inches in diameter (1,625mm) while those on the 155mm gun are 43 inches in diameter (1,092mm).

KL

It seems i have made a mistake, the last photo is the one i am referring to, does anyone make tires of this type

..and does anyone make the 240mm black dragon ?

Milojko,
Hauler made the M1 240mm Howitzer in 1/35 scale. The actual gun was assigned to Corps level and higher artillery units, since it's a fixed position gun. The travel carriage was detached for mounting the weapon in a fixed, prepared position. I believe it actually took two carriages and two prime movers to move the weapon, one for the trail/gun carriage, and one for the barrel. I read somewhere that this gun took up took several hours to emplace, so it was best used in pre-planned preparation bombardments. It's post war replacement was the M65 280mm cannon, better known as the "Atomic Annie".
VR, Russ

wfan4503: Thanks for correcting my error! My apologies.

Kevlar06: Hauler makes the M1 240 Howitzer in resin 1/72 scale -- I WISH they did it in 1/35th!

Milojko: Those are M33 Prime movers in the photos by Kurt Laughlin -- modified M31s (no turrets, other equipment replacement)

Mmmmmm! now wouldn't that be impressive!

ASFIK, the Hauler Piece is 1/72, There is a Armorame thread discussing 1/35th scratch builds

If you're not on a budget, you can order some from Shapeways (thanks to Tom Cromwell a.k.a Barkingdigger around here ) :

http://shpws.me/DzGJ

H.P.

Could the M4 HST and the M59 155mm with the post-WWII wheels (the ones that come with the AFV Club kit), be used to portray U.S. Korean War usage?

Many thanks in advance....
Bob

The answer is yes... and no-- you can check out the photos in Ampersand's "Allied and Axis" issue 13, or Ampersands "High Speed Tractor" which show several Korean war photos showing both military and civilian type tires and late limbers used during the Korean war. On page 43 of issue 13 of Axis and Allied, there is a photo of an 8 inch gun with at least one of the military tires intermixed with civilian tires during WWII. On page 38 of Ampersand's "High Speed Tractor" book, there is a 1950 photo of a 155mm with a mixture of civilian and military tires, so the answer is you could have seen a combination of tires as early as WWII, or as late as Korea. Therefore, you could "mix and match" tires if you didn't have enough of one type or another.
VR, Russ

Sorry guys but there is a lot of mis-information going down on this thread, not trying to be egotistical or anything but please let me give you the straight scoop!

Limbers: (Please don't call them trailers.)

There is/was the early M1 Limber and the later M5 Limber. The M5 allowed much quicker emplacement or removal of the artillery piece hence the introduction of the newer M5 design.

Either limber can be used with the 155mm (Long Tom) or 8 inch gun models offered by AFV Club. Please Note: all High Speed Tractors or any other tracked or wheeled tow vehicle, EXCEPT the Mack, REQUIRED the use of either the M1 or M5 limbers.

The Mack NO6 however, due to a special hitch designed by its' builders DID NOT require the use of ANY limber to tow either gun nor to tow the M23 ammo trailer. Sometimes you will see a photo of the Mack NO towing one of these guns using a limber. That happened only when the gun crew preparing the gun for travel did not know what kind of tractor was coming to move their weapon. The Mack was easier and quicker to hitch directly to the weapon and in most cases with the Mack you will actually see the limber hooked on and being towed BEHIND the gun!

Tires:

Due to the size and production limitations of the particular tires specified for these weapons, the War Department allowed for the temporary substitution of civilian truck tires. Later in the war the production of the non-directional tires in this size was increased and therefore a few started showing up as replacements during WWII. By the time of Korea the use of the the non-directional military type tires still did not equal 50% of all the tires used on these weapons. Therefore if you are portraying the Korean conflict you are equally correct to use either tire or a mix of the two.

Scale-Link in the UK still lists BOTH sets of civilian resin tires as being available in their online catalog. "Both sets" meaning one set comes as ten tires plus the M1 limber and some other detail parts. The second set comes with only the ten tires and no limber.

Of interest here; even though both sets of resin tires use a civilian tread pattern, they are being cast from totally different masters, so you can even go so far as having two different civilian pattern tires on the same vehicle.



p.s. The photos of the even larger 240mm gun (sometimes called the Black Dragon) that have been posted here with the six, large diamond tread pattern tires are something entirely different and should not be confused with the main discussion going on here. I too certainly wish this large weapon and it's dual travel trailers were being offered in 1/35th scale but that is another topic.

Early M1 Limber:


Later M5 Limber:


Note civilian tread tires shown on both the early and late WWII limbers shown here in the TM.

What is referred to here as the "Clamping Bracket" was also known as the "Girdle".

Here is an illustration of the two civilian tread pattern back-date kits available through Scale-Link:




The tire shown on the left is from the "tires only" set and the one on the right comes WITH the M1 Limber.

If it is the M1 240mm gun you are interested in then swing on over to this thread and check it out:

http://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/207163&ord=&page=1