Hi there!
Between other projects, school stuff and holidays, I’ve been working on the M35A1 Quad .50 Gun truck kit from AFV club. I bought the kit during a sale at the local hobby shop, and I’ve been enjoying building it. However, during the construction it needed some special attention, due to lack of details for example. Since I thought the Quad .50 wasn’t badass enough, I decided to replace the passenger’s M60 with another 50 cal, and add a 30 call in the cargo bed.

I like to give my models some special theme, or let them have an inside joke of some sorts. Because this truck depicts a vehicle which drove around in Vietnam, I went with replacing the white Allied stars with blue hippie signs. To make the vehicle kind of ironic, I decided to paint ‘Peace is loud’ on the armour plate of the quad 50 cal.

The barrels of all 50cal have been replaced with brass barrels from RBmodel, and man, they’re pretty! I have added a real wooden floor to the cargobed, to make it more interesting and easier to paint and weather. A lot of ammoboxes have been added to the cargobed, because I thought why not.

Perhaps it isn’t my prettiest model, but I’m kinda glad I have completed it. Been working on this kit for too long, with some minor accidents (driving through a turn, and flipping the box the almost ready model is transported in). So for myself I’ve said it is enough, before I keep working on it and fixating on things that can’t be changed anymore.

But for now, the pics! Enjoy!




















Tips, trucs, ideas and other feedback is welcome!

Greetz, Nicky

awesome build!! great weathering!! looks like it could open fire at any moment

"Peace is loud"
I love this. AWESOME build.

Looks good! I especially like the weathering. This inspires me to get started on the one I have in the stash!!

Really great job. the only thing we could ask for in addition would be a crew. Thanks for sharing!

very nice build ,I too have this kit in my stash ,great work .

Really well done!! Definitely has that "in country" look to it. I love those peace signs, too. Please tell us you're gonna put this winner on an appropriate base?

You nailed it! I've seen the real ones and yours is perfect except for the .30 cal. Should be an M60.

Thanks guys! Unfortunately there won't be an appropiate base exept a wooden base for shows. So many ideas and projects going on, so my focus will be on them for now.
I'm aware that the 30 cal should have been a M60, but let's call it an artistic impression, since I'd liked the 30 more than the M60

My next project here on the forum will be a [done] topic too, and thereafter I'm planning to maintain a build blog. I'll keep you guys updated!

Greetz, Nicky

Actually the old Browning 30 was not an uncommon sight in Vietnam. It was used extensively by the ARVN and Special Forces (they also used the M60 too).

gary

one small and really petty comment. The front winch should have a hook and not the clevis. Every truck in my outfit came with a winch, and all had the hook. This gun truck was probably home built. The factory built ones were on the M54 platform, and also not real common.
gary

In fact, these M35A1-mounted Quad 50's were also used by Air Defence Artillery units :

http://www.ndqsa.com/duster.html

H.P.

Your Viernam red dust and dirt are superb! Perfectly applied and covering everything except the guns themselves!

Though most gun trucks ran convoy escort "Thunder Runs" over paved, major roads (though few and far between) like the north-south Highway 1, the truck bed was often lined with a layer or two of sandbags in the event a mine (early IEDs) might be encountered. Your weathered wooden bed looks great with or without sandbag protection.

GREAT effort! Thanks for sharing with the Armorama crowd.

In January 1969, my unit ordered in a brand new gun truck with a quad fifty on it. It was a generic M54 with the quad fifty mounted on it. Turned out that it was the only chassis they put them together on. The truck showed up six weeks later, and was flown out via Sky Crane. It lasted 36 hours before being called out as a CBL. The truck was brand new, and within 12 hours we were cabbaging parts off it. We removed the quad fifty and found a generator unit on another LZ. They ordered in another new one, and I hear it showed up on an LST, but they couldn't deliver it. Been 200% better off with a Sheridan and a couple hundred beehive rounds.
gary