Anh Triet Do Quoc shares some pictures of his M4 high speed tractor and 155mm Long Tom in 1/35.



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Thanks!

Triết Đỗ,

Impressive duo you built. The weathering and dust and dirt look superb. I am interested in your description of the kits as I have never built them but always wanted to. Thank you for the descriptions.

Very nice, I like it a lot. Thank you!

Mario

WOW -LOVE IT

Very impressive and a true inspiration, maybe I'll build one!!

Great work there! Kudos

Love the mud work around the tracks and at the rear!

Nicely done indeed! I have always liked the M4 High Speed Tractor and the combo is unique. However I think that the upper portions of the Long Tom would have been more splattered than they appear in the photos based on the amount of road mud on the tractor and how these vehicles typically "roostered" dirt up and away from the back. Too pristine up there on top of the breech and gun barrel, I think.

It is excellent work, there’s no denying it. However, the AFV club “Long Tom” represents an extremely late WWII gun, with the M5 limber, primarily fielded in the Pacific Theater, post WWII, and Korea, while the HST is marked for Europe between D-Day and The end of the war. I think Panzer Shop made a wheel set and limber to back date the AFV club kit to a WWII version, with non directional wheels and the earlier limber. The stock AFV Club Kit is in fact based on a Taiwanese example from the 60s. Nevertheless, the modeling work on both subjects is first class quality for both models.
VR, Russ

Great Job. I always wanted to build the M4 High Speed Tractor. Thanks for sharing your work.

Hi guys,
Thanks for your kind words and I happy to provide any question about these duo kits.
Frank Winkler: Thanks for your correction, I've just realized that longtom was towed backward with high speed, so the splash will facing opposite direction, I will find some reference pics and fix that ASAP, thank again.
Russ Bucy: Thank you! There're not much informations about Longtom and its ages so I have a little knowlegde about it, the good side is AFV Longtom's wheel can be easily be taken out and replace with the correct one.

Triet,
I don’t know the current availability of the Panzer Shop conversion, last I heard it was OOP. However, AFV club has released the 8” Howitzer now with the correct wheels and limber for a WWII version, which you might be able to use either as a full replacement, or for just the parts in the new kit. Either way, they were both pulled by the same HST. One other note, albeit a minor one, David Doyle’s history of the HST has the interior of the ammo box as white, although there may have been OD overpainting done.
In any event your work is very nice.
VR, Russ

There IS one other option for pulling the 155mm and 8in guns = Mack NO6!
(Sorry but just could not resist.)

I'm working however, on another option use for the HST - towing the M23 8ton ammo trailer:




LIFE Magazine photo

Yes, alas, I too bemoan the fact there’s no NO to pull the 155mm M1. The Mack NO was the primary designated towing vehicle for the 155mm and 8” guns, until the M4 HST came along. When the M4 came along, the gun and howitzer required the limber. Before that, the trails were attached directly to the Mack’s towing pintle with an adapter. Sadly, I don’t know of any aftermarket manufacturer that makes the adapter either, so even if AFV club re-issued the guns, we’d still need an adapter. Unless of course you’re like Michael above and want to scratch build one. Seems like most manufacturers have said “no to the NO”. This is a shame since you can get just about every other truck, GMC, White, Diamond T, but not a Mack. Do you suppose there’s a copyright issue?
VR, Russ

Actually most of what you need for the adaptor comes with the AFV guns - In the TM it is sometimes called a bustle, griddle or clamp.




The MACK hinge or custom pintle is basically a big universal joint. I mounted a piece of Evergreen tubing in the Mack to act as a receiver and now both the special hinge and the standard towing pintle have a piece of tight fitting hexagonal rod to act as a shank for inserting into the receiver tube.

The towing tongue on the M23 ammo trailer is formatted similarly to resemble the attachment fitting on the bustle.






M23 - 8 ton ammo trailer sometimes used in conjunction with the same M5 Limber used to tow the big guns.

As to a hobby manufacture willing to take on the Mack NO - I have seen a few things over the past year or so that I thought would have indicated a new model product introduction by now but so far nada!

To be repeated in a whispered tone: -- (I have seen proposed box art!)

Unfortunately still nada!

One more shot regarding the special MACK hitch device - and the towing clamp that is included with the AFV Club 155mm and 8in guns: (This part is also required for use with the M5 towing limber so AFV had to include it.)



For doing lessor towing jobs the Mack also carried a standard military towing pintle in a false receiver placed under the loadbox right behind the cab that could be exchanged for the massive towing fixture.

The never produced 8x8 successor to the Dragon Wagon the T26 Sterling was also slated to use the massive Mack hinge/hitch:

Sorry Collin - I didn't mean to hijack your thread - I apologize!

Mike K.