Hi Guys,
Does anyone of you know if there is an model scale 1/35 on the market of an M-561 Gama Goat ?

Greetings !!

Unfortunately, no. There was an old vac-form or resin kit out of it a long time ago, but it is long OOP. Can't remember who made it either. Too bad, it is an interrestingly ugly vehicle. A model of it would be nice.

I don't think anyone makes one. Man those things were awful! One of the worst vehicles the Army ever bought, and the butt of never ending jokes!

Im laughing thinking about those things god they were bad when I was assigned to the 3rd ID we had a company worth of those things! .

We were lucky if we could keep half od them running

No doubt. When I was in 3rd ACR some of our medics had them as ambulances. The rest were in M113's. Whenever we got the "goats" attached to us our maintenance guys got the tow bars ready because you just knew the darn thing would break down on day 1 and stay broken down until we get back to the motor pool.

Seeing now in retrospect makes you wonder what the military brass were thinking when they decided to use those things. They were bulky, not easy to handle, always broken down, and extremely loud.

With that said, I want to build one!! :-)

I still have my Schmidt Gama-Goat that I will build some day...

I too remember them. So loud with that 3 cyl Detroit right next to you and no sound insulation!!!! IIRC, each of the gun batteries had two(one for the comm section for sure but I don't recall who used the second one) and the Service and HQ batteries had some as well but I don't recall how many in each.

They were used as FDC vehicles too, at Battery and BN.

I was in a DS Artillery Bn with 8th ID from '72 - '75, and I believe you're correct that the letter batteries had two. Commo had one and the other one belonged to the Battery XO, who was NOT authorized an M151 under the MTO&E. So the M561 wound up being the XO's command post in his role as "commander" of the firing battery (i.e. the guns, the FDC and the ammo section.)

HHB had a bunch, which belonged to commo and included a couple for the BN wire section as well as a couple with solid metal hootches on the back which contained the Radio Teletype (RTT) rigs for secure communication. In addition to commo, the Target Acquisition platoon had a couple for the Radar section as well as two for the Survey section. And as indicated in another post, there were also a couple with modifications to the back which were used by the medics as ambulances. The FA Battalions did NOT have any M113 ambulances as far as I remember. I'm pretty sure that Service Battery also had a couple, which may have been part of Bn Maint.

I'd LOVE to see someone make a 1/35th kit of this with a 3 in 1 option to either build with the "canvas" cover on the back, with the commo container or with the extended compartment as an ambulance. But the vehicle was not in service that long and was NOT liked by anybody who either drove one or had to work on one. I doubt that very many people except those like me who build examples of vehicles in units in which they served would have much interest in them.

BUT there are a lot of us from that period who model so who knows???

Tom

God, I remember those things. IIRC, not only were the loud but, they also road very rough. I remember my ass falling asleep on convoys. Our commo section had two, one for the wire doggies and one for us 31Charlies. I'd love to have on in 1/72 scale to model
Ch

I had a section of Ratt Rigs and mulitchannel Goats in the 123 sig, be nice if they did a generator set also

Hi Guys
You can check the one I built years ago here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/sapper141
Goats always reminded me of a dog that was chasing parked cars :-) . It was built from the old vac form Schmidt kit and needed quite a bit of work and time.
Seeya Shane

Darn, I can't open your link here at work, I'll have to wait until I get home.

I was in an 8ID FA Battery from 77-79 (C-1/83). I was a 63C tracked vehicle mechanic, so the only thing I had to do with the 561 was help fix 'em from time to time and get to drive 'em around a bit. I too, like to model the vehicles I served with. So, one day, I will build my vac-form Goat.

ROCO had one in their 1/87 series.

Seems we keep having this discussion ...

The duty drivers used to love using them for the SDO -- force him to screw up his starch getting in & out ...

The brake lines, u-joints, shafts, and axles were all separately part-numbered -- the numbers in the TM were wrong. I spent two days under one recording al lthe little numbers so we could order parts.

Biggest problem was the articulation. Folks would (rightly) have it locked for on-road travel, but then forget to unlock before off-road travel.

No fond memories of the Goat, but that still places it above the GOER ...

John

I was lucky enough to have been both on the driving and wrench-bending end of the M561 Goat. In spite of a lot of the stated recollections above, my time with the Goat (other than the noise) showed that it was a vehicle that could literally climb a tree if the driver knew what he was doing. Place the transfer in low, lock in all six wheels, place the front bumper (or the piece that extended in front of the winch) against a stout Texas tree, and slowly lett he clutch out. The truck would push the cab forward, then up the trunk, while maintaining the rear four wheels on the ground. After our experience, we would laugh and drink lots of adult beverages!

The noise was inescapable, and this was the first vehicle that (in my experience) we had to wear hearing protection with. The lucky co-driver could wear the radio headset as an inetrim fix.

It could swim, climb, wallow through mud and sand like nobody's business,,, Quite a vehicle. Overall, yeah, impractical as hell, but then, so was the idea of riding on an M151A1C with a 106mm RR, thinking we could really slow down the Russian hordes as they would drive to the Rhine. In the 70s, you used what you had, keeping in mind that we were designed and equipped to fight the last war, as is usually the case.

And yes, I would love to have a kit of the Goat, something more substantial that the Schmidt vac. When Valley Plaza Hobbies was still located in Valley Plaze (North Hollywood, CA), they stocked Schmidt, and I remember seeing one on the shelf. Shame I didn't buy one then.

im Peterson

OMG, did you say GOER? I have some memories of those too. Like bouncing so much that I would have to stop to get it settled down so I could take off again.... That air ride seat with the big bouncy tires with no suspension, it would start bouncing, then the seat would start bouncing making your foot start bouncing on the accelerator and that would make the bouncing worse...Plus I saw a few of them turned over because of turning the wrong direction while on the side of a hill..... One of them the tanker version full of diesel.....
A very dangerous piece of equipment.

Of GOERs and Goats.I rode in the Goat,noisy in back as well.I recall it needed a long clean and regrease after it went "swimming"
Our tank BN swapped a few 5 tons out for GOERS.
we e e cou ou ou ld tell ll ll the e e drivers from alll the bouncing they did.
With a soft top and hard rearview mirror posts,we had a driver get fatally skewered during reforger 76.He swerved to avoid a local national on a narrow road...
Also I saw a fueler take a corner behind another parked on in a motorpool.It punctured its tank,down low,and caused much concern stopping the leak,and then defueling it into an empty one...

Hey Plasticat...you and i were in Baumholder at the same time. I was with 1-68. Spent a year with half arty when they were short FIST Chiefs. Thank god i only rode in one of those buggers once. Had my nice bg tank or 113 track the rest of the time. But like Tom, I want a kit because it was from my era. Does anyone do one of those Goers in 35th?

Regarding the GOER, I don't believe it's been attempted in 1/35th scale. It was a simple structure, except for the articulated body joint and associated hydraulic cables. I believe there is a transportation museum in Oregon that has a preserved example.

I haven't even seen a GOER since Baumholder. I would build one if available, for the same reason, I like building what I served with. Anybody know what museum in Oregon has one? It might be worth a trip to go see and take some photos.
I still want to build my 561, but having never worked with vacu-form before I am kind of leary to get started.
Hey Blaster76, we shared some of the same wind and mud. 1/83 FA had M109A1's. I was always thankful that I didn't get stuck in Half-Arty with their M110's.

You boys SMILE when you say "half arty". I believe you are referring to 1st Bn 2nd Field Artillery.

But one correction. The Second Artillery also had M109A1s (as did the 1st of the 81st over in Idar-Oberstein). We converted from the old short tube M109 in the summer of 1974 I believe, shortly after we started pattern painting over the solid OD scheme.

Could have been worse! The "1st" Battalion of the 81st had previously been the "5th" Battalion of the 81st and was equipped with M102s, because the entire 1st Bde of the Division was Airborne when I arrived in 1972, consisting of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions of the 509th Infantry. They were re-organized as a mech unit, and the 81st was re-designated and taken off jump status. They were NOT happy campers about THAT I can tell you.

No, the poor schmucks with the short tube (and open cab!!!) M110s (at least they still had the short tubes when I left in 1977) were the 3rd Bn 16th Field Artillery. The were the GS Bn for the Division. I believe you guys in the 83rd supported 3rd Bde usually, because we were DS for 2nd Bde.

And in an odd coincidence, during my time as an FO, I was sent to none other than 1/68 Armor on the other side of the post to learn how to TC one of their M60A1s!

Tom

When were you guys in Baumholder? I was there from 85-88 . I was in Aco 2-68 Armor. They still had gamma goats then. I think that they were the loudest machines ever built.

I smell a diorama :-)