mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #26 Posted July 16, 2013 Setting the Tube assembly aside, I moved on to Step 2, the rear trail assembly. The rear trail is hinged with the forward frame assembly, but we'll get to that in a minute. Assemble parts B13 and 14 to the left and right trail frame before assembling the frame. It's a cast iron bite in the butt to get them in right after you assemble the frame. Assembly is straight forward, the cross frame parts make it pretty much self aligning. You will need to widen the yoke at the end of part B9 where it slide over the lunette for a better fit. This is the rear trail frame assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #27 Posted July 16, 2013 Going into step 3 you will need to make a decision as this is one of the optional areas for either the WWII version or the post war version. Step 3 covers the Post war part that needs to be added after trimming a mounting area for it I chose the WWII version and skipped to step 4. Step 4 involves a really delicate rod, Part number B30 that passes through a lightening hole in part B16. The rod attaches to two protrusions in the right inner frame (part B1) and can not be installed after installation of part B16. I glued one end of part B30, fastened it to one attachment point and left it poking out at an angle, applied glue to part B16 and slipped it over the standing end of part B30 and worked everything into place. I then glued part B17 into place completing step 4. The parts to the forward frame, Parts B1,2,3,4, 7 and 8 all have ejector pin marks on them but they are on interior surfaces where they won't show. Some are recessed with flash, and other stand proud of the frame so they DO need to be carefully trimmed for every thing to fit properly. Be careful not to remove the alignment pins near the rear of the forward frame parts. I wound up installing only the inner forward frame parts last night and forgot to get pictures of it. As I went to bed last night, I had the barrel and recoil tray, rear trail frame assembly and the inner parts of the forward frame (Parts B1, B4and B18)completed. I installed part B31, the forward frame brace, but found when I got back to it tonight that it needed to be trimmed slightly or the axle will not fit into place into its mounting slots in the forward frame. I wound up removing part B31, after installing the outer panels of the forward frame and the elevation plates. Remember I said to Dry Fit everything at every stage before gluing? That goes double in this step. using the tip of a #11 blade, I trimmed the cradle mounting points on the elevation plates (parts B7 and B7). Make sure that the pins on the cradle fit into the proper mounting spots. Carefully trim the parts until you achieve a good fit. You need to choose at this point how you want to display your howitzer. It can be displayed in transport position with the gun cradle hooked into the frame mounting points (just forward of the frame hinge) or in firing position, with the cradle attached to the elevation plates. I wanted mine in firing position. I installed the left and right outer frame panels, trapping the elevation plates between the inner and outer frame parts, then put the cradle into place and worked the elevation plates over the cradle pins and pressed them into place and installed the bracing rod (part B32) between the mounting plates. I swung the elevation plates out of their slots to avoid any glue from making them unmovable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #28 Posted July 16, 2013 Right side of the gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #29 Posted July 16, 2013 Front of the gun... Note the axle. The Axle has flat spots on it that slide into the frame, then the axle rotates to lock it into the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #30 Posted July 16, 2013 Left side of the gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #31 Posted July 16, 2013 Right side of the Gun, Barrel elevated. As you can see the frame is hinged in the middle. You can leave it a working hinge, but I'm going to glue mine solid. That's it for tonight... I'll put the finishing touches on it tomorrow before painting. I can't stress this enough guys... There are some really tiny parts in this kit... the lifting eyes need special care... they are tiny and very fragile and if you don't take care to corral them when you cut them from the sprue, you'll never find them if they go flying. More later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobrahistorian Posted July 16, 2013 Share #32 Posted July 16, 2013 Looking good there! Let me know if you need any reference photos. We've got a few Pack Howitzers here at Sill, including our living history guns and XM1923 Pack Howitzer s/n 1 that's currently being restored here. I'm going to have to pick this one up at some point. I'm currently eyeball deep in the DML Flak 103/38 "Jaboschreck" 3cm AA gun (I have the last real one in existence) and just started an M39 conversion on the AFV club M18 kit. I'll be dropping a quad-50 in it and doing it up as HQ100 from the 52nd AAA Bn in Korea. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2imp Posted July 16, 2013 Share #33 Posted July 16, 2013 Now if someone would dioramize the Pack 75 into a complete parapack outfit ready for the drop into Normandy...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #34 Posted July 16, 2013 Didn't AFV club do an M39? The Vision kit is pretty nice as it comes with a reference photo sheet... 15 color detail photos shot pretty close up. Just a note though for those building this kit... Pay particular attention to the way the lunette mounts to the yoke... I looked at the instructions and not the detail photos... bad on me. The yoke fits between the two trail frame parts and lays on top of the spade. The lunette attaches to the yoke with the flat part at the opposite end of the ring resting on the rear side of the spade as in Photo number 12 on the detail sheet. I mounted mine wrong. I'll remember that when I do this kit again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #35 Posted July 16, 2013 Now if someone would dioramize the Pack 75 into a complete parapack outfit ready for the drop into Normandy...! The Pack Howitzer broke down into 7 loads for parachute drop. I have been able to find this: http://www.usarmymodels.com/AFV%20PHOTOS/75mm%20PACK%20HOWITZER/shipping%20loads.jpg to show exactly how that was broken down. Load 1: Barrel and cleaning staff Load 2: Breech Block Load 3: Barrel cradle/recoil mechanism Load 4: Gun cradle, top cover and hand spike Load 5: Forward Frame and elevating mechanism Load 6: Rear Trail and Axle Load 7: Tires/wheels If it were ready for drop, it would probably already be packed into the Drop crates. Now if you were talking about actually having the gun disassembled with the troopers preparing to load them into the drop crates, or on the drop zone with it being assembled after the drop, that would work. The British delivered them assembled. One gun and crew required two gliders. Gun, jeep and partial crew and ammunition trailer in one, a second jeep with ammunition trailers and the remainder of the crew in the second. The only issue diorama-wise would be obtaining the metal gun barrel. The kit comes with the one piece plastic barrel/cradle but also the plastic cradle parts for the separately available metal barrel. All in all, this kit can be build by an experienced modeler in a day, easily. I know I'll be trying to score another one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted July 16, 2013 Share #36 Posted July 16, 2013 How about some wooden wheels and some mules for the Mars Task Force boys?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 16, 2013 Author Share #37 Posted July 16, 2013 The kit comes with two types of tires in the same military style steel rims... road tires and the usual military lugged tires. You'd probably have to scratch build the wooden rims Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Willaert Posted July 16, 2013 Share #38 Posted July 16, 2013 Load 1: Barrel and cleaning staff Load 2: Breech Block Load 3: Barrel cradle/recoil mechanism Load 4: Gun cradle, top cover and hand spike Load 5: Forward Frame and elevating mechanism Load 6: Rear Trail and Axle Load 7: Tires/wheels If it were ready for drop, it would probably already be packed into the Drop crates. Now if you were talking about actually having the gun disassembled with the troopers preparing to load them into the drop crates, or on the drop zone with it being assembled after the drop, that would work. I don't have the gun anymore, but still have the manual..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 17, 2013 Author Share #39 Posted July 17, 2013 Excellent Reference Johan!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Driver Posted July 18, 2013 Share #40 Posted July 18, 2013 So many companies, so many great and interesting and far ranging items, from the kits themselves to assessories, and has been for at least 15 years or so. Makes one think how my over 50 crowd ever managed back in the 70s, even going back earlier in the 60s, with such limited makes out they had then, gee what were they only, Tamiya of course, then Monogram, Revel, Italierie, that's about it right? figures from Airfix, and Esci, oh yeah for the more ecletic you had Heller, anymore? if there were, and there probably would be a couple more I forgot, would be dwarfed by the amount of fabulous stuff out today from dozens and dozens of companies. So many companies, so many great and interesting and far ranging items, from the kits themselves to assessories, and has been for at least 15 years or so. Makes one think how my over 50 crowd ever managed back in the 70s, even going back earlier in the 60s, with such limited makes out they had then, gee what were they only, Tamiya of course, then Monogram, Revel, Italierie, that's about it right? figures from Airfix, and Esci, oh yeah for the more ecletic you had Heller, anymore? if there were, and there probably would be a couple more I forgot, would be dwarfed by the amount of fabulous stuff out today from dozens and dozens of companies. As one of those over 50s who was a model builder back then, it was the Monogram stuff that was best for the buck until the Tamiya stuff started showing up. Both armor and aircraft. Christmas 1973 was the one I remember. Tamaya Tiger I and the Tamiya 88mm gun with crew. The prices have gone nuts as time has gone on but so has the detail. I think in the end the prime tie model builders were of that generation and the kits have evolved to keep up with that group. Build em, fly em, crah em, burn em doesn't work for 50 somethings like it did for 10-15 year olds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 18, 2013 Author Share #41 Posted July 18, 2013 My first armor models were Tamiya... $3.33 per kit for the M41 Walker Bulldog and M42 Duster. Both were motorized. Now, they M41 goes for about $15.50 or so... the M42 slightly more because it's been upgraded a little. Revell did some armor that I think were re-releases of the older Life Like models and even today they are still releasing the old classic Renwal kits. I have the Atomic Cannon on my shelf right now about half finished. Italeri began releasing kits that rivaled Tamiya for detail, but the tracks were of a thicker, stiffer plastic so they never fir as well. Monogram had the aircraft sewed up in 1/48th scale... with their WWII Navy planes (Wildcat, Hellcat, Dauntless, Corsair and Helldiver) being the old stand by kits. It was with the advent of the Monogram TBD Devastator that Monogram turned a corner into the more detailed kit. The TBD was a bit of a hybrid... adding a complete interior, while still maintaining the toyish folding wings. It was rather well done and a lot better than the earlier kits which had wing folds stout enough to be played with. Mom's Ironing board made the perfect aircraft carrier with rubber band arresting 'wires'. Who can forget the Monogram P51D in 1/32nd scale with operating landing gear and droppable bombs? Or how about the F3F-1 and Gulfhawk with the retractable landing gear, operated by spinning the propeller? For armor they had the M4A1, M4A1 Screaming Mimi, M4 (welded hull), M3 Lee, M3 Grant, M29C Weasel, Jeep and 37mm gun plus all the German armor. Those are the kits I cut my teeth on in modeling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share #42 Posted July 21, 2013 The more I work on this kit the more I'm impressed... Not only does the kit come with plastic parts to form the slide cradle for the turned metal barrel, it also includes separate elevation cranks should you wish to replace the cranks that are molded onto the forward frame. These are part 38. It also comes with five rounds... three HEAT M66 and two WP Smoke M64 with M57 fuze. There is a Cleaning rod/bore swab, part 28, and I'm not quite sure what parts 39 and 40 are but they look like they might be cradle blocks for the barrel but aren't listed in the instructions anywhere. I painted the steel parts of the model with Model Master Green Drab FS 34086 and the tires Model Master Flat Black FS 37038. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share #43 Posted July 21, 2013 Once this had dried for 24 hours, I dry-brushed the metal parts with Model Master Faded Olive Drab, and the tired were dry-brushed with PollyS (Floquil) Grimy Black. Over this, I gave the model an overall dry-brushing with Model Master Panzer Dark Yellow 1943 to simulate yellowish road dust. This pretty much completed the kit but I still need to paint the rounds and the cleaning staff. Overall, this was a fun kit with few problems... Tiny parts and fragile pieces can pose problems if you're not careful... but it should provide a few hours of fun and a quick build between major projects. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted July 21, 2013 Share #44 Posted July 21, 2013 Looks pretty darned nice, man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeper704 Posted July 21, 2013 Share #45 Posted July 21, 2013 Looks really realistic. Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share #46 Posted July 21, 2013 Thanks guys!!! I really enjoyed this one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ww2imp Posted July 21, 2013 Share #47 Posted July 21, 2013 Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patches Posted July 22, 2013 Share #48 Posted July 22, 2013 Yeah not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpguy80/08 Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share #49 Posted July 22, 2013 I just picked up another one off ebay... This one includes four army crewmen. There is another that includes four Marine Crew. Sadly, this kit isn't available from stateside sources... so I've been limited to obtaining it from ebay and either Chinese or Taiwan sources. Bronco is really starting to come up with some really good stuff. The best artillery crew figures are from Masterbox models, and Koku Fan and Dragon has taken their 101st Airborne Bastogne figures and changed the arms to make them more amenable to artillery crewmen and added them in with their M2A1 105mm howitzer. Next up I have to finish my AFV Club 3 inch Anti tank gun M5 and then its on to the 155mm Long tom and M4 High Speed Tractor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ches-Gen-4 Posted July 22, 2013 Share #50 Posted July 22, 2013 Excellent report Wayne, and a nice job painting the little Howitzer. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now