Securityu Police - Base Defense

[ikar]

The Armored Car is the old Verlinden M-706. I had to completely remove the top armor and rebuild them with their gun mounts and the blast doors because the kit came with a tarp molded over it. Nobody would do this because you couldn't get to your weapons or even get them mounted quickly when you needed them. I scratch built the M-174 automatic grenade launcher with sone metal tubing, and plastic and used the main part of a WWII Browning .30 cal.machinegun. On the back is a scratch built 90mm recoiless rifle.

 

The jeep was a Tamiya M-151. I replaced the seats with plastic, solder frames, and tissue for cloth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Normandy1944]

Very nice vehicles.

Are you going to create a diorama with those objects?

[ikar]

Actually I have been planning one with this vehicle:

 

It was our command track for the base and was only seen if there was trouble where it would control all personnel in an effected sector and take some of the pressure off Defense control.

 

I want to put it into a drive-in bunker, possibly with another vehicle near the entrance and have a low tower nearby. It would be during the 1972 Easter Offensive and have the title of "Spring Break '72".

[Normandy1944]

Good, I'm looking forward to that diorama

[ikar]

I already have a cople sets of decals for "The Devil's Deciple" mad up in a couple scales. I have pictures of it's interior remember whar the bunkers looked like. My main problem will be painting the figures. I'm also thinking of adding a vendor bike too. We would find them near some of the bunkers and gates selling drinks and food from the wooden tray mounted to the side of their morotcycles. I'd put in a phtot but for some reason I'm having trouble with photobucket again.

[patches]

Superb job on those two scratch built weapons ikar, the 90 is unbelievable. would you mind telling us how you did them?

[ikar]

I started off with a photo of the 90mm that I took during combat school in Texas and the M-174 grenade launcher from a display we held for the base after a sapper attack. I would post the photos but my photobucket isn't allowing it fo r some reason.

 

The 90mm recoiless is made from a aluminum tube, the legs I cut from sheet plastic, the forward elevating screw is from plastic rod and tubeing, The sight is a clear plastice rod, the face rest is a cleanex tissue folded a few times, cut, and painted. The breach is made from cut and formed plastic sheet with a this strip of metal and a small ball of white clue for the knob at the end. the trigger wire is plastic sprue stretched and attached.

 

The M-174 started out as a .30 caliber machinegun from Tamiya's WWII weapons set. I replaced the barrel with a short piece of metal tube and made a mount out of sheet plastic. I also made the 12 round 40mm clip out of sheet plastic and drilled the holes on both sides with a pin vice. I originally only had planned to have it mounted to a armored car but it can be put on a jeep with a simple tube mount like we did with our M-60-s, or put it on a tripon.

 

The strange thing about these weapons is that you had to be aware of what you were doing because the 90mm was only guarenteed to be recoiless for 200 rounds, Then it had to be returned to the factory for refurbishing. This was not something you wanted to have recoil when you pulled the trigger. The M174 on the other had had a fair recoil but its problem was that it didn't have a safety, just a choice between semi and full automatic fire. It also had the problem of not having s[are parts available, anywhere. From what I was yold the manufacture's contract didn't cover extra parts.

[Bluehawk]

Just a tangent, re: these fine models...

 

I read a pretty good historical summary of AF Base defense units in the excellent book, "The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia 1961-1973: An illustrated account" by Carl Berger from the Office of Air Force History, pages 257-283, Chapter XVI

[ikar]

Thanks, I'll have to track that one down. I'm trying to find a copy of the final report of the 1972 sapper attack at U-Tapao. If you heard some of the things we were hearing from guy's relatives in the states and europe by the time we got off duty, you whould have thought the base was in flames and they were still shelling the place. Not bad for 14 hours later, and the only one firing mortors were base defense, and then only flares. Before lunch, such as it was, the following day the aircraft were still evacuating. By the time I got back to the armory, all functional aircraft except Pedro were gone. It was a weird feelingto hear quite. Considering the flying schedule they kept up round the clock. Sort of like if you lived near an airport on 9-11. nothing.

[patches]

I started off with a photo of the 90mm that I took during combat school in Texas and the M-174 grenade launcher from a display we held for the base after a sapper attack. I would post the photos but my photobucket isn't allowing it fo r some reason.

 

The 90mm recoiless is made from a aluminum tube, the legs I cut from sheet plastic, the forward elevating screw is from plastic rod and tubeing, The sight is a clear plastice rod, the face rest is a cleanex tissue folded a few times, cut, and painted. The breach is made from cut and formed plastic sheet with a this strip of metal and a small ball of white clue for the knob at the end. the trigger wire is plastic sprue stretched and attached.

 

The M-174 started out as a .30 caliber machinegun from Tamiya's WWII weapons set. I replaced the barrel with a short piece of metal tube and made a mount out of sheet plastic. I also made the 12 round 40mm clip out of sheet plastic and drilled the holes on both sides with a pin vice. I originally only had planned to have it mounted to a armored car but it can be put on a jeep with a simple tube mount like we did with our M-60-s, or put it on a tripon.

 

The strange thing about these weapons is that you had to be aware of what you were doing because the 90mm was only guarenteed to be recoiless for 200 rounds, Then it had to be returned to the factory for refurbishing. This was not something you wanted to have recoil when you pulled the trigger. The M174 on the other had had a fair recoil but its problem was that it didn't have a safety, just a choice between semi and full automatic fire. It also had the problem of not having s[are parts available, anywhere. From what I was yold the manufacture's contract didn't cover extra parts.

 

Great conversion job, my compliments. The 90, I know it well, I was a 90 Gunner for a few months in Alaska, it was the only AT weapon used, it was said that the Dragoon could not be used in extreme cold because it's wires would snap in the extreme cold as thus render the round useless as you now cannot guide it opticaly, I guess there was truth in that, we never trained with anything other than the 90, HMM but what about the spring through the fall, brief as it was, surely the Dragoons could be used then, then also you know I thinking about West Germany, South Korea, it gets mighty cold there too in the winter, and as far as I know they used Dragoons and TOWs.

[bentley]

Great job. What scale am I looking at?

[ikar]

Thet're 1/35th scale.