Development and Prototype Models of Military Vehicles

[Harold Biondo]

I collect development models of armored vehicles. These are mockups that were made by arms companies or militaries as part of the process of designing and marketing their vehicles. Usually the models differ from the finished vehicle, or the prototypes if any were even made, since the model was made first. This would be the second stage of development, after the concept drawings were made, the scale model would be used to evaluate the design in three-dimensional space and show it off to officers or customers. These are different from recognition models or desktop display/gift models, which are produced in numbers and are usually smaller and cheaply made.

 

Some of the models I have are for designs which never went beyond the model stage, many of which have no other surviving documentation beside the model itself. I research and write about the history of military vehicles; I started collecting these models because I saw repeatedly how a unique model for an unknown project would come up for sale on ebay or at a flea market, only to disappear and never be seen again. I intend to one day put all of these models on display in a museum, but for now I photograph them and upload them to Flickr so that people can see them. I currently have 19 models from the US, France, Germany, and England.

 

 

T88 recovery vehicle https://www.flickr.com/photos/198481929@N08/sets/72177720314891253/

Made by Model Builders Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. This is one of several models I got recently from the estate of Walton Walker Jr., who was an artillery prior to Vietnam and had a huge collection of recognition models. There were a handful of prototype models in his collection, and I tried to get as many of them as I could.

 

T116 cargo carrier https://www.flickr.com/photos/198481929@N08/sets/72177720314903359/

This one was also made by Model Builders Inc. of Chicago. It was most likely made in 1956, as the T107, the cargo carrier that preceded the T116, was cancelled that year, and the M116 Husky was finalized in 1957. An easy way to tell the T116 from a production M116 is that the M116 has a gas cap on the left hand side below the second row of windows, while the T116 doesn't. This model came from the estate of Colonel Robert E. Butler, project manager for the M60 program at Detroit Arsenal.

 

XM548(?) cargo carrier derivative https://www.flickr.com/photos/198481929@N08/sets/72177720314891573/

Made by Architectural Model Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It can't have been made earlier than 1964, as according to an advertisement for Architectural Model Associates in New England Architect magazine in 1974, AMA was founded 10 years earlier. I believe it is an earlier concept for the XM548, possibly a planned derivative for use with a ballistic missile system. It doesn't match any concept for the M548 that I've come across. At some point it was dropped onto its front, as the roof is bent in and the four window struts have been cut off, leaving only nubs on the underside of the roof.

 

Canadair XM571 Dynatrac [not yet photographed]

Made by Harvie Thompson & Steven Waring Ltd. of Toronto, Canada. This model represents an intermediate form of the XM571; it has the upward sweeping side walls beside the driver and co-driver's seats as seen on the full-size wooden mockup, but with the redesigned engine louvers as on the final design.

 

M59 Armored Personnel Carrier https://www.flickr.com/photos/198481929@N08/sets/72177720314898470/

This model is a bit different from the others in my collection. It is more of a promotional/marketing model rather than a prototype. I believe it was made by FMC, the same company that made the actual M59, and was given to a marketing agency called The McCarty Company for use in promoting FMC. The McCarty Company was an advertising agency in Los Angeles that was active from 1925 to 1962. This model also comes from the estate of Walton Walker Jr. It's made of bakelite and is surprisingly light.

 

 

ETAS Elevated Target Acquisition System https://www.flickr.com/photos/198481929@N08/sets/72177720311825343/

LRAT Long Range Anti-Tank System https://www.flickr.com/photos/198481929@N08/sets/72177720311813317/

These two models came from California, they are both based on the Bradley chassis, which began development in 1984. ETAS is a long-range reconnaissance radar mast that would have been mounted on the Bradley or M113. It was also applied to the LRAT, which is a vertical-launch missile carrier that would have been armed with the MGM-157 FOG-M. The LRAT model is damaged, and would have had a radar mast like the ETAS model when it was complete. The ETAS on its own would have functioned as a reconnaissance vehicle and as a spotter for the Ground-Launched Hellfire. Neither of them were ever built.

 

E-One Mark 44 [not yet photographed]

The Mark 44 was an armored car/APC built as a private venture by the firetruck company Emergency One in Florida. Only 6 prototypes were made. I tried multiple times to contact E-One to learn more about the history of this vehicle, but I never got a response.

 

At least half of the models in my collection are French. For some reason it seems that the French are particularly good about hanging onto these sort of models, and they come up for sale the most often. Since this forum is supposed to be for American items only I won't post all the other models. The foreign ones that I have photographed can be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/198481929@N08/collections/72157722103051940/ The ones that I haven't photographed yet are large wooden models from Panhard and AMX.

 

If anyone else has similar models, of if you come across any at flea markets, I would be interested in seeing them.

[manayunkman]

Love them have had a few myself being into manufacturers models and most anything miniature.

[easterneagle87]

cool stuff!