CGM Prod. 1/35 M3 105mm Mountain Howitzer, Complete, 5/11/09

Marc - Thanks...you know me...green is my color!!!

Gary - Thanks, love the video, great link

Bill - I'm sure the guys would find their equilibrators sexy

Panzerguy - Thanks, yep...I will blend it a little, see your point.

Thanks guys

Rounds Complete!!

    Nice little scene you got going there Mike. The tufts of grass and the crates defiantly liven it up.

    One suggestion, blend some grass into the dirt around the spades to soften the edges.

Again great job on a seldom seen subject.

Redleg, I bet Gino and JOe would love the girls,

WOW, what a neat build.  That is a lot of work that you went through, but the end result is very nice!  That process would make a nice article for a magazine or website.

My father fired the M3 105 in Europe in 1945 and ended up WW2 as an instructor on this howitzer.  After the war he did some civillian jobs then went into the National Guard as a "redleg". 

By the way, there is a nice video on US infantry weapons that concludes with some scenes of the M3 firing.  It's at; http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=655_1240833450

Keep up the good work.  We'll look forward to seeing more of your projects in the future. 

Gary

Green grass, green guys, green gun, a green box...ON A BROWN BASE

Looks great anyway Mike Well done.

Bill - Thanks for the keen grass eye!!. This little guy is ready for the shelf!!

Stick - If you need some help when it comes to US artillery, feel free to PM me. After spending many years of making 1 : 1 scale artillery dios...I can pass on some pointers.

Bill - I wonder if the girls would like to meet Gino & Joe . Ahhhh....the smell of muzzle blast!

Thanks for stopping in and your comments

Rounds Complete!!

Nice finish to an unusual subject.  I like the scene, and the subject.  Very realistic details. 

Makes me miss Betsy and Lizzie.

BOOM.

Bill 

Nice job! I'm starting to get intrested in US artillery I have a couple dios in mind...

Great work!

the doog wrote:

Excellent, Mike--what a nice vignette! The groundwork looks better---a little variety goes a long way! Uh....they're not shooting at Hans and Franz, I hope?

Thanks Karl....shooting at Hanz and Franz...Naaaa....These guys are too professional to get in each others gun sights.......don't worry, Gino and Joe are moving about 40 years ahead in time as we speak...

Thanks again!!!

Rounds Complete!!

Excellent, Mike--what a nice vignette!

The groundwork looks better---a little variety goes a long way!

Uh....they're not shooting at Hans and Franz, I hope?

Gentleman, final touch up done, ammo crates stenciled some high grass and two little flower bushes (for you Karl ). Also wore down the grass a bit in the front where the tires would have rolled. So here is the finished M3 105mm Mountain gun with Gino & Joe.

Total Build Time 44 hours

Next up, Trumpeter M198, emplaced, NATO Camo circa late 1980s (maybe in snow)

As always, thanks for looking in, all comments welcome

Rounds Complete!!

EOM

Scratch - Thanks

Manny - Your "kind" words on the figs is greatly appreciated. They are no where near "Manny" standard....but I at least feel (I think) I am getting better at figs. At least they are no longer an embarassment . Thanks for looking in.

DM - My man....its always great when you drop in. Thanks for the peek. The tires never look right in flat black and rubber...well, this is a public site . The NATO black on its own is too light but the 50/50 mix of FB & NATO black gives a good tire/rubber look. Glad you like it.....and noticed!.

Rounds Complete!!

Mike.

A lotta effort here to a good end and with an informative wip.

That tire color formula is a good match.

Looking good Redleg. Ive never done Arty pieces myself, you've done a nice job on this one.

Rob

Psstoff - I will be curious to see the new Dragon kit. It will hopefully be an upgrade from the old Italeri kit. It should lend itself well to many dio ideas.

as for bench space....there is alway room on my bench for artillery

Rounds Complete!!

Bill - Thanks for stopping in....always a pleasure.

Karl - Addressing your points.....dio....AHHHH....lets just say a model on a base with emphisis.

Hummm...tire tracks...well you caught me in an OOPS. Even if they are on the front side...I can work on it. They would not be deep so I will rut up the grass. The M3 weight was ~2,500 lbs.

As a note when employed by airbore, they used 3 gliders. One carried the M3 and half the crew, the second a jeep and the other half of the crew and the third carried ammunition. The crew would push/pull the M3 out of the glider and could position it to fire nearby.

More green....well that is like when you get a haircut, they show you how everything looks but they always have a little more trimming...wait....hummm do you understand that analogy

I be looking at that as last little dress up but thanks.

I surprised....though they are not the greatest (boarder on "reverse wind"), no comments on Gino and Joe going airborne!!

Thanks guys.

Rounds Complete!!

Pretty nice little dio there Mike!

The only thing that I noticed was--wouldn't there be some kind of tire tracks in the base work from the weight of the gun? I would also say to maybe add a little more variety in the vegetation?

As far as the models go however, they all look great!

It has been a while with AMPS and spring chores slowing this build down. I have been trying to fit a little in here and there as time permits. I finally had the time to sit down and update the WIP

First the M3 howitzer itself

• 1. Installed a set of sights from the Italeri kit
• 2. Using MIG Faded OD the open areas of the howitzer were given a fade brushing
• 3. High scratch surfaces were touched with a graphite pencil
• 4. The firing lock was installed on the breech
• 5. I fabricated a lanyard from some waxed ship string painted OD attached to .020 rod painted wood.
• 6. Lanyard was attached to the firing lock
• 7. Section chest straps were made from some scrap PE, painted and installed

Time hack on the M3 - 6.5 hours

Total Time on the M3 - 29 hours

Now on to the base;

• 1. Cut, routed, stained and sealed base.
• 2. Cell-u-clay base with dig out for the spades
• 3. After drying, added some light grass and medium static grass
• 4. Positioned and glued the M3 on the base
• 5. Packed in the spades with cell-u-clay tinted a light earth color

Time on the base - 3.5 hours

Lastly, on to the figures (Dragon 1944 Airborne set) and misc equipment;

• 1. Used two figures from the set. The uniforms were done in Tamiya Khaki Drab, their gear in Testors Acrylic OD. Then they were washed.
• 2. Boots were in Testors Acrylic Leather, then the lace area was pin washed darker and some lighter scuffs on the main boot.
• 3. Helmets were in a mix of Tamiya OD and Green Yellow. Then the mesh was dry bushed with Tamiya Buff.
• 4. Faces and hands painted with Vallejo flesh then washed with a mix of flesh and burnt sierra oil.
• 5. Section chest was taken from the Italeri kit. It was painted with the same OD/Green Yellow mix. After drying it was also given a fade dusting with the MIG pigment.
• 6. The 105mm round was from the scale ammo dump (always have plenty of ammo) which is painted with a point detonating fuse.
• 7. The ammo crates were painted with Testors Wood then washed with a light burnt sierra wash.
• 8. The handles were painted with a mix of Testors Wood and Leather. The end plates were painted white.

Here is what the build look like now. Please note I am experimenting with a new background and increased lighting. But...some of the pics are a little dark. I working on it!!

The ammo crates are not quite done yet and still need their stencil decals. I will finish those up this week along with some final touchups this week.   

Total time on the M3 - 29 hours

Time on the base - 3.5 hours

Time on the figures and misc (so far) - 9.5 hours

H Hour Total 42.0 hours since start

Thanks for looking in, all comments welcome

Rounds Complete!!

RBaer - Thank you. It is much more of a challange than a "super kit" how to do more with less and of lesser quality....but the subject is fun!!

Chris - Thanks for looking in and you comments on the WIP.

Rounds Complete!!

Bill - That's me.....unusual....I try to expand the horizons a bit. Thanks for the comments and for stopping in.

Rounds Complete!!

Redleg, this is an awesome and unusual build, sorry I didn't comment earlier, but my connection kept timing out yesterday.  Very cool.

Bill   

Terry - Thanks for looking in.

Your question on resin is somewhat complex. Some people stay away because of the cost for sure. Others who look for "mainstream" vehicles can find the in styrene. Quality variation is another issue. Some manufacturers like Real Model or Hobby Fan produce excellent quality kits. Others are not as good and lack detail, they also are a major task to clean up and fix molding problems.

While most modelers are not afraid of resin figures or AM kits, an entire kit can be daunting and if they are looking for just mainstream, they don't need to go there.

Heavy show people I also think shy away from resin kits. a resin kit is percieved as more work and may not "do" as well...again going back to mainstream.

I have a "number" of resin kits on the shelf but I am a modeler who has a specific area I work in, US artillery and support equipment from WWII to present. Many of the subjects I want, like this one, will most likely never be made into styrene. I also never started modeling again to win medals. I go to shows but recieve enjoyment just showing my work and watching the faces of the people looking and going "hummm, whats that, never seen one of those before".

Lastly, I think it is fear. Many people are afraid of resin and comfortable "in their zone". Everyone is different. I will try EVERYTHING...once, "you have nothing to fear but fear itself". For all of those who are not into resin, I still have the utmost respect for their work.

It's like music, country, rock, pop, jazz, blues and classical but its all still music.

Rounds Complete!!