M55 Quad 50 Vietnam - Diorama completed!!!

Off to a nice start. The little parts may make it rough but it will be interesting. Keep the faith, we are watching.

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks for the comment, redleg! Yeah, the little parts - I really fought the carpet monster yesterday. Here are the fotos, first the trailer:

The trailer is a nice assembly. It will be shown in the emplaced mode, whichmeans wheels off and jacked down. I drilled out the handles perpendicular to the tow bar. I also had to cut off the locator pin of the taillight, or else it would have to be installed upside down. The underside needs filling and sanding if you are picky, you can see the mentioned area primed inblack on the foto. You can also see the olive-green replacement to the part lost to the carpet monster. Fit is good, there are only ejector pin marks on the wheel attachment points and detail is also good.

Next, the power charger:

That assembly has a minor problem, according to my TM fotos - the whole machine is a bit too far back on its sled. I tried to remedy this by instaling an additional part between the piston and the part with the fuel tank, and also by relocating the generator's attachment point. Still left to do are the carburetor, exhaust and the ignition line and carrying handle (last two missing in the kit).

As always looking forward to Your comments, have a nice day

Pawel

Moving along. The carpet monster will get you every time!! Always good to look at the TM....the kits may be off many times!

Keep up the good work

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks again redleg!

Aren't that two of the top ten modelling problems - the carpet monster and the kit inaccuracies?

Anyhow, goin' on with the build. Recently I finished the power charger. I added the carburetor, and also replaced the kit exhaust (partially) with copper wire. I also used the same wire for the ignition cable and the carrying handle. That's what it looks like:

I also assembled the battery. I added the hold-down pin, also from the same copper wire. By the way, I pulled my wire from an auto battery cable, I recommend this source. The battery, yet unpainted looks like this:

Just after pasting the picture I noticed I still have to scribe the joint where the batteries meet at the sides. Just another example how this forum helps make better models

And the big question for all: What color would such battery be? Would it really be olive-drab? Could some more civilian color be realistically used for variation? Thanks a lot in advance, looking forward to Your comments, and have a nice day

Pawel

Pawel wrote:

Thanks again redleg! Aren't that two of the top ten modelling problems - the carpet monster and the kit inaccuracies? Anyhow, goin' on with the build. Recently I finished the power charger. I added the carburetor, and also replaced the kit exhaust (partially) with copper wire. I also used the same wire for the ignition cable and the carrying handle. That's what it looks like: I also assembled the battery. I added the hold-down pin, also from the same copper wire. By the way, I pulled my wire from an auto battery cable, I recommend this source. The battery, yet unpainted looks like this: Just after pasting the picture I noticed I still have to scribe the joint where the batteries meet at the sides. Just another example how this forum helps make better models And the big question for all: What color would such battery be? Would it really be olive-drab? Could some more civilian color be realistically used for variation? Thanks a lot in advance, looking forward to Your comments, and have a nice day Pawel

I think you need to add 2 more hold down pins since it looks like it has 3 pins.

Nice use of the wire.....moving along nicely

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks for the comments!

mikeym: I didn't add the other hold down pins, because after the battery gets installed, they will be completely out of view. But thanks for watching the fotos so carefully!

redleg: Yeah, we all like to see that plastic-metal combination and why pay for expensive PE? . What color would you paint the batteries redleg? That question really bothers me. OD doesn't sound 100% right. The batteries shown in the TM even have manufacturers logo on them.

Thanks once again and have a nice day

Pawel

Hello everybody!

I still don't know what the batteries will look like. Anyhow, there's some progress I'd like to report. First thing, I installed the one and only kit-supplied PE part. Here's what it looks like:

It was by no means a drop-in - the part had to be narrowed almost 50% - talk about cutting off two strips about 0.5 mm wide - and then bent to shape and finally adjusted in length - some 0.5 mm. At least the detail is nice.

Then I went for first coat of Olive Drab. I airbrushed Humbrol 66 which was, after drying throughly, coated with a mixture of floor finish (read more here:http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html - nice job Swanny!) with slight addition of black acrylic paint. Here's what the parts look like:

In the drying time I started assemblying the gun elevation assemblies. I noticed that the mentioned assemblies fit extremely tight into the mount, so I scraped some plastic from the inside of the mount, so the assemblies can be rotated after installation. The result can be seen on the foto below:

I hope you all enjoyed, as always I look forward to your comments and wish you all a nice day

Pawel

Hi Pawel, this is looking great, nice scratched details.

Re the flat black, I agree the battery should be dark,

but from my figure modeling and study of color, I no longer use "black" and "white" in my painting, because the colors are so stark that you really don't see them very often.  Stuff we routinely think of as black isn't, like tires, hoses, etc.

I think if you use a grey-black, a floquil weathered black, or similar non "black" black, it will look more authentic.

Just my $.02

Bill  

Pawel wrote:

Thanks for the comments! mikeym: I didn't add the other hold down pins, because after the battery gets installed, they will be completely out of view. But thanks for watching the fotos so carefully! redleg: Yeah, we all like to see that plastic-metal combination and why pay for expensive PE? . What color would you paint the batteries redleg? That question really bothers me. OD doesn't sound 100% right. The batteries shown in the TM even have manufacturers logo on them. Thanks once again and have a nice day Pawel

Any of the military batteries I have seen were Black. I would go with a semi gloss finish as the would not be flat.

Hope that helps

Rounds Complete!!

Hello everybody,

thanks a lot for Your comments. Now I know what the battery pack will look like.

Mike: - glad to help. It's good to know my WIP is of use to somebody. The wire I'm using is about 0.45 mm in diameter, or AWG 25 for you Americans. Got it from an auto battery cable.

Bill, Some - I agree wholeheartedly on the black. My favourite color for this is Humbrol 32, and I intend to use it on the battery and on the tires. And thanks for the compliments

Now, back to work - please stay tuned and have a nice day

Pawel

Hello everybody!

Thanks to your comments I was able to finish the battery pack and I also finished the power charger. Here's what they look like, I still have to decide how much to weather them before installation. Unfortunately the fotos are not so good, but anyhow:

I also put together the lifting jacks, couldn't help to use some more wire

Another simple thing to do was the platform

And now the hard part - in the fotos it's clear the "tombstone" magazines weren't used at all. All the Quads either use standard ammo box tray, or this cool modification - cut down jerry can for ammo feed. That's what I'd like to do in my model. Got some jerry cans from the old Academy M151 with trailer kit - they have good side detail byt crappy caps, so it's no problem cutting them down. How exactly they fit the gun itself - this I have yet to work out. If anybody has any info on this one - please write me. Looking forward to other comments too, have a nice day

Pawel

Hello everybody!

Mike - thanks, I will!

Chris - good to hear from you again, maybe I should advertise more

Wayne - thanks for the comment, you have a very valuable info for me! Now that trick with the beer or C-ration can almost went into the popular culture, because you can see it in the movie "Apocalypse now", the PBR crew uses it a lot. Now I have a picture to clarify what I want to build, it looks like this:

Source: "Armor of the Vietnam War (1) Allied Forces" by Michael Green & Peter Sarson, Concord Publication Company 1996 Hong Cong

For some reason the quad's crew decided to replace the standard ammo box on its tray with a cut down jerry can welded to the remains of an old ammo box tray. The belt support seems to be integral to the quad. Now if somebody of the old hands could describe better what we see in the picture, that would probably help me even more. In the meantime I think I'll try to look for more pics and build something like this in 1/35. Please stay tuned and have a nice day

Pawel

PS. Today [11.11] is a Polish national independence day! Greetings from Poland to all!

Great picture!

And it looks like you could have gone with the bug repelent in the helmet band. But I can't quite make it out, are you going to paint Mitchell Pattern on yours?

Good luck with the jerry cans

Pawel wrote:

Hello everybody! Mike - thanks, I will! Chris - good to hear from you again, maybe I should advertise more Wayne - thanks for the comment, you have a very valuable info for me! Now that trick with the beer or C-ration can almost went into the popular culture, because you can see it in the movie "Apocalypse now", the PBR crew uses it a lot. Now I have a picture to clarify what I want to build, it looks like this: Source: "Armor of the Vietnam War (1) Allied Forces" by Michael Green & Peter Sarson, Concord Publication Company 1996 Hong Cong For some reason the quad's crew decided to replace the standard ammo box on its tray with a cut down jerry can welded to the remains of an old ammo box tray. The belt support seems to be integral to the quad. Now if somebody of the old hands could describe better what we see in the picture, that would probably help me even more. In the meantime I think I'll try to look for more pics and build something like this in 1/35. Please stay tuned and have a nice day Pawel PS. Today [11.11] is a Polish national independence day! Greetings from Poland to all!

the C-Rat can was used on the M60 to correct a design error in the feed ramp. Some guys also used an orange juice can as well. They have both ends opened up, and then the can is wired to the reciever so that it's a little higher than the ramp.

     Why these guys are using a cut down gas can is kind of baffeling! What they should be looking for is the large ammo can used on tanks. Also they look like they are firing the top guns most of the time, as the bottom ones have the smaller ammo cans.

gary

Hello everybody! Comments, that's what I like!

Chris - yeah, I'll do that, the gunner will have a bug repellant on his helmet, and the helmet's cover will have camo "leaf" pattern on it.

Gary, Wayne - that's very interesting. I also have this foto to look at:

I can't be sure, but I think those guys put even four gas cans on their quad. So I thought it wasn't that uncommon, but your reaction makes me think. Now I have at least three options:

1) Regular .50 ammo box on tray - best covered by my fotos

2) Strange cut down gas cans - looks most interesting

3) Big "tankers" ammo boxes mounted directly to the quad - as indicated by the experts

What would you model if it depended on you? I'd appreciate an advice - thanks in advance and have a nice day

Pawel

Pawel wrote:

Hello everybody! Comments, that's what I like! Chris - yeah, I'll do that, the gunner will have a bug repellant on his helmet, and the helmet's cover will have camo "leaf" pattern on it. Gary, Wayne - that's very interesting. I also have this foto to look at: I can't be sure, but I think those guys put even four gas cans on their quad. So I thought it wasn't that uncommon, but your reaction makes me think. Now I have at least three options: 1) Regular .50 ammo box on tray - best covered by my fotos 2) Strange cut down gas cans - looks most interesting 3) Big "tankers" ammo boxes mounted directly to the quad - as indicated by the experts What would you model if it depended on you? I'd appreciate an advice - thanks in advance and have a nice day Pawel

when you retrived that photo; what did the caption have to say? Looks like the extreme west on of a place I was at once.

      In the photo you will notice the negative position of the gun carriage when it's on high ground. As for the gas cans being used to hold ammo, I'd go ahead and do it if that's what your after. I never seen anything like that, but sometimes it's what you have laying around that works best for you. One other thing I've noticed is that I've quads without the flash supressor as well as with them.

gary

Hello everybody!

I just got the 30 & 50 Caliber Ammo Boxes from AFV Club, number 35035. It will come really handy in the dio and also has 8 of the big boxes, it says they were intended for 40mm ammo. This would link the big boxes to M42 duster units, often operating close to the quads. But I already decided to go for the cut down gas cans.

I also checked the PM, and decided not to install the platform, TM says platforms were only installed on quads mounted on M16 SP's

I'm still looking for an idea on how to make/where to get the flash suppressors.

Movin on, please stay tuned and have a nice day

Pawel

When talking about US equipment, TM means Technical Manual. There are different kinds of TM's, operator's guides, repair & maintenance manuals and even lubricating charts. Many of them are very interesting to a modeller. They also have a lot of fotos and drawings in them, hence TM foto. Hope it helps, have a nice day

Pawel

Pawel wrote:

Hello everybody! I just got the 30 & 50 Caliber Ammo Boxes from AFV Club, number 35035. It will come really handy in the dio and also has 8 of the big boxes, it says they were intended for 40mm ammo. This would link the big boxes to M42 duster units, often operating close to the quads. But I already decided to go for the cut down gas cans. I also checked the PM, and decided not to install the platform, TM says platforms were only installed on quads mounted on M16 SP's I'm still looking for an idea on how to make/where to get the flash suppressors. Movin on, please stay tuned and have a nice day Pawel

Unless the M42 Dusters were mounting 40mm Mk19 beltfed grenade launchers those boxes were for the 40mm grenades. 40mm AA gun ammo was way larger in size.

http://www.greatmodels.com/~smartcart/cgi/display.cgi?item_num=AFV35035

MECHTECH wrote:

Pawel, you and Redleg mention 'TM' Photos. I know I am having a teflon moment. What are you refering to?

For the M55 Quad the Technical Manual is TM 9-1005-208-xx. If the xx = 10, that is the operators manual, =20 the direct support maintenance manual, =20P the parts manual and =35 depot maintenance manual

For most work the -10 is good to have. The -20 will give more details.

Pawel, you don't want to use the big cans. They are for 40mm belt fed grenade ammunition. The AFV set is a great set. Just use the 50 cal cans 

Rounds Complete!!