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1:35 Academy M-12 Ready for Inspection

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  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Berkeley CA/St. Paul MN
1:35 Academy M-12 Ready for Inspection
Posted by EBergerud on Friday, April 13, 2012 11:44 PM

Normal 0

1:35 Academy M-12 155mm Gun Motor Carriage

OOB

Paints: Golden Fluid Acrylics, Vallejo Model Color, Gunze Metalizer

Weathering: Sennelier, MIG, Doc O’Brien Pigments; AK Streaking Grime; Salt

 

Warning: if WWII artillery use bores the reader, one may wish to skip to the pics.

 

The Subject:

Despite a decade of diplomatic crisis and five years of war first in Asia and then in Europe, the US was ridiculously unprepared for war in December 1941. Fortunately, during the lean budget years after 1919 the US armed forces were very well served by some very good officers who saw the shape of a future war with unusual clarity. Most never saw combat and are little known outside military circles. (Adna Chafee is the best example but there were many others. Douglas MacArthur saw the future very well and escaped historic oblivion only by freakish luck.) Because of their work when American rearmament did begin after May 1940 US forces were to be characterized by full mechanization, clouds of aircraft (fortunately of all types), excellent communications and robust logistics even if it came at the expense of some tactical finesse. Above all the US embraced the phrase coined by General Petain: “Fire kills.” In WWII “fire” meant artillery.

 

American artillery was the world’s best. There was a lot of it and this was an arm that could make good use of, at the time, the world’s best educated population. Rommel knew this I think better than anyone after the Kaserine campaign. US forces had stumbled badly in some engagements but the rapid employment of US defensive indirect fire (the toughest job in the artillery world of that era) led Rommel to warn that Germany was facing a new kind of enemy. The vaunted and feared German tactical counter-attack, so successful so often, became a dangerous game indeed against American forces. This fact, more than any other explains why German casualties almost certainly equalled those of the Western Allies after 1943 despite the excellent defensive positions usually held by the Wehrmacht. In comparison, the Red Army had to pay a far higher blood tax to crush the Wehrmacht.

 

The American and American-armed British Army were completely mechanized. Ironically, this led initially to doubts of requiring a self-propelled medium howitzer. (The Germans had little doubt and found their Hummel of great value.) The reason was that US commanders simply assumed that towed guns, employing indirect fire, would do the job nicely and so they did. Officers were also correctly concerned that a motorized 155mm howitzer would carry only a very limited ammo load. In the event, most M-12s had duplicate M3-based ammunition carriers. One should also consider that WWII was a “work in progress” throughout and finding the right balance between speed, firepower, logistic friction and proper doctrine entailed a lot of guesswork. (The need for a mobile 105mm was seen immediately and the “Priest” served with distinction in all theaters.)  Wartime officers also frequently made good use of confusion - if a question was up in the air, why not give it a try? (This was another factor noted by Rommel concerning Americans. He was sobered on how quickly US units improved in early 1943.) Because of the inevitably uneven stream of  production and training requirements in early 1943 the Army found itself with a surplus of 155mm howitzers, a surplus of M-3 Grant/Lee platforms that were obviously not the future for tank warfare. The result was the construction of about 120 M-12 Motor Gun Carriages which mounted the tried WWI era 155mm howitzer with the growingly obsolete M-3 platform. In training the weapon showed promise and a few dozen were sent to Italy. There the Army found that a German “strongpoint” of which there were many, could sometimes be best attacked by direct fire 155mm rounds. And, if need arose, the M-12 was always ready for standard indirect fire missions. Hence the remaining M-12s, about 80 altogether, accompanied the Army to France in 1944.

 

Any earlier doubts about the use of a big gun in an armored carriage disappeared when US forces ran into German fortifications near the Rhine. Hitler had ordered a serious strengthening of German positions and concrete emplacements were built by the hundreds and could withstand a near miss from artillery or aerial bombardment. When US forces were advancing, a very small number of such places could seriously slow operations and raise casualties. Hence, Army Corps were given a quota of M-12s to be near the armored spear points to deal with exactly such targets. And, as a 155mm round weighed 100 lbs, it could defeat all but the largest fortifications in short order. I do not know if Americans had a nickname for this weapon, but one source claimed the Germans called it “King Kong.” One could see why. The impact of a shell of that size at low trajectory and close range would have caused a very serious ear ache. Many bunkers surrendered after the first round was fired. The Army liked the M-12 so well that by war’s end the much improved M-40 was in deployment.

 

The Kit & Build:

Academy can be hit or miss. Their M-12 is a solid hit. In general the fit was excellent. There is no PE but the detail was adequate for my world. There were two types of road wheels. (As is often the case, the perfectly good instructions, gave the modeler no clue as to which variation went with what. I copied the box art.) Because Academy also makes a Grant there were several extra gizmos that could have been added to the kit or to the spare box. Tracks fit very well and struck me as looking the part, but with the model I had in mind, it wouldn’t matter. There is a simple but serviceable interior which I installed and displayed. (You’ll really have to come to my house to see it though: even with the hatches open, it’s not easy to photograh.) There was little flash, but building an Academy reminds one why armor fans like Dragon. I used no putty, but there was plenty of sanding. The only real problem was driver error amplified by poor instructions. The rear end of the M-12, if deployed for fire, employed a cable/pulley system to raise or lower the “spade.” Ideally this system should be rigged through the pulleys provided. Here’s where you wanted Dragon. The pulleys are made up of a casing over the pulley itself: small parts all. There was no reason to glue the pulleys themselves: I think the instructions should have made that clear. If you did glue all parts together, because there’s almost no clearance, the modeler is not going to string thread or very thin wire through them. A better modeler would have anticipated the problem. I didn’t. I could have come up with a better fix than the simple kludge employed (simply rigging the braces - looks fine from two feet) but was under very serious time pressure. We were leaving for St. Paul the night I finished and it was quite by midnight or “else.” So some fine points were missed. I had intended to scratch a tarp, some sandbags and (no joke) cartons of cigarettes and bottles of French wine - can’t imagine an American AFV on the Rhine in late 1944 without any of these things. Actually there was another night worth of little things I would have done. Next time.

 

I used Golden Fluid acrylics again - really beginning to like using paint that has splendid color, is wonderful with a paint brush and you could eat without harm. That meant I to make my own colors. According to US armor guru Steve Zaloga and USAAF color/markings expert  Robert Archer the olive drab employed on US AFVs was the same as that specified for USAAF aircraft in early 1943. Few US aircraft received the treatment as command decided to switch to metal finish. But Archer did provide two very good color samples in his volume on USAAF markings and colors. The color, at least to my eyes, is a little lighter than the Tamiya Oliver Drab that Zaloga recommends. (Might note that Zaloga recommends lightening OD with yellow for scale so his kits don’t show the same color as Archer’s samples.) The color is simple: black and ochre. However because of the painting and weathering process the only place where you can see the color used is on the inside of the open hatches.

 

I primed the kit with Golden carbon black which is gloss and extraordinarily opaque. There followed a base of OD and two progressively lighter shades. In between each coat after priming I salted the surface. I like salt weathering a lot. In the real world, salt leaches pigments from paint - something that has bugged sailors for a very long time. The same thing happens on a model paint. In addition, there is a kind of chipping effect. The result is a washed-out, mottled surface. That’s what I wanted. As Zaloga pointed out, many US vehicles sat for over a year before deployment. Unlike German crews, US tankers had no paint with them and if any repainting was done it would have happened at the rear. And that rarely happened. So if a AFV wasn’t knocked out of action, it would have been seriously faded by war’s end. All M-12s were built in 1943 - the weapon I was trying to recreate was one of the vehicles near the Rhine in late 1944 or early 1945 where the weapon was of most use. I employed a general AK wash and used two of  their “streaking grime”colors for both pinwashes and streaking. Chipping was done with Vallejo Model Color paints. I also used extremely fine Sennelier pigments for most of the mud and a kind of “dusting” at the end. I used both MIG and my old Doc O’Briens so it was an interesting contrast. For simple pigments I like the Doc’s stuff because it adheres a little better - it might be ground artist chalk. MIG is pricey but certainly works. The Sennelier is incredibly fine - it’s designed artists to make their own oils and Sennelier makes some of the best paints on the planet. (Might add that the pigments I used were much cheaper than MIG per volume. The fine US paint maker Gamblin makes a wide array of paint pigments which I’m going to try. Like all art supply companies they don’t seem to consider the modeling market big enough to pursue. Doc O’Brien are cheaper yet and a long time Micro-Mark offering for model railroaders.) 

 

A late 44-early 45 vehicle fighting in NW Europe would also have been extremely untidy. NW Europe has some of the best farmland on earth - that comes from lots of water and extremely rich soil. A cursory look of photos of allied AFVs fighting during this period shows mud all over the place as shown below. I did chip the kit quite a bit, but from what I know of US AFVs they had a very sturdy finish. So fading certainly made sense, mud ditto, some chipping but almost no rust. Your mileage may vary. Pics below: 

Eric

M-12s in NW Europe late in war:

Golden Carbon Black Prime:

M-12 after all base coats and salt:

Finished M-12

 

      

 

A model boat is much cheaper than a real one and won't sink with you in it.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Saturday, April 14, 2012 6:56 AM

OK...first if you know me you know I live artillery, so builds like this are always welcome by me!!

In general very nice....great job with the mud. Nice work with the tools.

Some artillery notes....

The breech is open, the rotating screw breech would not have any rust or dirt and would be a shiny steel color.Also the same for the back of the breech block where when closed would be covered. Breach would always be closed during movement.

Since it appears the model depicts the weapon emplaced and ready to fire, the ramming staffs would not be on the carriage but on the ground to the rear of the weapon.

The panoramic telescope (the sight mounted on the right side) would not be dirty....it is off the weapon while moving

Now....I have spent many years around artillery and can be a bit analytical soooo

Very nice build, nice weathering, great subject choice Wink

Rounds Complete!!

 

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    December 2011
  • From: pennsylvania
Posted by kettenkopf on Saturday, April 14, 2012 7:01 AM

Nice build, I really like the weathering.  Looks like it's been through a long hard campaign.  I built this kit several years ago, and like you, I did find the pulleys for the spade somewhat of a challenge.  I opted to install the thread first, and the carefully glue the assembly together so the pulleys would slide along the thread.  My main problem was the pivots for the spade where it mounts to the chassis, and ended up gluing the whole thing solid in the firing position. 

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Berkeley CA/St. Paul MN
Posted by EBergerud on Saturday, April 14, 2012 12:54 PM

Thankee for the tips. I think it a great aid to know something about the subject you're dealing with but they don't let history teachers fire artillery pieces. In retrospect, I would have been well advised to check net references on the 105 and 155mm howitzers: there were/are lots of them but only a handful M-12s. What I was looking for were aiming sticks but if they were with the kit I couldn't find them. As noted this thing was finished in a little bit of a rush. I did intend to keep the inside of breech tidy: not sure if some of the last minute "dusting" got in there or if the camera is playing with fugitive colors. BTW: I used Gunze metalizer for that and those are really nice paints in my view. One former gunner told me to leave the hatches open which was good news. He also identified the chocks which sit on the fender - I didn't have a clue what they were. Point taken about the telescope: I saw one photo with a gunner obviously lining up a direct fire shot: the armor plate was half down and he was looking through the telescope unimpeded. But if you don't know instinct tells you to follow directions.

There will be more SPAs coming. I have a Tamiya Wespe and a DML Priest & Hummel. Going to get one of the Shermans that carried a 105 too - think that would count. Lots of tank destroyers but they're not real artillery, or so I was told by a "Long Tom" gunner who spent June of 1943 shelling Munda Point on New Georgia.

Eric

 

A model boat is much cheaper than a real one and won't sink with you in it.

  • Member since
    October 2009
Posted by PANZERWAFFE on Sunday, April 15, 2012 6:52 PM

I really like her.  For me it is something a little different but your weathering is what really catches someones eye.  Like the salt technique you achieved, just enough rust in spots, and the mud looks great.  Looks like she has been doing some serious off - roading.  Have enjoyed looking, thanks for posting.

Rob

  • Member since
    March 2006
  • From: Right Side of a Left State
Posted by Shellback on Sunday, April 15, 2012 10:09 PM

Wew ! Thats some intense mud ! Looks good Yes. Every time i read one of Redlegs post on artillery i learn something .Beer

  • Member since
    November 2005
Posted by T26E4 on Sunday, April 15, 2012 10:30 PM

the guys have made some good replies. If I can add mine:

 

1) front right bogie is askew.  Is it too late to pry it off and glue it straight?

2) all twelve road wheels need to be firmly on the ground -- more or less completely level.  Academy bogies unrealistically rock back and forth.  You've let the tension of the vinyl tracks make your front and rearmost wheels bow upwards.  Should not be the case.

3) you forgot to remove a plastic tab at the bottom of each of your bogies.  That should be snipped off -- it is part of the kit manufacturing process and not representative of the real part. 

 

Hope these tips help

Roy Chow 

Join AMPS!

http://www.amps-armor.org

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Berkeley CA/St. Paul MN
Posted by EBergerud on Monday, April 16, 2012 2:24 AM

Roy,

Thanks much for the pointers. I'll put them in the memory bank. Right now I'm in Minnesota and the kit is in California, so it's pretty much a cold case. Actually I've never changed a model after completion. I know there are going to be things wrong and I accept it. With luck, someone like yourself has pointed things out - sadly that's rare. But any informed tips are not forgotten and I really hope to make a lot more AFVs - so with luck they'll get better. All good models start with a clean build and I admit to frequent driver error. (I'd say a lot of "how to" books neglect basic things like you mentioned in favor of ultra-detail or complex weathering.) I like armor building because, as the Spanish school has illustrated, it offers a bottomless pit of challenges in the arena of finish and weathering. It might get in the way of the basics. Heck of a lot of fun though.

Eric

 

A model boat is much cheaper than a real one and won't sink with you in it.

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: Uppsala, Sweden
Posted by bultenibo on Monday, April 16, 2012 7:57 AM

Very nice build! I like the brutal weathering! It looks like it have gone through the tought Western Europe spring back in -45. Smile

 

Redleg12: If I ever build a artillery piece, the first thing I'll do - even before opening the box! - is to ask you for advice! Big Smile It's nice to have such such technical competence at hand on this forum. Yes

 

/Tony

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England
Posted by Bish on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 11:02 AM

Very nice build. I must admit i thought the weathring was a bit OTT at first. But the more i look at it and the pics of the real thing, the more i can see how realistic it is. Pays not to judge to quickly.

Good build Yes

 

I am a Norfolk man and i glory in being so

 

On the bench: Airfix 1/72nd Harrier GR.3/Fujimi 1/72nd Ju 87D-3

  • Member since
    February 2010
  • From: Berkeley CA/St. Paul MN
Posted by EBergerud on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 6:54 PM

I make no apologies for a heavy weather for that time and place. It's true that everything is new once and it's also true that some kind of weaponry took very high losses and were constantly being recycled with new or rebuilt replacements. Two points on the M-12. I doubt the loss rate was high. It's true they were often used in direct fire missions (you will note several sandbags on the front end of one of the photos) and were in some peril, but they were "big ticket" items and used for already identified targets. A M-12 wouldn't have been creeping up a street to see what was around. (Apparently a few got caught up in the Ardennes when the Germans came to them. One of Peipper's tanks fell victim.) Anyway most of them would have been in outside storage or in use since 1943 when all were made. As to NW Europe in late 44-early45, photos of that time remind one of the East. Roads in the West were far better than in the East, but still crude in our terms - especially after having thousands of AFVs running down them. And Europe is so fertile because it rains, sleets and snows so often. I'd say in general that the 44-45 NW Europe campaign is the worst place to put a mildly weathered AFV and be true to history. (Again, there were always new things coming into use and one could take the Tony Greenland approach - model the weapon, not the weather it fought in.) Both sides made extensive use of foliage, something that's rarely modeled. The winter of the campaign was a bad one so both sides used winter camo. And there was that damp, rich agricultural land in late late fall and spring catching it from the heavens. I know everyone sees different things but when I look at photos taken near the front in NW Europe, I see what my old German landlady would have called "sehr schmutzig." (The 1940 campaign I'll grant was different. But it was so much shorter, the number of heavy vehicles far fewer and fighting very episodic. The 44-45 campaign was the opposite in every case as well as half being fought in late fall/winter.) I'm very careful with serious chipping and very careful with rust. But by and large I do think dirt or mud belongs on AFVs - just depends on how much. In late 44 it could have been a lot.

Eric

 

A model boat is much cheaper than a real one and won't sink with you in it.

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