TAMAYA ITALERI 1:35 M109 Vietnam War 155mm Howitzer Kit

Dragon makes a 1/35 Vietnam War Infantry Weapons set that includes a pair of M-14s.

I had to set aside the M109 for a few more days as there are a lot of family occasions this month.However, i am looking forward to receiving the motor which is due any day now and then tackling the cut out of the grill. I figured that I should just go for it, and learn from the experience of cutting plastic as I need to do. I am accustomed to working with wood models from my model railroad and radio controlled airplanes. So this is a little different for me. I am having one heck of a time finding M14 rifles,

I keep trying on the internet but all that I keep getting are the M16. Any source that you have since you are also into the Vietnam War would be appreciated.

Thanks again for your help Pawel,

Earl

Anytime Earl! Glad I could help! Good luck with your project, don't forget to post some photos! Have a nice day

Paweł

Thanks Pawel,

That is exactly what I am looking for!! I placed the order, thanks for searching for me.

As always, stay well my friend.

Earl

Hey Earl - I just noticed that Sprue Brothers have an engine set for the M109 and listaed as "in stock" - wouldn't that be something for you? Hope it helps, have a nice day

store.spruebrothers.com/.../cmk3001.htm

Paweł

Alpha 43

It's shameful that Tamaya has to stoop to misleading buyers as to the true contents of their kits.

Thanks for your response Rob.

Earl

There is nothing misleading here if one takes the time to examine the kit box. The Italeri logo is quite noticeable beneath the Tamiya logo. Now Tamiya took Italeri's older and currently hard to find short barreled M109, added in somebody's link & length tracks to replace the overlong and very stiff vinyl tracks that originally came with the kit, added a sprue from their ACAV kit with figures & ACAV shielded .50 cal. (another step up from the anemic Italeri original .50) and some stowage items. It is certainly a step up from what was out there, as far as the M109 goes. Is it a new tooled Tamiya original? No. But it is an improved older kit. Which is something Tamiya constantly does. They have re issued many of their older kits over the years with an improvement here or there- new figures, PE, metal barrels, link & length tracks. Most every model company is trying to get maximum return out of their older stuff. And backroom trades happen between companies. With the internet at our fingertips via computers, phones, & tablets, there is really no excuse for being surprised. 5 minutes of research can turn up anything one cares to learn on most any kit,

The Staghound isn't an older kit. It is relatively new and one of Italeri's better kits. I just point out that the Italeri and Tamiya kits are the same (except for one with a metal barrel & the other with figures) so go for the better deal. Both kits were released near simultaneously.

www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/.../tam89770.html

www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/.../it6459.html

Thanks Rob,

I always appreciate your inputs they are  fair and unbiased. The Staghound was one kit that I was thinking of buying, but I get the impression from your comments that it is an older kit with no updates to the original.

Thanks again Rob and have a great day.

Earl

The box top of these new Tamiya kits clearly have the logo of the kit's original manufacturer. But this only really helps if you are looking at the box top at a store. It's not any different than the old Testors/Italeri armor kits we used to buy in the 80s. The yellow box was from Testors, but we clearly knew it was an Italeri kit inside.

It's shameful that Tamaya has to stoop to misleading buyers as to the true contents of their kits.

Thanks for your response Rob.

Earl

Yes, it is. Tamiya does not release enough armor to keep up with Dragon, the current leader in kit releases per yer. In order to maintain some sort of semblance of competition, they began releasing other companies' kits under their label to make it look like they have a larger line than they really do.

Don't get me wrong, when Tamiya releases a real, new kit of their own, it is top notch. It's just that their original new releases are too few and far between.

Rob,

Is this becoming a common thing with Tamiya?

Earl

Pawel my friend,

Taking my time with the M109, have the chassis ready for primer. I would really like to find the motor and interior for this and install it before I get too far on the turret. I checked out the Kinetic tracks which you mentioned but I could not find them. I'll go back to the site to recheck, I may have done something wrong. I don't recall the interior color, but I seem to recall that it was an off white. Still looking for the 50 cal and M14 rifles for this. The Italerie 50 does not look too bad, but I would like to see if there is a better aftermarket available.

Enjoyed your tale of woe concerning the Kiowa Chopper, it seems to me that you have to buy something of interest as soon as it is released in this hobby.

Stay well,

Earl

I haven't gotten around to the Staghound, but I knew it was an Italeri kit inside. Within the box, there are two differences between the Italeri version and the Tamiya rebox; only the Italeri kit includes a turned metal barrel, and the Tamiya kit includes a set of British crewmen from the Force Recon Bren carrier.

Tamiya has also reboxed Fine Molds WW2 Japanese tank models, a CMK Czech tank and a few other non-Tamiya armor kits.

Hello Earl!

I look forward to see you build that M109.

Recently I tried to get a 1:72 Kiowa chopper andfound out it's nly available as Tamiya rebox of the Italeri model. They were made for the Japanese market and imported on a small scale by Hannants from UK. Dang, that kit went like all over the world before it ended in my stash!

Good luck with your project and have a nice day

Paweł

That's interesting, I will need to check that out, thanks for the tip.

Earl

Hi Rob,

It's always good to get your input. Yes, when I opened the Tamiya box and found the Italeri kit inside, I was stunned. I have the AFV Club M109 which I am saving until I get my spray gun mastered. Until then I will push on until I fell that I am ready for the big boys. By the way, on another matter Did you build the Staghound Mk.I? It looks like it would be an interesting model.

Best regards,

Earl

Skybow used to issue a separate link track system for the M109 series. I believe they are now owned by AFV Club. AFV Club does now make a true new M109 series not based on Italeri's old kit.

freem

These days companies share molds.  I know some of the ProModeler kits are Hasegawa mouldings. I've not heard of this with Tamiya but it's possible.

More recently Tamiya used the new Italeri Staghound armored car in their own box, but at least they put the Italeri label on the box this time. (below the yellow box).

On Tamiya's website, they mention the kit "in collaboration with Italeri" they've released the 1980s M109 along with their 1980s M113 ACAV figures sprue and now charge more for the kit than the two went for separately.

http://www.tamiyausa.com/items/plastic-model-series-20/1-35-scale-military-miniature-12000/us-self-propelled-howitzer-37013 

I bought the barrel, I knew that I would make a mess of trying to join a 2 piece barrel with glue. Did you use the tracks that came with the kit? I'm now looking for detailing parts and reference info.I'm thinking of trying to do an interior. Thanks for your input, I sure do appreciate it.

Earl

I just finished that kit couple of monthes ago it was a good kit, this is a common practice among manufactures reboxing each others kits. By the way the Barrel Depot barrel will fit the kit.               ACESES5                                                             Have fun this is a good one

Thanks Chris,

This is the first encounter which I have had like this. I would have thought better of Tamaya.

This is false advertizing to me.

Old molds never dye they just change owners!

These days companies share molds.  I know some of the ProModeler kits are Hasegawa mouldings. I've not heard of this with Tamiya but it's possible.