Awesome work on the M4 Tractor Andy .

After seeing yours it makes me regret not buying one now and the 90mm gun and base look great as well .

I ended up getting the Hobby Boss 1/35 M4 High Speed Tractor a while back , it's still in it's shrink wrap unopened . Mmmm , I should of stuck with 1/72 scale , Your M4 is looking really nice .

Thankfully , no pop ups on my screen . It would probably drive me nuts if it kept happening as much as it has with you .

John .

Draken, those Sabers look really sharp!No pun intended And I really do like the 90mm with the HST. One thing I do envy you braile scale guys is that there are many kit choices there not available in 1/35. I would love a 1/35 M3 90mm AA gun. At the very least for personal reasons, of my dad crewing on those during that time (but in Germany with 7th Army). I will be waiting for your final pics on both the Sabers and the M3 90mm/M4 HST to add to the front page roster.

Helo, nice start on the Stryker. Looking at the undercarriage, I can see a strong family resemblence to the LAV series on the suspension. Pretty cool looking kit. Although Strykers are not my cup of tea, after seeing a few builds they are starting to grow on me. I saw plenty of them at Ft Lewis as they were getting ready to first deploy to Iraq but I am more of a 113 kind of mech grunt. Memories. And for modern 8 wheelers,  I do love the BTRs and Luchs vehicles. The Luchs lineage to the 232 and 234 8 wheelers is very obvious.

Hi Stik ;

The Stryker has been a fun build , I was wondering if these USMC vehicles operate currently in South Korea ;

Most of the markings on Dragons AAVP7's are for operations in Iraq and Trumpeter don't mention where the LAV's are stationed ?

John .

All the Marine stuff is gonna be based out of their home bases, primarily Camp Pendleton for the Pacific Rim area and Camp Lejune for the Atlantic and Med. Indian Ocean draws from both. I dont beleive that the Marines keep any forces stationed in ROK but those on Okinawa would be among teh first to arrive in case of a new war. And I am pretty certain that they participate in whatever the current version of  the Team Spirit execrises are called. Seeing as how USMC markings are pretty standrad and generic across the board, any of those would be acceeptablehere. I will say that Marine forces in Okinawa are "in theater" for the purposes of this GB, just as USAF stuff at Kadena and Misawa are due to their being in battle range.

Thank's Stik , for the info on the LAV and AAVP7 .

I would like to add the Trumpeter 1/72 USMC LAV-R Recovery vehicle to the bench ;

Trumpeter's kit has about the same approach with the suspension parts as Academy's Stryker ;

Also I would like to build Dragons 1/72 AAVR7A1 Recovery Vehicle along side the LAV ;

There's a little more to Dragons AAVR7A1 kit ;

I Know gregbbear has quite a lot of first hand Knowledge regarding Maine Corps AAVP7's , Stik you mentioned before about M113's

I have Trumpeter 1/72 M113A3 in the stash ;

I realize the markings on the box art (IFOR) are not suitable but I was just curious as to wether the U.S. Army are currently using these in South Korea ?

John .

Well since we still have time I will join in again to supliment my SAAF F-51 and F-86 with a 1/72 Italeri F-4u B corsair.

Were both the US Navy and Marines involved in Korea?

Theuns

Helo H-34, word of caution with the AAVR7A1, Dragon apparently neglected to dedicate any research to their R7 and simply added couple bits and bobs to their P7 kits.  The R7, whether LVTR7, LVTR7A1/AAVR7A1 or AAVR7A1 RAM/RS has never been modified for/with EAAK armor.  By doctrine, the R7 remains in the Battalion Support Area behind the lines and only ventures forward to secured areas as part of a Battle Damage Assessment Repair team with P7 escorts, referred to as chases in AmTrac jargon.  The kit should not have any of the EAAK mounting bosses protruding from the hull and it is missing R7 specific gear that is externally stowed such as the final drive, water jet and pack slings.  Although they are not currently mounted in the R7, there is an exhaust outlet for an APU on the forward starboard plates just forward of the bilge pump outlet missing from the kit.  Dragon would have made better use of their molds by kitting the C7 variant as it has the EAAK and bowplane, she just needs to be adorned with a forest of antenna mounts and antennas — and that APU outlet.
I have several photos of R7s, not the best though as I have spent more time around P7s, that I can post if needed and can snap several more next week if greater detail is needed.

Theuns

Well since we still have time I will join in again to supliment my SAAF F-51 and F-86 with a 1/72 Italeri F-4u B corsair.

Were both the US Navy and Marines involved in Korea?

 

Theuns

Yes, both the Navy and Marine Corpswere heavily involvedin the Korean War from early on. The F4U-4 and -5 variants were used by both services there.

Deatilio, was I correct in that the Corps does not keep stuff stationed in Korea currently but deploys there from Okinawa or Stateside?

Helo, I am most familiar with the M113A1 and M113A2. The M113A3 I have seen, but never served on or with. I am about 98% certain that the A3 is currently in service in Korea with support elements there now. I will check to confirm that.

Digging through my photos exposed just how few photos of the R7 I have, that will need remedying.  The photos do show the differences in the hulls though.  The pre-RAM/RS R7 has the aforementioned exhaust outlet, the aft antenna and mounts are positioned lower than those on the P7, there is no bowplane, there are mounts for field maintenance lights atop the headlight shrouds, there are stubs/stand mounts on the ramp, the towing eyes/ramp hinges are shaped differently and stowage of the final drive, water jet and pack slings.  Using the Mogadishu 1993 boxing would probably be an excellent starting point for a RAM/RS R7.

stikpusher,  the Corps’ tractors used in most of the exercises in the Pacific AO primarily come from those stationed at Okinawa, and occasionally from those offloaded from MPF ships.  There is also AAVs in Fuji Japan, an awesome duty station! but they do not depart the Camp for exercises abroad.  Potentially there may be AAVs stationed in Australia as the Marine Corps is standing-up a base there. 

This R7 went bottom over tea kettle in 2000 when it “broke down” heading up Case Springs — a significant incline, after the crew did not chock the wheels and the brakes gave out.  As of couple years ago she was still sitting in the Accident/Investigation Lot at MCLB Barstow.

In 2001 AA Battalions were still transitioning to the RAM/RS variant as they rolled off the rebuild line, leaving a mixed fleet of AAVs.  A platoon of pre-RAM/RS AAVs, Ps and Rs along with couple LVS Dragon Wagons got bogged near the ASP aboard Camp Pendleton.  We, Alpha Company, were mostly equipped with RAM/RS vehicles and were called out to pluck them from the mud.

In July this past year 4th AA BN used 3rd AA BN’s tractors for a major amphibious assault exercise, a very impressive sight with AAVs stretched across the beach.  Pictured is a C7, R7 and their P7 chases traversing through the surf zone.

At the conclusion of retirement ceremonies a Pass in Review is conducted, and for retirement of AmTrac’rs the Pass in Review includes a P7, R7 and C7 in trace of the companies of Marines.

Deattilio, pretty cool trac pics.  The RAM/RS is past my time.  When I got out in '98, it was unheard of.  I'm glad they finally did something for the suspension.  All that extra weight from the EEAK really put a strain on things.  I guess when the super AAAV didn't pan out, they had to start doing something to the poor old P7A1's!  Have you had an opportunity to build the Hobbyboss kits in 1/35th?  I would like to hear your thoughts on those, if you have a chance.

I heard my old Skipper, Pete Cushing was the co of 3d Tracs not too long ago.  What a great guy.  One of the finest officers I ever worked for.

Stik, like Deattlio said, Oki.  Last time I was there (Camp Schwab) in '97, it was basically a split battalion.  Half the ramp was AAV's and the other was LAV's.  One company of AAV's being attached to 3rd Marines in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.  My avatar picture is of a Hawaii AAV with me under the plenum. 

John, I'm loving your builds as always!

Draken, your M4 and 90mm AA gun are awfully cool too!

Cheers,

Greg

I am lookin at either USN VF-53   or Marines WMA-323 . I am a tad weary of the cowl polka dot decal of WMA -332. Not sure if it will seat well enough.

Thanx for the info

Theuns

Dealing with a nasty case of conjunctivitis (pink eye) in my right eye this Korean holiday weekend (Chinese New YEar).  I have Monday off.  That's probably a..good thing, because I don't hink that I'd be willing to go to work with this nasty goo oozing from my eye.

Having said that...

I've gotten a lot done on my M-19 dual 40mm!  Everything except decals!  It's started and finished in one day.  The assembly should've been far easier with only 18 parts and a full hull, except that the instructions wer total SHITE!  Horrible build effort.  I must've repositioned parts umpteen billions of times to get the guns to move up and down.  Don't even get e started on getting the turret moving...

This kit should've been far easier to build than it was.  I honestly credit the horribly uininformative instructions for the effort put forth.  Even with one eye not being perfect!

So here's what we have!

And that's where it's gonna be until decals and then some dry brushing.  There were NO HATCH COVERS INCLUDED!  Not sure what to do about that, make some out of .001 styrene or deal with it.  Because the next size up that I have is .040 which is WAY out of scale!

And my cold and conjunctivitis are both clearing up today.  Give best hopes for teh eye! 

I do like that M-19! That sucks about the no hatch overs though. (and the pink eye, but that will pass with the help of modern medicine) I would suggest a couple laminate layers of .001 sheet styrene to get the appropriate thickness and details. They are not complicated compound curves like the TC hatch on a M60 tank or M113 or worse. I am really hoping that since AFV club is finally doing their M42 Duster and M24 Chaffee this year in1/35 that one of these M19s is in the works. The do have an M41 listed on their announcements for  awhile now.

WOW , Great work on the M19 Andy

Even when your under the weather and one good eye , you can still make em look awesome .

I finished my 1/72 Academy Stryker . U.S.Army South Korea .

The build was straight out of the box with only the addition of some thin wire to represent the three Antenna's .

I did order some stowage gear from Tracks and Troops for the Stryker but it will still be a couple of weeks before it arrives . So I ordered the 1/72 Trumpeter M1126 Stryker kit this morning  and I'll build the Trumpeter kit with the added stowage gear for a second KW build .

This might seem slightly off topic but this kit arrived the other day from Unicraft ;

I mention this because Igor from Unicraft is working on a future release of the HO5S-1 Helicopter kit like the ones that flew in the Korean War ;

I emailed Igor at www.unicraft.biz  about the future release of a 1/72 HO5S-1 and he ask if I knew of any 3 profile drawings of the HO5S-1 as this would help greatly .

I didn't have any , so I thought I might ask if you guy's knew of any scale drawings that you could supply Igor .

John .

Gregbbear,  I was very fortunate to have been at AVTB during the DT and OT of the RAM/RS in late ’97 through late ‘98/early ’99.  The first deliveries were made in mid-’99 to AAS, with the first accident occurring shortly thereafter and necessitating the patch-up of a pontoon after it plowed into the I-5 underpass at an excessive speed.  The RAM/RS arrived for one simple reason — projected life cycle cost would save substantial amount of money over continuing to support the non-RAM/RS configuration.  Its superior performance meant little, the cost was a bigger selling factor for the penny-counters.  For many years the AAAV/EFV proved as burdensome to the AAV as its undelivered potential was to the Amphib Battalions.  If a modification was introduced on the AAV that would equal performance of the EFV it was cancelled in favor of investing the funds into the EFV.  We tested a thermal sight for the UGWS in 1998/99 that also had a screen mounted in the driver’s station, it worked well.  It was not pursued as the decision was made to await the arrival of the EFV, a decision that aggravated me in 2003/04 in Iraq as I am sure you remember just how awesome the M36 night sight was.  It wasn’t until about 2007 that thermal sights were installed in the UGWS.  Now that the EFV has been cancelled overdue attention is finally being lavished on the AAV in regards to upgrades and modifications.

I have several of the Hobby Boss AAVs in my stash, I but one each time they go on sale at Squadron.  I have only paid $20 or so for each and would buy more at each offering but the boxes take up some serious real estate in my limited area.  I have the AAVP7A1, AAVP7A1 RAM/RS w/EAAK and the LVTP7.  The AAV represents a post-1995 vehicle as it has the SINCGARS hull modifications.  Detail is excellent but is missing couple items; although it is post-1995 it still has the a-driver’s seat immediately behind the TC and is missing the stack of SINCGARS radios but, is also missing the 246, 442s and 524 behind the radio cage.  The RAM/RS suffers the same oversight.  The LVTP7 appears externally accurate but internally is incorrect as all Hobby Boss did was use the same interior as that supplied in the AAV7A1 kits.  Highly recommended, I plan on continuing adding to the stash as Squadron offers them on sale.  I will be making a hybrid LVTP7 RAM/RS that was at AVTB while I was there.  It had a bowplane, SINCGARS, RAM/RS suspension and UGWS tacked onto the old hull and powered by the older engine.

Couple pics of the ramp on Okinawa in 2000, this was during the change over to the RAM/RS vehicles, hence the silver tape on the vision blocks.  AAVs and LAVs sharing space.

Helo, your Stryker is added to the front page. Another welcome addition

Helo, nice job on the stryker, and good news on the HO5.

Draken, the M19 is sweet.  I've been admiring those on ebay for awhile....

Nice shot of the ramp at Schwab!  All of my photos are from the pre-digital days, and I kick myself for not developing more rolls.  I am glad that they are paying attention to the AAV now.  That sight sucked.  The AN/VVS-2 for the driver wasn't much help either.  I had always wished they had used a control set up like the M85 EDWS for the UGWS.  Man, that M85 was a p.o.s.!

I saw that Sword is coming out with their own F-94B Starfire.  Box art shows a very cool looking plane with a tiger mouth.  Hopefully, one of the decal options will be a KW version.

Cheers,

Greg

John: Great work on that Stryker!

Draken Andy: And fantastic work on those AA guns!  Hope you're feeling better soon, not much you can do when you can barely see.

Deattilio: Those are some great photos! I picked up a HobbyBoss Amtrac late last year. I don't know jack about modern hardware but at 73 percent off I couldn't resist. Really nice kit, the box was stuffed to bursting with spues- it took all my origami skills to stuff everything back in the box. Am so tempted to start on it but I'd got such of backlog of stuff built up already.

More ack ack! 

Started on the Milicast M-15 (40m Special) yesterday.  Finished it today, also threw some decals on the HST and the M-19 while I was at it.  Here's the WIP of the M-15 (40mm Special), as well as progress pics of the other two.  I'll take final pics for the front page when all of this stuff gets to my office, hopefully soon.  I'm hoping to get the walkway decals onto the C-46 Commando tonight and get some stretched sprue on the antennae.  Then I can call it done as well!  The Commando has the cargo doors open and I'm hoping to build one of my 2.5t GMC cckw 353 with a ramp on the back and a ramp leading to the bottom of that so that it can appear to be loading the C-46.

"ACK!  ACK ACK AAAAACK AACK!  ACK!"  ~Mars Attacks

"This is Commando calling for General Kirby, over!"  ~Rae Dawn Chong, "Commando" (1985)

Here's some teaser shots of my completed William's bros. C-46 Commando.  Since I don't have a carpool to work, I at least want to get SOMETHING of my kits up in case they don't actually make it to work when I take them.  I have to ride the bus, and you never know how that's really going to turn out... 

Anyway, in all of it's RoKAF glory, I have my completed C-46.  Like Helo34 I also opened up the fuselage wing doors and both side cargo doors.  I wanted to leave off the port passenger door because they often flew without that and the wing fuselage doors in summer due to the heat.  I left the main cargo door open so that it could be shown getting loaded by one of my cargo trucks.  Unlike the C-46, the doors lifted up together and were on a coiled spring hinge much like on the hood of older cars.  Big props to Helo34 on the wing walkway decals.  My decals set from Williams was destroyed by water at some point, even with being sprayed with clear coat the decals disintegrated once the left the paper.

Sorry about all of the dust on it,  It's been sitting idle while I was pondering what to do about the decals for ROK AIR FORCE and the wing walks.  Luckily, I picked up another T-6 for cheap and John pulled through marvelously on the walkways.  I've even added stretched sprue antennae to it!  The first of hopefully many for me.  How do you guys get that stuff so tight?!?!  One other note, the black striping along the red is actually 0.5mm graphic artist's tape.  The stuff is amazing and DIRT CHEAP here!  I've got some red that I'm going to be using for the wing walks of my B-26's and other stuff.  I'm also going to invest heavily in it before I go home in September.  It costs almost nothing, weighs almost nothing, and takes up so little room!

So, better official pictures when I get it to work.  Type to you folks later!

Draken, dang!  Those are some very nice builds.  They look great, and are of some really interesting and unique subjects.  I would be hard pressed to pick out a favorite.  Wishing you luck on your commute with your Commando!

Cheers,

Greg

Great work on the Curtis C-46 Commando Andy

I'm happy the wing walk decals worked out okay . I noticed you cut the smaller door out of the larger rear cabin door , mine is one piece but I much prefer what you did , so I'll cut mine out as well .

The M15 is looking great and I like how the gun can be elevated .

I've been drooloing over pic's of your M4 Tractor , so I went and bought the 1/72 SHQ metal M4 off ebay this morning ;

I was thinking of buying hasegawa's M5 Tractor for some additional parts like the crew figures and decals and I was also thinking of hitching the Hasegawa 155mm Long Tom gun to the rear of the SHQ M4 Tractor ?

I didn't realise that you rode a bus to work of a morning and back home again . This would definitly make it quite difficult to get the larger 1/72 builds to work , is there any way someone can give you a ride in their car as a one off favour ? ......Model planes and Public Transport scare the crapp out of me 

John

the_draken

Here's some teaser shots of my completed William's bros. C-46 Commando. 

 

So, better official pictures when I get it to work.  Type to you folks later!

Ok, so I will hold off adding the C-46 to page one. How about the all the AAA builds? More formal shots of those to come as well?

the_draken

 I've even added stretched sprue antennae to it!  The first of hopefully many for me.  How do you guys get that stuff so tight?!?! 

The trick to that is to take fireworks punk or a wooden match and light them. Then, in the case of the match blow it out, and  immediately after run the still hot tip of the match or the still lit punk beneath the stretched sprue. The heat from the punk or match will cause it to tighten up. It takes a bit of practice but looks so good. And of course makes it very fragile with no room for goofs. It's the final thing you add after all other weathering, etc.

Helo H-34

I've been drooloing over pic's of your M4 Tractor , so I went and bought the 1/72 SHQ metal M4 off ebay this morning ;

The Milicast has one or two nice features about it that are different than the SHQ.  It has the amo boxes for both the large and small ammunition.  I noticed that the SHQ has only one and it's modeled as a single unit to the upper hull.  The Milicast also has the front 'bumper' as a separate piece and a cover for the MG ring mount.  Having said that, the SHQ has a single piece MG (Milicast was four parts!) and the tracks are separate from the hull.  Mine were a pain to clean, paint, and weren't on vertical!

Helo H-34

I was thinking of buying hasegawa's M5 Tractor for some additional parts like the crew figures and decals and I was also thinking of hitching the Hasegawa 155mm Long Tom gun to the rear of the SHQ M4 Tractor ?;

I did what Hasegawa suggests and used the M-2 Longtom and the M-5 HST together.  Actually a nice combo, and I've put mine on the road base 'mini diorama' that comes with the Matchbox/Revell Ger. M-19.  Looks a BEAUT!  If you can get your hands on some plastic rod or tube that's about 1-1.5mm bigger diameter than the 155 you can use it to make a 208mm gun as well.  They used the same trailing arms, carriage, and breech as the 155mm Long Toms.  I've got some tubing and another M-2 and plan to do that as well.

Helo H-34

I didn't realise that you rode a bus to work of a morning and back home again . This would definitly make it quite difficult to get the larger 1/72 builds to work , is there any way someone can give you a ride in their car as a one off favour ? ......Model planes and Public Transport scare the crapp out of me  ;

I'm only doing the buses since my carpool doesn't work during vacation and she's also finished at my school.  She's being transfered to another school in arch.  I'm going to have to start taking the bus every day after that.  A second option that I dislike doing (cost) is the taxis.  It's about $7.00 [USD] for a taxi from where I live to my work, so I don't like to do it every day.  But when I go to take the Commando and Superfort to work (and all of the other bigger planes and collections thereof) I'll go that route and take as many as possible at one go.

stikpusher

 

the_draken:

 

Here's some teaser shots of my completed William's bros. C-46 Commando. 

 

So, better official pictures when I get it to work.  Type to you folks later!

 

 

Ok, so I will hold off adding the C-46 to page one. How about the all the AAA builds? More formal shots of those to come as well?

 

Yep, I'm waiting on decals from the states to finish up my Sabres, then it's gonna be one big ride to the office in a taxi!  I like my office because it's got lots of room for bare back grounds and tons of natural light.  I'm sure that the taxi driver's gonna freak when he sees everything. 

Cleaning the tracks on millcast armor is quite difficult . In fact I was looking at my stalled Millcast M32 build and I was thinking of kit bashing it with an Italeri M4 A1 Sherman kit .

I'm looking at cutting the whole resin bogie and tracks from the Millcast M32 and replace them with the Italeri suspension and also use the Italeri underside hull piece as there is no bottom hull section to the resin M32 .

I'll put the pieces on the bench and take a pic and see if you guy's think my idea might work ?

John .

I'd go with an Airfix instead of the Italeri.  Only because my M-32 seems awfully small next to my other Shermans.  I know that the Airfix kit is a trade off between 1/72 and HO (1/82) scales, so it may be a lot closer.  Other than that suggestion, it's a danged good idea!  I wish that I'd considered it when I had an extra Armourfast Sherman laying around.  I found that the best thing for me was to use some jeweler's files, patience, and a very sharp no.11 blade in my knife.  And I STILL broke stuff! 

I love the range of kits by Milicast, and in general, they have nice prices.  I'm kinda disappointed at some of the kits being partially assembled, that's why I'm having such issues with the tracks, painting, and missing parts/difficult instructions.  Some of the instructions are written with extra pieces in mind.  But that's water under the bridge.  I've only got three resin armour kits left:  LVT-3, M-39 (to replace the one that some kid jacked from me!) and a water tank trailer for one of my deuce and a half trucks.

Andy ,

Thank's for the tip on using the Airfix kit instead of the Italeri offfering . I had over looked taking any comparison measurements until you mentioned how your M32 seems smaller to your other Sherman builds .

The only Airfix Sherman I have in the stash is the Sherman Crab kit and comparing it to the Italeri kit there is a difference of 3mm in width across the hull top ;

Italeri's bogies and wheels are a little nicer than the Airfix Sherman ;

Italeri ...

Airfix ...

But this is only a minor issue . I'll check out a couple of local on-line hobby stores and see if they have any other Airfix Shermans in stock before I scrap the "crab" for parts .

Here's an underside view of the Millcast M32 and you can see why I would much prefer to add a full lower hull .

Another view ;

I don't know why I didn't think of kit bashing the resin M32 with a plastic M4 kit before , at least now it has sparked my enthusiasm to continue on with the recovery tank build and the HO4S-3 kit under going a rotor blade change and I have those three resin mantainance figures from Retrokit for the M32 to use as well .

John .

I really like that C-46, it has been on my to get/do list for some time.  The Ice Pilots series on the History Channel only added to the "need" of getting one of these kits.

Yo deattilio,

Thanks for all the info you've been dealing out on the 'tracs.  Awesome stuff.  Just a bit of foreshadowing for you, the Williams' Bros. kit is an absolute dog, but it's the only one on the market.  The windscreen is split down the middle, doesn't fit in the cockpit are meant for it.  The interior doesn't go all the way to the tail and has massive sinkholes in it.  The cockpit is decent enough, and you get a good view of it.  The wing assembly and wing to fuselage assembly leaves a bit to be desired.  Specifically, it leaves almost half a centimeter gaps to be filled in places!  Helo34 will agree with me, it's a bear to build decent.  No antennae are provided, except for two football DF aerials.  Also, the instructions basically are an exploded view (if I remember correctly).  You really have to know what you're doing when you go into it.  Have LOTS of patience!  If you're going to leave it on the ramp you need to open up the cowl flaps like Helo34 and I did.  We also opened up the cargo doors and did the over wing hatches as well.  It adds a great deal to the a/c if you do.  Helo34 was smarter than me and added a bulkhead at the aft deck end on his, I was planning to add a curtain but forgot until after the fuselage was together.  One good reference is the Squadron in action book on the Commando, REALLY awesome!

Of note for the KW build, the C-46 was the most reliable 'heavy' transport during the entire war.  The C-54's were being used in the Atlantic for the most part and caused issues with the Marsden Mat surfaces at the smaller airports.  It was restricted to Busan and Gimpo  The C-121's were primarily for personnel and had the same restrictions.  The C-124 was too new and went through a range of serious teething problems and fleet groundings after introduction for the last year of the war.  The C-119C's were plagued with very serious parts shortages and reliability problems.  The book that I just recently finished on the air war in Korea said that they had a mission sortie availability of only 45%!!!  There was always a major scrounge effort to have at least enough available for the 187th RCT to deploy.  The C-46's had a sortie rate of no less than 85% throughout the entire war.  Which is a pretty good job for an airframe that was declared obsolete at the beginning of the war!  The RoC, RoK, and Thai airforces had these aircraft in service into the '80's and, for the Thais, into the '90's!  They really were that good of an airframe.

If you do ever buy one of the kits, you might want to consider going with the plastic wheels, I found the rubber ones too dificult to get the flash off of.  Also, don't bother with the Scale Aircraft Conversions metal gear.  It's an exact replica (detail and fit problems included) of the kit gear.  I had major issues with it...

Hope that this helps!