AFV M40 155mm SP Gun, WIP, 01-17-10, Finally Complete!!

psstoff lbro -Thanks for stopping by and for the comments

batman - First welcome.....as far as cool....yep, I thinks so....that's why I build artillery!!

Thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

This week I completed the front section including the barrel holder with SS wire replacing the kit supplied support.

I began work on the rear section installing, the ammunition storage racks, some internal structural assemblies, rear steps and details around the rear bumper and tail section.

Time for more PE with some detail in the rear section

The kit supplied bumpers are poor, but I cut them down and used them as the holding bolt for the PE supplied bumpers.  These are really really tiny and require 4 folds.....fun

In between glue drying on the main section I have worked on some other sub assemblies. Here is the firing spade. The B sprue had some bad pin marks which showed. The spade was a lot of pin mark filling prior to assembly.

The rear deck. This was also full of pin marks but since it will be displayed in the firing position, those will all be out of sight.

Lastly, the barrel. I will do a casting of the back end so I can pour a resin copy and "bologna" slice extensions to correct the barrel length.

I have to finis up the bumpers and the side tie downs on the hull, add the support bars to the deck and finish the spools for the lowering cable on the spade. Then after some cleanup, we are ready to hiy the spray booth for priming.

I will be trying to get everything ready for priming  but the prime work will be waiting a bit with a busy week coming and AMPS East next week. Should see you in two weeks for another update.

As always all comments are welcome and thanks for looking

Rounds Complete!!

With AMPS East now over it was back to the bench.

With all the styrene assembled for the hull it was on to the PE. The time consuming part were the 4 PE holders on top of the storage bins on each side. These little pieces, about half the size of a pencil eraser had 5 bends and folds each. These were difficult to make and apply. They are the "wing" items on the top of the storage boxes. Also I replaced the rear step handles with SS wire. The kit supplied handles were brittle and just a pain to clean up.

The other PE task was replacing all the molded "blob" tie downs with PE tie downs. First all the molded in had to be removed then sanded and scratches polished out. Then the PE tie downs, five on each side and two in the back, had to be bent down and then out on each side and this plus application was a chore as these are about the same width as a micro clip. After numerous colorful metaphors, side view showing the tie downs.  

Here is the fold down rear deck. The support bars were also a joy to attach as there is a ring through them which is glued to the deck. The trick is to glue the ring without gluing the bar (more colorful metaphors).

Lastly, some loose assemblies, the rear spade assembly, the cable reel which is used to raise and lower the spade and the air breather units.

Well.....we are finally at the point where it is time to charge up the air tanks and get some things primed and base coated.  Also time to start assembling the running gear.

The next couple of weeks will be hectic with work and Jerseycon coming but will try to squeeze some time in here and there.

As always all comments are welcome and thanks for looking

Rounds Complete!!

Yeah me too.

Tony the Mutt

    Mike just got caught up on this one, looking good buddy. All that extra work on this will pay off in the end I'm sure. Hmmm... do I see another ‘Best American' award in the making?

    You mentioned that the M40 saw some service at the end of WWII. Were they used in Europe or did they only see action in the Pacific?

Bill -  Thanks, it feels good to get some building in. The next few weeks will be slow, then hopefully the winter building mode begins!!

Tony - Thanks, nice of you to drop by

Steve - Another best American...humm, I usaully bet lightnining does not strike twice...but I can try!!

As far as action of the M40 it was first fielded by the 911 FA , Feb 1945, in trial platoon. Some were then sent as replacements for M12s but very limited European duty. To my knowledge they never saw action in the Pacific.

Thanks guys

Rounds Complete!!

the doog wrote:

Jeez, you're blowing this one away, Mike! Great looking build going here!

Karl - You are tooooo kind, Thanks for the peek and the comment.

Rounds Complete!!

Dang Mike...I see why you told me it wouldn't be ready for AMPS now. Heh.

Awesome detail work my friend.

Marc - Thanks, yep..with AMPS East and fall chores progress has slowed. Hopefully after the next two weeks, finishing with Jerseycon, my time will free up and I can accelerate into winter modeling mode!

Dupes - You should know me by now with artillery details. I have not even started the gun portion yet.....now you know why group builds are not my thing......I LOVE the details. Thanks for stopping by. Target completion for this guy should be somewhere around Turkey day.

Rounds Complete!!

What beautiful detail work here.

DM - My friend, I am humbled by your comment...thanks

Rounds Complete!!

Wow Mike its so long since I seen any progress on this one that I had forgotten about it, great progress. As always its sometimes better not to rush along with something like this, briliant detail work.

Terry.

Terry - Thanks. as I said, this past month has been busy and should lighten up in two weeks or so. Thus the progress is slow....but steady.

Thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

This is a COOOL project, I like the extra details.

Can't wait for paint, Redleg!

Bill 

Bill - Thanks...I am hoping to charge up the airbrush for priming...maybe tonight....

Rounds Complete!!

Gino - It is always a pleasure to have the IG drop by the mortor pool!!

Driving on....thanks

Rounds Complete!!

Mike, not trying to high jack your post here but I was just ask a question and I can't answer the guy. I've often wondered myself so since i'm not a proud type of person i'll show my ignorance and ask you.

How are those range poles used?

Thanks                                                                                                                                       Tony the Mutt

Tony - Hummm...where do I start....First they are called aiming posts. They are used for reference of the left to right traverse.

When a howitzer moves into position the tube is surveyed or "laid" onto the azimunth of fire. Leaving out a to of details....uning an instrument called an aiming circle to lay each gun from a surveyed point withing the battery area. The gun will sight the aiming circle using the pamoramic telscope (sight on the left side of the weapon, looking from the rear) and make adjustments to the tube position until the readings on the panoramic telescope and aiming circle agree. Now the tube is laid on the azumuth of fire.

All deflection or left and right traverse will be from that "reference point". In order to be able to put the tube on that azimuth or left or right of it the poles are put out as a referance point. They are normally set out 25 meters and 50 meters infront of the weapon. They are set into the ground straight up and in such a way that when viewed through the panoramic telescope the two poles at two distances appear as one.

Hopefully, this gives you an idea of how they are used. The old style poles were painted red and white (candy cane). As wer moved into the 70s we camoed the poles and they became green and black.

Well, there is a short explaination. any more questions just pull my lanyard

Rounds Complete!! 

Thank you sir at least I know more than I did,not real clear but I get the idea.

Thanks so much                                                                                                                Tony the Mutt

Tony - Sorry if it was not totally clear...written with only one cup of coffee.

Think of their use this way. Once the gun is laid and the poles set up, the poles line up through the site at say 2800 mils (17.7 mils per degree) which is the azimuth of fire. A target comes in that is 30 mils to the left of the azmiuth of fire. The gunner will set off 2830 mils on the site which rotates the site head. Then he traverses the gun tube while looking through the site until he lines up on the poles. The tube is now pointing at an azmuth of 2830.

It is a survey reference point to use for that tube!

Rounds Complete!!

No problem Mike i've got enough info now so that if i'm ever ask again I can give some sort of a reasonable answer.

You did good                                                                                                               Tony the Mutt

Quick update from here at the bunker. I charged up the tanks and primed all the assemblies thus far with Tamiya Flat Black

After drying for a day, a check for OOPs and off I went with the first base coat with Poly Scale OD

A view from the rear

In between all the paint drying...and a bit after, I assembled the six suspension assemblies. The AFV kit suspensions are very well detailed and are live when assembled. That's the good news...the bad news is the six assemblies take a total of 96 parts to assemble. With that said, the suspensions were time consuming.

Well that is where I am at. Next up will be to prime and base coat the suspension and road wheels. Then it will be time for some shading on the main hull prior to attaching the road wheels.

As always all comments are welcome and thanks for looking

Rounds Complete!!

Redleg,

That is coming along nicely.  I have been enjoying watching this one develop.  Thank you for the posts.  Looking forward to more! 

Cheers

Dave

This one is coming out great Mike! Outstanding attention to detail.

Nate

Dave - Thanks for looking in and I am glad you are enjoying the build. As always I will try to keep it coming.

Bill - Yep, with parts clean up and then assembly it was close to 5 hours...but the PIA was worth it. Thanks for stopping in.

Nate - Thanks for stopping by and for your comments

Rounds Complete!!