Latest work, M577A2 w/interior

HeavyArty wrote:

one of the gun chiefs wanted a 155 round for himself and fired the mission dry, but called 'shot' to the FDC...    Bet that chief had a bad day.

Think he had a bad 3 to 5...

one of the gun chiefs wanted a 155 round for himself and fired the mission dry, but called 'shot' to the FDC...

Bet that chief had a bad day.

Yup, "Cease Fire, Freeze.  Fall-in to the rear of the piece!"  The worst words an artilleryman wants to hear.  I was cringing as I wrote them.

Thanks for the compliments.  It is coming along.  Its been painted and I am adding stowage and details now.  Should have some completed pics up soon. 

I came in in '87. Missed that day. What did the round hit?

Nothin'...  As it turned out, one of the gun chiefs wanted a 155 round for himself and fired the mission dry, but called 'shot' to the FDC...  FDC didn't know any better since we were co-located with another Battery on that firing point and they were firing the illum...   No one else noticed either, because it was kinda late and lots of illum was going downrange...

what we had on the range was most likely illegal "pickers" loading up on expended munitions and they had fm radios set to the rc freq.  The pickers would supposedly take the munitions to Mexico to sell and then Mexican companies would sell it back to the U.S. after remanufacturing it.

Ah yeah, "The Gatesville Gang"... They had a thing goin' on for a while, muggin' GIs in the field and stealin' weapons for a while... Then there was the local cowboys who had orange 1/4 tons with ropin' chairs welded to the front bumpers, lol...  Not all of them cleared with RC before heading out around Sugarloaf..

 I came in in '87. Missed that day. What did the round hit?

 I remember one late evening I was in the tower at Lone Star South and observed an "army type" jeep far downrange (the range was cold). I knew we had no vehicles authorized downrange, so I called Range Control (rc) on the FM and asked if they had personnell on our range. RC advised me to call them on the landline, which I did.
 They advised me not to call on fm for such things in the future because  what we had on the range was most likely illegal "pickers" loading up on expended munitions and they had fm radios set to the rc freq.  The pickers would supposedly take the munitions to Mexico to sell and then Mexican companies would sell it back to the U.S. after remanufacturing it. This seems odd, the part about Mexico, but it's what I was told at the time. But as soon as I had called rc on the fm and inquired if they had personnell on our range, the jeep did take off at a higher speed and was soon out of sight.

  Sorry,don't want to hi-jack the thread.                                60

m60a3 wrote:

"Range Control, this is Lone Star Multi-Use Range North, radio check, over?"  "Lone Star Multi-Use Range North, This is Range Control, roger out."   Ahhh, memories. Don't forget the 5 gallon water cooler on the right rear...  And most of our gear we kept on the right interior side. When static, we seemed to keep the left side pretty clear of personal stuff except for santeen cups or styrofoam coffee cups.  The TOC S/3 never sleeps. We always had coffee brewing nearby, even on the hottest Ft. Hood days. Didn't even charge the brass for a cup...                           Great job!!              60

How about, (Urgent voice) "Bravo Battery 3/3 FA, this is Range Control, CHECK FIRE, CHECK FIRE, CHECK FIRE!!! Your last round was unobserved. Have your people immediately stand to the rear of the piece and await our arrival at your position, OUT!"

That was a bad day in Ft Hood 1986...     

 "Range Control, this is Lone Star Multi-Use Range North, radio check, over?"

 "Lone Star Multi-Use Range North, This is Range Control, roger out."

  Ahhh, memories. Don't forget the 5 gallon water cooler on the right rear...

 And most of our gear we kept on the right interior side. When static, we seemed to keep the left side pretty clear of personal stuff except for santeen cups or styrofoam coffee cups.
 The TOC S/3 never sleeps. We always had coffee brewing nearby, even on the hottest Ft. Hood days. Didn't even charge the brass for a cup...

                          Great job!!              60

Wow...this is good stuff---sorry I missed it earlier---gonna be a stunner when complete!!! 

 "Fire for Effect !!!"

Hi guys, thanks for the compliments.  No more pics yet.  I painted it Sun afternoon (our half-day off), but haven't had a chance to do any more on it since then. 

The extension poles extend out to make the horizontal frame.  The pieces that have two "L" shaped ends extend out so you have an "L" on each corner, and one set in the middle.  The short poles then extend to make the legs.  The bent poles go into the horizontal "L"s at the corners and in the middle to make the roof.  Lastly, the long poles w/the flattened ends are horizontal supports that run the length of the structure.  Hope that makes sense.  Good luck on it.

I was able to carefully cut the rear idler mounts off and reuse the same ones as well.

Get some more pics in here, Gino... I'm using you a s reference material and I've hit a stopping point... I raised the idler arm on mine yesterday and got lucky.  I was able to cut behind each one enough to bend the torsion bar up about a scale three inches, rather than cut the old ones out and install a new set cut from a "DRMO'd" 113...

While you're at it, you know how the frame goes together for the TOC extension?  I'm rolling mine out, but I can't really see how it goes together..

sfcmac wrote:

Hey do you recognze this scenery?

Not sure... It reminds me of the bridge over Cowhouse Creek on East Range Road in Ft Hood...

Hans von Hammer wrote:

HeavyArty wrote: ...  The map is an actaul map (Tenino I think).. Heh, Tenino... Who hasn't used THAT mapsheet?  Think I still have a couple around here from the Land Nav Correspondence Course I took...

Ah!  The classic and favored" scenario map."  I wish I could remember some of the notional towns that were depicted on that map, and their corresponding scenarios.

 I like it!!! Hmmm haven't spent much time in those have you? Can't see much with the orderly room clerk in the way.

Hey do you recognze this scenery?

 I may be getting old but don't they have  a  new designation for them now? Not 577 but 1068 or something? Maybe thats a Hummer hard to keep up.

HeavyArty wrote:

...  The map is an actaul map (Tenino I think)..

Heh, Tenino... Who hasn't used THAT mapsheet?  Think I still have a couple around here from the Land Nav Correspondence Course I took...

Thanks for the tip (betcha didn't know you gave one) on the idler wheel as well... For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why the Tamiya track wouldn't do the "right sag" on top I remembered on the 113/577... Never thought it was that the idler arm was too low... DOH!

To quote "Ernst Kessler" from The Great Waldo Pepper, "Efferytink vas in order...".

Thanks guys.  It has been fun so far. 

 The lights are just left over lights from the parts bin w/hangers added. Then painted w/chrome silver for the clear ones and clear red for the red ones.

 I've added a helmet in there too.

 Yup, all the above are great memories of living in the hotel on tracks.  Gotta love it.

I'll keep you posted.

Nothing like pork chops (the mic) in the fart sac!!

Rounds Complete!!

Jeordicat wrote:

jthurston wrote: Freaky sweet, bro! Takes ya back, doesn't it? I might suggest that one piece of gear missing from the interior is a helmet or two. First thing you did with you got inside was take that thing off and stash it somewhere...   ~J   LOL!  As well as pulling off your "web gear," hanging it somewhere/anywhere, and slamming the ole M-16 into the rack above the ramp, if a rack was available, or stacking your rifle on the very top of someone else's weapon already in the rack.  Not too mention how cold that aluminum floor is when it's cold outside, you're in your fart sack and you had late night/early morning radio watch!

On radio watch, the only way to find me was by following the mic chord into the fartsack...

jthurston wrote:

Freaky sweet, bro! Takes ya back, doesn't it? I might suggest that one piece of gear missing from the interior is a helmet or two. First thing you did with you got inside was take that thing off and stash it somewhere...   ~J

LOL!  As well as pulling off your "web gear," hanging it somewhere/anywhere, and slamming the ole M-16 into the rack above the ramp, if a rack was available, or stacking your rifle on the very top of someone else's weapon already in the rack.  Not too mention how cold that aluminum floor is when it's cold outside, you're in your fart sack and you had late night/early morning radio watch!

Pretty incredibe looking work, Gino!

It's amazing whatyou can add to these things when you've spent some time in them!

Amazing looking model!