M247 SGT YORK / TAMIYA

O ye, i remember that kit. I did build and paint it many years ago but never finished it. Think its still in a box in the shed with my other wrecked kits. But mine was going no where near looking as good as that one. And for a moiment, i thoought they were un painted metal barrels.

Veryu nice job

It looks really good.  The boot marks dust looks nice.  Two snall corrections for you though.  First, only the upper left oval on the tail lights is red.  The right side should be just a black slit top and bottom.  Also, on the main gunner's sight, there are two angled bars across the glass.  These are windshield wipers and should be black.  You have them unpainted.

Other than that, it looks great.  The barrels look really good.  Great job.

I remember this one.....built it around 1984 though it came out no where near as good as your build! Ironically, I just picked this kit up again off ebay so I could try it in a MERDC scheme. Perfect timing, I'll use your build as inspiration.

Nate

Looks great.  Have one in the 25+ year stash.  Also saved a copy of the Army FM on it.  Don't know whether to build it or try selling it.  Your's looks supurb!!

They don't go for a lot on the secondary market. I built one mounted to the chassis of the M1 tank and called it the Sgt. Major York. I added smoke grenade launchers and an M60 at the commander's position. It looked pretty good.

Rob Gronovius

They don't go for a lot on the secondary market. I built one mounted to the chassis of the M1 tank and called it the Sgt. Major York. I added smoke grenade launchers and an M60 at the commander's position. It looked pretty good.

I didn't think so.  I bought when the DOD announced it wouldn't be put into production and I saved a copy of the FM from our unit library.

Did you post photos of the build?  Sounds like an impressive effort.

Thanks for the info.

Very nice work on the model and dusty finish...captured that photo perfectly IMHO.

My dad served in the ADA when he was on active-duty and also worked with many of the other ADA programs in development in the '80s as part of the Civil Service after his medical discharge/retirement at Ft. Bliss and White Sands. I have fond memories of him bringing home all the different posters/promotional materials from cancelled programs or from different conferences he attended and the Sgt. York was one of them. The others I remember were various NLOS and ADATS systems...many of which had quite the futuristic look/appeal about them (for the time) which made them perfect for slapping up on my bedroom wall even though at the time I was only building aircraft models and hanging them from the cieling.

HeavyArty

It looks really good.  The boot marks dust looks nice.  Two snall corrections for you though.  First, only the upper left oval on the tail lights is red.  The right side should be just a black slit top and bottom.  Also, on the main gunner's sight, there are two angled bars across the glass.  These are windshield wipers and should be black.  You have them unpainted.

Other than that, it looks great.  The barrels look really good.  Great job.

Heavy Arty ..............just one thing . Those arent windshield wipers you see and i used reflective tape to represent the glass , not painted . What your seeing is a reflection of detail in front of the lense . If you look at the same sight several pictures down you'll see the diff . Thanks for your expertese input .

Sea

Rob Gronovius

They don't go for a lot on the secondary market. I built one mounted to the chassis of the M1 tank and called it the Sgt. Major York. I added smoke grenade launchers and an M60 at the commander's position. It looked pretty good.

Rob i did the same idea . I called it DIVAD ......................................

Thanks everyone for your input .

Sea

Shellback: as usual a beautiful build.

I was in the army at the time that vehicle was being looked at. I said it was a dog from day one. Outdated guns on an old chassis with an F16 radar.......bad ideas all around. Our M113s could not keep up with the M1A1 how could that?

But it looks great, nice looking build.

Why we didn't just use the M1 chassis with the German/Swiss dual 35mm turret I'll never know.

I am talking about this pic.  It looks like either the molded on wipers or wrinkles in the ribbon.

Hi, Carl, I do indeed remember this kit, I did see inside the box but never owned or built one, don't know why because its unusual and certainly cool, two criteria I look for in a kit.

You certainly have done justice to a golden oldie in your usual manner, brilliant work again.

Terry.

Very nice.I always liked this AFV.

I was gonna say that turret would look awesome on an Abrams hull.

Nice job Shellback. I like the "walked all over" effect.

HeavyArty

I am talking about this pic.  It looks like either the molded on wipers or wrinkles in the ribbon.

Hey Gino,

I could be wrong, but in light of the OP using reflective film on the ports, it does look like a (slightly distorted) reflection of the two moulded ridges in the right front corner of the pic. Perhaps the pic was taken at just the right angle to catch that reflection? I though it looked like wipers too at first.

bloody awesome!

I built the model and its sitting here in front of me . Those are not wipppers .

Maybe this will help clarify. Red arrows show whats being reflected .

Here's a closer look .

Here's another angle without the reflection of the 2 objects .

Yet another picture with the reflection of another object that could look like a whipper , but the angle of the ghost " whipper " is different  and know there is only one ghost "whipper" blade .

Sea

Thanks everyone for taking a look and your comments have been appreciated !

I too built this kit years ago and I very much like what you've done to yours! Good dusting all around but especially up on top.

Altho it was good to see the M48 chassis rebuilt and resurected, I never understood the reasoning behind that decision. I like the looks of it on the M1 chassis... at least that would've kept up with the rest of the battle group.

Great job on yours and thanks for posting. Fun kit to build.

http://www.mortarsinminiature.com/images/Other%20Models/US%20M247-1.jpg

http://www.mortarsinminiature.com/images/Other%20Models/US%20M247-2.jpg

Thats a good looking Sgt. York Kevin !

About the decision not to go forward with M247 , it was due to its overall poor performance , both in the outdated capabilities of the M48 chasis and in the poor performance of the radar tracking / electronics . It didnt help that on a display of the M247 in front of a group of dignitaries the guns immediately locked on the group , sending them diving for shelter ! No rounds were fired ......but that aint no way to win a contract !

Sea

I see it now.  That is some very reflective ribbon.  Nice job on it.

Very nice....love the footprints. Now we see the very nice reflective tape soooo....what did you use for the lenses, always lloking for better ideas!

Yes, this is a colostomy form my military era. The guys on this devlopment program should have been shot!! The perfect example of a good idea poorly implemented.

Rounds Complete!!

redleg12

Very nice....love the footprints. Now we see the very nice reflective tape soooo....what did you use for the lenses, always lloking for better ideas!

Yes, this is a colostomy form my military era. The guys on this devlopment program should have been shot!! The perfect example of a good idea poorly implemented.

Rounds Complete!!

I remeber the 60 Minutes episode that many believe was the final nail in this thing's coffin.  The Army set up a demonstration whereby the Sergeant York system would show how it could automatically shoot down a drone helicopter as the computer hooked up to the targetting radar was programmed to lock on to the whirling blades and commence firing.

On cue the drone popped up over a nearby ridge and the turret snapped around 90 degrees to the left from the drone and commenced to blow the ventillator off a nearby building as everyone dove for cover.  When the commanding officer was asked if he considered this a successful test he said aside from a slight targetting error the system performed well within it's parameters.

Don't remeber who the 60 Minutes reporter was but might have been Morley Safer.  Very nice build and paint job by the way!

                                                                                                           Pat.

Thanks Carl. It was a lot of fun.

Yes, I do recall the failure of this system at one time hearing that the rotating ventilators were on the range latrine building.

IIRC the hottest thing about this kit was that it updated the M48 hull into an M48A5 with the later style tracks, air cleaners and headlights. As mentioned in the Vietnam armor thread, modern armor modelers were always trying to modernize available models into current armor.

Dang fine work Carl!

HeavyArty

I see it now.  That is some very reflective ribbon.  Nice job on it.

................

redleg12

Very nice....love the footprints. Now we see the very nice reflective tape soooo....what did you use for the lenses, always lloking for better ideas!

Yes, this is a colostomy form my military era. The guys on this devlopment program should have been shot!! The perfect example of a good idea poorly implemented.

Rounds Complete!!

And i'm glad to share my discoveries . I bought this stuff at a dollar store , I like shopping there for odds and ends , if it dont work out then there isnt much lost . Anyway it was in the party decorations section . Its fairly stiff and easy to work with . I attached it with Krystal Klear .........that gave me time to get it in position .

Thanks every one for your interest and comments !!!!

For more reference here are some additional picures i took of the Sgt. York on display at Yume Proving Grounds .......................it has little different configuration on rear from the model .