stik, Getting this on your last two entries:

Tamiya has an image up on their website now for this- 82nd Airborne Field Artillery unit markings. Looking good to my eyes. BTW, they are also doing a M151A1 jeep in USMC Vietnam guise, and re issuing their M151A2 jeep with couple new figures and a .50 mount in a "Grenada 1983" boxing. Looks like Tamiya is doing a little work in the area of late Cold War softskins. Oh yeah!

hey spaltro3

you're about the only person with fond memories of the goat.

Hobbymodelbau Schmidt did a vacuform years ago. This will surely be an improvement.

Fond memories of these rattletraps. The National Guard Armory where I grew up had one of these on display at their open houses for years.

never used one of those vehicles but did wear the OD fatigues (pickle suit) when I first got in back in the early 80s.

Somebody tell Mr. Tamiya, I WILL buy the Goat.

I have a buddy with one sitting in his shop, he says it wears him out after about an hour, both with the noise and the steering, but it's nifty to see it coming through the woods. He can't use it for a hunting rig cuz the deer hear it and won't come back till next season.

I just got a Mule by Dragon. It's also a different looking vehicle.

saw a pre-issue of this. looks nice except for no canvas, cab or back. would have to make a small base in order to really show the articulation. could do a swim dio but swimming my gun tracks was scary enough. will break my no new model vow and get this when iy comes out.

Ah CSC... that's a name I have not heard in a long time... Crazy Horse!

the doog

T26E4

Doog: I don't see it as Tamiya surrendering -- frankly I think it's a sign of Tamiya's security.  Think about other recent 1/35 releases.  The Type 10 JSDAF tank, the T-55 Tiran tank, the T-55 Enigma, the IDF M51 and M1 Shermans, the M1A2 SEP Abrams Tusk II.

This tells me that Mr. Tamiya is directing the company to make items that he personally wants to see kitted -- regardless of the marketplace.

That's really quite a good point, Roy. I hadn't looked at it that ay before.

I really wish they'd do some more WWI armor. I"d love to see one of those big St Chamond "boat" tanks or something that has been covered by smaller manufacturers 15 years ago be done really well in 1/35. I wonder when, and who, will do something like that, and if it will be a big seller?

Now that I can get behind!!! I was looking though a book I found on Great War armour and gee the French had bridge-layers, tanks modified into APCs, recovery tanks... all stuff which I didn't think existed until WW II. And most of the Great War stuff you can't find even in resin. 

The Goat is looking more and more interesting though, I think it would look really cool sitting next to a M60 now....

Yes, the GOER was a beast. Even the name sounds imposing!Now that is the one I would love to see Tamiya tackle as well. And the 578. Get all those support vehicles that a late Cold War Mech/Armor Task Force needs to fight a battle done in 1/35 injectio plastic.

Karl, Meng sure seems to be going off the beaten path. If anybody is going to do more WWI tanks, it just might be them.

T26E4

Doog: I don't see it as Tamiya surrendering -- frankly I think it's a sign of Tamiya's security.  Think about other recent 1/35 releases.  The Type 10 JSDAF tank, the T-55 Tiran tank, the T-55 Enigma, the IDF M51 and M1 Shermans, the M1A2 SEP Abrams Tusk II.

This tells me that Mr. Tamiya is directing the company to make items that he personally wants to see kitted -- regardless of the marketplace.

I really wish they'd do some more WWI armor. I"d love to see one of those big St Chamond "boat" tanks or something that has been covered by smaller manufacturers 15 years ago be done really well in 1/35. I wonder when, and who, will do something like that, and if it will be a big seller?

I'll definitely get one unless it is way too expensive.

me too. in the late 70's in the BRD we had GAMMA GOATs and GOERs. the GOER was, in 25 words or less, a 4 wheel GAMMA GOAT on mega steriods. the tires were 8' in diameter and you needed the GOER wrecker or a 578 light ARV to change them. the cargo version was so-so but the tanker version was great; 2x the diesel (2500gal) plus a 500gal mogas pod on a trailer and it could go more places than the 5T dual fuel pod trucks.

Gamera

Bish

Gamera

Yeah, I probably won't buy one but it's always nice to see something new that's not WW2 German!

Well, I wouldn't go that far

Whoops, sorry! 

Still it is nice to see something different. Somehow I remember a Goat kit from the '60s or so but I think it may have been 'box scale'? 

Edit: A search is turning up a resin kit by Commander Series models. The way Tamiya is pricing stuff now I'm wondering if this kit will but much cheaper than the resin one though. 

Was just looking through the White Ensign site and came across that resin kit. I know Tamiya prices are on the up, but I think they still have a way to go to match this.

https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/p/Commander+Models+135+M520+Goer+COM1026/19961/#.Ugam5oRwaM8

£160.

T26E4

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y240/niklz1138/TMMI215NewsDesk_zps3c85c7a1.jpg

Wow! Very interesting subject! The vehicles themselves were maintenance nightmares. All were issued with ear protection for the drivers because of the awful amount and frequency of the engine noise. Very good for different camo schemes and markings.

(Please don't let this denigrate into tired old trope "Why didn't Tamiya release X instead")

Interesting. Thanks for the info, Roy.

More inspiration for those of you who want to see one in action, albeit a test demonstration:

I agree with T26E4, I mean just how many German WW2 topics need to be remade over and over again?

I love the 1980s vehicles. Personally I would like to see Tamiya work up a M2A3 with full interior to go with the M1 SEP.

Doog: I don't see it as Tamiya surrendering -- frankly I think it's a sign of Tamiya's security.  Think about other recent 1/35 releases.  The Type 10 JSDAF tank, the T-55 Tiran tank, the T-55 Enigma, the IDF M51 and M1 Shermans, the M1A2 SEP Abrams Tusk II.

This tells me that Mr. Tamiya is directing the company to make items that he personally wants to see kitted -- regardless of the marketplace.

Love the commercial....that was my era. As stated the goat was used in many places by the Army but especially the airborne and air assault units. They were fun to drive VERY loud and a nighmare to maintain.

I built the Commanders model version of the goat here.

cs.finescale.com/.../129251.aspx

I am sure the Tamiya version will be an easier build but the Commanders kit is nice for a resin kit

BTW Commanders also make the M520 Goer, nice kit for a VN ammunition carrier!

Rounds Complete!!

the doog

Rob, Carlos, well, that's the "ignorant civilian" opinion , lol. I never heard of, or knew anything about this vehicle. I would just love to see something more.....imposing? from Tamiya that isn't a redo, repop, or one that has already been covered.

In tanks, the most imposing vehicles out there, I think all the mainstream one have been covered, and several have been covered multiple times. Now if they start going at Self Propelled Field Artillery and Air Defence Artillery, there are many gaps in those areas. Or specialized modified equipement such as Combat Engineer Vehicles like the M728 CEV. Wreckers like the M578...  But with Trumpeter running amock finally covering all the Soviet AFVs that were never done in 1/35 plastic before, the options for Tamiya are running thin to  not be doing something already covered. Unless they start tackling the Cold War British stuff, tracked and wheeled. Even the French stuff of that era was covered by Heller. Now there is some late WWII/Korean War era stuff still lacking- M19 GMC, M45 Pershing, M41 HMC, LVT3 Bushmaster. 

Tamiya's probably doing more of the off-the-wall stuff that the others aren't doing because they know the kits will sell. This is definitely not a repop or redo or something not covered before (besides a pricey resin kit).

Aftermarket manufacturers will have a field day making sets to depict the variations not included with the Tamiya kit. Even the resin company that makes the Goat will probably start remastering their tire molds so they will work with the Tamiya kit, maybe do weighted tires or a flat tire.

Rob, Carlos, well, that's the "ignorant civilian" opinion , lol. I never heard of, or knew anything about this vehicle. I would just love to see something more.....imposing? from Tamiya that isn't a redo, repop, or one that has already been covered.

Over 15,250 Gama Goats were built, more than twice the numbers of Tigers and Panthers built and that are so prevalent in kits nowadays.

Yeah, those steel pots.... that's the way I best remember it.

For me, nothing says Made in America any better.

Oh that classic recruiting commercial.... ;-) Fatigues and Steel Pots...

There's a recent release of the GOER series of Army vehicles out now, too, which would make for an excellent companion to a Goat.

And, come to cases, would be good for a Stripes or Red Dawn dio <G>

It wasn't obscure; it was the predecessor to the stop gap commercial vehicles (like the 880-series Dodges and 1008-series CUCVs). They were air droppable, amphibious and were designed to go anywhere. They were virtually everywhere in the US Army where you now see a HMMWV.

It was in the iconic Army commercial where the tag line "We do more before 9 AM than most people do all day."