Looks really nice.  Good job on it.  Are you sure it was an M35A2 in Vietnam though.  Most M35s there were M35A1s (exhaust exiting between rear wheels on rt side, different rear lights and front turn signals).  Not many M35A2s were used by US forces in Vietnam since they were fielded near the end of the war in the early '70s.  Many were sold to the ARVN though.

HeavyArty

Looks really nice.  Good job on it.  Are you sure it was an M35A2 in Vietnam though.  Most M35s there were M35A1s (exhaust exiting between rear wheels on rt side, different rear lights and front turn signals).  Not many M35A2s were used by US forces in Vietnam since they were fielded near the end of teh war in the early '70s.  Many were sold to the ARVN though.

 

Not sure Gino. I get my nomenclature wrong most times. The 2 1/2 I drove a couple times was at Sill I think. The last couple months in RVN I got to lose my ruck and radio and drove a 5ton hauling ammo to 2/11 FSB's. My SVC 40.  This is the model I am wanting bad.

Army Viet Nam 5 ton by Glenn Hanson, on Flickr

GlennH

 ...drove a 5ton hauling ammo to 2/11 FSB's. My SVC 40.  This is the model I am wanting bad.

Yup, that's an M54A1 5 ton.  I think I already told you this, but there is no plastic model of one.  There is one in resin by Real Model.    To get one in plastic, you can combine parts from the Italeri M923/925 5 ton, an AFV Club M35, and some scratch-building.  Check out this article for more info:

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=301

I followed it to build my M54A1 guntruck King Cobra.

Based on an actual guntruck in Vietnam.

Nice work, would love to see more photos from a couple of different angles. 

Gamera

Nice work, would love to see more photos from a couple of different angles. 

 

Agreed! Great job, would also like to see some more pics. I looked at your pics on Flikr from Vietnam. I send you a special "thank you" that you guys never really got upon returning from the RVN. THANK YOU for all that you did for our beloved country and especially, the men beside you.

  Rudy

Thanks. I will see about getting a few more pics. When I first built it I installed the side windows and began thinking "Wait, I never once saw them up or had them up" I knocked them back out.

Gino I saw that post about the conversion. Way beyond my skill set as far as plastic work.

GlennH

Gino I saw that post about the conversion. Way beyond my skill set as far as plastic work.

It really isn't that hard of a conversion.  I say give it a try.  I bet you will do a fine job with it and surprise yourself.

With all of the obscure subjects that have warranted kits, it amazes me that some mfr. has not kitted an M54 series truck.  They were such an important part of the U.S. military, late '50's thru '80's and beyond.  A basic M54 can be kitbashed into more than a dozen variants,  I myself operated an M62 wrecker in an armored unit in Germany and would like to build that plus the cargo trucks we had.  The kitbashed M923's that I have seen do not look "right" to me, the sheet metal between the two truck models are different.  I envision diorama's of my M62 pulling the power pack from an M60A1 and another loading ammo containers onto an M54.   Hmm and maybe another towing an M54 then another towing an M113.  The list goes on as I remember the various tasks that I performed with that old worn out wrecker. 

.

I picked up that Renwal kit awhile back, and you can just about build an MB in the same scale with the flash on it.  One of these days I'll have to get back to it, about 25% built as is.  Wondered what I got into with it, and started stocking up on blades and sanding sticks.

Thanks for reminding me about the old Renwal kit Rob, I had forgotten about it.  Wouldn't a new M54 kit designed with modern technology be great though?

Hello!

The "big" problem of the Renwal kit is the scale - it's 1:32 and so seriously oversize when put side by side with 1:35 models. So yeah, an up to date old five-tonner sure would be nice to have around. Let's see what the future brings...

Paweł

HeavyArty

 

 

GlennH

Gino I saw that post about the conversion. Way beyond my skill set as far as plastic work.

 

 

It really isn't that hard of a conversion.  I say give it a try.  I bet you will do a fine job with it and surprise yourself.

 

I just noticed how much more accurate your paint color is to my old SVC 40 as compared to what I painted that 2 1/2. You get this OD color in your head and forget how much darker it really was.

.

thats so true. Same with figures.

I did build the M38 from AFV Club, and wish I had an M59 APC.

To ask a question, what types of duces are these?

Those look like M35A1s.  It looks like they have civilian tires on them as opposed to military multi-directional mud tires though.

M35A1

.

Rob Gronovius

the one on the right, probably an M35A2 because of the exhaust pipe is up over the cab. 

You are right Rob.  I missed the exhause stack on that one.  That was the major change between A1 and A2, placement of the exhaust.

GMorrison

thats so true. Same with figures.

I did build the M38 from AFV Club, and wish I had an M59 APC.

 

When I attended the tracked vehicle mechanics school at Ft Knox in '65, the M59 was still part of the ciriculum even though it is doughtful that any were in Regular Army service at that time.  The next time I saw an M59 was in Germany at the junk yard where targets were accululated before being towed down range to be blown apart.

Both of these vehicles were assigned to the 388th Security Police Squadron at Korat in 1974.  The one with the boarding steps was used by our K-9 section to help the dogs get off the truck.  I think they had at least one other duce as well.

Off-road was not much of a option on an air base, mostly paved or gravel roads and large open areas with dirt roads, pretty flat.