They had these hidden places we called truck parks. They probably had repair facilities in there as well. I remember the guys in the 101st talking about Red Balls in the Ashau Valley. At first I didn’t know what a Red Ball was, and later learned they were roads built for truck traffic. Often with the tree limbs tied together to cover the road. These were the prime targets, and were a lot harder to find than you’d imagine. There had to be repair places here and there as well. Just to change tires alone is a big job, and those unimproved roads take their toll on tires and even tracks.
The truck parks in Laos for the most part were ten miles inside the country, and just out of 155 range. When they found one, they’d drop sensors and a homing beacon to aid in bombing them. The sensors looked like dead leaves. There were stories about chemical mud, but still don’t think that was real.
gary
Thanks Erik,
Cant find my older posts on Armorama .
But i make my concrete structures just like the real way of doing it .
Only i use plastic and model plaster and smaller .
Make a floor plan and work from it .
Before you start you make your strips (plenty off them ) of plastic ,
To simulate the wooden planks …use different thicknesses 0,5mm ,075mm,1mm for better effect and schratch them with your hobby knife to simulate wood grain .
you make your form work, randomly glue all your strips/planks on.
Than pour the model plaster… let it cure ,
Strip off all the plastic WITH CARE!
Its easer than you think .!
OMG!! That’s an very impressive build. I take my hat of for that one:-)
Thanks for telling me, I will for sure try making a small, very small bunker one day. Thanks again! /Erik
Maarten, I am flattered:) I am a fan of your works to!
The link is to the old site, I have to create a new log in, that doesn’t seem to work via surf on a telephone. I try later on a computer.
For sure a Tobruk must be the best to start with, thanks for the drawing. Everyone is so kind on this forum:)
I have a Tobruk in plaster that I painted 3 years ago, think it was made by MK35? That one have been in a box since then, maybe it’s time to find that one and build a small bunker diorama:)
Anyway back to to Vietnam dio of yours…
Cheers, Erik
we listened to Hendrix a little bit, but not as much as you’d have thought. Discovered the Doors in late August 68 after finding Vanilla Fudge and of course the Beatles. Guys from out west had this new guy named Merle Haggard, and his music went over well (we had exactly one record). Day and day out it was Question Mark and the Misterians and Soul Survivors. The SF guys had a reel to reel tape deck and you could buy the music on tape. That’s how we discovered the Doors. I remember listening to it and say to myself “I was ready to cross the wire” after we just got in from recon on a hill we wanted to move on to. The End was the tune that gave us a booster shot… There was one or two record players in the company, plus the one the cooks had. Fred had a nice one that his wife sent over with about a dozen Germanic opera records (OH the pain!!). Top had three or four Bob Wills records, and I might have had a half dozen rock & roll LP’s.
gary
being as we are up near Khe Sahn, I saw something today that amazed me. Star Decal just came out with two sets of decals for Marine SPG’s. Problem is that all 8" and 175 guns were U.S. Army. Even if they were attached to a Marine unit. Many pics of them with U.S. Army painted right on the sides of the equipment. The first Marine class to go to the 175mm / 8" SPG classes at sill didn’t happen till early 1968 (think April), and even then they only ran two classes thru the course. From what I hear they never made it over there after going thru the school.
gary
If attached I agree but there are times the Marines had Army vehicles on our rolls. Not a lot but some. 1969 I think it was 3rd Tanks had 5 M113 for about 6 months or so.
For the M109 this two links support Marine assets.
Looking at 1/11 Marines March 1971
March 71 Narrative and S-3 entry match III MEF report.
Start of March two 105mm batteries, one 155mm battery (SP) and two platoons of 155mm (T) and one platoon of 105mm howitzers
End of March two 105mm batteries, one 155mm battery (SP) and two platoons of 155mm (T)
Again not a lot but some. Not sure if those are the one covered by the decals.
fairly close, but my reference was towards the M110/M107 platform. The Marines did bring one battery of 8" SPG’s and I think three 155 spg’s batteries in 1966 or maybe 1965. By the end of the year there was one 8" still functioning and by early 1968 there was one 155 spg still working. (M53 and M55). Only reason I know about the 8" is I have a close friend that was in that unit, and the 155’s came right from the end users when we stopped to help them with a broke down track. They said it was the last one. Marines converted over to M109’s and towed 105’s, but they still had several batteries of M114 howitzers. Gotta remember that all (100%) arty came under the command of the Americal Div. Arty, and prior to that Task Force Oregon. Even units not associated with the Americal still had their arty units under the Div. umbrella in the end. Some ways makes sense, and in some ways confusing. Still in the end every art unit shot for whomever call upon them. And independent unit even more than a regimental unit attached to a certain battalion.
I never knew Marines used any M113’s, but makes sense in the long term. Mostly from a logistical point of view. Spare parts were everywhere. There was almost no spares for the M53/M55 platform alone. Never quite understood the idea of bringing in the M551 tank while still being debugged, when they had M48’s completely debugged. If it’s broke, it’s useless. Then there was the Amtrac that the Marines so relied upon. Was only around a couple, and seemed to be pretty good. Not sure they are gonna break jungle, but heavy stuff (jungle) wasn’t all that common up north anyway. Mostly like the Smokey Mountains in TN.
When I was sent to Southeast Asia, I had a stack of order and inch thick. Prior to that were told that we would end up with a Marine unit, but still retain our Army designation. I thought the guy was just blowing smoke, but he was completely serious. My unit was based out of Camp Carol, and I and five others were headed to the Rockpile on 175 guns. Well I had an idea that a 175 was in my future as I was heavily trained on them at Sill. Didn’t matter much as I just wanted to get it over with and be done with it. We all went together (about twelve of us), and when it was all said and done we all went to 155 towed outfits. So that stack of orders ended up in a 32 gallon garbage can, and they had a new set for each of us. Five or six guys went to 105 towed units, and they lined everybody up and counted off fifteen guys. I was in the original groups with the correct generic MOS. The rest were clerks, infantry men, and cooks. Told them I knew nothing much about a 155 towed howitzer, and they said you’ll soon learn. Always wondered who did wind up on the Rockpile instead of me! I remember the first Capt. I had asking the Chief of Smoke how many carried the correct MOS? He said five. They went back had stole another five infantry men a few days later. We had about six weeks to get going as Tet was maybe seven weeks out.
gary
Not to get too far off topic for Piet’s wonderful build but for the Star Decals there is a good chance the answer lays in one of these many documents for the M110 being Marine and not Army equipment at the time.
I don’t mind Ryan ,
The War in Vietnam is a new model building direction for me .
The gun mount (tube) i found on the WWW
I did some on the turret…I added 6 Tie Down Eye Strap,
Went with the information i got from this book .
Did nothing on the body .but i thinking of doing another one, the grab handles on the turret are a bit thick and lower on the turret than in the kit .
And i also found out the NVA also had the
PT-76 mod.1951 with the 76.2mm D-56T Gun Barrel and cylindrical fuel tanks on the rear deck
(i like this version better )
Ps
dont forget to put in some clear plastic in side the periscopes covers .
