I am in the process of building two of the old Dragon M270 MLRS kits. One will be in the NATO camo scheme and the other one will be in overall sand from Desert Storm. What color is the interior of the rocket launch housing for both versions? Is the NATO camo version black or green? Is the overall sand version also in sand or black or green? Thanks for any help you can provide.
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Inside the LLM (Loader/Launcher Module) is usually NATO green for all types. When repainted sand, inside is not usually painted. It may be sand if the launcher was originally sand from the factory though.
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Thanks for the reply!
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Got the two kits primed yesterday and also got the interior pale green base color on.
First one is the NATO kit. It did not include the M26 rocket pods but I took them from another kit. It will be a German version donated to Ukraine. I got some of the specific German parts from Trumpeter customer service including the tracks. The pale green looks brighter than it really is due to the camera flash.
Second one is the Desert Storm kit with the M26 rocket pods. I got the Hobby Boss indy tracks as I didn’t feel like sanding down every ejector pin mark on the Dragon link and length tracks. This one will be from Desert Storm using the kit decals if they are still good. The sand color is only the primer, I still have to paint the actual overall sand. I will be using the Model Master US Army/Marines sand. Again, the pale green looks brighter than it really is due to the camera flash.
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It’s looking good.
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Thanks!
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Great start!
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Thanks!
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The pale green looks good. Have you considered using newer, more correct wheels for it?
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Thanks! I am on a very limited budget so not getting newer wheels. I got the Trumpeter MARS parts tree cheap, I think somewhere around $3USD and the track parts I think around $8USD way before tariffs and duty fees. I also got those Hobby Boss tracks I think for $7 shipped off Ebay. .
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Got the overall sand airbrushed. I missed the edges of the top cover part of the launcher module. Back to the paint booth once the rain lets up which won’t be until next week. The cab and top of launcher module are only dry fitted for the photos. I will glue everything together once I get the rockets fitted inside the module. The launcher module will be shown raised. I also missed painting the hydraulic arms so those will be painted along with the edges of the roof for the launcher module.
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What color is the upper deck of the hull behind the cab on the NATO three color camouflaged M270 MLRS? Is it in overall NATO green or is it in the three color camo?
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The forward part behind the cab will be covered by the engine compartment. Everything above the tracks on the exterior is 3-color NATO camo. The running gear and hull below the track line is NATO Green.
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If I’m interpretiing Terence’s illustration correctly, he is asking about the area of the upper deck between the return rollers. Some of it is covered by the engine compartment, most of it is not. If that’s the case, in the late 90’s when I was building these for Lockheed Martin, I actually did a little research on that area. On some of them, the black or brown on the side would bleed over onto the deck, even though most of it was unseen. On others it was just plain green, which made a but more sense.
I painted them with the color bleeding over about a scale six inches.
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@HeavyArty and @18bravo, thanks for the replies.
My mistake, yes, the engine compartment covers most of the area behind the cab. I should have clarified more. I meant behind the cab around the engine compartment and the upper area under the launch housing and turn table.
The Dragon instructions do show the camo extending up the side to the upper deck around the engine compartment, I just didn’t look carefully enough. The instructions don’t show anything for the area under the launch housing and turn table though.
Here is mine primed with the cab interior painted in pale green and the turn table in overall NATO green. The area in question I am interested in is pointed out. Is that area in overall NATO green or does the NATO three color carry over into that area?
I found this image online but forgot to save the original source for proper credit so it is just for illustrative purposes only. It shows the three colors carrying over around the engine compartment but I only see black carrying over just behind the sloped area. The rest looks overall NATO green.
EDIT: @HeavyArty, I just found your M270A1 finished build here on Armorama and saw you painted the upper deck area under the launch housing in the three color scheme. If you don’t mind, I will use yours as a guide for mine, thanks!
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Got the interiors mostly done. Not going crazy detailing as you won’t see much of it anyway even with the doors open.
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They look great so far. On the tracks, have you tried fitting them onto the sprockets? I ask because I tried using a set of Academy(?) T157 tracks on DML sprockets on an M2 I was doing a while ago and they didn’t fit as the spacing for the teeth was off. I think they were designed for Tamiya sprockets. I ended up using the DML T157 tracks in the end.
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Thanks!
For the one in overall sand, I am using the kit wheels and sprockets but the tracks are the Hobby Boss tracks and I haven’t assembled them yet. Thanks for the heads up. Not sure when I will assemble them but hopefully soon. I will let you know once I get to them.
The other one will be a German MARS donated to Ukraine. I am also keeping the kit wheels and sprockets but not the kit tracks. The Germans had different tracks. I got the German MARS specific parts and tracks from the Trumpeter kit from their customer service. I have not assembled these either.
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This is my Dragon M270A1 with some tweaks i used after market tracks cant remember what brand and cant remember the designation as for the wheels i think i used either Academy or Tamiya
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Great job on your Dragon M270A1. Thanks for the info on the wheels and tracks.
I have the Dragon M270A1 as well and already started. I primed it and painted the interior. I used the M26 rocket pods from it on the other Dragon NATO MLRS kit that I am doing as Ukrainian.
I got the AFV Club Big Foot tracks to use on mine. The track pads are separate. Hopefully they fit the Dragon sprockets.
Here it is before priming. The cab sections and top of launch module are only dry fitted.
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