I started the I Love Kit M53. There is a major problem with this kit and some other oddities. While I was waiting for this kit on the slow boat, I ordered the Chuanyu Model metal barrel for this, which arrived a few weeks before the kit. The bore in the barrel looked kind of big. Checked and found it scaled out to 8 inch instead of 155mm. The outside diameter scales out well to the real 8" barrel too. When I received the kit, the Chuanyu barrel is an exact copy of the plastic kit barrel. So I donât know, did someone at ILK think the only difference between an M53 and M55 was the length of the barrel and forgot they were different calibers, 155mm and 8 inch respectively? Anyway, big problem to fix. No correct aftermarket replacements at this time.
The kit road wheels are poorly represented IMO. In addition they have the two odd wheels at the fifth and sixth stations, with no wheel hub and a conical form instead( see photos). I have not been able to find any photos or info of any vehicles with these. So I am replacing the wheels with some extras I had from a Tamiya M26. I had to put some plastic spacers inside to wheels so the would snug on the axles. I was really looking forward to this subject, itâs a big letdown to see the barrel issue. Weâll see how the rest of the build goes.
I am very interested in this kit, so Iâll be following this build with attention. Thanks for pioneering and sharing.
That is not filling me with confidence ⌠I wouldnât mind building one of these vehicles, but if itâs another one of those kits that needs major corrections just to be basically right, it wonât be in the near future.
Iâm eagerly awaiting their M55, so Iâll be following this, although that suspension glitch (the road wheel thing) doesnât seem to bode well.
I appear to have answered my own question: a quick bit of research does indeed throw up differing road-wheel hubs. I havenât finished having a look around yet but it means I Love Kit may not be that wrong(!)
That is a really neat vehicle! It reminds me of the Panzerhaubitze 2000.
Does anyone know if this vehicle is covered in Hunnicuttâs book, âPattonâ?
Kinda bummed the model appears to have some significant problems. That sort of thing makes me really wary. If the model was mostly accurate out of the box, I would definitely purchase one to sit with the M47s I am building or plan to build.
Your work looks really good and I look forward to following this project to completion!
Doug, I just looked for you and there are 4 pages devoted to the M53 and M55 in the Hunnicutt Patton book.
If you have not done so check out the M53 build(s) on Track-Link [Steve Kubik and Peter Schweisthal) for additional reference. I would like to model the gunnery compartment open at the rear and think Iâll wait patiently (and hopefully!) for assistance from the aftermarket.
Thank you very much for looking!
I own 6 of Hunnicuttâs books (as hardcover printings from the original plates) and want to acquire the other 4. As you well know, they are drastically superior to most âtank encyclopediaâ type books but do not always cover relatively rare vehicles in enough detail to serve as a good model reference.
I will look for something more focused on the M53 and M55. They have piqued my curiosity.
Aha! Thank you Frenchy.
Here is a full site for the M53 SPG. It covers just about every part of it and shows the TM drawing of the same area Frenchy has shown.
http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/pics/155mmspgm53/155mmspgm53.html#M53LF14
On the barrel, is the inner diameter roughly 155mm? The reason I ask is that the barrel is pretty thick and may have close to the same outer diameter of the 8".
By inspection and confirmed by the SNL, the roadwheels and idler wheel should all be the same, as should be the roadwheel hubs; the idler hub was different, however.
Unless an aftermarket set is labeled as a âCorrectionâ, you should assume that it merely copies the kit part with no improvement. (With PE set they often make things worse, replacing 1-inch thick plate with 3/16 sheet metal and shape errors.)
KL
I suspect the two tubes were much like the 155mm and 8-inch M2 guns. There, the 8-inch muzzle was 12-3/4 diameter while the 155mm muzzle was 9-1/8 diameter. This should be apparent in 1/35.
[EDIT] I forgot that I had some M46 155mm gun drawings. The muzzle was only 9 inches in diameter and the neck behind the flare was only 8-1/8. The 8-inch howitzer tube had to be much larger.
KL
I took another look at some references and indeed found two different hub styles. Less common for sure. But ILKâs omits the hub completely. Thatâs what I was scanning for. Havenât seen a blanked off wheel. Photo from Prime Portal for discussion only.
The idler hub is much larger and ILK has captured that. I was speaking of the regular road wheels. See my reply to BootsDMS above.
You could get it closer by adding some brass rifling. As for the OD of the barrel, if it is indeed incorrect you can chuck up the metal one and take it down with emery cloth.
Hmmm; food for thought thatâs for sure Kevin.
It was the large bore diameter that first caught my eye. The diameters of the kit barrel bore and OD scale out well to an actual M55 barrel I recently measured, except for length.
Iâve considered that, but itâs a lot of metal to hog off without a lathe. Might give it a try.