I Love Kit has announced a 1/35 M55 SPG
I need to get back to the tank museum in Danville Virginia and take a lot of pictures of their M55 as well as their M103 directly across from it.
Yup, they have a few new 1/35 items coming.
Save your gas money. I can send you mine.
Of both vehicles no less.
These look good…to M-55 will be a welcome addition. But, but whats become of the Trumpeter/I Love Kits 1/35th Pershing II Missile & M-1001 tractor??
TIA
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Its already available.
But, but whats become of the Trumpeter/I Love Kits 1/35th Pershing II Missile & M-1001 tractor??
M1001 w/M790 Erector Launcher Trailer | HLJ.com
I stopped by my local hobby store, Skyway Model Shop, in Seattle today. He has the M1001 / M790 with Pershing II, and the AFV Club M110A2 on order for me. He will also get the M55 for me. I love that shop!
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Emil is the best
Thank you all…
Kinda like “Duhhhh”…I totally forgot/failed to check E-Bay for the I Love Kits Pershing, before posting my question. (Last several times I checked, it wasn’t listed. Today, following your replies, I find it in Australia & Italy. Maybe it’ll hit the states in April or so. Will need to acquire a Trumpeter M983 HEMTT tractor to pair w/the launcher. (utilizing the crane & generator off the M1001)…time will tell. Thank you again, best regards.
LA Cobb/PhantomMedic
when I was a kid I built the Renwall kit. Must have worked on it for two months. Never again! Lets hope these guys do a better job!
Just a bit of history:
I used to know George Morrow very well, and he was a Marine that went over in 65 or 66 to Vietnam. They took nine M55’s with them and virtually no spare parts (there wasn’t any). By the end of six months there was one M55 still shootable. They then switch over to 105 towed howitzers. His sister unit used M53’s and didn’t do a whole lot better. they were being repaired all the time and by the spring of 68 they were down to their last running howitzer which happened to break down right in front of me
gary
P.S. George’s Vietnam wounds finally took around the first of November last year. A great guy who is missed
What Renwal offered in 1960 (and Revell re-issued twice) compared to what Trumpeter should come close to:
And you can come close to the correct engine using an M60 engine. Open a louver here and there…
From the M46 to the M60, they all used some variant of the Continental AV1790 engine.
did they also use the CD-850 transmission like all the tanks did (well not the M41)? If so I wonder how they did the internal lockup.
gary
Yes, according to AFVDB, the M46 thru M60, as well as the M103, used different versions of the CD-850 transmission paired with the AV-1790 series of motors. The Army found what it liked with that basic combo and stuck with it until the M1 came along.
Which is why I suggest the M60 engine in resin from Legend Productions. Of course you could bogart the one from the Italeri M47.
Hell, in a bind, you can use the top of the long hood on an HO GP-38. I have. Fairly convincing if you just remove the cooling fan access covers from the engine deck.
There are of course better matching fans that you can use as well. I’ve used them as well as the GP-38 hoods - usually whatever I have on hand. For something only slightly visible these are fine - not for a full on scratched engine bay:
They’re the right size and just need to be sanded flat.
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The Italeri M47 one is a good suggestion… with a little extra additions
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I think the last contract we did started around Christmas 1974, and how many we built I don’t know. By then the area they were built was pretty small. After that; they sent the job to Canada (probably EMD), and how long they built them I can’t say. Probably still make spares for them up there. What’s even stranger is they also built the XTG411 dedicated gear box for SPG’s at the sametime. That gear box found it’s way into every SPG the U.S. built and some Russian tanks, but really wasn’t strong enough to go behind that flat 12 engine. Doubt they still build new ones, but they own all the rights to spare parts. Must have made a million units.
gary
is it me, or does that rear bulkhead look out of place? How would you pull the power pack?
gary
