Need some help from the SEA crowd.
I have a project planned to build an M151 assigned to the International Commission for Control and Supervision.
All the images I can find (and that’s a total of 3) are of A1s, and all the front end views I have are of the same vehicle. Naturally the kit I have is an A2.
I have one reference that states the vehicles were assigned from US stocks and that there were both A1s and A2s.
Before I go and start hacking away the fenders to back date them (I’m not worried about the suspension, no one is looking under there), were there many/any A2s in Vietnam in 1973?
I’m not looking for 100% photo accuracy, but if there weren’t any A2s in country I’ll get out the scalpel.
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From all I have heard, very few A2s (if any) made it since the A2 wasn’t fielded until 1972. The only ones I have seen pics of were of the experimental M825 (M151A2) TOW vehicles that were tested there.
http://www.olive-drab.com/images/m825_pleiku_1972_700.jpg
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Thanks Gino,
I haven’t turned up a single reliable photo either, but I’m no Frenchy so I’m leaving this one to crowd sourcing.
I remember discussion on old Armorama, and here is the linkj (with link form that post as well)
https://archive.armorama.com/forums/240370/
http://www.g838.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6214
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Thanks Marko!
Sadly most of those image links have expired, but there does at least seem to have been a few of them in country.
I think I’ll probably end up seeing how much work resculpting the fenders will be to make it a proper A1, but if it looks like a mountain of work or like I’m going to trash the kit, then I’ll leave it as is and chalk it’s existence up to luck and it having been taken away from an MP unit on their rotation home before the ARVN could grab it.
Reworking the fenders is pretty easy. I did it a long time ago before the Academy and Tamiya A1s were available. Basically just cut out the front turn signal housing and replace w/a flat piece of plastic, then add small marker lights. The rear turn signal/stop light need to be backdated to the earlier style, like on an M113 as well.
You also need to add a piece of plastic as a divider down the middle of the front windshield since they used two-part windows. Also, the rear wheel opening should be straight from top to bottom as opposed to having a vertical line at the rear.
If you want to tackle it, the rear suspension is not that hard either. The original A1 was prone to roll due to the way the rear end was configured. The A2 was redesigned to reduce this. Here is how to backdate the rear suspension.
You can see a couple other small corrections at my comparison build article on the Tamiya and Academy M151A1s.
https://archive.armorama.com/features/5114-page=2.htm
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Thanks again Gino, that guide will be most helpful I think.
I’ll get the theatre booked and do what I can to make sure the good doctor stays away from the Laudnum.
Not sure if you could find one or if it would help, but Verlinden made an A1/A2 conversion. Wayne
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You can find them on eBay, going for about $75 + shipping and it only addresses the front fenders and rear lights, but none of the other issues to backdate.
It would be much cheaper to get the Tamiya M151A1 kit.
Here’s a surviving picture from the g838.org forum :
H.P.
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Thanks Gino, I have one buried in the stash, but couldn’t remember what it contained or addressed. Wayne
