Soooo, a guestimate for the kit used back in say, a Reforger-type exercise, would be that the crews - Sheridan and M114 respectively - would have the M1956 equipment, and possibly M16s; I I have a suspicion though that the M3 sub machine gun would still have been around back in the early to mid 70s?
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I think your assumptions sound correct.
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I seem to remember reading somewhere that that was not intended to depict the gas mask hood but an experimental flash fire hood with an outer metallic foil covering, old Osprey book maybe ?
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In the mid 70’s the cotton M1956 web gear began to be replaced by the nylon ALICE gear. First with the very similar M1967 style, and later with the more widespread Y harness type. The M3 Grease Gun was still around at least into the late 1980’s. My time around the folks who carried them ended in late ‘87 and they were still standard issue at that time, along with the M1911 .45 pistol. I can’t say for how much longer that both stayed in the inventory.
I was issued the M25 mask when I was a driver or TC and wore the carrier the same manner as with the M17 mask. Sometimes attached to my web gear, frequently worn over the shoulder by itself, and occasionally in the hip position.
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I was issued an M3 as a 577 driver in 1984, so they were around for a while. I think around 86 or so they were replaced with the M-16. The masks were a PIA sometimes, unlike the M-17, there was no drinking tube, the lens often creased if stored incorrectly. We also had a rash of pvt’s leaving the mask out of the bag and using the bag for snacks.
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Most crewmen I knew switched to the Kevlar Helmet and left the CVC plugged in and at their station - either left inside the tank or placed on the CWS or loader’s 240. Helmets were always placed down as worn so if it rained you didn’t come back to the tank and find your CVC full of water. Aside from the kevlar helmet, the minimum uniform was weapon and mask. Most personnel wrapped the waist strap around the bag and used the shoulder strap to just sling the mask and bag across their body. This also made it easy to take off and store when the crew remounted the tank. Masks were part of the uniform and always carried especially at training centers where being caught without your mask could result in a “snake bite” where the offending Soldier would be assessed as a casualty by the Observer Controller, or worse, be caught out of uniform by the CSM.
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Well, thanks to all! I’ve probably got enough to go on. I plan on giving the figures steel helmets and portray the crew helmets as left on the AFVs. Web gear seems to have been likely - again assuming a rigorous response to SOPs. So far so good. Modelling the actual bag as under the arm shouldn’t;’ eb too much of a problem; I will give the Commanders pistol holsters in addition to the web gear, which, if say USAREUR was top of the issue list, may just have been the the ALICE type in 1973/74, which is where I’m coming form
The two figures I wish to convert, or at least at the moment, are these from the Tamiya set from long ago:
partly because they’ve the ALICE gear moulded on, and partly because they’re vertical (!) and I can probably convert them easily enough. I plan on using Magic Sculp to add field jacket skirts - which I thought would be highly likely to be worn over tanker coveralls, or even in any case, and of course Hornet Heads if it all works out. It may not of course, as these figures are quite diminutive. We’ll see.
Thanks again to all. All very helpful and also a rapid response.
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OK, a few points. The M3/M3A1 submachine gun was used by M60 and M88 crews well into the 1990s. My brother carried one in Korea on his M60A3.
The M25 series mask could be carried/worn two ways. The first, described above, has the upper strap going over the shoulder,
and the lower strap around the waist.
The second option was to have the top strap around the waist, and the lower strap around the leg/thigh or not used. My avatar photo is like this:
HTH, Ken
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