Lookin good so far redleg!!! I can’t believe the spg is large, with such a tiny barrel tube. you’ve done a great job reviving an older kit
Lots of putty/elbow grease being put in on this latest round Mike but will look great I’m sure once you get it painted. [Y]
Nice work as always!
Beav – Thanks, the one “down there” (Fort Sill artillery museum) is an early test version of the M108. Some minor differences like the headlights mounted on the turret and the barrel has no brake……but generally the same. Thanks again
Pawel – Thanks, as I write this I am having a brain cramp [*-)] and forget what that item is on the front of the turret. The ramming staffs are on the top of the turret……when the light comes back on I will get you an answer……for now thanks
Jeff – Thanks, yep small tube……big butt……ok, I won’t go there. That was exactly the reason the discontinued the M108 and the 105mm only became a towed weapon used by light divisions. The 155mm M109 gave them more punch and range for almost the same $$$$. Thanks again
Bill – Yep…as I said in the beginning this will be a putty dream. With what I am working on now, I will really be going for the putty……removing the molded M109 tool boxes on the turret roof which the M108 did not have [bnghead]. I will be using the holy trinity of modeling….the Dremel, Putty and Sandpaper……amen [angl]. Thanks again
Aaron – Speaking of heavenly bodies, it is always great to hear from Mt Olympus [:D[. I deeply appreciate you stopping in. Thank you
Rounds Complete!!
Redleg, see i wasn’t able to tell the difference.
couldn’t those rod things be the red white pole things you guys haul everywhere?
The red and white poles are aiming posts…the items on top are tools and maintenance items…the aiming posts you need to take out and use at every position. The are usaull in a case and would be stored down below.
Page 26 lists much of the stuff we carry… http://redleg2scale.com/RBMI%20Info/Artillery%20Modeling.pdf
The picture shows a “candy cane” set
Rounds Complete!!
Redleg12, great job so far. Keep up the good work sir. [Y]
Kevin - Thanks for stopping in and for leaving a comment!!
Rounds Complete!!
I meant the detail from this picture:
The five rods in front of the hatch, on top of the turret. Wouldn’t it be good to replace it, if it’s a cleaning rod? Good luck with your build, have a nice day
Paweł
This week the surgeon goes to work on the molded on blobs…I am working on it!!
Rounds Complete!!!
Lookin good Mike. I’ll be watching this one.
Nate
Nate - Nice to have you drop in…stay warm and keep dry!!..Don’t hurt your knee in the snow!!
Rounds Complete!!
Not a lot of time this week but enough to get some detail work done. First I started on the chassis. I removed all the plastic blobs that were supposed to be handles, tie downs and latches. The hatch handle I made with 26 gauge stainless steel wire. The latch handles are 20 gauge wire for the post and flattened solder then bent to shape and glued on top of the wire. The tie downs are PE leftovers.
The exhaust is a big blob of plastic. With increasing drill bits, I drilled out the end for exhaust.
The kit rear door is a one piece door. The M108 had a double door setup. First I used a panel scribe tool to etch in the seam for the two doors. Then using .020 styrene, I created a set of hinges for the left side.
Next, I cleaned up the seam where the side panels meet the decking and install Archer .025 weld bead raised detail.
Now it was on to the turret. The turret has 3 boxes molded onto the roof which are for the M109 and did not exist with the M108. It was time for surgery with the Dremel. Here is the rough cut to remover the boxes
After cleaning up the cut and squaring it off, I used some .040 styrene sheet to fill the hole. After gluing and installing some pop stick cross braces inside the turret, the first coat of putty was installed in the seams
That’s it for now. Next up, some more putty and Mr. Surfacer to dress up the turret roof, then a bunch of tie downs for tools. Getting close to paint!!
As always thanks for stopping by. Your comments good or bad are always appreciated.
Rounds Complete!!
Nice work on the details and looks like the patient will survice the surgery efforts Mike! Got to love power tools! [;)]
Great work on all those fixes. [:D[ I am looking forward to seeing this one a painted up.
](http://media.photobucket.com/image/smileys/slowpulse/smileys/tutut.gif?o=50)Here’s a good example of how fixes can produce a beautiful build.
Bill - Thanks…you can never have enough tools…especially power tools or in this case…attachments[;)]
Kevin - Thanks, I can’t wait myself…the model really comes alive when you start to paint
Steve - Thanks, you are too kind. Just doing some old fashioned modeling…I know you understand!! At our age we understand patience [;)]
Rounds Complete!!
Mike if you ever get tired of the legit life you have a future in a chop shop.
Looking great…it’s nice to see someone doing something other then a Panther or Tiger or Sherman.
I am trying to find one of these kits. They had a few on Ebay but I was outbid. Now nothing…They were going for over $50. As are the M110 and M107 kits. The M109 kits are a bit cheaper and more available, or was they aren’t around anymore either. The M108 are rare, so is the Tamiya M125, even the M106 is OOP now but cost is low. I’m still trying to find the M125 and M108.
I have found a company that makes 1/35 M55 and M53 SPH/G…$200 each plus shipping from Germany…ouch. And I did get the Azimut XM706 Airforce open top version from France. As well as the full M728 CEV conversion from a place in Germany.
It seems like the post WWII to pre Iraq war US armor is a forgotten thing. 1950-1990 US Armor is mostly OOP. Except a few exceptions which are releases of older molds like the M113, M48A3 and some M60s. But Artillery and support vehicles are few and the ones out there are expensive.
I am wondering what era are you making the M108? Is it going to be pre-Vietnam or Nam? I think the Army only had a few and took them out of service in favor of the M109 during the war.
The Turret is coming out great as is the chassis. I noticed that the Mantle area has what looks like bigger bolts then the model, it’s hard to see. I am wondering if you are going to replace them with Hexagonal sprue. The model looks like little dimples, it’s hard to tell exaclty until you paint it though. Are they bolts? The outer plate has the bolts recessed a bit and the inner part are not, as far as I can tell in the pictures. There’s a bit of rust and over paint on the one in the pictures. http://www.primeportal.net/artillery/david_lueck/m108_105mm_sph/index.php?Page=1
What references are you using? You have a great eye for those little details.
Marc – LOL……I look at it more from a scientific process of the conservation of matter. I just help change the form……sometimes it is simple….sometimes you have to split atoms!!
Big Daddy – A lot said in your return. First if you are looking for information on artillery kits, you can check this for SP artillery… http://www.redleg2scale.com/RBMI%20Info/SP%20kits.html
The M55 was made and is now being reissued by Revell….it is not the best and needs some help but it is a lot cheaper than $200.
As someone who builds artillery, I feel your pain. It has taken a bunch of years to acquire the towed and self propelled kits that are OOP. My only advice is patience.
As for the M108, as I stated at the beginning of this thread, this was commissioned by the members of the 1 BN 40 FA who served in Viet Nam from Oct 1967 thru early 1969. Only 300+ M108s were manufactured. Only two battalions were deployed to Viet Nam for a total of 36 weapons deployed.
I have a bunch of personal photos supplied by members of the 1/40. I will try to get permission to post one or two here. You can see some pictures at the start of this thread but the actual
As for the M108 at prime portal, there are two on their site. One is in camouflage and is in service with the Brazilian army. The other you pointed out is part of the Fort Sill museum. BE CAREFUL using this for information. This is an early development version. Note the headlights on the turret. The howitzer tube is missing the muzzle brake. It is good in general but not for details. As for the bump on the kit….yep the bums are the hex bolts you see in the picture. They are actually not bad on the model. I am trying to fix things that a flat out wrong or REALLY bad. So….no, I am not going to replace all the bolts.
Hope that answers the questions….feel free to ask away….either here or by PM
Rounds Complete!!