After building a bunch of Abrams, I am getting back to some artillery pieces.
My latest build is the Mouse House M119 105mm towed howitzer. This is the current light howitzer used by US forces since about 1994.
The kit is an all resin affair from Australia. Overall it is pretty nice kit. The casting is good with a bit of flash, but not too much to deal with. The parts were marked well, with large numbers on the pour blocks. The instructions are horrible though. They are basically blurry pics with arrows pointing to nondescript areas to attach the parts. I used photos from Prime Portal and pics of my brother Mike “Redleg12”'s build of the same kit as a references in lieu of the directions to assist in where the parts went. I have also served on M119s, so I used what I remembered as well.
I updated the kit to M119A1 standards as well as adding a couple US items. First, I cut off the conical ends on the recuperator bottle on top of the barrel so they are flat and added a couple bolt plates there. I also added the chronograph bracket on top of the forward cross member above the barrel. Next, I added a section of tubing that runs down the right side of the cradle up to the breech. Lastly, I added the pole at the end of the cradle used to move the gun laterally to adjust fire.
Here are the pics.
That’s it so far. Next up is some paint and accessories. I will be doing a small dio for it on a firing point, possibly with a couple figures. I’ll keep you posted.
Very cool so far! Mouse House…is that the name of the manufacturer of the kit or a nick name for the gun? I’m no red leg so please enlighten me. Thanks!
I don’t [dinkywongo] believe it! I just got the following photo:
And I was thinking, #I know I’m not going to build it myself, but wouldn’t THAT make a fine diorama? Not laugh out loud funny, but something with a touch of human interest.# Oh, well, you can treat it as another reference photo.
Nice work so far Gino, modern artillery is something that always holds a visual interest for me in terms of seeing how things have evolved in the last 100 years or so and this one’s no exception. Looking forward to seeing it emplaced. [B]
Here is the latest update on it. I painted it and got some decal markings on it. I decided to mark it as B12 from 3-319 FAR, 1BDE, 82nd ABN DIV. I made up the barrel name to add a bit to it. It still needs to be weathered and then added to the base plate.
Man, you’ve sure got some talent! I don’t know how you do it Gino… its only been a couple of days since you started this post… I’d still be in the '‘thinking about it mode’.
Awesome as usual and looking forward to it being in its firing position!
I have completed my M119A1 and added a crew on a small base. It represents a piece from the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq or A’stan in the early days when DCUs were still worn.
The crew are modified Dragon and Tamiya figures. The gunner straddling the trails has legs from the old Tamiya Armored Troops set. I added new boots from a modern Dragon figure. The IBA-clad torsos on all the figures are resin casts from Verlinden and the one with the Camelback is from a copy of a Trumpeter torso. The gear is a mix of items from various Dragon sets. Most of it comes from their Modern USMC (OIF/OEF) set. As does the radio operator (radio bag is from Pro Arts excellent SINCGARS set) and the standing figure inside the trails, who is holding the lanyard, by the way. The ammo bearer is modified from the Dragon US Army Green Berets set.
The rounds, casings, and “tootsie roll” tubes are from Resicast. The ammo crates are cast pieces from somewhere (sorry I don’t remember where). The open ammo box was built from sheet styrene by me. The stenciling is from a friend, thanks Bro. The collimator is also scratch-built using plans from the same friend.
Rbear - thanks. It was a fun build. I think it looks pretty realistic too.
Shelback - Thanks for looking in and commenting.
Spacepacker - Thanks. Nope, no blue touch paper. The 105mm round usues an integrated primer like a rifle shell. Just pull the lanyard and the hammer falls and fires the round.
