Herc cargo options

Hello all,

I redcently received Italeri’s 1/48th C-130H and was hoping to get a few ideas for tanks or vehicles that could be displayed in the beast. Its not going to be a full diorama but I want the cargo door open with a tank on the loading ramp. My problem lies in the fact that Ive never built a tank or even a military vehicle so any help with which kits are good would be great!

Thx in advance.

Not too many 1/48 scale armor kits out there. If you can find it, an M113 is about the heaviest a C-130 can carry. It would look pretty good with a HMMWV or an old M151 Jeep too. Good luck finding them.

Careful, now that you’re over on the darkside, you may never be able to leave!! Welcome to the world of the treadheads!!

In answer to your question, your problem is going to be one of availability. Depending on what time period you want to hit, you could put just about anything from Vietnam forward on it that wasn’t too heavy. I can’t remember when the 130 came on line, but think it was in the 60’s. However, there is a definate shortage of 1/48 armor kits. The other guys out here will be answering you anytime, I’m sure. Again, welcome to armor forum.

Thx I have to agree that availability is rather slim, but i think that Id be more open to a good kit rather then the time frame per say I know that sounds kinda lame but with so few choices it may be the only way…

You could always put a WWII Jeep in there (I know there are some 1/48 of those around) and say the Herc was delivering it to a museum as the story line/justification. Doing it that way, you could use anything small from about any time.

Heller has a Patriot missle system in 1/48. I have not seen the kit but it’s description says ‘a wheeled truck transporter along with the mobile boxed long range missile launcher’.

How about, hmmmmm, I think that dragon has a HMMVWV? in 1/48 ? or is 1/72
?
OH heck, just look at the link for internet hobbies.com
at the top of the page

Here’s a link to a 1/48 Willy’s Jeep:

http://www.militaryhobbies.com/product.cfm?ProductID=978

How about a pair of AH-6s?? I know there are 1/48 kits of those, and weight shouldn’t be an issue for those. As a matter of fact, I just might get me a Herc and do this myself!

Verlinden used to make a resing MUTT and V-706 that I think would meet weight requirements. Both are out of production but you might find one through the forum or ebay.
Here are a couple of pics. The first shows a LAPES drop of an M-551 Sheridan tank. The other shows a couple of HUMMV’s exiiting. No kits of either of these in 48th as far as I know. Think Corgi made (makes?) a diecast version of both of these vehicles which you may be able to find. With a nice paint job and stuffed in the cargo bay, would be hard to notice it wasn’t a kit.

Another thought would be to take a whole load of Marines and pack them all in like sardines, with their packs and crew-served weapons in their laps for a 8 hour flight (am I letting bad memories taint this post? Yes, yes I am.)

I like the Patriot missle launcher idea im leaning toward that, thx for all the help!

Sorry, don’t think the Patriot will fit into a C-130. I think it is way too big.
Quote from Federation of American Scientists Weapons web site, “Patriot can be transported worldwide via C5 cargo plane.” Check here for more info on Patriot. http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/patriot.htm

Also, the Arii kit is not a US Patriot, it has a European looking tractor, the Heller trailer looks pretty good though…
Here is the Arii antenna vehicle:

Arii Radar unit:

Arii also advertises a Control unit that I can’t find a photo of.
Heller Launcher trailer (no tractor with it):

Actual US Patriot is pulled by a M983 HEMTT 10-ton tractor as seen below:

Lemonjello what AH-6 are you refering to? Also would anyone know if a m60 would be to heavy? My trip to the LHS was for not…There really isnt much out there in 1/48th.

Heller / Airfix do a landrover around this scale. its a civilian one but there isn’t much difference between these and military ones. if you are doing an American aircraft you could do a herkybird on joint opps with American and British troops. or you could kitbash the landrovers into the later ones as used by the U.S Rangers (similar to the one on the Tombraider movie but with a gun mount on top). or what about doing one with “pioneer corps” equiptment onboard, a cammo’d earthmover or something similar.
good luck with your build.
Greg

Sorry, but M-60 tank is also way too heavy. Here is a page with info on the C-130. http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/c-130.htm About all the standard C-130 can carry is 45,000 lbs, 22.5 tons. As I said before, an M113 or an M551 Sheridan is about the heaviest vehicle they can carry.

As for the AH-6, it is a light attack helicopter used by US Army Special Ops troops.
Here are a couple in 1/48 scale:


With the blades folded, a C-130 can carrry two AH-6s.

Another option is to load 1 OH-58C helicopter in the Herc.
Here are couple of OH-58C in 1/48, first one is by Italeri:


They should be easy to get in 1/48 scale too.

Yep, those are some good options. Anymore, with the C-17, the Herc is a troop and palletized cargo carrier. All the heavies come in via the “aluminum cloud” or -17. That’s why I was thinking along the spec-ops line with the Little Birds and some operators as a load.

Hmpf, thx for all the help, Ill figure something out.

This just hit me, as I was sitting here discussing “options” for getting a point across in Fallujah…how about a diorama of a ground crew loading a daisy cutter into the Herc? That would be unique. The things you think about in this job…

LOL @ Lemongello

(Another thought would be to take a whole load of Marines and pack them all in like sardines, with their packs and crew-served weapons in their laps for a 8 hour flight (am I letting bad memories taint this post? Yes, yes I am.))

Ah yes, I can still feel the checked pattern on my arse from trips like that…even a 30 minute flight seems like 8 hours

Smokey