I was just watching a TV programme on the Vietnam war and it showed a tank with 3 tubes in a rectangle on each side of the turret / body %- [- I might be wrong here because it was a very short item - I did not see a turret -] and not knowing a lot about tanks ,I thought I would ask here as to what it was.
Sounds like the Ontos:
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-armour/allied/ontos.htm
an early 1950s attempt to produce an airmobile AFV with significant anti=tank capability. Its main armament was six 106mm recoilless rifles. Its main drawback was that the crew had to dismount in order to reload those rifles…
Cheers,
Chris.
M50 Ontos
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “This…is…my…BOOMSTICK!!!”
Was the old Revell/Monogram kit of this decent? As in, worth trying to find? Or is the Hobby Fan kit the only real option?
What a cool looking vehicle. Would look awfully nifty on the shelf. [:D]
It’s an old Renwal kit from around 1960 that Revell released once in 1982-83. Not a great kit, but it is dimensionally sound for 1/32 scale. I am using pieces of aluminum tubing to replace the kit recoilless rifle barrels.
They wouldn’t happen to have one on display where you are would they?
Yes, thats the one , thanks guys. [tup]
Rob, you don’t have any WIP pics of your Ontos, do you? [:D]
Was 1/32 a more common armor scale back in the 60’s? I have to admit I’ve never even heard of Renwal before…[:-^]
It’s been a WIP since 2001. It was a kit I built in college in 1982. When I was a little kid building Aurora kits, the big kids got the Renwal kits, they were in 1/32 scale. They had a line that consisted of the Atomic Annie nuclear cannon, Corporal Missile, MACE missile with Terracruiser, M47 Patton, M42 Duster, M41 Walker Bulldog, Hawk Missile Battery, 90mm Skysweeper AAA, 5 ton Wrecker, M50 Ontos, M55 155mm SPH and many others I’ve probably forgot to list.
Many of these kits were reissued by Revell in 1982-83 some as part of their History Makers series.
Their kits had moving parts with huge hinges, sometimes they had some sort of gimmick like crew men that pop out as track rolls. The M41 & M42 had wire spring suspension.
The M50 was my favorite of the group and when I saw the reissued, I jumped on it. It was one of the few kits to survive on my dresser at my parents’ house. I rescued it and a friend gave me a parts kit of the original Renwal version (same kit Revell just replaced the Renwal logo on the lower hull with Revell 1982).
The kit’s inner road wheels are molded solid, but the actual road wheels are spoked. I used the outer road wheels of the second kit to substitute the inner road wheels. I did a few other modifications to make the detail a little better as well.
I think Renwal went under in the 1970s. Some of these have even appeared in Matchbox and Monogram boxes, I know Matchbox released the M41 once and Monogram did the M47. Most of these kits are more collector’s items than accurate kits. The 155mm SPH is still popular and the Atomic Annie goes for hundreds on eBay.
The Patton Museum has one inside.
Here’s a site that shows where the known surviving Ontos are: http://hometown.aol.com/biskit89/current.html
Here is a website that lays out the restoration of the Ontos at Fort Knox:
http://hometown.aol.com/biskit89/ProjOntos.html
Thanks for the links. Always liked the Ontos.
Sometimes I would see the transporter cabs for the atomic cannon on the highway in my home town. With Picatinny Arsenal on the other side of town, I wondered what other things they had there that weren’t put on display for Armed Forces Day open houses.
Even so, these were still my favorite armored vehicles:
