I discovered a PTA Howitzer on a double axle trailer. I do not know alot about this weapon, but it was too cool to pass up. Is this a modern or WWII era gun? The troops that come with it are more modern looking but with that brand I'm still not certain. I do not have a way to put a picture up now but was hoping someone may know about this piece. I suspect it would be on their website.
Thank you,
Todd
PS If needed I can put a picture up early next week
Power Team Howitzer
It's loosely based on the US 155mm Long Tom which was used in WWII and after. With a bit of work it can be made into a fairly nice Long Tom, actually. You need new bigger wheels, lengthen the barrel about 2 1/2 inches and eliminate the muzzle brake and if you want it in firing position you need to separate, open and lengthen the trails.
These are the major to-do's. There are several minor detail corrections you could make too but the bottom line is with a bit of work it's a really good Long Tom...
These are the major to-do's. There are several minor detail corrections you could make too but the bottom line is with a bit of work it's a really good Long Tom...
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Quixote511
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My ?
What type of vehicle would tow this monster? Would either the HT or the Dodge be able to pull one? I want to know because I am going to be setting up a convoy dio.
Thanx
Aaron
Thanx
Aaron
Tankduel: yes i did the mod. I posed it in limbered mode, so i didn't have to open the trails and put canvas covers over the breach and muzzle (as is done on the real thing). That way i was able to make the barrel look longer without actually having to lengthen it. I lengthend the trails, put new wheels and tires on and a few other mods. Looks pretty good although there are lots of little details that arent' right. Sorry, no pics...still no digital cam. I made it into a Marine Long Tom being pulled by a bulldozer (a modified Tonka dozer) and customized 3 shirtless marines riding atop of it.
Which brings me to Quixote511's question. The HST (High speed tractor), 4 ton trucks or medium bulldozers were used to haul the Long Tom. Nothing else could for the simple reason that other vehicles did not have air brake attachments for the Long Tom's braking system. The gun is so large it need to have its own braking system or it would push the tow vehicle out of control during stops, especially on downward slopes. I chose a bulldozer to tow my gun because there is no HST or 4 ton truck in 1/18 yet.
In fact if a proper tow vehicle was not available the Long Tom would be abandoned, rather than use an improper tow vehicle to haul it.
Which brings me to Quixote511's question. The HST (High speed tractor), 4 ton trucks or medium bulldozers were used to haul the Long Tom. Nothing else could for the simple reason that other vehicles did not have air brake attachments for the Long Tom's braking system. The gun is so large it need to have its own braking system or it would push the tow vehicle out of control during stops, especially on downward slopes. I chose a bulldozer to tow my gun because there is no HST or 4 ton truck in 1/18 yet.
In fact if a proper tow vehicle was not available the Long Tom would be abandoned, rather than use an improper tow vehicle to haul it.
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Quixote511
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Dozer
Didn't IHM or some company like that do a 1/16 army dozer? Would it be appropriate? I know it is 1/16, but I have their airraid fire truck and it seems to fit in just fine.
Aaron
Aaron
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Threetoughtrucks
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A dozer would have been used to move the gun into position. The dozer would be too slow to pull the gun in a convoy. The HST (either M-4 or M-5) would have the speed in a convoy. A big 4T or 7T Corbett truck was also used.
The M-4 tractor is a massive vehicle seating 11 and both the M-4 and M-5 towed the 155mm with ammo. The REALLY heavy duty HSP M-6 was used for really big guns (240mm).
The M-4 was 18T, the M-5 was 13T and the M-6 was 38T.
So boxy and ugly they are beautiful. Seeing one pull a 155mm or 8" at highway speeds on a dirt road is a sight not soon forgotten.
Now that is a rig I would like to see in 1/18 and would be willing to pay some serious tink to own. In a convoy with a M-26 Heavy tank and a M-19 Twin 40mm.
Yea, right next to the German 8T half-track pulling an 88mm, with a King Tiger in the column.
Sorry guys, as usual I get carried away. Where is my Avenger anyway.
TTT
The M-4 tractor is a massive vehicle seating 11 and both the M-4 and M-5 towed the 155mm with ammo. The REALLY heavy duty HSP M-6 was used for really big guns (240mm).
The M-4 was 18T, the M-5 was 13T and the M-6 was 38T.
So boxy and ugly they are beautiful. Seeing one pull a 155mm or 8" at highway speeds on a dirt road is a sight not soon forgotten.
Now that is a rig I would like to see in 1/18 and would be willing to pay some serious tink to own. In a convoy with a M-26 Heavy tank and a M-19 Twin 40mm.
Yea, right next to the German 8T half-track pulling an 88mm, with a King Tiger in the column.
Sorry guys, as usual I get carried away. Where is my Avenger anyway.
TTT
Sometimes I am the windshield, sometimes, I am the bug.
Hmm...
"Yea, right next to the German 8T half-track pulling an 88mm, with a King Tiger in the column"
TTT,
that's not TOO far-fetched. Remember, there is rumor of a KT, they already did the 1/32 88 (are we next?) and when I spoke to Roy at Toy Fair he did seem intrigued by all the possibilities of a German 8T halftrack.
Who says dreams don't come true?
TTT,
that's not TOO far-fetched. Remember, there is rumor of a KT, they already did the 1/32 88 (are we next?) and when I spoke to Roy at Toy Fair he did seem intrigued by all the possibilities of a German 8T halftrack.
Who says dreams don't come true?
In the Pacific islands the marines (and army) used dozers almost exclusively to tow Long Toms. Speed was not of the essence on the tiny islands but traction in the mud and sand was. HST's were not sent to the Pacific with any priority.
The 1/18 dozer pictured is not bad. It looks better in some ways than the one i customized but the rear end is not what i have seen in pictures. There should be more structure behind the seat so that the seat looks like it is in the middle of the dozer not at the back. But overall quite usable if it's not too small.
Both the army and marines in the pacific used quite a variety of medium and heavy dozers. Caterpillar, International and many other types were used. Medium dozers (as opposed to heavy dozers) were usually used to haul Long Toms and other large artillery pieces.
It's been over a year since i made my dozer so alot of the research i learned has been forgotten. A typical medium dozer is about 6 feet high, 8 feet wide and about 14 feet long. The tracks are short and 'tall' looking, like in the one pictured above. You often see gear, jerry cans etc hanging off the dozers at the back. No blade at the front but there should be an artillery winch, which is a huge super heavy duty winch bolted to the front of the dozer and attatched to the blade arms that run up the side of the dozer. I was never able to find a clear picture of an artillery winch so a fair bit of guess work went into mine. Looks cool though.
The 1/18 dozer pictured is not bad. It looks better in some ways than the one i customized but the rear end is not what i have seen in pictures. There should be more structure behind the seat so that the seat looks like it is in the middle of the dozer not at the back. But overall quite usable if it's not too small.
Both the army and marines in the pacific used quite a variety of medium and heavy dozers. Caterpillar, International and many other types were used. Medium dozers (as opposed to heavy dozers) were usually used to haul Long Toms and other large artillery pieces.
It's been over a year since i made my dozer so alot of the research i learned has been forgotten. A typical medium dozer is about 6 feet high, 8 feet wide and about 14 feet long. The tracks are short and 'tall' looking, like in the one pictured above. You often see gear, jerry cans etc hanging off the dozers at the back. No blade at the front but there should be an artillery winch, which is a huge super heavy duty winch bolted to the front of the dozer and attatched to the blade arms that run up the side of the dozer. I was never able to find a clear picture of an artillery winch so a fair bit of guess work went into mine. Looks cool though.
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Threetoughtrucks
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The tractor Centone found is very similar to the M-2 Light tractor (no blade) made by Cat and Intnl. They were used for light artillery.
They had no winch.
The 155mm would have been pulled with the M-1 Medium tractor (no blade) with 25,000 lb winch on the front. They were made by Cat, Intnl and Allis-Chalmers. The three were all a little different in weight and dimensions. Intnl being the biggest at about 14' and 21,250 lbs. they were designed to pull artillery only. They had a crew of two for the Cat and Allis-Chalmers and three for the Intnl. They carried no ammo (unlike the big boxy HST's).
From the manual picture of these tractors the winch doesn't look any different than those big winches found on 5T wreckers and those monsters, the Pacific tank transporters. They carried groups of winches with different pulling power.
They also had a M-2 High Speed tractor (similar in looks) but that was used with no winch to pull planes around.
These three tractors were the standard tractors (really bulldozers without the blade) that pulled the guns around and pushed them into place. They were designed to be able to work in groups of two and three tractors to work together in series or parallel to free a stuck gun or tractor or right a flipped gun.
TTT
They had no winch.
The 155mm would have been pulled with the M-1 Medium tractor (no blade) with 25,000 lb winch on the front. They were made by Cat, Intnl and Allis-Chalmers. The three were all a little different in weight and dimensions. Intnl being the biggest at about 14' and 21,250 lbs. they were designed to pull artillery only. They had a crew of two for the Cat and Allis-Chalmers and three for the Intnl. They carried no ammo (unlike the big boxy HST's).
From the manual picture of these tractors the winch doesn't look any different than those big winches found on 5T wreckers and those monsters, the Pacific tank transporters. They carried groups of winches with different pulling power.
They also had a M-2 High Speed tractor (similar in looks) but that was used with no winch to pull planes around.
These three tractors were the standard tractors (really bulldozers without the blade) that pulled the guns around and pushed them into place. They were designed to be able to work in groups of two and three tractors to work together in series or parallel to free a stuck gun or tractor or right a flipped gun.
TTT
Sometimes I am the windshield, sometimes, I am the bug.
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Threetoughtrucks
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The turetless tanks were the M-33, M-35, M-35. All were based on the M-3 and M-4 Medium tanks chasis. They were designed to pull the 8" Howitzer and the 240mm guns, but were also used to pull around the 155mm. They also had a T-41 turetless tank which used the Buick M-18 Hellcat chasis to pull the 3" anti tank at extreme high speeds. Years ago I saw a WW2 M-18 Hellcat (restored) belonging to a NE civilian group race a M-1 Abrams around on the Aberdeen MV show live fire demo and the Army thought it would be "cute" to compare the two. The M-18 left the Abrams in the dust. The Army was embarassed and never repeated the contest.
Kreglok:
I am also a fan of the big 7 ton Corbetts. I see you're from NNJ, do you remember an outfit called "Supreme Surplus" in Meno Park right on Route 1 near Woodbridge. They delt with Army trucks and they had a line of two dozen 7T Corbetts. They were awesome. Seymour, the owner wanted $4,000 each. I had the cash but thought my wife would rather ride in a ex-French restored WC-56 Command Car and bought that instead. I was right. The place is now a line of belly bomb chain places. The place was neat to wonder around, the owner was a nasty character and he had a huge sign in front of his office that said "NO JEEPS, DON'T EVEN ASK". Of course he could get Jeeps but he didn't want to be bothered. He was a legend in the MV crowd.
He is the guy that gave me the great saying......"Comparing Jeeps to Dodges is like comparing S**T to ice cream"!
TTT
Kreglok:
I am also a fan of the big 7 ton Corbetts. I see you're from NNJ, do you remember an outfit called "Supreme Surplus" in Meno Park right on Route 1 near Woodbridge. They delt with Army trucks and they had a line of two dozen 7T Corbetts. They were awesome. Seymour, the owner wanted $4,000 each. I had the cash but thought my wife would rather ride in a ex-French restored WC-56 Command Car and bought that instead. I was right. The place is now a line of belly bomb chain places. The place was neat to wonder around, the owner was a nasty character and he had a huge sign in front of his office that said "NO JEEPS, DON'T EVEN ASK". Of course he could get Jeeps but he didn't want to be bothered. He was a legend in the MV crowd.
He is the guy that gave me the great saying......"Comparing Jeeps to Dodges is like comparing S**T to ice cream"!
TTT
Sometimes I am the windshield, sometimes, I am the bug.
Hey, TTT. I have lived in NJ for just under 20 years and I have been active in the MV hobby for about 7 years. That dealer was probably just before my time here in NJ. I do recall Sarifan, up in Spring Valley, NY though. I believe they are still an ongoing concern. I did own a Corbitt truck for a while. It was an Oren fire pumper built on a Corbitt chassis. It had the R6602 Continental, similar to the military rigs. They(chassis) were built in Henderson, NC I believe.
I was at the Aberdeen show this last weekend. It was held at some baseball field parking lot. They didnt have much in the way of MVs, just tons of M35s and jeeps. No Corbitts to buy...
TJ
I was at the Aberdeen show this last weekend. It was held at some baseball field parking lot. They didnt have much in the way of MVs, just tons of M35s and jeeps. No Corbitts to buy...
TJ
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Threetoughtrucks
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Sarafan is still active in surplus trucks. They moved to FL from Spring Valley. I attended their open houses for years. A great place for my CC parts. They had to stop the open houses because they lost too much stock and said we (MV guys) were far too active in taking 5 finger discounts. Actually, it was a few long term employees that sold stuff at discounts and kept two pockets, one for the boss and one for him. They had so much stuff laying around it was hard to resist picking up brand new surplus out of the mud. I stiff have a fuel pump I picked up for a WW2 or Kprean era Jeep....and I'm not a Jeep guy.
They got enough of my money with regular over the years. I almost bought a ex-IDF White Half track mortor carrier, until my wife made me see the light of day, pointing out we had four trucks and two cars and my boys were still five years away from even reaching the pedals. For awhile they had alot of Israeli stuff.
They were great on hunting up rare stuff on request. My buddy wanted a M-3A1 Stuart and they found two in South America. At a reasonable price for such a rare vehicle. $17K re-imported to his door but that was 10 years ago.
TTT
They got enough of my money with regular over the years. I almost bought a ex-IDF White Half track mortor carrier, until my wife made me see the light of day, pointing out we had four trucks and two cars and my boys were still five years away from even reaching the pedals. For awhile they had alot of Israeli stuff.
They were great on hunting up rare stuff on request. My buddy wanted a M-3A1 Stuart and they found two in South America. At a reasonable price for such a rare vehicle. $17K re-imported to his door but that was 10 years ago.
TTT
Sometimes I am the windshield, sometimes, I am the bug.