1:18 Pack Howitzer Prototype

[grunt1]

I've mentioned to a few of you that this was in the works. She's ready to see the
light of day and I thought I would share some photos.

I designed it so that it could also be taken apart and carried (by a pack
mule) as it was originally designed, though I think they rode more in
jeeps, gliders and C-47's than on donkeys.

Wheels roll, gun elevation works, and it can also be pretty easily hooked up
and towed by a 21C Jeep. The jeeps from Solido and friends don't have a
hitch but that should be pretty easy to work out if that's all you have.

Let me know what you think

[Razor17019]

Very impressive, Grunt. It's like you shrunk down the real thing.
Well done.
Razor

[YT]

That is really nice.

[aferguson]

that's very cute..

[Threetoughtrucks]

Very nicely done. Every bit as good as my 1/6 DML Pack 75. Box art is:



TTT

[pickelhaube]

This looks GREAT !!!!

[tmanthegreat]

Great job! Allied artillery is sorely needed in 1:18. As far as single artillery pieces go, the Germans have the 88 and Pak 40, while the best the Allies can muster is the M-17 quad-.50 and some mortars

[grunt1]

Thanks guys!

TTT, your photo reminded me of that handle on top of the barrel so I need
to add that. Plus your DML unit has some interesting optics that I haven't
seen in any of my reference photos so I'll need to check that out as well.

Does anyone have a reference photo of the interior of a T30 HMC? It's
basically a US Halftrack with the same 75mm Howitzer mounted behind a gun shield.

[immeww2]

Looks .

[Threetoughtrucks]

Ask and you shall receive:

As in all half-track gun carriages, the main change to the standard half-track was the moving of both gas tanks to the rear. A post mounted .50cal was added in the rear center of the bed for AAA protection. Different sized armor shields were tried on the gun and as in the pic, some gun carriages had no armor shield at all.






If you need other pics, let me know.

TTT (The half-track addict)

[maritime96]

Great Job!! It looks Fantastic.

[grunt1]

Wow, thanks TTT.. !

[thehun]

Very Nice Custom Grunt

[rmarg-jim]

If you need other pics, let me know.

TTT (The half-track addict)

Hi,
I've only just joined, having surfed in on the T30 pics.
Nice work grunt! I'm trying to make A T30HMC in 1:35 so ThreeToughTrucks' pics are much appreciated (already seen one mistake in my model!).
If TTT has anymore T30 pics and info I'd like to hear from him, please?

I found the gun armour from a T30 in a wood here in England while doing an archaeological survey. It'd been used for anti-tank practice by the Airborne Engineer Aviation Battalions of the US 9th Engineer Command in spring 1944- so I've kinda been researching t-30s in the hope that there maybe one still on this mortal coil....
Cheers,
Jim.

[mikeyt]

If you need other pics, let me know.

TTT (The half-track addict)

Hi,
I've only just joined, having surfed in on the T30 pics.
Nice work grunt! I'm trying to make A T30HMC in 1:35 so ThreeToughTrucks' pics are much appreciated (already seen one mistake in my model!).
If TTT has anymore T30 pics and info I'd like to hear from him, please?

I found the gun armour from a T30 in a wood here in England while doing an archaeological survey. It'd been used for anti-tank practice by the Airborne Engineer Aviation Battalions of the US 9th Engineer Command in spring 1944- so I've kinda been researching t-30s in the hope that there maybe one still on this mortal coil....
Cheers,
Jim.

are you a fan of the p-40 ?

[gary1930]

Great work!!

[normandy]

Grunt, Very nice work!

[Threetoughtrucks]

The T-30 appears to be exactly the same as Pickel's 75mm Tank Destroyer with the howitzer instead of the French 75 gun.

Interior is the same, even the gun mount.

Great project and very nice howitzer.

TTT

[pickelhaube]

The T-30 appears to be exactly the same as Pickel's 75mm Tank Destroyer with the howitzer instead of the French 75 gun.

Interior is the same, even the gun mount.

Great project and very nice howitzer.

TTT

What about the shield ?

Or did most of them do without ?

[binder001]

What about the shield ?

Or did most of them do without ?[/quote]

The few T30s that saw operational service all appear to have a gun shield. Slightly different profile that the shield on the M3 75mm GMC, the T30 shield allears taller but not as deep.

T30s were only used in North Africa (few), and Sicily. Early in the Italian campaign the T30 was replaced with the M8 75mm HMC based on the M5 tank chassis.

[Threetoughtrucks]

The armored gun shield does appear higher on the T-30 than the M-3 TD but the dimensions of both vehicles show a height of 85", but the T-30 silhouette shows only the gun and not the shield and the M-3 silhouette shows only the vehicle with the shield . My source is E.J. Hoffschmidt's book "U. S. Military Vehicles World War II"

The opening in the armored shield, for the gun, is elongated on the T-30 because the elevation on the howitzer was up to 50 degrees as opposed to the M-3 TD with the French 75 which had an elevation of 29 degrees.

The T-30 gun shield does appear shorter and higher than the M-3 TD shield, I cannot find comparison pics showing the shields side by side, but they are not the same, as the armor thickness on the shield was 5/8" thick on the M-3 and 3/8" thick on the T-30

The gun mounts are the same for both guns. Ammunition capacity are similar, with the T-30 has a capacity of 60 75mm rounds and the M-3 TD carrying 59 rounds.

TTT

[coreystinson]

Very nicely done!

[Tanker85]

Grunt1
Are these available yet? Also I remember you were working on the
Higgins boat. How is that project progressing? Curious minds want to
know.

Thanks
Eric

[grunt1]

Yes, the howitzers were produced and sold out. I can do another run if there is interest?

As for the Higgins boat, given the cost and apparent preference for lower cost items by board members I'm spending my time on other items. The good news is that it's done if someone wants one but it would be a one-off (for now). Let me know.

[rmarg-jim]

What about the shield ?

Or did most of them do without ?

The T30 HMC shield is indeed different to the M3GMC- I will take some photos of my one and post them as soon as I work out how!? along with a front 3/4 view of the mount and a colour photo of one without armour in the Aleutians.

cheers, jim.