Modified 32X M18 Hellcat....

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:02 pm

I added this muzzle brake to the M18 Hellcat, I got tired of looking at the goofy "thread protector" on the end of the barrel, and thought it would look much better with a muzzle brake. The muzzle brake is one I modified from a 32X PAK-40 gun, and was sent to me courtesy of tmanthegreat, thanks T, you are the man.

The inspiration for this project came from a Squadron book I have titled "US Tank Destroyers In Action". I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out, and it was relatively easy to do. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge..

olifant · Post by **olifant** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 6:41 pm

Very cool, that does look much better.

I really like the cobblestones too. Nice effect!

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 8:02 pm

That came out looking excellent! Glad you were able to find a use for the muzzlebreak

Col.Pickle · Post by **Col.Pickle** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 10:51 pm

Looks a lot better! BTW where did you get those cobblestones?

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:55 am

Thanks for the nice comments guys, I'm glad you like it. The "Cobblestone" street section is made by an outfit called Department 56 that sells "Christmas Village" stuff at craft stores like Michael's, it's vinyl and comes in a roll for about $10 as I recall, and there's enough to make many street sections. They also sell red brick, and other materials that could be used for 32X diorama surfaces. The "mortar" in between the cobblestones is my own custom touch that gives it a sort of "Euro Street" look, if anyone is interested in my technique for doing this just let me know, it's pretty easy to do.

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 8:05 am

I am not up on American armor.

Should this tank have the muzzel break on it and got left off from the makers ? Or is the muzzel break for another varient ? You did do a nice job with the break. It matches the Squadron book to a T.

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:54 am

Should this tank have the muzzel break on it and got left off from the makers

When you say makers, I'm not sure if you mean 21C or the manufacturers of the actual AFV..?? The M18 Hellcat was equipped with the 76mm M1 series tank gun which was also found on later models of the Sherman. The gun was designed to be used with a muzzle brake, but apparently some Hellcats didn't come off the assembly line (or at the depot..??) with one installed, in these cases the barrel, which had a threaded end, was fitted with a sleeve to protect the threads from damage, rust and dirt accumulation, etc. This sleeve presumably is what is represented on the 21C model of the Hellcat, and I have no idea why they (21C) didn't put a muzzle brake on. To the best of my knowledge there was no M18 "variant" that had a different nomenclature based on being equipped with or without a muzzle brake, but I don't have a really comprehensive reference on the M18 available to me to confirm this. For what it's worth, most pictures I've seen of real M18's show it equipped with a muzzle brake, but a significant number don't have it, but why that is, I have no clue. Here is a link to info on the gun.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/76_mm_gun_M1

Here is a pic of the real tank pictured on the cover of the Squadron book, firing at a target in Wiesloch Germany in 1945.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:M18- ... 450401.jpg

Here is another page with some good info and pics of the M18... http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m18hellcat.html

1958Zelda · Post by **1958Zelda** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 11:50 am

Great job and thanks for the info.

Jagdpanther · Post by **Jagdpanther** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:48 pm

Nicely done!

grockwood · Post by **grockwood** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:49 pm

I saw the repeat showing of "Tank Overhauls"( I think thats the name) where they were working on the M18 and found an original crewmember lived close by. The picutres of the M18 in combat, the videos of other M18's and the pictures of how the M18 looked when brought back to the US from Bosnia all showed the thread protector in place. However they restored it with a muzzle break. I think it does look better with the muzzle break. I would probably do one with and one without for my collection.