Anyone buy the Action Grade FOV 1:32 M109A6 Paladin this year at TRS or Target? Nice piece. But I'm afraid it isn't a Paladin. It's actually an earlier M109, probably an A2. I've recently done a lot of research on the M109 series. The M109A6 Paladin didn't come on-line until the mid-nineties, and is a much different machine from earlier M109s. It is much more potent and automated. I.D. criteria for the M109A6 Paladin include: Longer gun barrel; blocky, asymmetrical recoil device at base of gun barrel; much more massive "gun lock" (whatever you call the brace that stabilizes the barrel while moving); stepped turret; much bigger turret bustle; door on front of turret;
slanting indirect fire periscope (protruberance on left side of turret).
I went back and looked at the FOV model. Definitely an M109A2 (or A3 ,4,or5:these are virtually identical externally).
I apprised Candy Dong (FOVs preternaturally perky tech rep in Hong Kong) of the snafu. She wrote back and said they plan to revise the documentation on this model. If you hear a loud thump, it will be the FOV president jumping off the top of the Unimax building in Hong Kong!
All I know is what I've read on the Internet, but I've Googled a lot of M109 pictures. If anyone knowledgeable cares to chime in, be my guest!
