US Army M1 203mm Howitzer

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:06 pm

Anybody ever seen one of these in real life?? A while back somebody posted pics at the Foxhole toys site of the Power Team Elite's 1/18 scale version of the famous US Army M1 8-inch (203mm) Howitzer, take a gander here... http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/ ... 4_17986954
Man, this thing is AWESOME, and I think it's a steal at $37 bucks, which includes 3 fully outfitted figures and equipment. In the pics it has a kind of toylike appearance with those shiny tires and such, but I think there is really a lot of potential here for weathering, customizing, and detailing and I think I am gonna order one of these babies ASAP. The only question I have is this: In all the photos I have seen of the real life howitzer, none of the guns has a muzzle brake like the model does, and I was wondering if later models of the real howitzer were actually equipped with a muzzle brake or if it is strictly a figment of the model manufacturers imagination?? any info is appreciated.

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 4:58 pm

they retailed for about $15, so if you think $37 is a steal...

It's a cool piece for sure; with some fixer-up-ing it can look pretty nifty. I made mine into a limbered marine Long Tom being towed by a bulldozer....the whole thing is close to 3 feet long.

scbvideoboy · Post by **scbvideoboy** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:07 pm

I bought one recently after seeing the foxhole pictures, which they intended! I ordered on Sat got it on Monday. My advice, throw the figures away and use others if your going to display.

It's pretty cool. The muzzle brake was probably added to hide the flash led.

It's a cool piece for sure; with some fixer-up-ing it can look pretty nifty. I made mine into a limbered marine Long Tom being towed by a bulldozer....

What bulldozer? 1/18?

Dave

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:10 pm

yes, i heavily modified a tonka bulldozer i got at TRU to look as much as possible like a medium bulldozer used that the marines used. I only had a few wwii pictures to go by.

MK · Post by MK » Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:12 pm

aferguson, I've said this in one of the custom threads, but you really need to start posting pictures of your customs. I am interested in knowing what you did with "Long Tom" custom.

MK

Post by **aferguson** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:04 pm

for five years now, i'm supposed to get a camera. Just seems like there's always something else to spend my money on....dunno why.

I chose making it limbered because a) i like the look of a limbered Long Tom and b) it was alot easier than displaying it deployed for firing, which would have required spliting the trails, lengthening the barrel and a bunch of other stuff. In limbered set up i didn't have to split the trails and i just put muzzle and breach covers on a crudely lengthened barrel. A set of larger wheels and tires does a lot for the PTE howizter too..

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 7:41 pm

they retailed for about $15, so if you think $37 is a steal...

Dude, please go easy on me...the only one I've ever seen was the one at Foxhole so yeah, I thought it was a good deal, but hey if you know where I can get one retail for 15 bucks then by all means point me in the right direction please. I don't know though, if the figures are trash like the other guy said, maybe it's not even worth it.

MK · Post by MK » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:23 pm

aferguson wrote:for five years now, i'm supposed to get a camera. Just seems like there's always something else to spend my money on....dunno why.

Hey, I've been around for those five years waiting for the miracle to happen. Just because you keep buying those RC planes for hundred of dollars doesn't mean the rest of us have to suffer.

Maybe we can pass the hat around or something.

aferguson wrote:A set of larger wheels and tires does a lot for the PTE howizter too..

Which wheels did you use? I was thinking any of the WC line of trucks will work out. Finding a Merrils Marauders set on ebay for retail will take care of most of them.

MK

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 8:32 pm

It's worth looking around and waiting for a better price. I bought mine after reading about what Aferg said about "his Long Tom" a while ago. Looks very good even before you cut off the muzzle brake.

It's in my "dust magnet" section waiting for me to work on it.

TTT

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 1:30 am

is the powerteamusa site still around? They had them for $13 a while ago.

I used 1/32 scale diecast tractor wheels and tires. They are a bit 'tready' but i put generous amounts of mud on them to hide the fact a bit. They were a lot cheaper than any of the XD alternatives, as i needed ten wheels total. They were still a tad smaller than i would have liked but much better than the wheels that came with the PTE howitzer.

scbvideoboy · Post by **scbvideoboy** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:45 am

I'm more a vehicle type guy and don't really care for figures. The PTE figures are nowhere close to the 21C figures. The foxhole picture is not using the dudes that came with the howitzer. I thought the howitzer was cool looking as is. And no one else is making a 1/18 assault piece.

Buy the howitzer for itself, not the figures...IMO

Dave

holensock · Post by **holensock** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:17 am

The Power Team figures, while lacking the 'detail' of XD or bbi, are the BEST articulated figures on the market! These guys can bend and be set up in so many different positions without breaking, AND these guys can actually FIT, SIT in their vehicles! They're fun!
XD-great detail-but very limited in what you can do with them-especially if you want them to ride in their vehicles.
So there's always good and bad with everything. But I LOVE the PT stuff! With a little weathering...some cool pieces!
Try... powerteamHQ.com

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:34 am

Try... powerteamHQ.com

Thanks for the info holensock, these guys have the piece at $13, not bad, and at that price I can afford to get two and set up my own model "howitzer battery"

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:11 am

all this talk has got me in the mood for another one so i just ordered it. I think i'll make this one into another Long Tom but in firing mode this time. It's a decent piece for the money and i don't imagine we'll ever see an XD version, at least not in my lifetime.

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:26 am

all this talk has got me in the mood for another one so i just ordered it

This is just a suggestion, but you seem to be pretty handy at these conversions, so why not try an M110A2 SP Gun?? I think an M41 Walker Bulldog chassis would fit the bill reasonably well, and there could well be another chassis out there that would be even better. I dunno, it's just a thought, but if you could pull it off this would be an awesome conversion.

holensock · Post by **holensock** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:55 pm

By the way, if you guys are gonna toss those figures out...think of me first

ostketten · Post by **ostketten** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:51 pm

By the way, if you guys are gonna toss those figures out...think of me first

You know, they seem to be sold out of the howitzer at powerteamHQ, when I checked this AM it was there for $13 but I don't see it at all now, bummer. Hmmm...I think our friend fergie may have nabbed the last one, DOH!

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:53 pm

maybe....but i got an email from them this morning saying they got my payment but don't know what i ordered. This is exactly what happened a few months ago when i tried to order the Howitzer from them. After several weeks of waiting and no howitzer i had to petition Paypal for a refund for non receipt of goods.

I hope this isn't going to be deja vu all over again..

MK · Post by MK » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:55 pm

I too placed an order for the howitzer. I received a paypal receipt but no order confirmation. I will stay on top of it in case I need to get paypal involved.

holensock · Post by **holensock** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:07 am

MK wrote:I too placed an order for the howitzer. I received a paypal receipt but no order confirmation. I will stay on top of it in case I need to get paypal involved.

I had the same problem when I ordered from them-but saw on their website on the right hand side under 'Specials'..."When paying with PayPal you must hit continue from the confirmation screen to complete your order."

I think that's what delayed my order, but I got the desert humvee a few days later from them!

And word has it that soon Big Lots will be carrying Power Team 1:18!

MK · Post by MK » Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:26 am

I just emailed them to confirm my order. Thanks for the FYI. I would hate to miss out on the Howitzer because their ordering system will let you pay without confimring the order. We will see and I will start checking out Biglots shortly.

**edit** I received an email that my order did not go through and they will refund my money. They said the howitzer should be back by he end of next month. I guess I have time to work on other customs in the meantime.

MK

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:17 am

well, they're not even answering my emails so i had no idea what is going on til i read your post.

I think they really need to be a little more on the ball at powerteamhq.com. They're supposed to be running a business...this having to read the fine print on the edge of their website if you're paying with Paypal stuff is nonsense. So is being slow to respond to customer emails. Unacceptable.

MK · Post by MK » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:55 am

I agree. Isn't this the same company that had us preorder from them so they could place an order to the factory as one huge order?

I sent an email to both mike@lingg.com and Sales@PowerTeamHQ.Com last night and I got an answer back this morning. I still haven't received my money back so I am waiting to see if they come through. Its still a great price and if I need to wait, I will. I also want to see if they get the horse set back in so I can order that too.

MK

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:09 am

i just heard from them....same story: they are out of stock and will refund my money later today. I'll probably order one once they are back in stock, now that i know what the 'secret handshake' is in completing an order with them.

Morian Miner · Post by **Morian Miner** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:59 am

PowerteamHQ does need some serious work. I ordered a Little Bird and 2 Seal Teams last month. Box shows up and only the helicopter. The invoice showed the Seals on backorder. So I called and was told they are expecting a big shipment in the coming month.

I asked to keep my Seal team order open for a little while.

He's pretty good if you call him, but the website itself and emailing seems pretty lackluster.

Anyone know of another powerteam dealer?