US Army

In searching the body spares box I found parts of several US Army troops.

Bits from Hasagawa, Esci, and others put back together in some semblance of order.

A new base, a new arm, perhaps.

I will primer paint these guys soon.

They they will likely be given an over all green color to match one or more of my WWII US Army sets and be returned to service.

Tanks and Support Vehicles

Fuel in five gallon cans, tanks use a lot of gas.

Refueling takes place wherever the tanks get low.

Tankers are always moving heavy loads.

Disperse the vehicles.

Submachine guns to the front.

Land Train

In the 1950's the US Army wanted a Land Train.  They needed to get supplies to Arctic and desert outposts with few or no roads.  So a giant vehicle that could carry up to 150 tons was developed.

I use several kinds of wooden parts I got from Hobby Lobby.

This is a diesel power unit from an HO scale train.  I got it used at a train show.

Add the wooden wheels.

And a bit of a cab from a caboose.

Quick mock up version to test the feasibility.  It's probably do-able.

Dune Buggy

I got this Hot Wheels vehicle to use as a sort of Hummer.

I will strip the paint and repaint it as a US Army vehicle.

The US Army looked at several dune buggy type vehicles before settling on the Hummer.

This vehicle has two spare tires on the back, which is not atypical for a military vehicle.

I think they have interesting lines.

I am considering adding window glazing to the window openings.

I got over 24 of them and that's enough, for now at least.

Hummers

Master Modeller Wayne Wanner continues to work on his Hummers.

I like the replacement door on the back of this one 1/72nd scale model.

Nice variety of weapons and storage.

WW used the Black Dog accessory set to customize these vehicles.

US vehicles often have a lot of storage on them, wire, tarps, camo, and personal gear.

Hummer Detail

Master Modeller Wayne Wanner is working on upgrading some 1/72nd scale Hummer models.

He is using some simple add on bits from Black Dog models.

They glue right on with super glue.

There are many Hummer kits out there in small scale from Roco, Matchbox and many others.  These kinds of bits can really dress up the vehicles.

Tracks

Another Matchbox re-run.

The US Army experimented with tracks like these in the past.

The concept was that you could take existing wheeled vehicles and make them into tracked vehicles to operate in snow or mud.

I got these to use the tracks for Army vehicles.

I like these white ones and will probably keep a few just like this as civilian exploration vehicles.

Here they are with Esci 1/72nd Warsaw Pact Troops.

They are nice little vehicles.

The roof is semi-clear and needs to be painted.

Coyote 500

In the 1980's the US Army was looking for a replacement for the Jeep, pick up trucks and other small, light vehicles.  This was a TOW carrier version.

This one is a dual machine gun versions.  Note the difference in the fenders, and the engine cover, and headlights.  There were many detail differences.  Eventually, the US Army picked the Humvee, and this vehicle lost.

Matchbox makes a model called the Coyote 500.  They have made about a dozen different versions, in different colors and different decals.

I managed to pick up a few recently.  They will support my 1980's US Army forces.

Light Tank

I asked what tank the MPC plastic model tank was based on and Master Modeller Wayne Wanner came up with the answer.

The T92 was designed as a replacement for the M41 Walker Bulldog.  It used the same gun and had mirror image cupolas based on those used for the M48 tank.

It was much smaller than the M41 and was air transportable, however it was not amphibious.  Since the Soviet Union announced the PT76 was amphibious the US Army went back to the drawing board and got the M551 Sheridan instead.

Tim Mee

Tim Mee updated their Korean War era troops with a range of Cold War soldiers.

They had the M14 rifle and flame throwers for added firepower.

This pose came with an M60 machine gun, but mostly they are lost.  I use the Tim Mee bazooka as a replacement weapon.

They added a marching figure and an ammo bearer.

A second grenade thrower figure and the motorcycle rider finished off the new range.

I have been trimming the flash and inventorying my Tim Mee troops.

 

60mm troops with greater firepower, I love it.