A missing model?

[Dave Ward]

I was looking at US half track versions for any obscure variant - and I came across one, that had nearly 2000 produced, saw action in WWII in Europe & the Pacific, and went on to serve in Korea BUT , as far as I see has never had a 1/35 injection moulded model ( unless I have missed something obvious )

M15A1 Combined Gun Motor Carriage AAA with a 37mm and two .5 Browning mgs.

Obviously a posed shot - but it seems to have a crew of 6.
AFV Club did a model of a M15 ' Special ' which mounted a single 40mm, but ignored the early version - these models sell for around £100, which seems a lot for a half-track sized model. I've seen scratchbuilt conversions, but not even a resin conversion. It seems very odd that this version has escaped the attention of the model manufacturers!
I have found a 3D print file for this. The basic hull, no real problem, but the turret?

I don't think there's much chance of printing this successfully by FDM, but I'm going to have a go - a print time of 12 hrs plus............................
Dave

[Jack L]

I was looking at US half track versions for any obscure variant - and I came across one, that had nearly 2000 produced, saw action in WWII in Europe & the Pacific, and went on to serve in Korea BUT , as far as I see has never had a 1/35 injection moulded model ( unless I have missed something obvious )
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1229723[/ATTACH]
M15A1 Combined Gun Motor Carriage AAA with a 37mm and two .5 Browning mgs.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1229724[/ATTACH]
Obviously a posed shot - but it seems to have a crew of 6.
AFV Club did a model of a M15 ' Special ' which mounted a single 40mm, but ignored the early version - these models sell for around £100, which seems a lot for a half-track sized model. I've seen scratchbuilt conversions, but not even a resin conversion. It seems very odd that this version has escaped the attention of the model manufacturers!
I have found a 3D print file for this. The basic hull, no real problem, but the turret?
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1229725[/ATTACH]
I don't think there's much chance of printing this successfully by FDM, but I'm going to have a go - a print time of 12 hrs plus............................
Dave

It may defeat the point of your project...but could you print the main structure, and then acquire the parts that don't print well from elsewhere?

[Dave Ward]

It may defeat the point of your project...but could you print the main structure, and then acquire the parts that don't print well from elsewhere?

Fair comment, but the only place I can get the interior would be to buy a resin print from the site where I found the 3D files - it's a commercial licensed product. The 3D files I bought are for personal use only, and as I can't use a resin printer ( no room ) thats not on. It may be feasible to cut it into parts, but I'm sure that would introduce another raft of problems!
Dave

[Jack L]

Fair comment, but the only place I can get the interior would be to buy a resin print from the site where I found the 3D files - it's a commercial licensed product. The 3D files I bought are for personal use only, and as I can't use a resin printer ( no room ) thats not on. It may be feasible to cut it into parts, but I'm sure that would introduce another raft of problems!
Dave

I was more thinking about purchasing injection moulded .5 guns, or salvaging them from other kits (assuming those fro example will be difficult in FDM), or attempting a scratch build of any of that structure that doesn't come through? Again depends on your aim...if you are pushing your already impressive printing skills, or just want the final half track?

[vizenz]

Hello David,
those are the files from NightSky Miniatures if I see it correctly. What scale do you want to build the vehicle in?

[Dave Ward]

Hello David,
those are the files from NightSky Miniatures if I see it correctly. What scale do you want to build the vehicle in?

Yes, those are the files, I'm going for 1/35, although I might try 1/56. 1/72 may be possible by FDM, but with a smaller nozzle & a lot of tinkering.
Dave

[vizenz]

I have the files too, so if you want the turret printed in resin, just let me know and I'll try.

[Guest]

Small heads-up: the turret photo is of an M15A1, as you say, but the 3D render is of an M15. The difference is, basically, the placement of the .50-calibre machine guns: above the 37 mm gun in the M15, below it in the M15A1.

In any case, you’re right that this is a pretty major omission in US Army vehicle kits, as these guns were quite widely used. US Army half-tracked anti-aircraft companies had eight M15s or M15A1s, plus eight M16s, which are easily available in 1:35. The M15 Special, with the 40 mm Bofors gun, was only used in the Philippines, and so seems a less likely choice to make a kit of.

[Dave Ward]

M15 or M15A1 - well, since neither have been favoured by a manufacturer, it doesn't matter. Originally the guns had a square shield covering all 3, but this was removed to increase vision.
I'm just about to start the print off & I hope I'll have a result in the morning. I used organic support, as the grid style looked like it would be difficult to remove. I did look at various angles, but none looked any better than flat on the bed

There's a lot of support to remove after printing, but fingers crossed
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

Is it just me, or does that organic support look like it something from Invasion of the body snatchers?

[Dave Ward]

An odd thing - the organic supports are hollow, as the print head moves over the work in progress, the cooling fan blows over the mouth of the supports, producing a faint 'whistle', of differing pitches ( different sized supports ). It's only audible when you are very close, and gradually declines as the print builds up.
Some Slicer programmes call it ' tree ' supports, but my PrusaSlicer calls it ' organic '
Dave

[Dave Ward]

Hot off thr print bed..........................

Gun barrels are 'warty', and will need attention/replacing


Looks a bit of a mess, but I think after a careful clean up it may be useable.
There are files provided for the crew, and it may be that they could hide any major flaws.
I need to break out the surgical scissors & tweezers for the clean up, and I don't think it'll be a speedy process!
Dave

[Guest]

TBH, it looks to me like this would have been better as two (or more) separate print jobs: the gun with mount and the shield, for one. And I would definitely cut off the gun barrels and replace them with plastic rod and/or spare kit barrels.

[Dave Ward]

Whilst looking at the US half-tracks, I found another gap - the T30 Howitzer Motor Carriage

Half-track with a 75mm pack howitzer fitted. 500 produced in WWII - saw action
Odd that makers who already have a M2/M3 in their catalogue, and even the pack howitzer haven't picked up on this ( Tamiya have both! )
Obvious that paper projects that never got off the drawing board are better sales potential than something that did exist in reasonable numbers
Dave

[Guest]

TBH, Tamiya would not exactly be the ideal one to release this as a combination of two of their old kits

But if you want to talk missing American half-tracks, then the absolute Number One is an M5. Every 1:35 scale American half-track is an M2, M3, or variant thereof. The M5, though, differed in so many ways that about the only parts that could be reused are the wheels, the rear suspension with track, and the roller or winch on the front. Maybe the grille and bonnet too, but that’s about it. A plastic kit of that would be welcomed by just about everybody who builds British Second World War vehicles, I would think.

Another fairly major US half-track variant of which there are no kits is the “M16B”, which is an M2 half-track car with the M45 quadruple machine-gun turret of the M16 in the back, and which was used fairly extensively in Normandy. Also the M2 fitted with 37 mm anti-tank guns taken from M6 37-mm gun motor carriages (Dodge “Beeps” with a gun and shield on the back) by some units. And, of course, all of the variants of the M5-series, especially the British-modified ones adapted from anti-aircraft vehicles with the turrets removed.