discussion Can you guess what it is yet?

[David Lovell]

Nice model, of a very odd-looking vehicle. Looking at it makes me wonder why they set the turret so high: the whole thing elevates, and wouldn’t ever need the amount of depression possible with the pivot height as it is.

As for the sight: you could build something like it onto the turret face, without cutting a recess in it.

Are you going to finish this as the prototype or as an in-service vehicle?

I'll see what happens with the sight might be fun to finish as a in the field jobbie.

 

[David Lovell]

Threw some paint at it today(after completing brownie point jobs)quite pleased with it first time I've mucked about with olive drab found it very dark to work with if that makes sense, still on with the part I enjoy the most




Stay safe all will update as it progress. Dave.

 

[scottie3158]

Dave,
The OD looks very nice. Was there an operator in the turret?

 

[David Lovell]

Dave,
The OD looks very nice. Was there an operator in the turret?

Thanks Paul havent a clue Jakko will probably come up with the answer ,can't see how personally ,think it would have made a better infantry support vehicle than anti aircraft ,would have put a lot if lead down range.

 

[Guest]

Hehe Yes, there was a turret crew — TBH, 1940s technology wouldn’t have been up to creating an unmanned turret for this type of thing. The photos of the prototype show hatch openings (without hatches) in the roof:

View attachment 407882

I don’t have my copy of Hunnicutt’s Sherman at hand, but I think it mentions the turret crew too.

As for infantry support: any anti-aircraft gun makes a good infantry support weapon The Americans tended to use theirs mainly in that role in Europe, largely due to the lack of German planes to shoot at. The main problem is usually that they’re too lightly armoured to withstand much return fire, though.

 

[Guest]

If it was any smaller Dave !
Excused from the 4 BO club for this little gem. Think the paint colour looks perfect.

 

[David Lovell]

Hehe :smiling3: Yes, there was a turret crew — TBH, 1940s technology wouldn’t have been up to creating an unmanned turret for this type of thing. The photos of the prototype show hatch openings (without hatches) in the roof:



I don’t have my copy of Hunnicutt’s Sherman at hand, but I think it mentions the turret crew too.

As for infantry support: any anti-aircraft gun makes a good infantry support weapon :smiling3: The Americans tended to use theirs mainly in that role in Europe, largely due to the lack of German planes to shoot at. The main problem is usually that they’re too lightly armoured to withstand much return fire, though.

Thanks Jakko good to have a man in the know , this is running nicely as much intrest in the real thing as in the build. Dave

 

[Si Benson]

Very nice Dave....you’ve got the OD looking great to me ( I’m not an OD expert, just like what I see:thumb2

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jakko good to have a man in the know

I’m now much closer to the book than yesterday, so I’ll go look it up just for completeness’ sake Ah, here we go:

The T52 carried a crew of four with two men in a ball type turret having armor thickness of 1-1/2 inches [38 mm]. The gunner was located on the right side of the 40mm gun M1 and was responsible for sighting and firing all three weapons. He also had to reload the right-hand machine gun. The loader at the left side of the turret was an extremely busy man. He had to load the 40mm gun, set the range indicator, cock and clear both machine guns, reload the left machine gun, and locate new targets. The Proving Ground concluded that he had insufficient space to perform his duties. Perhaps they meant that two men were required for the job.

I can see what he means. The 40 mm Bofors gun is loaded from four-found clips, which can be pushed into the hopper at the top of the gun while it’s firing — meaning it can fire continuously if it’s reloaded fast enough. On a ground-mounted gun, though, this generally requires at least two loaders: one to push the clips into the gun as fast as he can and another to hand him fresh clips — plus preferably more on the ground to get clips from storage boxes. Doing just that by yourself inside a turret sounds like hard work already, never mind adding all the other tasks.

 

[David Lovell]

Very nice Dave....you’ve got the OD looking great to me ( I’m not an OD expert, just like what I see:thumb2

Thanks Si you know me anything over 20 rivets I've run out of fingers and toes never been one for accuracy, as for the colour im with you if it looks ok it must be ok thank for looking in Dave

 

[Steve Jones]

Great to see something a little different David. A great build and wonderful paintwork and weathering. Like it a lot. Thanks for all the info. A great blog all round