Milk Run

1938 US Army troops deployed around a off road milk truck.

This is a milk truck modified into a Monster Truck.

It is a Hot Wheels vehicle that I got recently, It is a re-issue, I got one just like it but in different colors a while back.

My plan is to take it apart, replace the black plastic undercarriage and tires and wheels.

They will become something more Army looking.

The undercarriage is actually pretty cool on it's own and I might make it into some kind of vehicle separate from the milk van.

It actually scales nicely with this Strelets early WWII US Army figure.

Deployed in forest this radio truck disguised as a milk van deploys a squad with a radio.

The radio is very large and the batteries are both heavy and don't last long, having a truck to carry them around is very helpful.
 

105mm Howitzer Upgrades and Backgrades

For the last several years I have been working on a long term project to repair, upgrade, convert much of my collection.  My Roco 105mm howitzers were greatly in need of attention.  Many were missing parts, many were broken, some had no wheels, few were painted, and some were just piles of parts.

This one had trails that were broken, the little taps the clip into the shied have a tendency to break off, some of them had no tabs at all.  I solved this problem by using clay to hold the shield in position while the trails were glued both to the shield and the other end to a bit of sheet plastic.

I am also back dating some of these to an older style tire.  This is the same type often found on the Interwar French 75s and several other medium guns.

I am removing the small front shield and cutting down the main shield.

Here is the small shield removed.  I try to retain these pieces in case I need them for the next gun!

The shield is cut down.

Here is what it looks like after trimming.  Starting in 1938 the US Army began a massive mechanization project to replace all the wagon wheels on their artillery with pneumatic tires.  They wanted to do it about a decade earlier but the Congress would not spend the money.  Even starting in 1938 by the end of 1941 only about half of the inventory was upgraded.
 

Deep Forest Green

The US Army was always on the forefront of mechanization.  They realized that shipping horses, mules, their fodder, tack, and all the other gear needed to operate massive numbers for animals for cavalry, towing wagons, and artillery was just too much space for shipping across the Atlantic.

The first motor vehicles had balloon tires that were white, they were like a big inner tube and got punctured frequently.  Later they added carbon to the rubber and made it both stronger and black.  Heavy loads still could not be carried on these balloon tires so tires similar to those wooden wagon wheels were developed.  They were a solid black rubber band heated and then slipped over the steel wheel.  It would shrink and bond to the wheel.  They were very tough and provided better traction than steel wheels without the rubber.  These were used in World War One.

Later the pneumatic tire was invented, not unlike tires of today.  Many thousands of US Army vehicles were switched over to the new tire type.  These were much like automobile tires of today, not the big off road knobby tires usually associated with military vehicles.  Those came later, during WWII.

My WWI era US Army vehicles get painted Olive Drab, but my 1938 US Army vehicles mostly get Rust-Oleum Deep Forest Green.  In peacetime the US Army usually drifts away from the mission of war fighting and the 1930s were no exception.  The began painting vehicle glossy paint jobs and painting large bold unit insignias on them.

This is one of my WWI era trucks, spoked tires.

The same with the canopy up.

And the first truck but painted in Deep Forest Green and with pneumatic tires.  After getting the Deep Forest Green, which as you can see if very flat, I will gloss coat them.
 

Big Gun

Interwar years and the American army is ready for war.

Using the latest technology to keep up with the times.

Soldiers prepare the artillery projectiles.

They use the crane to bring them onto the gun.

12 inch mobile artillery piece, the latest in firepower and mobility.

The crew get ready to fire.

The cavalry has spotted the enemy and reported back to the battery.

The commander gives the order to fire.

The lanyard is pulled and the gun goes ka-boom!
 

Odd Facts US Army

   The United States had two versions of the 48 star flag.

This is the most common one, but there is another one where every other line is off center, it looks like the current US 50 star flag.  Either one is acceptable.

 In 1942 when US Army troops were stationed in Northern Ireland they trained with British 25 pounders field guns.  They had not yet received their US 105mm howitzers.  The 25 pounders were towed using American 2 1/2 ton trucks and no limber as the ammo was carried in the truck.

Later in North Africa, American Army troops used the 25 pounder again due to a lack of 105mm artillery ammunition.  In the Battle of the Bulge the US Army used the 25 pounder with the muzzle break due to a lack of ammunition!  Again!

 Gettysburg was the site of a major battle during the American Civil War.  In World War One it was the site of the first tank training facility, Camp Colt. Captain Dwight D. Eisenhower was the camp commander.  In World War Two Gettysburg was the site of a prisoner or war camp for German and Japanese prisoners.  Many World War Two American soldiers were buried at Gettysburg during the war.  President Eisenhower and his wife owned a home at Gettysburg and it was their vacation White House when he was president.  So if you wargame the American Civil War and set up a Gettysburg game, you can use the terrain for many different purposes!

 

 
 Just after World War One John Browning worked on an anti-tank rifle for the US Army.  It eventually became the M2 .50 caliber machine gun.  But at first it was an anti-tank rifle that saw a few built for testing.  Might be an interesting alternative history weapon for World War One or maybe for a 1938 US Army.

The French 75 was built in the USA during World War One and 148 were shipped to France before the end of the war.  It was called the 75mm Gun M1897.  Post war some of these were updated and given a new carriage that looks a lot like the US 105mm split trail carriage with dish type wheels.  By 1926 only one battery was completed due to a lack of funding.  The US Army actually wanted to replace them wiht 105mm howitzers but could not due to lack of funding.  The US did get about a dozen of 105mm guns constructed but due to funding they could not build more.  They were essentially the WWII era 105mm gun with a smaller shield and wooden wagon wheels.  Only about a battery were built.

The 75mm Field Gun M1897A2 was the World War One era French 75 with pneumatic tires and new brakes to enable it to be towed by motor transport.  Artillery with wooden wagon wheels will tend to bounce at motor vehicle speeds and will flip over often taking the motor vehicle with it.  Rubber tires don't do that.  Only about 1/2 of the US supply of French 75's was converted prior to World War Two.  French 75s were used in training during WWII by the US.

I have managed to cobble together a few of these for my Interwar US Army forces.

This is the field version of the US Army flag.  It us normally on a while field rather than a blue field.  The blue field was chosen because the white could be misconstrued as a flag of surrender.  So when you have your US Army troops in the field you can use this flag.