Meyers Manx

In 1963 the Meyers Manx was first manufactured in Fountain Valley, California.

It was the classic dune buggy. 

While I have not found any evidence of their use by the US Army this Venezuelan Army version does appear in the 1967 John Wayne movie "Hellfighters."  And that is close enough for me.

I got four Hot Wheels versions of the Manx, stripped off the old paint and repainted them in US Army colors.

The drivers are generic plastic figures with US Army headgear, M1 helmets and Ridgeway hats from Imex Korean War sets.  Ever since I saw this movie in the theater I wanted some of these vehicles in my collection.  Mission accomplished.  It is a little late to put this vehicle in a unit with M47 tanks and M59 APCs but it's only temporary until I upgrade some more of my M48 and M60 collection.
 

M84 M59

M84 mortar carrier.

Carries a 4.2 inch mortar in the rear, hatch on the roof.

M41 light tanks.

M59 APC with upgraded machine gun position.

Rear view of APC
 

Tank and Jeeps

US Army Cold War, Pentomic Army era Reconnaissance unit.

It is HO scale Roco and Roskopf vehicles.

I intend to make several of these units using different camouflage and different vehicle combinations.

M47 Roco tank with upgraded cupola.

M38 Jeep by Roco with Heiser Models .30 caliber machine gun.  Roco US Tank Commander with head swap from tanker helmet to M1 helmet.

Two standard Jeeps with canopy and two man crew.

Radio Jeep with two antennas, and tow radios.  Figures by Roco, using the field phone guy in the back as the radio operator since he has a handset in his hand.  Field expedient wire cutter on bumper.
 

Roco Reconnaissance Company

The old Roco Minitank catalogs used to have tables of organization for the US, WWII Germans and other countries.  This one is a US Army, post-WWII Reconnaissance company.  Since I first saw this organization chart I wanted to build this unit and I have been working on it.  With further research I determined this organization was very similar to units both previous to this one and subsequent to it.  So I made a unit like this using the M47 series tank and M59 series armored vehicles, and other changes you will see below.

M47 tank with the M48 tank style cupola.  This improvement was intended but never fielded because the M47 was quickly replaced in US service by the M40.  The M59 series APC, however, did get this style of cupola as seen here on the personnel carrier.  If you click on the photos they should enlarge for your viewing pleasure.

The other M59 type is actually the M84, the mortar carrier, it has a large hatch on the back of the roof, and two mortar base plates on the rear.  It carried a 4.2 inch mortar in the back, normally fired towards the rear of the vehicle.  It was in US service about ten years from the late 1950s until replaced by the M106.

Rather than the M114 this unit has the M38 Jeep, I made three slightly different versions.

The light tanks are the M41 Walker Bulldog.

All of these vehicles are Roco, except for the M59 and M84 which are Roskopf.
 

They Are Coming

They said on the radio they were coming.

They would meet us here in the parking lot of the Army Headquarters building.

They said nothing could stop them.

They said they would be arriving soon.

They said they would not be persuaded otherwise.

They said we had no choice.

Atomic Cannon and Obaservation Posts

The atomic cannon is pulled into position.

The enemy fired rockets on this area last night.

The observation team is monitoring a large concentration of enemy troops.

The logistics people have sent up more ammunition.

The observations are sent back to the fire direction center.

Snipers also observe the enemy movements.

An attack is likely, and soon.

Guns and Sailors

The artillery is the most powerful arm of combat.

Most casualties are caused by artillery.

They also have great range.

Their crews have to work hard handling heavy and dangerous ammunition.

Some of the men check the terrain near the guns to make sure the enemy has not closed with the guns by infiltration.

Blue uniformed naval landing party.

MPC 60mm modern troops.

Guns and Accessories

Troops serving the guns.

Troops who have small arms so they can insure no enemy infiltration.

Five guns for a Pentomic Army 155mm howitzer battery.

These are recast Marx guns in green instead of the usual silver.

Five men in each crew for each gun.

At least one of every crew has at least one accessory.

BMEW Line

Over the decades I have purchased a lot of MPC vehicles and figures, often when buying a collection I would get one or more white ones. Not much use for them in Southern California.  But now, Snow Vehicles.  This top photo reminds me of those photos from Life Magazine where they documented construction of the DEW Line.  They often liked to include an American flag.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_Missile_Early_Warning_System

So here is an M8A1 cargo carrier with a flag, followed by an cargo carrier, in Arctic white camouflage. 

Proudly displaying the flag of our country in the Arctic vastness of Alaska.

Plowing though the snow.

Keeping us safe from Communist aggression.