JAPANESE ARMOR KING/NEW RESIN'S 1/35 U.S. 75mm PACK HOWITZER

by Ray Mehlberger

MSRP: $20.00

History:

This howitzer was developed in the 1920s as a result of World War I experience and was an ingenious design of howitzer which could be rapidly stripped down into four mule loads. The gun barrel locked into the breech by an interrupted thread, and was retained on the cradle by means of a "top sleigh" of cast steel and lead. The carraige trail could be removed completely, or split into pieces, or folded and fitted with shafts for animal draught.

A notable feature of the design was the lightening holes in the trail sides in WWII when the Airborne troops required an artillery piece which could be parachute-dropped, the carriage M8 was developed, which was simply the standard M1 carriage with pneumatic tires and steel wheels. The 75mm (2.95 in) was used by the U.S. and British airborne troops until the mid-1960s.

Tech Data:

Country of Origin: USA
Caliber: 75mm (2.95 in)
Weight in Action: 607 kg (1,339 lbs)
Gun Length: 1.32m (52 in.)
Elevation: 5 degrees to 45 degrees
Traverse: 6 degrees
Shell Type & Weight: HE; 6.35 kg (14 lbs.)
Muzzle Velocity: 381m/sec (1250 ft/sec.)
Maximum Range: 8787m (9510 yds)

What's in the Cello Bag?:

Yep...the kit comes in cello....no box. It is molded in chalk white colored resin, which seems to be prefered by Japanese Armor King. This is good, because white is an easy color to paint over and does not distort colors put on it.

There are six parts in the kit. These consist of two spoked wheels, the gun cradle, axle, towbar, and the gun barrel..which is molded as completely covered by a canvas tarp.

The kit is designed as a howitzer that is in the stowed for towing mode. This is the early M1 version, used in the Phillipines early in the war (for example) and either pulled by horse or human power. Japanese Armor King also produces the later M8 version, with the pneumatic tires and steel wheel rims. I believe that kit is in the uncovered mode.

The small instruction sheet gives an exploded drawing of the weapon. This sheet is apparently common to both the M1 and the M8 kit. That is because the barrel piece is shown with and without the canvas cover and the pneumatic tired wheel is pictured also.

There is some flash to be removed, especially from the wheels and tow bar...but it is wafer thin and with care can be easily addressed.

No history of the gun or painting instructions are given. However, these weapons were usually painted good old olive drab.

Conclusion

This looks like it will make up nicely after the usual removal of pour gates and flash (common on most resin kits). You only have to fabricate a strap, for the canvas cover, that is to wrap around the bottom of the carraige. This can be done with sheet lead or even paper.

I recommend this kit to those of us that have done some resins. However, with the small number of parts here, it would be a good starter kit for modelers who are un-initiated to resin kits.

I want to thank Ted Dyer of Armor Model King/New Resin for this review sample.

Ted only deals direct, from his web site at:

The snail mail address for him is:

Ted Dyer Inc.
New Resin
P.O. Box 1030
Roslyn, PA 19001
USA