U.S. ARMY 105mm HOWITZER M2A1 AFV CLUB 1/35

It’s a U.S. Army Howitzer released by AFV club, built in May 2014.

It seems to be the cannon kit that the spirit and soul of this marker will be felt. I heard the quality is very high level.

This coil spring is not metal parts and is molded by plastic injection. It requires considerably high technology of molding and injection.

A lot of parts are smaller than a rice grain, needed attention for assembling. Because it is considerably small, cutting gate filing is hard work, having sore eyes… You should be careful about the loss of the parts very much.

The gun mount is movable up and down, but it’s better to fix it the same timing near the completion of assembly because some of the parts are loose and easy to pull off. We can choose a state whether the kit is transporting or during a bombardment. This is a firing position I choose.

It became like this when I built little by little each part which I didn’t know which part I made at the beginning. High quality, perfect circle gun barrel is made of aluminum.
(04-May-2014)

Assembly of the howitzer was completed. There are not so many photo-etched parts, and cannon has a high quality only with plastic parts.
(11-May-2014)

Chain photo-etched parts quality increased as every chain circle twits 90 degrees.

The weight of the kit increases after attaching tire. The tire does not seem to be hollow but solid rubber.

Because the complicated mechanism area has many parts, assembling was difficult.

It is a howitzer having the machine gun. I suppose it’s unique.
(11-May-2014)

I blew surfacer on it.

Blowing mahogany on the dark area.

Now I’m painting basic color. I have to be careful to handle this kit as there are so many fragile places.
(26-May-2014)

A howitzer was completed. Cannons have an only small bulletproof board, the crew feels naked and exposed, I suppose. Comparing it to tanks, that can’t be helped.

Although this 105mm howitzer looks small, the effective range is approximately 11km, required soldiers are ten for operation. I don’t know well, probably one commander, two monitors, a calculation man, three for the operation of the cannon, the others are loaders?

I could choose a transportation position or shooting position, this is shooting. Same as last I made Diana, measurement poles bright color white and red accentuate well and good looking.

There seems to be the killing power radius is approximately 30m in such small cannon. Infantries can take damage easily if advancing on flat ground, and no point to hide.

The places where the metal parts seem to rub are painted in a metal collar lightly. The pattern of the tires is molded finely.

Two etching metal plates are on the left side of the cannon. As for such parts, AFV club’s work is excellent.

These small parts help my understanding of the complicated cannon mechanism.

After having understood real weapon’s performance, firstly I felt it weak and unreliable but is powerful. This cannon reminds me the 105mm howitzer was loaded on one of the Sherman tanks variations.

I set out a radio operator and commander with this howitzer. The front line commander should not be here like backward, but he looks like the commander of the artillery. Radioman is taking requests from the front.

Other two people are from the next booth. When it is only a cannon, I think it’s sort of fun, but it’s vivid with displayed figures. Of course, the satisfaction is high based on the AFV club’s cannon kit preciseness.
(01-June-2014)