Post by troyluginbill on Nov 28, 2010 19:33:57 GMT -5
I have exanded my impression to include a new toy-
Mabel-a 1943 WC 52/55 M6 gun motor carriage.
Here she is in her USMC forest green. After 2 more coats she will get her numbers and stars.
(the red is grease for the painting. I have had an old motor pool guy helping me restore her and he is making sure I do it "the right way" which is the way they did it at the time. They greased whatever they didn't want painted. Although I cheated with the sheets over the seats and wood backs.)
The M6 gun motor carriage was originallly used in North Africa in operation torch. It was a wc-52 mounted with a 37mm cannon. It was found that the cannon was simply not up to fighting the german armor. A company was retained for use in italy as infantry support.
The M6s were taken out of the army service and used by the free french in europe and a couple of companies were transferred to the 3rd marine division. The marines used them at bougainville and a couple of other small assaults on various other islands. The 37mm was excellent against the japanese armor and with the cannister shot it was very effective at stopping the japanese banzai charges.
Her cannon is coming in January and I have all the kit to stock her with. She will be mounted with a .30 1919 in addition to the cannon as well as 2 garands and a BAR and a thompson. (plus various grenades, mines, and pistols.)
I have been working on here since Oct 2009-have rebuilt the engine, scraped, ground, and repainted most everything. I still have the wiring to figure out and a general lube job to do to make sure all the boxes and grease pots are full. So there is still a few months left to do on her.
I hope ultimately to get her to a game next summer here in WA state. She runs beautifully and is a lot of fun to drive. I will keep updating this thread as I add the final bits to her.
Mabel-a 1943 WC 52/55 M6 gun motor carriage.
Here she is in her USMC forest green. After 2 more coats she will get her numbers and stars.
(the red is grease for the painting. I have had an old motor pool guy helping me restore her and he is making sure I do it "the right way" which is the way they did it at the time. They greased whatever they didn't want painted. Although I cheated with the sheets over the seats and wood backs.)
The M6 gun motor carriage was originallly used in North Africa in operation torch. It was a wc-52 mounted with a 37mm cannon. It was found that the cannon was simply not up to fighting the german armor. A company was retained for use in italy as infantry support.
The M6s were taken out of the army service and used by the free french in europe and a couple of companies were transferred to the 3rd marine division. The marines used them at bougainville and a couple of other small assaults on various other islands. The 37mm was excellent against the japanese armor and with the cannister shot it was very effective at stopping the japanese banzai charges.
Her cannon is coming in January and I have all the kit to stock her with. She will be mounted with a .30 1919 in addition to the cannon as well as 2 garands and a BAR and a thompson. (plus various grenades, mines, and pistols.)
I have been working on here since Oct 2009-have rebuilt the engine, scraped, ground, and repainted most everything. I still have the wiring to figure out and a general lube job to do to make sure all the boxes and grease pots are full. So there is still a few months left to do on her.
I hope ultimately to get her to a game next summer here in WA state. She runs beautifully and is a lot of fun to drive. I will keep updating this thread as I add the final bits to her.