M2A1 U.S. Light Tank 1938 - 1/72 free model

[Perry]

Hi guys

After my T1E2 here's my second designed model

It's one of the many Proto-Stuart like tanks that were developed by U.S. Army between the wars. This one is the basic model but in the future I'd like to design other variations ( like the double turret one or the combat car m1... so that I can keep the same hull :D )

Like the previous one I'll be grateful to everyone that will beta build it and let me know which parts I should modify.

Here's the model ( I'll post it in the dowload section in a few minutes )

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4782534795_0a3836eeae_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/4783168516_3467921d4c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4783168164_bd26e475f5.jpg

[casca]

How about a turret for Pattons command vehicle in the 1941 Louisianna maneuvers ?

[Don Boose]

Looks like a great model, Alberto. Many thanks for offering it as a free download. I intend to try my hand at it as soon as I successfuly complete your T1E1, which I have been enjoying very much.

I am very please to see this early inter-war U.S. armor becoming available.

Don

[cjwalas]

Love this one! Excellent choice. I echo Don's thanks! I'm really looking forward to trying my hand at this one. Many thanks and congratulations on what I think is a fantastic idea for a line of models.
Chris

[B-Manic]

Nice on Perry - The level of detail at this scale is not only great but looks very buildable.

[Perry]

Thank's all

Here's a 1/48 version for those who prefer this scale

MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6XNA1RIC)


CASCA:
Do you have some photos of it?... so that I can identify the exact tank

[Stev0]

I'm confused, I thought the M2A1 was the medium tank.

http://www.battletanks.com/images/M2A1_Med_Tank_Restored-1.jpg

Your prequel Stuart is amazing.

[mbauer]

Hi guys

After my T1E2 here's my second designed model

It's one of the many Proto-Stuart like tanks that were developed by U.S. Army between the wars. This one is the basic model but in the future I'd like to design other variations ( like the double turret one or the combat car m1... so that I can keep the same hull :D )

Hi Perry,

Last year I was at Ft Lewis visitng my son. We went to the post museum and I took many photos of the M3A1 Stuart Light Tank and other vehicles missiles.

Here are a few examples, if you would like all (12 total of this tank) for any of your projects, I would be happy to email them to you!

Great looking designs! You do them justice!!

Best regards,
Mike Bauer

[Paperwarrior]

Perry, Excellent subject!!! Very well done. Thank you for your kindness with the download. This period is hard to find vehicles for.

Stevo, It can be confusing. At that time it wasn't just by designation...M2. It was based off the classification of the vehicle, too. That is why you see, as here the M2 Light tank and M2 Medium Tank. The M3 Stuart Light Tank vs the M3 Lee Medium Tank. ...just the way things were done back in the day.

Jeff

[Don Boose]

To expand on Jeff’s lucid and concise explanation, here is a little more info on the old Army nomenclature system, taken from
Donald W. Boose, Jr., U.S. Army Forces in the Korean War 1950-53, Battle Orders 11, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2005, p. 54:

Equipment Nomenclature
The Army nomenclature system usually designated weapons and equipment with a descriptive name and model number (Bayonet M1). Model numbers were assigned to each weapon or item of equipment when it entered service and were assigned numerically for each type of equipment (M26 tank, M1 rifle). Some weapons and vehicles also had popular names, such as the “Sherman” tank.

Weapons were further identified by caliber (width of the bore of a gun or diameter of a projectile). The Army used both English (inches) and metric (millimeters) systems to measure caliber (60mm mortar, 8-inch howitzer). The complete nomenclature of a weapon might also include other information. For example, the standard heavy machine gun with a 0.5 inch bore as it appeared in tables of organization and equipment [T/O&E] was “GUN MACHINE CAL 50 BRG M2 HB,” which meant the second model that entered service (M2) of a machine gun with a caliber (bore) of 0.5 inch (CAL 50), manufactured by Browning (BRG), and with a heavy barrel (HB). For ease of reading, simplified versions are used in this publication (“50 caliber heavy machine gun M2” or “M1 rifle”).

There were some variations in this system. Model numbers were not always issued consecutively and weapons and equipment introduced before World War II had model numbers based on the year of entry into service (.30-caliber Light Machine Gun M1919A4).

When a major modification was made to an item of equipment, the modified version received an “A” suffix, as in the case of “Portable Flame Thrower, M1A1.” Modifications to armored vehicle chassis were designated by “B” suffixes (Tank Recovery Vehicle M32B3). Weapons and equipment still undergoing testing received “T,” rather than “M” model numbers (T18 Armored Utility Vehicle). Experimental modifications were designated by “E” suffixes (T18E1 Armored Utility Vehicle). In some cases, the “E” modification suffixes were unofficially retained after equipment went into service. For example, the most widely used tank in Korea was officially the M4A3 (76) HVSS (W) Sherman tank. This was the third modification of the M4 tank (M4A3) with a 76mm gun (76), a horizontal volute suspension (HVSS - a type of suspension in which heavy springs were mounted horizontally), and “wet” storage of ammunition (W) – the ammunition was stored in lockers filled with liquid to reduce the chance of fire and explosion if hit. During testing, the tank had been designated M4A3E8. This simpler designation was widely used, even in official publications, and the M4A3E8 was popularly known as the “Easy Eight.”

Wheeled vehicles were usually identified by cargo weight capacity, the number of powered and un-powered wheels, and other significant characteristics. The most widely used vehicle in Korea was the 2½-ton 6X6 cargo truck, with a cargo capacity of two and a half tons and six wheels, all powered. Some had short wheel bases (SWB) or were equipped with winches (WW). Most wheeled vehicles introduced before 1950 had no “M” numbers, so the T/O&E designation for such a vehicle was: “TRUCK CARGO 2½ TON 6X6 SWB WW.” Most of the 2 ½-ton trucks in Korea were built by the General Motors Corporation (GMC) and were popularly known as “Jimmies” or “Deuces.” The GMC designation for this truck, CCKW (C = 1941 model, C = conventional cab, K = all wheel drive, and W = dual rear wheels), was often used in publications. The amphibious version of the GMC 2½-ton truck was also identified in official documents by the GMC designation, DUKW (D = 1942 model, U = amphibious, K = all-wheel drive, and W = dual rear wheels) and was popularly known as the “Duck.”


Don

[mbauer]

Wow, Don, Thank you! Been wondering how things are named. This explains with great clarity how and why!

Actually makes sense now!

Mike Bauer

[Miles Linnabery]

Dear Perry:
Thankyou very much for having the 1/48 scale PDF to download. Getting older is a drag for eyesite and fingers don't flex as well any more. Plus I've got a mild case of computer fobia I realy need to learn to Deal with PDF's to rescale them.
Thanks,
Miles

[Paperwarrior]

CASCA,

Is this the Light tank you were referring to?

Jeff

[Stev0]

There was a twin turret version as well it appears.

[Don Boose]

Jeff -- Those photos look like the M1 Combat Car, which (I think) used the same chassis as the M2 tank. As you know, from the 1920s to the late 1930s, the Infantry branch was responsible for tank doctrine, development, and force structure, so the cavalry couldn't have "tanks" and used the "combat car" designation for their light, armored, tracked, tank-like vehicles.

I may be mistaken, but I think the tank used by Patton in Louisiana maneuvers was an M2 with twin, open-topped turrets suitable for observation by a commander -- a kind of track recon car. I believe that's the one that Stev0 is referring to.

The tank is in the Patton museum, and with the twin turrets, was called "Mae West" (for the same reason that the double bends in the Imjin River in Korea where the 9th Cav Recon Squadron screened for the 1st Cav Div back in the day were called the "Dagmars").

Interwar permanent exhibits at The General Patton Museum (http://www.generalpatton.org/exhibits/interwar.asp)
File:M2 Light.Fort Knox.0007zza0.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M2_Light.Fort_Knox.0007zza0.jpg)

I am in the office, getting ready for class, and working structly from Internet sources, so, as always, I am prepared to be corrected by those (Hello Charlie) with more authoritative information.

Note that Alfredo has indicated that he is looking toward designing and issuing both the M1 combat car and the twin-turreted M2 tank, for which, much thanks in advance. I am envisioning a display of U.S. Army interwar armor development next year at Army Heritage Days.

Toujours l'Audace.

Don

[CharlieC]

I agree the images are of M1 combat cars.

The development of combat cars and light tanks in the US in the 1930s is complex and difficult to understand. As far as I can figure it out tanks were expected to operate only with infantry so speed wasn't a critical requirement but adequate armour was. The combat cars arose from a cavalry requirement for reconnaissance - I guess you can think of them with the speed of an armoured car with the cross-country capability of a tank. What seems to have happened is that the lightly armoured combat cars and light tank designs became more or less the same vehicle in the M3 Stuart. However in the mid-30s they were distinctly different vehicles - the M1 combat cars were only armed with machine guns and were thinly armoured, the M2 light tanks were more heavily armoured and had 37mm guns.

There were also vehicles developed using Christie's ideas of convertible wheel/track AFVs as well as ideas borrowed from 6-ton Vickers tanks. I think the 2 turret idea came from the Vickers tanks. I've read that started from a notion that a single turret tank couldn't sit astride a trench and fire along the trench in both directions. (The WW1 rhomboid tanks could do this from their sponson armament). Obviously with 2 turrets this could be achieved. I'll leave it as an exercise to point out the logical flaws in this idea.

I've heard that the Patton Museum at Fort Knox is closing and the armour exhibits are to be moved to Fort Benning (?) and will no longer be on public display.

Regards,

Charlie

[rickstef]

According to the actual Museum site, there is no such info about closing, they are actually in the process of building a new museum

Patton Museum Online: Official General George S. Patton Jr. Museum featuring Memorabilia & History (http://www.generalpatton.org/)

Rick

[mbauer]

Thanks Charlie!

Interesting info on the infantry vs scout. Been both in my earlier years. First went to Ft Knox for Cav Scout, visited the museum, but have no photos from the visit (1977-78).

Was the very last class to be a 11D10, day after we graduated, recieved orders changing to 19D10.

Mike

BTW-11D10 and 19D10 are MOS (Military Occupation S=?) codes. They tell what kind of job you do in the military.

[ultra]

it looks ver nice man

looking forward to seeing your other models

ultra stone

[CharlieC]

I should have dug out more detail on the Patton Museum -
www.army.mil/-news/2010/02/15/34433-knox-armor-artifacts-begin-move-to-benning (http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.army.mil/-images/2010/02/15/64297/size0-army.mil-64297-2010-02-16-160242.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/02/15/34433-knox-armor-artifacts-begin-move-to-benning/&usg=__lCxsZMSeFfVvYdjUz1PPPqoGAAM=&h=340&w=640&sz=31&hl=en&start=11&sig2=DSF4pDdYW8PLlUAuW32gWA&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=gHAsRG_qjghM1M:&tbnh=73&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBenning%2BMuseum%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%2 6sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enGB375GB376%26tbs%3Disch: 1&ei=uAM6TJX2PMSOjAfr3JnoAw)

Regards,

Charlie

[Perry]

1/48 Version added in the download Section

[Paperwarrior]

...and thank you very much!!!

[Stev0]

Great design work Perry. You should take a stab at the Medium version which was the precursor to the M3. You would do it some justice.

Thanks for making this model free.