M16 Half Track "Meat Chopper" Korea 1950 - Build
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 2:53 am
Hi,
This is my new build. I know, I've been busy lately. I should be on a 3 week roadtrip in Portugal but I am now enjoying my summer vacation at home with not much to do.
The subject: The M16 half track equipped with the M45 AA quadmount with M2 .50 cal machine guns. It was also popular against enemy infantry. This is how it got the nickname Meat Chopper. These .50 rounds can cut a man in half and were especially effective in massacring communist infantry wave attacks in Korea. It is surprising the Chinese would create a model of such a terrible former foe.
At one point in Korea, the M16 and newly build M16A1 were equipped with "Bat Wings" to protect the loaders against enemy snipers. It is undetermined if I will reproduce them for this build. It does not make the M16 very good looking.
Reference for this build is essential because the web only has a few fussy pictures, and I found that some restored vehicles are not necessarily authentic and could create mistakes during the build. In addition to the Squadron Signal Walk around that has a section on the M16, I am lucky to own the fantastic Gun Power books of the half track from AJ Press. Both volumes add up to more than 460 pages of pictures and drawings, its a modeller's dream. Volume 2 in particular has 36 pages of 3D detailed color drawings of all areas of the M16. They also have a 1/16 scale M16 unfolding poster with 1/16 blueprints in the back.
Samples of the 3D drawings. Purchase of these 2 books is highly recommended for US half track modellers.
The model is based on the WSN M16, purchased 2 years ago on a web sale. It looks like a good deal from far away.
Closer inspection reveals poor craftmanship, low level of details and many issues. My M16 has a 3mm gap between the cabin and rear section. The builder did not try to correct and did not even bother putting in the screws for the cabin because they did not align. So the rear of the cabin is actually loose...
The M45 quad mount is interesting at first. But then, I became disappointed. The detail on the M2 machine guns is really basic. The builder did not align the machine guns when gluing them on the mount, so they look bad shooting in all directions. It is critical for the look that a squad weapon mount has its guns shoot in the same direction. This could be fixed though.
The mount is provided with rotation and elevation, this is great. However, it is designed in such a way that makes maintenance nearly impossible without breaking something else. When there is a failure on this thing, its probably the end of it. I guess this is why so many owners convert their M16 into an M3. I nearly have.
A small LED is installed in each barrel. There is a trench like cavity on each barrel that certainly show then the guns are raised.
Continuing on following post
This is my new build. I know, I've been busy lately. I should be on a 3 week roadtrip in Portugal but I am now enjoying my summer vacation at home with not much to do.
The subject: The M16 half track equipped with the M45 AA quadmount with M2 .50 cal machine guns. It was also popular against enemy infantry. This is how it got the nickname Meat Chopper. These .50 rounds can cut a man in half and were especially effective in massacring communist infantry wave attacks in Korea. It is surprising the Chinese would create a model of such a terrible former foe.
At one point in Korea, the M16 and newly build M16A1 were equipped with "Bat Wings" to protect the loaders against enemy snipers. It is undetermined if I will reproduce them for this build. It does not make the M16 very good looking.
Reference for this build is essential because the web only has a few fussy pictures, and I found that some restored vehicles are not necessarily authentic and could create mistakes during the build. In addition to the Squadron Signal Walk around that has a section on the M16, I am lucky to own the fantastic Gun Power books of the half track from AJ Press. Both volumes add up to more than 460 pages of pictures and drawings, its a modeller's dream. Volume 2 in particular has 36 pages of 3D detailed color drawings of all areas of the M16. They also have a 1/16 scale M16 unfolding poster with 1/16 blueprints in the back.
Samples of the 3D drawings. Purchase of these 2 books is highly recommended for US half track modellers.
The model is based on the WSN M16, purchased 2 years ago on a web sale. It looks like a good deal from far away.
Closer inspection reveals poor craftmanship, low level of details and many issues. My M16 has a 3mm gap between the cabin and rear section. The builder did not try to correct and did not even bother putting in the screws for the cabin because they did not align. So the rear of the cabin is actually loose...
The M45 quad mount is interesting at first. But then, I became disappointed. The detail on the M2 machine guns is really basic. The builder did not align the machine guns when gluing them on the mount, so they look bad shooting in all directions. It is critical for the look that a squad weapon mount has its guns shoot in the same direction. This could be fixed though.
The mount is provided with rotation and elevation, this is great. However, it is designed in such a way that makes maintenance nearly impossible without breaking something else. When there is a failure on this thing, its probably the end of it. I guess this is why so many owners convert their M16 into an M3. I nearly have.
A small LED is installed in each barrel. There is a trench like cavity on each barrel that certainly show then the guns are raised.
Continuing on following post