Kit Review: AFV Club 1/35 Scale Kit No. 35031; M40 US
155mm Gun Motor Carriage "Big Shot"'; 486 parts (441 in olive drab styrene, 23
etched brass, 12 black vinyl spring sections, 6 clear styrene, 2 black vinyl track runs, 1
turned aluminum gun barrel, 1 length of nylon string); retail price around US $46
Advantages: long awaited kit now out and worth the wait, nicely done details, very
complete kit
Disadvantages: tracks only used by stateside prototypes, still using vinyl springs in the
suspension bogies
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all US Army and Military Assistance Plan "Redlegs"
F I R S T L O O K
For some reason big self-propelled guns have always resonated with modelers, and back in
the 1950s one of the most popular was the Adams kit of "Big Shot," which was the
M4 series tank based chassis mounting a 155mm "Long Tom" gun on it. Even though
the kit, done by Revell friend and military mold cutter Adams in their odd choice of 1/40
scale, was pretty bleak by today's standards, for the 1950s it was great. The tracks
moved, the gun elevated, traversed and "recoiled" with help, and the back plate
folded down along with the spade as well as had the crew platform extend. Add a crew of
scale figures, fanciful if totally incorrect decals, and it was a great model for the then
princely sum of $1.49.
Over the years the kit remained popular, even as its molds began to break down as it
changed hands, to SNAP, then UPC, and finally to Life-Like. But no kit of this vehicle
appeared in the more popular 1/35 scale. Matchbox produced one in 1/76 and ROCO in roughly
1/87, but nothing else of note for nearly 40 years.
About ten years ago AFV Club from Taiwan produced a new and exciting 1/35 scale model of
the famous M2 (M59) 155mm gun, better known as "Long Tom" for its reach, and
many people hoped they would soon follow that with an M4 high-speed tractor or better
still a complete M40 kit. But while AFV Club did released a limited distribution version
of the very similar M115 8" howitzer, no tractor or SP variant followed.
For a number of years modelers have been waiting for AFV Club to "drop the other
shoe" on its self-propelled 155mm gun kit, having come out with ammunition for this
weapon with their very first release of a Vietnam era M548, and then the gun itself, and
finally the M4 series HVSS suspension and T80 and T84 series tracks three years back. Now
the full kit has finally been released, and overall it has been worth the wait. While not
inexpensive, it provides a great deal of value for the money and is a really decent
effort.
AFV Club packs it very neatly, with the rear of the one-piece slide-molded lower hull
protected by a small box to ensure it does not break or warp in transit. The entire hull
less the transmission cover and top sections (obviously!) is one molding. The suspension
trees (there are two) each come with a late-production M4 series "sharp" cast
bow section, so you even get a spare with the kit.
The suspension as noted is the one from the M4 HVSS set, but alas still includes the
frou-frou vinyl springs for the bogies which accomplish little other than add one more
notch up the rung of complication in assembly. The rest of the bogies are nicely done and
fit the bill. The drivers provided are the later "cast" ones, but most photos of
M40s in service show the plain "disk" ones with solid rims so if you have a
large selection of Sherman stocks you may wish to replace them.
The tracks are the one odd thing in the kit. For some reason AFV Club provided a very nice
set of T66 single-pin cast tracks in black vinyl, rather than the more common and accurate
T80 steel-faced cleated track or the final T84 rubber chevron tracks. Photographs of the
so-called "Zebra Mission" to Germany that saw the prototype T83 155mm gun and
T89 8" howitzer prototype used against Cologne (the
latter with a standard M2 barrel vice its M115 barrel) show them with T80 tracks, which
were then the standard in Europe and had replaced many of the T66 sets. Both of those are
available from AFV Club as a busy four-piece single link set but look great when assembled
and installed, so anyone wishing to make a Korean war version should get the T80 set
instead. Only the very early production models in the states of the M40 and M43 (8"
howitzer carriage) used T66s. (They can be used to fix other kits though, such as the DML
M4A3E8 "Albin Irzyk" kit that comes with incorrect-for-its-time T80s).
The hull is pretty straightforward with a central bulkhead joining the rear floor and the
front decking. Alas, for those planning to convert the model to the M43 the kit only comes
with the 155mm racks and lockers and thus you will have to find and create your own racks
for that vehicle. (Perhaps AFV Club will release an M43 with the different barrel tip and
ammo racks later on.)
The gun is virtually the original M2 (M59) 155m gun upper carriage components verbatim.
The stability brace used on the M2 kit is not used here, and instead the gun comes with
"batwing" gun shields for the crew as well as the loader's tray (parts A5 and
A11.) Note that on the original vehicle this item is stowed on top of the gun breech with
the handles straddling the "horns" of the gun mount. It can easily be seen
in a number of reference photos of the early production vehicles. Note that while only the
front end of the barrel is aluminum it is muzzle heavy when left loose.
The fighting compartment comes with a wealth of details and options, including a
semi-working ramp winch for the firing spade as well as pulleys. The string is solely to
be used for winding around the winch and through the pulleys, and a rigging diagram is
included for installation. A work platform is included (parts B1 and B8) but the support
bracket has to be fixed, so you can choose either open or closed
for that part. Ditto for the work platform (which makes it a bit odd that AFV Club would
permit the spade to operate but not the platform.)
The hull front details include an odd choice - T84 track links in the stowage racks (parts
A40) which is odd if they meant to use the T66 tracks from the start. However, since the
M40 was still in service with the ROC Armed Forces and probably uses the asphalt-friendly
T84s this may have been an oversight. The only part I noted missing from the kit was the
odd "comb" device in front of the co-driver's position, which was apparently
used for setting the parking brakes externally when shipping the vehicle.
Seven finishing options are provided, all for American vehicles. One is unfortunately for
the "Zebra Mission" which as noted this gun has too many variances to match;
British Royal Artillery, 1960s (again, wrong tracks); one is for the 204th FA in Korea,
with a large dragon on the left side of the fighting compartment; and the remaining four
are for all three batteries of the 937th FA in Korea - A Battery ("Aitas
Ankies"), B Battery ("Big Bruiser") and C Battery ("Courageous
Confederate" and "Cyd Charisse", which unfortunately has "Cyd"
spelled "Cyo.") No bumper codes are provided for the 937th FA vehicles, which is
also unfortunate. (There is a web site with some amplifying data however - see
http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/memoirs/clark_jimmie/index.htm for more info.)
Overall this is a really nice kit and most of the quibbles with it are things many
modelers would fix anyway, such as the tracks.
Cookie Sewell
Sprue Breakout:
A 71 seats and details
B 47 gun mount and rear wall details
B 54 braces and OVM
C 59 155mm cradle and upper carriage parts
E 28 ammo racks and braces
F 8 Front deck and platform details
G 23 etched brass
H 2 Vinyl track runs
I 1 lower hull
K 6 clear hatches and viewers, lights
L 25 hatches and jerry cans
M 1 turned gun barrel
P 1 Decals and string
R 12 Vinyl springs
S 74 x 2 suspension and drive line
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