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"Latest Despatch"Diorama by Terry Ashley

1/35th Scale 

 The M247 SGT. !# D$%AD (Division Air Defence gun) was born of the U.S.ARMY'S need for a state-of-the-art obi!e Anti-Aircraft gun s"ste to re-#!ace theageing M$%& u!can A*A gun and M+, ha#arra! issi!e s"stes.ith the !arge heavi!" ared and aroured Mi-+ /inds of the Soviet Ar" nowbeing 0tted with the !onger range AT-% S12RA3 Anti-tan4 issi!es and twin barre!!ed& cannon. #!us the newer Mi-, /avoc nearing de#!o"ent5 it was obvious theM$%& and M+, s"stes wou!d be tota!!" out-c!assed in an" future a6or #owerscon7ict5 not to ention a !arge aount of env" as the ARMY chiefs e"ed the Soviet8SU-&*+ S/239A :uad & A*A gun which cobines a va!ve-techno!og" radarwith a #roven gun 0tted to an e;isting chassis resu!ting in a high!" successfu! and!etha! design.ith this in ind a re

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distinguish between a hovering he!ico#ter and a c!u# of trees) a!so when trac4inghigher 7"ing targets the radar return fro the gun barre! ti#s these!ves wasenough to tota!!" confuse the 0re contro! s"ste5 the turret traverse was a!so toos!ow to trac4 a fast crossing target. The EM (e!ectronic counter-easures) suitecou!d be defeated b" on!" inor 6aing and 0na!!" the use of a & "ear o!d hu!!design eant the vehic!e had troub!e 4ee#ing #ace with the newer M$ Abras andM*& Crad!e"'s5 the ver" vehic!es it was designed to #rotect. These #rob!es #roved insurountab!e and in Deceber $,% after about =

vehic!es had been #roduced and =$ Ci!!ion s#ent the entire #rogra wasterinated5 the e;isting vehic!es being either used for training or converted bac4to gun tan4s.

The D$!AMA/ad the S?T. Y@R9 been successfu! this scene cou!d we!! have been #!a"ed outan" ties. @n a training e;ercise soewhere in ?eran" the 'troo#s' have ta4ena brea4 fro the action for soe !ight refreshent and to chec4 out the '3atestDes#atch' to arrive fro /:.

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The M247 SGT. !# (Tai"a 9it &=$%) Tai"a have #roduced this 4it in the sae wa" as the rea! vehic!e5 b" ta4ing the

hu!! fro their M+,A& (9it &=$) and adding a new turret and trac4s (the new T$+ #atten trac4s have been #rovided and cou!d be used if bui!ding a M%A&). The M+,A= is essentia!!" an A& with new engine* transission and $= gun

added.

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 The 9it wi!! bui!d into an e;ce!!ent ode! straight fro the bo;5 but with a !itt!ee;tra detai!ing a ver" rea!istic vehic!e wi!! resu!t.

 The 9it is bui!t fo!!owing the instructions with 0rst!". the head!ight guards (#arts+%5+B) being thinned down for a ore rea!istic a##earance and the fenderstorage bo; hand!es re#!aced with thin wire5 this is ver" usefu! for grab. hand!es

and other sa!! 0ttings as it can be easi!" bent to sha#e and attached in #re-dri!!edho!es with su#er g!ue. The tow cab!es have been re#!aced with 0shing tracer wireafter 0rst!" running it through a cand!e nae to reove the s#ringiness andattaching to the ends fro the 4it cab!es (#arts ,,).

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!ear #ers#e; !enses have been added for the driver's #erisco#es5 which is adeeasier as the 4it coes with ho!es a!read" cut5 as if Tai"a were going to #rovidethese but over-!oo4ed the. The au;i!iar" otor e;haust (#art $) has beendri!!ed out5 as has the + and M% gun barre!s. A set of sa!! nubered dri!!sand #in-vice are indis#ensab!e too!s when detai!ing an" t"#e of ode!.

ina!!" the u##er and !ower hu!! #arts are 6oined and the sea a!ong the nosee!iinated b" 0!!ing and sanding. Tai"a 1utt" is e;ce!!ent. being erent !ocations fro the Artic to the tro#ics5 deserts5 winterand suer c!iates with the sae #attern on each vehic!e t"#e changing on!"with the co!ours used.

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 The ar4ings are er!inden and 3et-raset rub on !etters5 e!iinating the #rob!e of deca! carrier 0! s#oi!ing the 0nish. The ca nets5 bedro!!s and tar#s are soa4ed in

white g!ue and dra#ed over the vehic!e to get a natura! sit (white g!ue is an"woodwor4ing g!ue5 'Se!!e"s A

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 This vehic!e is a derivative of the basic M$$& A1 with a raised rear section toaccoodate additiona! seating5 a# tab!es and radio e

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 The side s4irt attachents with bo!t heads are added to the hu!! sides as the s4irtsare not a!wa"s 0tted on the rea! vehic!e. The 0re e;tinguisher housing and hand!eare added behind the driver's #osition and the sa!! attachent #oints on thesu#erstructure front #!ate (#art &) are a!so detai!ed as is the generator with e;trawiring and sa!! 0ttings. #!us the #ower cord attached when the generator is inuse5 the engine e;haust is a!so dri!!ed out.

hen the u##er su#erstructure is g!ued to the hu!! the resu!ting sea ust betota!!" e!iinated b" 0!!ing and sanding (on!" a few ear!" vehic!es show a we!dsea a!ong this 6oin !ine). The aeria! guards on the su#erstructure roof are re#!aced with thin card and thean" tie-downs added again using thin wire. A 6err" can rac4 is added fro cardwith the securing stra#s fro #a#er stri#s5 the radios carried have aeria!s ofdi>ering thic4-nesses which can be re#resented b" stretched s#rue ofcorres#onding thic4ness. The e;tended anne; was bui!t b"-0rst!" a4ing a frae fro #!astic rod andadding tissue soa4ed in white g!ue5 the tent 7a#s and securing stra#s were addedse#arate!" a!so using tissue. After this has dried the ca schee was brush

#ainted as #rinted fabric has a hard edged #attern5 whi!e the winter MERD caschee was airbrushed onto the M=BB. The di>erent caou7age schees on thetwo vehic!es is

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A!! the ar4ing are again 3etraset and the ode! is weathered in the sae anneras the M+B with the characteristic 'sit' of the trac4s achieved b" attaching theto the roadwhee!s with undi!uted white g!ue.

 The +AS' , -$G&'S The base is a += #iece of chi#-board covered with '1o!"0!!a' #re-co!oured withwater #aints (this adds greater de#th of co!our than 6ust #ainting the groundwor4when dr"). The !arge trees5 which are coercia!!" avai!ab!e5 are airbrushed with variousshades of green (dar4er under the !eaves and !ighter on to#) #!us the various sa!!bushes5 roc4s5 grasses (a!so avai!ab!e fro good hobb" sho#s) are a!! added whi!ethe groundwor4 is sti!! wet5 as are the vehic!e trac4 ar4s.

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 The vehic!es5 0gures and other e

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 The three 'grunts' are fro the M=BB 4it with their heads re#!aced with ites froer!inden's US /ead set. the seated gu"'s ars are re#ositioned to ho!d theagaIine whi!e the tan4 coander is fro the M+B 4it with his hand odi0edto ho!d the 'tinnie'. The two cans of 'Cudweiser' are ade fro sa!! !engths ofs#rue (2 bought a can of the rea! thing to co#" and !ater dran4 it5 2 was aaIed thedioraa ever got 0nished after that - have "ou ever tasted that stu>G)

 The centrefo!d was ta4en fro an advert in 1!a"bo" agaIine tried to siIe andafter a!! the #ainting was co#!eted ever"thing was g!ued into #osition on thebase. The dioraa too4 about $ hours to co#!ete and was a ost en6o"ab!ee;ercise.

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