"Latest Despatch"

Diorama by Terry Ashley

1/35th Scale

The M247 SGT. YORK DIVAD (Division Air Defence gun) was born of the U.S.
ARMY'S need for a state-of-the-art mobile Anti-Aircraft gun system to re-place the
ageing M163 20mm Vulcan A/A gun and M48 Chaparral missile systems.
With the large heavily armed and armoured Mi-24 Hinds of the Soviet Army now
being fitted with the longer range AT-6 SPIRAL Anti-tank missiles and twin barrelled
23mm cannon. plus the newer Mi-28 Havoc nearing deployment, it was obvious the
M163 and M48 systems would be totally out-classed in any future major powers
conflict, not to mention a large amount of envy as the ARMY chiefs eyed the Soviet
ZSU-23/4 SHILKA Quad 23mm A/A gun which combines a valve-technology radar
with a proven gun fitted to an existing chassis resulting in a highly successful and
lethal design.
With this in mind a requirement was issued for a new self-propelled Anti-Aircraft
gun system to be based on the M48A5 tank chassis, using as much off-the-shelf
equipment as possible.
Two designs were submitted, one from General Dynamics using twin 35mm
Oerlikon cannon (as with the West German Leopard) and the other from Ford
Aerospace and Communications Corporation which utilised twin 40mm L/70 Bofors
Guns.
In May 1981 the Ford Aerospace entry was selected and designated M247
SARGEANT YORK, featuring the twin 40mm guns mounted in a new box like
armoured turret with both tracking and surveillance radar fitted atop, these could
be folded down to reduce overall height. The gunner was also provided with roof
mounted sight incorporating a laser range-finder. the commander having a
panoramic roof mounted periscope and fixed periscopes. The radar was a modified
version of the Westinghouse APG-66 system used in the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
With the first production vehicles being delivered in late 1983 many teething
problems had still to be ironed out. The most serious of these being the radar's
inability to track low flying targets due to excessive ground clutter (it could not

distinguish between a hovering helicopter and a clump of trees) also when tracking
higher flying targets the radar return from the gun barrel tips themselves was
enough to totally confuse the fire control system, the turret traverse was also too
slow to track a fast crossing target. The ECM (electronic counter-measures) suite
could be defeated by only minor jamming and finally the use of a 30 year old hull
design meant the vehicle had trouble keeping pace with the newer M1 Abrams and
M2/3 Bradley's, the very vehicles it was designed to protect.
These problems proved insurmountable and in December 1986 after about 50
vehicles had been produced and 51 Billion spent the entire program was
terminated, the existing vehicles being either used for training or converted back
to gun tanks.
The DIORAMA
Had the SGT. YORK been successful this scene could well have been played out
many times. On a training exercise somewhere in Germany the 'troops' have taken
a break from the action for some light refreshment and to check out the 'Latest
Despatch' to arrive from HQ.

The M247 SGT. YORK (Tamiya Kit 35126)

Tamiya have produced this kit in the same way as the real vehicle, by taking the
hull from their M48A3 (Kit 35120) and adding a new turret and tracks (the new
T142 patten tracks have been provided and could be used if building a M60A3).
The M48A5 is essentially an A3 with new engine/ transmission and 105mm gun
added.

The Kit will build into an excellent model straight from the box, but with a little
extra detailing a very realistic vehicle will result.
The Kit is built following the instructions with firstly. the headlight guards (parts
C46,47) being thinned down for a more realistic appearance and the fender
storage box handles replaced with thin wire, this is very useful for grab. handles
and other small fittings as it can be easily bent to shape and attached in pre-drilled
holes with super glue. The tow cables have been replaced with fishing tracer wire
after firstly running it through a candle name to remove the springiness and
attaching to the ends from the kit cables (parts C88).

Clear perspex lenses have been added for the driver's periscopes, which is made
easier as the kit comes with holes already cut, as if Tamiya were going to provide
these but over-looked them. The auxiliary motor exhaust (part C10) has been
drilled out, as has the 40mm and M60 gun barrels. A set of small numbered drills
and pin-vice are indispensable tools when detailing any type of model.
Finally the upper and lower hull parts are joined and the seam along the nose
eliminated by filling and sanding. Tamiya Putty is excellent. being quick drying with
little or no shrinkage and is very easily sanded.
The turret has four small brackets added along the front from shaped plastic card
plus two additional eye-lets on the roof (only two being pro-vided in the kit. parts
C36), the rest is as per instructions. with very little filling needed.
Next comes the painting and weathering, a good paint job can enhance a model
while a super detailed model can be spoilt by a poor finish.
The MERDC Tropics camouflage scheme was airbrushed with the black brush
painted, there are many variations in the application of this scheme with some
being totally sprayed while others are brush painted. A complete article could be
written on the MERDC system but basically it is 12 standard colours used in various
combinations for different locations from the Artic to the tropics, deserts, winter
and summer climates with the same pattern on each vehicle type changing only
with the colours used.

The markings are Verlinden and Let-raset rub on letters, eliminating the problem of
decal carrier film spoiling the finish. The cam nets, bedrolls and tarps are soaked in
white glue and draped over the vehicle to get a natural sit (white glue is any
woodworking glue, 'Selleys Aquadhere' etc. diluted with water to a milky
consistency). Tissue for bedrolls. tarps and Verlinden cam netting is soaked in this
solution which dries hard and can be painted in the usual manner.
The ration cartons are also Verlinden items with other gear from various kits. one
thing when attaching storage to a vehicle is to ask, how is it held in place? Boxes
and rolls just stuck on, look just that - stuck on! Remember those straps and tie
downs. this small point can improve the final appearance of your model out of
sight. The tracks are painted and weathered before fitting to the model and before
weathering a coat of matt varnish is air-brushed overall and left to dry for at least
48 hours, this protects the paintwork k during the weathering process.
A black wash (a mixture of flat black paint and thinner at about 20/80 ratio) is
applied with a fine brush to highlight the detail, capillary action carries the. wash
along panel lines and around the raised details. Mud and dirt is applied to the lower
parts of the model (one way of simulating mud is to mix small quantities of 'Polyfilla' to the appropriate colour paint, the resulting gooey mess is then applied with
a flat brush). Finally the model is drybrushed with various lighter shades of colour
to highlight the raised details.
The M577 ARMOURED COMMAND VEHICLE (Tamiya Kit 35071)

This vehicle is a derivative of the basic M113 APC with a raised rear section to
accommodate additional seating, map tables and radio equip ment for the
command role with a generator fitted above the engine compartment to power all
this extra equipment when the main engine is shut down. First produced in 1962
the M577 and later M577A1's are still the standard command vehicle in the U.S.
Armoured and Mechanised units today as well as many other army's around the
world (Australia included) and probably will be well into the future.

To provide more comfort when deployed a large .tent annex can be extended at
the rear which is how the vehicle is portrayed in the diorama.
The kit features more extensive detailing than the M247, starting with the head
light guards (parts B6 8e 7) again being thinned down plus the addition of bolt
heads to the guards and hull lifting eyes (parts B4), bolt heads can be made by
slicing up stretched sprue salami style and attaching with a small dab of liquid
cement.

The side skirt attachments with bolt heads are added to the hull sides as the skirts
are not always fitted on the real vehicle. The fire extinguisher housing and handle
are added behind the driver's position and the small attachment points on the
superstructure front plate (part C3) are also detailed as is the generator with extra
wiring and small fittings. plus the power cord attached when the generator is in
use, the engine exhaust is also drilled out.
When the upper superstructure is glued to the hull the resulting seam must be
totally eliminated by filling and sanding (only a few early vehicles show a weld
seam along this join line).
The aerial guards on the superstructure roof are replaced with thin card and the
many tie-downs added again using thin wire. A jerry can rack is added from card
with the securing straps from paper strips, the radios carried have aerials of
differing thick-nesses which can be represented by stretched sprue of
corresponding thickness.
The extended annex was built by-firstly making a frame from plastic rod and
adding tissue soaked in white glue, the tent flaps and securing straps were added
separately also using tissue. After this has dried the cam scheme was brush
painted as printed fabric has a hard edged pattern, while the winter MERDC cam
scheme was airbrushed onto the M577. The different camouflage schemes on the
two vehicles is quite common with units being rotated to Europe for training, the
crews do not always repaint their mounts.

All the marking are again Letraset and the model is weathered in the same manner
as the M247 with the characteristic 'sit' of the tracks achieved by attaching them
to the roadwheels with undiluted white glue.
The BASE & FIGURES
The base is a 450mm piece of chip-board covered with 'Polyfilla' pre-coloured with
water paints (this adds greater depth of colour than just painting the groundwork
when dry).
The large trees, which are commercially available, are airbrushed with various
shades of green (darker under the leaves and lighter on top) plus the various small
bushes, rocks, grasses (also available from good hobby shops) are all added while
the groundwork is still wet, as are the vehicle track marks.

The vehicles, figures and other equipment is temporarily positioned to achieve a

natural sit in the ground, which when dry can have additional grass etc. added if
required with white glue.
A wash of darker browns and black is then applied over the whole base to highlight
the texture and details. The many storage boxes are scratchbuilt from plastic card
and strip with the woodgrain scribed into the plastic, the ESKI is also built from
card and the 'broken' M16 being cleaned has the chamber hollowed out plus the
bolt made from thin sprue as are the extra ammo rounds. Additional items of
equipment are from various accessory kits all painted before attaching to the base.

The three 'grunts' are from the M577 kit with their heads replaced with items from
Verlinden's US Head set. the seated guy's arms are repositioned to hold the
magazine while the tank commander is from the M247 kit with his hand modified
to hold the 'tinnie'. The two cans of 'Budweiser' are made from small lengths of
sprue (I bought a can of the real thing to copy and later drank it, I was amazed the
diorama ever got finished after that - have you ever tasted that stuff?)
The centrefold was taken from an advert in Playboy magazine trimmed to size and
after all the painting was completed everything was glued into position on the
base. The diorama took about 100 hours to complete and was a most enjoyable
exercise.