105mm Howitzer M2A1 & Carriage M2A2
w/USMC Gun Crew
DML 1:35 Scale Smart Kit No. 6531
Kit review by Terry Ashley

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The kit represents the later M2A1 105mm Howitzer with M2A2 carriage with a double shield arrangement with smaller front shield and larger rear shield that extended further out over the wheels with a lower folding flap that provided more protection for the crew. The other major feature is the use of the standard WWII combat rim and tyres as well as other smaller detail changes from the earlier M2/M2A1 carriages.

This is basically the same kit as the previously released 105mm Howitzer M2A1 and Carriage M2A1 (kit # 6499) with additional parts for the revised shield layout updates for the later M2A2 carriage. The kit consists of 104 parts in light grey plastic with a further 73 parts in the same plastic for the figures, the short muzzle of 105mm gun tube in turned aluminium plus a small decal sheet and small instruction sheet.

Metal barrel part

The standard of moulding is very good overall with clean crisp detail with just the usual mould seam lines and moulding plugs to be cleaned especially on the numerous smaller parts in the kit. There is also the odd pin mark about the place but the major parts such as the shields are blemish free.

The kit can be built in sub-assemblies with these bought together for final assembly which allows you to work on one sub-assembly while the glue another dries with some of these sub-assemblies designed to be positioned such as the trails or movable allowing  gun elevation or traverse but these depend on the assembly as well will see.

The spring equilibrator assembly is moulded in one piece and very simplified lacking any real detail definition especially with the double springs which really aren’t distinguishable at all. The three retaining rods are the right diameter but the assembly is fixed at about 25 ° elevation which limits the accurate depiction of the gun in any other configuration.

If you wish the gun to elevate then you shouldn’t glue the central equilibrator rod (part A9) to the spring equilibrator (part A38) or the spring equilibrator to the small attachment bracket (part A32) on the bottom carriage, this will allow some movement but as mentioned not accurately other than the 25 ° elevation.

The two halves of the top carriage (parts A28, A41) have the upper elevation arc and the lower carriage moulded together with the addition of the small shield mounting brackets. These brackets are actually too short by about 1.5mm meaning the angle of the small shield is incorrect if fitted as indicated but by adding a small plastic strip spacer to the ends of the brackets the shield should sit correctly when fitted later. 

The one piece mouldings do make assembly quite simple but detail definition is compromised as a result such as the bolt heads on the arc mountings that blend into the arc itself lacking definition as does the traverse cylinder assembly on the left side.

The instructions show to attach the elevation arc/carriage parts along with the delicate elevation hand wheels and connections to the gun carriage halves (parts A13, A43) before joining the carriage halves together but this is really not a good idea and leaves parts open for damage as well there is the central join seam on the carriage to deal with. It is best to assembly the gun carriage first before adding the top carriage and other smaller details.

The main gun cradle is moulded in two halves resulting in the central seam to be eliminated as it is quite noticeable as the rear of the carriage. The cradle doesn’t include the gun sleigh slide strips but just gives indentations to simulate the strip and this means the barrel assembly can’t recoil but has to be glued onto the carriage.

There are two triangular strips that fit inside the cradle and you should ensure the correct orientation for these as indicated in the instructions with the remaining detail added without any problems. These strips should have a small lip on the rear edge but this is missing with just flat ends and adding this lip will enhance the detail.

Detail around the rear of the carriage is also quite simplified with a lack of rivet detail as well as the travel lock pegs being just plain without any detail, these pegs on the actual gun are not equal lengths but the kit pegs are and the right hand peg should be shortened to replicate this feature.

With the carriage assembled this can then have the two halves of the top carriage attached, if you want the gun to elevate make sure you don’t glue the gun trunnions and added to the side of the carriage is the traverse wheels and linkages which fit without any problems.

The entire barrel/sleigh/recoil mechanism assembly is moulded in one single large part that includes the top recuperator cylinder, the barrel tube, sleigh brackets and lower cradle with just the side slide brackets, metal muzzle barrel section and breech as separate parts. While this makes assembly very simple as there isn’t much at all it also results in more detail simplification resulting in a very basic assembly if detail is of any concern?
The main issues are:

1. The detail on the recuperator cylinder front head is simplified
2. The length of the head is too long and the raised notches around the front of the recuperator cylinder are missing.
3. The reinforcing ridges are missing from the central and rear sleigh supports.
4. The lower recoil cylinder is missing altogether. Note the recoil cylinder is hidden inside the cradle in firing mode, so if not showing the gun in recoil isn't really an issue.

The breech ring is split vertically in the conventional manner that again results in the join seam needing to be eliminated which is a little tricky around the rear contours. The most notable feature of the breech is the breech block actuating lever is moulded closed with the breech, this means you can’t accurately show the breech block open as the lever would then need to swing out accordingly. The lever sits into an indentation on the side of the breech and would need quite a bit of work if you wanted to accurately show the lever open along with the breech block.

Detail on the breech block is a little basic in any case and would need some work if shown open so maybe easier to leave in the closed position?

As mentioned the whole barrel/recoil assembly is designed to just glue into the gun cradle but you may want to leave this separate to aid in painting as it can be added at any time.

The left side Telescope Mount M21 and right side Range Quadrant M4 are made up of multiple parts for good detail definition but some of the detail is a little undersized such as the eye pieces and control knobs but otherwise serve their purpose adequately.

The main axle is in one piece as is the equalizing support bar added to the back of the axle, this makes for straightforward assembly but again some of the detail is lacking as a consequence. The traverse cylinder support arm is the wrong shape and lacks the two prominent lightening holes while the axle doesn’t have any bolt head detail on the shield mountings. The long indentations at the front of the axle are a constant shape when they should be tapered towards the outside and there should be four small brackets on the top of the axle but these are missing. Strangely these brackets were on the axle used in the previous M2A1 carriage but not on this M2A2 carriage axle, as the earlier axle is still included in the kit you could cut off the brackets and add them to the M2A2 axle if you wished?

The wheels in the kit are the later combat rim with non-directional tread combat tyres without any sidewall embossing and not the more common “Firestone” combat tyre seen on WWII guns but being in two halves each again make for straightforward assembly and the wheels are all plastic which some may prefer.

On the carriage the two small axle lock levers (parts B17) shouldn’t be fitted until after the larger shields later in the assembly.

The top carriage is attached to the bottom carriage by way of a large central post on the equalizing support bar with the instructions showing not to glue this to allow gun traverse but there isn’t anything to actually hold the parts together and gluing these will prevent the assemblies coming apart at any time.

The trails are made up of two L shaped halves that fit together neatly with the spades added to the end, the spades are a bit on the thick side especially the support brackets and thinning these will improve the appearance.

The locking arm brackets (parts c13) are moulded solid meaning you have to cut off the bracket tabs on the axle to fit the trails in the firing position, the trails themselves are not designed to move and have to be glued into the required travel or firing position so you need to make this decision as the trails are attached to the axle mountings.

The two part draw bar can be fitted in the towing or firing position as required so you should decide this and glue the bar in the appropriate position along with the position of the trails. Much of the detail on the trails is again lacking detail definition such as the rear locking clips which are moulded solid in one piece for travel or two pieces for firing mode,

The twin shield arrangement is the main visual indicator of the later M2A2 carriage with the kit having the larger rear mounted shield in a single part moulded uniformly thin without any hint of pin marks. This means you can’t show the lower flap folder for travel without some cutting but it does make for simple assembly because there isn’t any other than the separate inner mounting brackets and front flap attachments. The hooks on the lower flap are moulded solid and lack definition and could be replaced with thin wire for a better appearance?

The rivet and bolt head detail on the shield is a little under done in places while the large inner mounting brackets have oversized lightening holes but the kinked sections of the brackets have the correct profile.

The smaller outer shield is again moulded in one uniformly thin part free of any pin marks or other blemished with separate mounting bracket arms and a one part sight storage box with the mounting brackets moulded onto the shields.

The left side mounting bracket arm has the incorrect profile (shape) but the lightening holes are the right size. Fitting the outer shields is a little tricky as there is not a lot of room to get at these with the larger shields and other items on the carriage in place so care is needed while fitting.

As noted above the lower shield mounting brackets (parts B10, B11) are too short resulting in the small shield sitting at the wrong angle with the bottom edge leaning inwards and you should add a small 1.5mm spacer to the end of the brackets from thin plastic strip to allow the shield to sit at the correct upright angle.

As indicated on the box top the kit includes a USMC gun crew which is the same figures included in the previous kit with the addition of four new arms and a few 105mm rounds. The figures are posed loading the gun but as the breech block can only be shown accurately in the close firing position as mentioned above the poses seem a little redundant.

These are the usual DML foldout sheets with exploded view drawings but even with the small number of parts the layout gets quite confusing at times and you really do have to study the sequences carefully before assembly.

The kit includes a small decal sheet with data and markings for six howitzers all based on Iwo Jima in 1945 but only one is identified by unit. The most interesting aspect is the kit gives you a set of USMC gun crew but only two of the marking options are USMC with the other four being US Army howitzers, interesting? The painting guide shows four of the howitzers with camouflage on the gun shields but the illustrations are in shades of blue with no colours indicated so you have to decide this yourself?
The six options are:

1. USMC, Iwo Jima 1945
2. US Army, Iwo Jima 1945
3. US Army, Iwo Jima 1945
4. US Army, Iwo Jima 1945
5. 3rd Battalion USMC , Iwo Jima 1945
6. US Army, Iwo Jima 1945
   
   

When viewed in isolation this kit will build quite easily due the relative small number of parts into a respectable model of the 105mm Howitzer M2A1 & Carriage M2A2. It is only when you look closer at the various sub assemblies does the lack of detail definition becomes apparent.

The standard of moulding is very good as is the overall fit of the parts and if accuracy and the finer details are of no concern with build ability the main criteria then this kit will do the job nicely and the addition of the gun crew will allow a nice diorama setting to be made.

Rating  7.5/10

Sprue images
Click on thumbnails for larger view

Build images

Sprue detail images

M101A1 105mm Howitzer in detail Wings & Wheels Publications R 048

U.S. WWII 105mm Howitzers M2A1 & M3 Tankograd Technical Manual Series No.6016

TM9-325 105mm Howitzers M2A1 Carriages M2A1 and M2A2 Easy 1 Productions CD-ROM #T003

Thanks to my credit card, and for the review kits.