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Resicast
75mm Pack Howitzer M1A1
Resicast kit #35.187
Review by Terry Ashley

Introduction:

The 75mm Pack Howitzer was first developed in the 1920s and could be broken down into six loads to be carried by mule into inaccessible areas with these first guns having wooden spoked wheels.

In 1934, after some modification this was standardized as the 75mm Pack Howitzer, M1A1 and during WWII was fitted with new wheels and pneumatic tyres and became the main gun for US glider and parachute artillery battalions in WWII and was also used by British airborne forces and the USMC in the Pacific.

The new designation when fitted with pneumatic tyres was 75mm Pack Howitzer M1A1 & carriage M8 which is the subject of this new full resin kit from Resicast.

The Kit:

The kit consist of 122 parts in light grey resin, 26 etched parts and a short length of plastic rod with many of the resin parts being extremely small and to this end there is a note with the parts saying “BEWARE contains some very small parts” which would have to be an understatement.

Standard of resin casting is good with crisp well defined details but there is a lot of fine resin film to be removed from the parts along with the usual casting blocks and care will be needed cleaning some of these. The film is quite thin and will easily come off with a quick pass of the trusty #11 blade but as nearly all parts require some cleanup this can be a little tedious.

Given the number of small parts and that some sub-assemblies are movable as per the original some experience working with resin kits would be quite helpful but the 18 page instructions sheet has good quality step by step photos of the model under construction which helps with the process.

The kit includes two styles of wheels with different hub and tread pattern detail for the two most common types of wheels seen on the gun as well as alternate parts for the US or British gun with the instructions clearly showing which parts to use for each version during construction.

Construction begins with the lightweight trails and these are split in two halves that allow detail to be trapped between them during construction as well as allowing parts to be movable for excellent definition. When gluing the two halves of each trail together be sure to align any minor warping ensuring the trails are perfectly straight which is easy enough to do.

Additional small parts join the left and right trails together and you have to drill out some locating holes to allow the gun to elevate later and care will be needed to again ensure the assembly is perfectly square before the glues dries.

The main barrel assembly has three larger parts, the central barrel with hollowed out muzzle and cradle included, the top cover and lower recoil cradle and the top cover will slip into place without glue the same way as the real thing for excellent realism.

Added to this is the breech with separate breech block that can be fixed open of closed as well as a number of other smaller parts such as the intricate sights made up of three parts.

There are numerous other smaller resin and etched parts to be added and again care is needed with most of these mainly to not lose them during cleanup and fitting.

Also included is a selection of 75mm rounds and shell canisters to use in a diorama setting and these are also nicely cast and detailed.

The instructions as mentioned have many good close-up photos of the model during construction with the parts called out by number but one thing I noticed with this is there is a list of all parts at the front of the instructions but not a parts photo so it’s a little difficult to identify the part once removed from the casting blocks but if you take your time there shouldn’t be any real problems.

Included with the instructions are additional photos of the actual gun to illustrate some of the more intricate assemblies as well as a few service manual drawings and at the back are six pages with close-up walk around photos of a museum gun to further aid in putting everything in the right place and added additional small detail if you wish.

Metal parts
Resicast

Conclusion:

Given the many small parts and the amount of cleanup needed some experience working with resin will certainly come in handy but the level of detail and the movable sub-assemblies will result in a superb little model of this important gun from WWII and beyond if you don’t mind a bit of work.

Highly recommended 7.5/10

Resin Parts:

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The set is available direct from Resicast in Belgium, website www.resicast.com or email resicast@resicast.com for details of stockists. Thanks to Graham from Resicast for the review set.




Page created April 25, 2007