Rusty White Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Can someone positively ID this vehicle. Does anyone know if there is a kit availble of this (less the CIWS) in any scale? Could the Dragon Wagon kit be converted to this? Any help would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schmitz Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 (edited) Rusty, I tried using the "Google Goggles" app on my smart phone - by taking a picture of the image on my laptop. It found the original press release from Raytheon with this image, which identified the vehicle. Its a M977 HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck). I think the armor guys just call it a hem-itt. A few more google searches turned up a 1/35 Italeri and a 1/72 Academy kit. I think someone in my club brought the 1/35th one to a meeting 15+ years ago, so I'm not sure if the kit is in production or not. Don Edited July 15, 2012 by Schmitz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
802chrisg Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 (edited) It is a Hemtitt with a Phalanx Gun system mounted on it. The Phalanx Gatling gun system is used mostly on Naval ships as a CIWS (close in weapons system) to shoot down missles and airplanes. The Army shiped these to FOB (forwaed operating Base) Kalsu in Iraq in 2008 to be used to destroy incoming artilery rockets and mortar rounds. These gun systems are bad ass, as long as there is ammo freeding the gun it will continue to shoot at every piece of the target until every srcap is gone. Chris Edited July 15, 2012 by 802chrisg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warwheels Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 (edited) Awesome vehicle! I never knew anyone fielded the Phalanx on vehicles. Where did you get the pic Rusty? By the file name it looks like from the US Army... but please confirm. Now I have to start thinking about how to model one of these. I already have the 1/35 Hobby Fan Phalanx and could mount it on a converted Italeri HEMMT, but that would be too big... I might have to consider using the 1/72 Academy kit instead. But where to find a 1/72 CIWS? And thanks Chris for the info! Edited July 15, 2012 by Warwheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Whoosy!!!!! Bigger is BETTER!!!!!!! Go for the 1/35 scale!!!!!!! Man that monster looks kick buttish!!!! :Smile_sceptic: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTennant Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 Ohhhhh, I want to build one....in 1:48 of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewahl Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 The 1/35 Italeri kit of the 1990 vintage M977 will need a lot of scratchbuilding to bring it up to the appearance shown here. The forward cab, chassis, and the cargo bed deck might be OK from the kit, but the rest of it is all yours to build. I'm working on the M978 fuel tanker at this time, so I can easily spot the differences added in producing a more modern HEMTT. I'd love to see this done in any scale. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGronovius Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 It looks longer than the standard HEMTT, even longer than the PLS version. Most likely a specialized body made to test the Phalanx system at some place like White Sands. In 1:48 scale, Arii made some poor HEMTT "look alikes" as part of the Patriot missile system and radar/antenna support vehicles they marketed during Desert Storm. Might be worth a try to find one of those kits and see if you can scratch something from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumterIII Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 we had these in Iraq but mounted on ground trailers. They fired tracer rounds which exploded in the air. I had one next to my room and another by my office. I have some video of the firing if you like I can send it to you. Will be a while untill I return though. We had three go off at one time for a cross fire effect, very cool with three kinds of color tracers all meeting in the same place then exploding in the air. I have not seen any in Afghanistan yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 The 1/35 Italeri kit of the 1990 vintage M977 will need a lot of scratchbuilding to bring it up to the appearance shown here. The forward cab, chassis, and the cargo bed deck might be OK from the kit, but the rest of it is all yours to build. I'm working on the M978 fuel tanker at this time, so I can easily spot the differences added in producing a more modern HEMTT. I'd love to see this done in any scale. Ed Ed, While they are pricey kits, PROART MODELS makes some REALLY nice HEMMT Conversions especially for the fueler...... http://www.proartmodels.be/products.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumterIII Posted July 15, 2012 Report Share Posted July 15, 2012 btw the land based units in Iraq were called CRAM, they were maintained by Navy personnel. Firing was limited with short burst in order to save the barrels from warping. At 400 rds per second they get very hot very fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty White Posted July 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 The 1/35 Italeri kit of the 1990 vintage M977 will need a lot of scratchbuilding to bring it up to the appearance shown here. The forward cab, chassis, and the cargo bed deck might be OK from the kit, but the rest of it is all yours to build. I'm working on the M978 fuel tanker at this time, so I can easily spot the differences added in producing a more modern HEMTT. I'd love to see this done in any scale. Ed Is this kit still in production? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGronovius Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Italeri has reissued it several times since it first came out in 1995-96. They made two different versions; the M977 10 ton cargo and the M978 2500 gallon fueler. Revell of Germany reboxed the M977 along with a set of MLRS rocket pods from the Dragon kit. Most recently, there's been a Chinese reboxing that includes the parts to build the cargo or the fueler version in one kit. http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=IT%200298CN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Aldrich Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 With some PE thrown in for good measure!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty White Posted July 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 It is a Hemtitt with a Phalanx Gun system mounted on it. The Phalanx Gatling gun system is used mostly on Naval ships as a CIWS (close in weapons system) to shoot down missles and airplanes. The Army shiped these to FOB (forwaed operating Base) Kalsu in Iraq in 2008 to be used to destroy incoming artilery rockets and mortar rounds. These gun systems are bad ass, as long as there is ammo freeding the gun it will continue to shoot at every piece of the target until every srcap is gone. Chris Chris, My interest in the CIWS is well known to my friend that sent this. Here is the URL. http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/-images/2010/10/20/89213/army.mil-89213-2010-10-21-071021.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warwheels Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) I've done some poking around on the net re: the vehicle Rusty initially identifies. It is called the Mobile Land-Based Phalanx Weapons System (MLPWS) - AKA: Mobile Centurion. It consists of a modified Raytheon Phalanx Mark IB weapon system mounted on an Oshkosh Defense 10-Ton HEMMT A3 Diesel Electric Truck. Although similar, this vehicle shouldn't be confused with the Centurion LPWS which is tralier bound. Regardless, I've not found any info one way or the other about the MLPWS being accepted into service or not. More later; if I can find anything. Edited July 17, 2012 by Warwheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty White Posted July 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 I've done some poking around on the net re: the vehicle Rusty initially identifies. It is called the Mobile Land-Based Phalanx Weapons System (MLPWS) - AKA: Mobile Centurion. It consists of a modified Raytheon Phalanx Mark IB weapon system mounted on an Oshkosh Defense 10-Ton HEMMT A3 Diesel Electric Truck. Although similar, this vehicle shouldn't be confused with the Centurion LPWS which is tralier bound. Regardless, I've not found any info one way or the other about the MLPWS being accepted into service or not. More later; if I can find anything. The Phalanx mounted is a new laser equipped unit for longer range. The gun is used as a last line of defence in the event the laser misses. I found a HEMTT kit on eBay for a good price. Thanks to all for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumterIII Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 (edited) here is the link to the firing of the cram system. note the air burst of exploding shells I talked about before. http://s649.photobuc...=cram_video.mp4 If there was a laser on it I never saw it, and the longer gun range came from PGU ammo. But this was on the units I saw in the field maybe they were testing the idea at White Sands. At any rate out of 240 mortar and rockets we had fired on us, not a single hit was made that I saw. It’s one thing to know when they are firing the mortars (test range) vs. random shots. Maybe that's why it never made it to Afghanistan. BTW the tractor has all four front wheels to steer with, very impressive turn radius. Edited August 26, 2012 by sumterIII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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