Airmodel Products 1/35 scale M198 155mm howitzer

Kit: No. AM-1055
Scale: 1/35
Manufacturer: Airmodel Products, Horsteiner Weg 1, 63500 Seligenstadt, Germany, www.airmodel.de
Price: 59 Euros (about $73)
Comments: Resin cast, 133 parts, turned aluminum barrel
Pros: Good detail throughout, great subject, accurate dimensions, nice casting
Cons: Tricky assembly, fragile parts, vague instructions in some areas

The M198 howitzer is a 155mm towed artillery piece that entered service with the U.S. Army in 1979 and with the Marine Corps in 1982. The M198 can be transported by a CH-47 helicopter, making it an integral part of the order of battle for the U.S. military. This howitzer has seen action in both Persian Gulf wars.

Airmodel's M198 fills a huge void in the 1/35 scale modern-armor arena. The kit is cast resin and features a nicely turned aluminum barrel. Instructions include a sheet with 1/35 scale plan and profile views, parts inventory, and a sheet of exploded-view drawings that comprise 13 assembly steps.

My initial impression when I opened the box was mixed; some of the smaller parts were broken from the pour sprues, and it was obvious that the removal of the remaining parts from the sprues would prove difficult. I carefully removed any parts I deemed fragile by cutting the pour sprue with a razor saw, then carefully cutting the part from the sprue section.

The assembly of the trailing arms of the howitzer is well illustrated in the instructions. I built my M198 in the firing position, so I left off the firing jack float (part No. 32), and trailing spades, since they were stowed on the trailing arms in the towed position.

The support arms for the breech-and- barrel assembly are split into halves and required some careful sanding. The suspension was pinned together using brass wire, since I was unsure about the height of the wheels until I attached the jack float to the underside of the carriage. I pinned the trailing arms to the carriage assembly and used brass wire instead of the recommended plastic rod.

I had some difficulty with the gun cradle assembly in step three that required some alterations to the assembly. After building the cradle and moving on to the recoil mechanism assembly in step four, I found the cradle too narrow. I had no choice but to disassemble the cradle and reassemble it to fit the recoil assembly. Once everything fit, I shimmed the cylinder yoke (Part No. 38) with some resin scraps from the kit and sanded it flush.

The remainder of the assembly went smoothly. I was forced to replace the resin cover (Part No. 60) with a piece of styrene sheet, as the kit part had been damaged beyond repair. Several of the resin grabirons were replaced with brass wire, as they were impossible to save. I primed the model with Testor gray figure primer and sprayed it with Model Master Desert Storm sand. The tires and rubber boots on the equilibrator pistons were painted with Vallejo dark gray. I applied a subtle wash of burnt umber ink and drybrushed the model with Vallejo light flesh, since it accented the base color nicely.

The model is nicely detailed and scales up perfectly against published dimensions, but less-experienced modelers could have trouble with the fragility of the parts and the complexity of many of the assembly steps. With the diligent test-fitting of parts and assemblies, the intermediate or advanced modeler should have no trouble with this kit.

- Jeff Herne