GHQ Models Forums

I aquired some US halftracks second hand and I believe they are missing parts.

1. What comes with a standard US halftrack other than the hull itself ? Is there a 50 cal MG and gun ring ?

2. Seated US armored infantry mentions there is a MG included. Is this the "turret ring" seen on haltracks ?

Thanks, I'm trying to figure out what I need to make them look good.
Rob

Blinx wrote:I aquired some US halftracks second hand and I believe they are missing parts.

1. What comes with a standard US halftrack other than the hull itself ? Is there a 50 cal MG and gun ring ?

2. Seated US armored infantry mentions there is a MG included. Is this the "turret ring" seen on haltracks ?

...
Rob

Rob,
It depends on what 1/2 tracks you have; GHQ US-51 M3/M3A1 1/2 tracks comes with a passenger AA 50cal "ring" & 50 cal MG. The GHQ version also has a glue hole in the middle and behind the driver & passenger for a pedestal mounting of the MG.
GHQ US-52 M2 1/2 tracks have no AA ring. The M2 version has a rail that goes all the way around the top of the entire open part of the 1/2 track. A 30 or 50 cal MG may be placed anywhere on this rail; GHQ's version has a small gluing type hole center front for this, but no 30 cal MG comes with it, but 50 cals.
Now this is where the seated infantry come into play. With this kit (GHQ US-53) you get seated infantry and 30 cal MGs with gunner attached. As stated previuosly you may station the gunner anywhere along the MG rail. This kit does not have the M3/M3A1 AA ring included.
To determine what version you have note if the rail ring goes all the way around the open compartment & there should be 2 LARGE storge boxes either side of 2 back-to-back seats centered behind the driver & passeger-this will be the M2 version.
If the 1/2 track has10 back seats facing each other then you have M3/M3A1s.
NOW there is also GHQ UK-33 M5A1 & M9A1 which is a lend lease version of these 1/2 tracks. Now I'm going on memory on this, I beleive these versions had no Passenger AA ring but pedestal mount & possible an all around rail for the MGs.
I hope this helps.

To further expand on the very good information JB has provided ...

Often when you see US halftracks in movies or pictures you'll see a structure over the right-side front passenger's seat (actually called the "co-driver" during that time). This structure was a small armored box, with a circular ring inside, on which a .50cal HMG was mounted. This structure came to be called the "pulpit" by the troops (the place where a minister might stand when he gives a sermon).

When the US halftracks were first put into service they did not have the "pulpit" mounted .50cal HMG. In the case of the M2, which did not have a back door, they had a track that went all the way around the inside lip of the troop compartment, which usually carried a single .30cal MG. This gun could be moved all the way around the vehicle to fire in any direction. Some M2 halftracks mounted multiple MGs on this track. The M3 scout cars (very similar in structure to the M2 halftrack) more typically mounted two .30cal MGs and one .50cal MG on this track.

In the case of the M3, which did have a back door, the MG was mounted on a pedestal in the center front of the troop compartment. This was optimized to shoot over the front of the vehicle. It could shoot other directions as well, but I would not want to be one of the troops in the back if the gunner decided to shoot that way...

Not long after the US entered the war, the "A1" upgrade was standardized. This did away with the pedestal or track-mounted MGs, and instead placed the pulpit over the co-driver's seat to carry a .50cal HMG.

By mid-war most newly built halftracks were M2A1s or M3A1s. Upgrade kits were also shipped to the field to install pulpits on existing halftracks.

But even by the time of Normandie, the pulpits equipped only a portion of the halftracks in service.

So an early war (Tunisia) force might be equipped wholly with pedestal or track-mounted MGs, while a later war (France or Italy) force might have a mix, at about any ratio you'd like to create.

Hope that helps.