AFV Club 1/35 Long Tom M59 155mm Cannon
KIT #: AF 3509
PRICE: $46.00
DECALS: No options
REVIEWER: Scott Van Aken
NOTES:  

HISTORY

The 155 mm gun M1 was a 155 millimeter caliber field gun developed and used by the United States military. Nicknamed "Long Tom" (an appellation with a long and storied history in U.S. field and naval artillery), it was produced in M1 and M2 variants, later known as the M59. Developed to replace the Canon de 155mm GPF, the gun was deployed as a heavy field weapon during World War II and the Korean War, and also classed as secondary armament for seacoast defense. The gun could fire a 100 lb (45 kg) shell to a maximum range of 14 mi (23 km), with an estimated accuracy life of 1,500 rounds.

The Long Tom was also adopted by a number of other nations, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Israel, Republic of China, and the Netherlands.

THE KIT

AFV Club is a company out of the Republic of China and has been around for quite a few years. This is one of their earlier kits. Molding is very nicely done and the kit comes with a metal gun barrel. There are a lot of parts in the bags so this won't be a quick build. The first six of fourteen construction steps involve building the gun and its mount. Careful construction will allow the gun to elevate. The mount includes the trails and those can be free to spread out if you wish to model the gun in the firing position.

The rest of the construction deals with the carriage that includes a fairly complex eight wheel forward section along with the two wheeled trailer piece. Vinyl/rubber tires are provided so no worries on having to paint them. If you don't like the kit's offerings, there are aftermarket resin tire/wheels out there. To model the gun in the transport position, some additional work/modification will be needed. These were normally pulled by heavy trucks or artillery tractors. I'm sure that most modelers will want to have this built in the firing position.

Instructions are well drawn with detail images where they are needed. No decals are provided and I'm not sure if any are really needed. For painting, well, olive drab would probably be appropriate.
CONCLUSIONS

Though not the only Long Tom kit ever done, it is the newest in this scale. No artillery collection can be complete without it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/155_mm_gun_M1

May 2023

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