Army Tanks

Does anyone know of any modern tanks/military vehicles/trailers/etc. thats have very little weight. I want to try to get the new runner pack of the 89' Department of Defence TOFC flat cars. I really don't want to make these cars super heavy. I don't care if they are kits or already made. I just want to know who makes a lightweight modern Army vehicle. Also they could be covered or have no cover. Just would like an Army train.

Brian

 

GHQ (http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/n-scale-military-equipment.html) have M1 tanks.... they're nice (I have a few that are yet to be built).

 

there's also here:

Roco - N Scale Minitanks

and

JBs Model World - Modern American Military Kits

and
Dragon Models 1:144 Scale Armor

there's a whole lot more out there:tb-biggrin:

 

Minifigs makes a wide range of tanks and other military vehicles. And as a bonus they are actually Nscale:

GFI Online Store: Historical Miniatures

Similar to GHQ, you must paint them.

 

Hay Bros has three different covered 'armor' loads like with tarps on them in resin.

I got a couple from Warbonnet Fan when he sold his N scale. I don't really have a place for them; PM me if interested.

 

Now I under stand the GHQ & JB's Model World are kits. Are Rocos, Dragon Models, and GFI stuff kits? do any of these come painted or unpainted. My eyes are looking around GFI stuff as they had a lot of military stuff, but once I get the cars I'll have to see the about the rest.

P.S. does the military allow RRs to transport helicopters/aircrafts too? I've seen some videos but none had aircrafts. Just wanted to know.

Thanks you all

Brian

 

I'd check out woo woo woo woo woo woo's website and look under Dragon Models 1/144 scale armor. They have Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, MLRS, amd M113 APC's as well, dragon also makes a M119 Paladin self propelled artillery tank. The scale is generally close enough. They are very good quality and cheap $$ as well. They come assembled and painted.
Micro Machines made (much cheaper quality) M88 maintenance tanks as well as a reasonably close version of the FOX 6 wheeled vehicles for NBC use (Nuclear Biological Chemical). They generally need to be repainted and detailed a bit, but are ok as well. They can be found now and again on ebay.
The GFI kits are in real rough form, and do not have good detail. They must be cleaned, detailed, and paintd by purchaser.
Remember though, the 68' DODX flats carried the Abrams and M88 tanks. Another manufacturer makes these as kits and decals for them are available as well. Just search this forum, or the Atlas forum for DODX and the info. on them will come up. The other vehicles can be loaded onto the 89' flats.
Generally, in terms of modern day, you won't find aircraft/helicopters transported by rail. They're usually flown to port and shipped by boat.
Hope this helps a bit.

 

The short answer is no. At least in the Army, all helicopters go by air (C5, C17, etc) or sea. If going by sea, they are flown from their home station to the port and then shrink wrapped.

Brian

(ex-AH-64A Crewchief)

 

I don't think you'd ever see armored equipment on an 89 foot flat. A HEMTT maybe, but I've never seen any tracked vehicles on an 89 footer. You'll usually see a single Abrams on a 6 axle flat by itself, with a whole lot of tiedowns. I'd take pics of some railloaded equipment at work, but I don't think that's a good idea in the post 9/11 railfanning era.

You'd usually see the canvases on trucks either removed, or the bows taken off and the canvas tied down over the load. When we loaded our deuce, we just sort of shrink wrapped the canvas over our gear in the back. You can also load softback humvees in bilevel autoracks, we did most of our battalion's humvees that way. All the vehicles would be left uncovered.

 

It's always a good idea to take pictures of military equipment from public areas. It is still a free country.

Here is a pic I got of a couple M1s at Aberdeen





and this is an old WW2 German tank

 

Now that I have some more time, here's some pics of the M1's upload on the heavy duty 6 axle flats. They normally ship 2 per flat car. Paladin's and M88's are shipped the same way.

Department of Defense Diesels & Freight Cars

You'll see the lighter tracked vehicles like M113's, ACE's, and much to my surprise up to three Bradley's on the 89' flats....

SWP Bradley Fighting Machines 5/24/2004

Railroad Picture Archives have allot of photos for reference.

Pictures of DODX rolling stock

Good luck in putting it together. At some point in the future, I'll attempt to build a military train.

Brian

 

I've seen quite a few military trains moving through Texas, most coming from/going to Ft Hood, and have never seen anything heavier than a trio of Bradleys on the 89' cars. Most aircraft, with the exception of helicopters, are usually flown to their theater of operations. Most of the time the 89' cars have larger truck-based vehicles or lighter armored vehicles. Hope that helps.

 

Deluxe Innovations did a DODX set with several different types of military vehicles including some great Abrams tanks. Unfortunately it was an expensive set of flat cars that warped badly after a short period, and a DI rep says that the tank mold was damaged and they couldn't make any more. Bummer, because the tanks looked pretty good and it would have been nice to have more.

 

DoDX cars available

N Scale Kits makes the 68' DoDX car as a kit. It is available now, and there are two different sets of decals available, with a range of reporting numbers. I am uncertain when this first came onto the scene.

The DoDX cars with links to full size pictures is at N Scale Kits

Peter

N Scale Kits
N Scale Kits

 

The 41000 series DODX flats were specifically for the M1 MBT and M88 Tank Retreiver as they exceeded the capacity of the DOD flats used to haul the M60 MBT. Those flats were numbered in the 38000 series and were used to haul the M60 and the M88 also. The M88 was upgraded for the M1 MBT.

 

Thanks guys! I will try to use some of the links listed in the following post. Thank you all who showed me pctures and told me what the military does with trains. I will hopfully try to get atleast one flat either n scale kits or the runner pack by the Kentucky or christmas.

 

Here are some flat cars I did with WW II equipment. Hay bros loads and Mini-figs high speed tractor I cast in resin to make it lighter. Their model is solid metal & very heavy. The resin one does the trick. It makes the weight of the flat+load a perfect combo and you can get a longer train without taxing your loco too much.