One thing about field guns is that they generally give a long useful service. That is so very true of the US Army's 105 mm howitzer. Developed before WWII, it stayed in production until 1953 and was used by well over 50 armies world-wide. It was the mainstay of NATO for decades and was used with great effectiveness in WWII and Korea. I wouldn't be surprised to know that it is still being used by some of the smaller or less well funded military arms.

In addition to the towed version from this kit, the 105 also managed to find its way onto a number of motorized platforms. Its relatively light weight and good recoil mechanism allowed it to be so adapted.

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Italeri is one of those companies that is into everything and generally does it all quite well. Outside of Tamiya, they produce more military items (tanks, trucks, field guns and so on) than anyone else. This 105mm gun is one of their earlier kits. At least this one is as it was bought at a swap shop and the instruction sheet is pretty old and starting to yellow.

The kit is quite well detailed and has minimal flash. There are a fair number of ejector pin marks on one side of many pieces so clean up in that regard is going to be a bit time consuming and in some cases, impossible. This is especially true of the elevation brackets. The side with all the detail has the ejector pin marks. The other that will be glued and is perfectly smooth has none! A few of the thicker parts have sink marks in them as well.

 It also comes with a three man crew, the positions of the figures as shown on the box art. The kit can be built in the towing or firing position and you need to determine which you'll model right from the beginning. It also appears that you will be able to adjust the elevation of the gun and the stance of the recoil arms.

Aside from the ejector pin marks, which are a constant presence in older kits, it looks like a fairly nice kit. There are a number of small bits that may be a problem for younger modelers, but otherwise it should present no real problems. Best of all, it is easy to paint. Except for the tires, the thing is overall army green!

Review kit courtesy of my kit collection.

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