US HALFTRACK M3A1 Ambulance

Artitec 387.232 Highlights:

Model: Artitec's 387.232 1/87 scale M3A1 half-track is fully assembled and painted US Army/Navy (AN) 319 Olive Drab and equipped for service as an ambulance with Red Cross markings. All the new Artitec finished models are highly detailed works of art. They are all hand painted and finished using the highest quality resin, plastic and metal parts. Add a few to your collection today before they are sold out. Models are made in small production runs so don't delay in ordering.

Prototype: The Carrier Personnel Half-track M3 (or M3 half-track) was an armored personnel carrier derived from the M2 Half Track Car artillery tractor. Developed pre-war by the White Motor Company, the M2 half-track took the company’s M3 Scout Car and replaced the rear axle with a Citroën-Kégresse-designed tracked bogie. In 1940 the army wanted a longer and more-powerful version of the M2 for transporting infantry and this version became the M3 half-track. It was powered by a 147 hp 6-cylinder inline engine and had a top road speed of 45 mph. The M3 was better protected than the M2 and the M3 Scout Car, with 13.2 mm of armor all around and 25.4 mm on the windshield. Nevertheless its open top, like that of its German-cousin the Sd.Kfz. 251, made it vulnerable to overhead fire and shrapnel. The M3 half-track had accommodation for a 12-man rifle squad plus driver or two stretchers plus medical staff in an ambulance role. Standard armament was similar to the M3 Scout Car: a .50 cal. Browning machine gun positioned in a “pulpit mount” above the windshield and one or two .30 cal. Browning machine guns mounted on skate rails on the sides or rear of the car. The M3 had a number of variants as it could serve as the carrier for artillery and antitank guns, mortars, and antiaircraft guns. Over 40,000 M3s were produced for the United States and its Allies.