Takom TAK1019 M50A1 ONTOS w/INTERIOR 1:16

M50 Ontos

The Ontos - official name: "Rifle, Multiple 106 mm self-propelled M50.” Greek word for "thing.” was a joint Army-Marine Corps program. Specified simply that its running gear would be based on the M56 Light Anti-Tank Vehicle and that it would utilize the same six-cylinder, inline gas engine common to all the military’s 2½-ton GMC trucks. Designed as a tank killer, but not often seeing any tanks to fight, the machine still distinguishing itself at Hue, Khe Sanh, and countless other battles.

In 1953, the prototype was presented to the U.S. Army, who thought it was too small and too tall and that there was not enough room inside it, either for the three-man crew or for ammunition for the recoilless rifles, of which only 18 rounds could be carried. They didn’t like that the turret was so shallow, really little more than a cast steel turntable and hatch in the middle. They hated that the six recoilless rifles that made up its armament were externally mounted and had to be reloaded from the outside. They didn’t like that the half-inch armor plating on the sides wouldn’t protect the crew members from anything larger than .50-caliber machine gun rounds, and that the underside’s armor plate was not even half that thick, making it totally vulnerable to mines or anything that might explode underneath it. The Army backed out of the project, canceling their share of the 1,000 vehicle order.

Although deployed in the Lebanon Crisis of 1958 & the American intervention in the Dominican Republic, the Ontos was best remembered for its actions during the Vietnam War from 1965 onwards. They quickly proved themselves as highly capable infantry support weapons, providing excellent frontal fire and flank protection, Using HEAT rounds, the Ontos was an excellent bunker-buster. But where it truly excelled was as an anti-personnel weapon. A "beehive” round was developed for the M40 that, upon exploding, unleashed a massive whirlwind cloud of nearly 10,000 steel flechettes. As a result, the VC and NVA were terrified of the Ontos, and avoided it wherever possible.

A figure sculpted digitally by Jason Studios is included for the human touch. Shells for the six guns are included, plus all the controls the three-man crew would need, jerry cans and tools for the vehicle.