Good evening everybody,

I've added this current issue French Mortar and a few other additions as well to my website this evening. Finally getting to finish things up.

Feel free to help me out with any info (I'm no expert) or to send me any (unpublished) photos, I would most sincerely appreciate it! You will certainly receive full credit for any help!

Hopefully, it's worthy of your interest.

Next up is a shortened 81mm (Airborne) Mortar, T27. If you have any reference that you can share on this... well, if you were local, I'd buy you many, many beers! I have the specs and photos, but I am very interested in findng out if any of these ever made it to Europe with the US airborne. Very limited production run, but I can't confirm it's actual deployment. Rumor has it that it did.

Thanks everyone for your support! :-) Also, feel free to "fire away"! :-)

Happy Holidays!

Kevin......


you made me go mad.......WOW !!!!

That's the good old 120 mm HB Rayé .....the mortars I commanded during my army days.....That is some excellent modeling again dude....

I was talking with Greyhunter about this baby (and about you owning one) while we met at Geel in Belgium on November 22nd. How much does this baby cost ?

I would love to build one of this babies along with the new YPR-765 (converted into the PRMR version) ....that would bring back quite some memories.....

Tanks for sharing this Kevin !!

Damn, that was fast. Looks great of course. Now I can bug you when I build mine.

Paul

Danny... I thank you!

Seeing that I'm no expert with these things, it sure is nice to get a feedback from someone that is familiar with the real thing!

As far as cost, I can't recall off hand (I can get back to you on this), but I was lucky to find this on ebay for roughly US$20. I was not aware of this kit prior to then, and it was a great find!

Can you tell me if there are any difference between this "120-mm-MO-RT-61" and the "120 mm HB Rayé F1"? Both are very similiar in appearance, but I was never able to find out exactly. Are they the just the designations used by different countries? I do have a scan of a manual for this but, I'm not sure if it would be proper to put it on this page.

(I believe that the same HB Rayé designation is also used in Brazil, but the language difference is a problem there... the mortar school there is/was trying to help.)

Also Danny, if you forgot to 'turn in' something and happen to have any further info on this weapon stashed away in a closet somewhere, I could sure use your 'expertise'!!

Thanks for your kind words once again!

Thanks Marcel,

I'm glad that you and Danny enjoy it! Only info I have of it in transport mode is a couple of pictures of it being towed. No details of it 'folded up'. I am curious too.

Also, if you happen to have forgotten to 'turn something in' as well, I could sure use your expertise too!!

Paul... thanks! Great to hear from you too! Hurry up and get to yours' before I forget what I did with mine. You wouldn't be a 'bug' at all! Any luck on getting the part that your kit was lacking?

Thanks everybody!!

Kevin (and others),

I think we all talk about the same thing here. I think the diferences are in the manufacturer and or the international name . Ik think multiple manufacturers produced those mortars with a licence.

The international name is MO 120 RT or 120 MO RT.... that stands for Mortar 120 mm Rifled Towed

- HB is the manufacturer Hotchkiss Brandt (HB Rayé), but it also was produced by others like Thomson-CSF/Daimler Benz Aerospace. Over here we use the name with the HB in it, but I think in international terms, we should call it MO-120-RT.

I think it's all the same mortar we're talking about.

Excellent Danny! :-)

Certainly sounds legit to me...I'll fit that in as well as move the manual scan to that page, and if it's not appropriate, I'm sure that someone will let me know.

I sincerely appreciate your help! I should've asked here first.

Friends,

Kevin made the love for my old 120mm baby come back again.... While scanning the internet I ran into this site that might be of interest to you all. Some nice close-up pictures over here :

Unofficial Dutch Marine Corps Mortar Platoon site

Jeffry,

No, I haven't had a response yet. All I can do is ask, and hope for the best.

I am expecting a brief in from the W/1/2 Marine that I mentioned sometime after the holidays. He has an interesting story to tell from his days on the DMZ, and is trying to dig out some period photos to go along with it. I can say tho, that he wasn't all too thrilled with the HOWTAR.