¹⁄35

Retired War Veteran: WC-51

History

The Dodge WC-51 Weapons Carrier ‘Beep’ (Big Jeep) was used in all theaters of WW2. It was a capable off road vehicle and very reliable as a work horse. 123,500 were produced. The series included weapon carriers, telephone installation trucks, ambulances, reconnaissance vehicles, mobile workshops and command cars.

The kit

Skybow/AFV Club ¾ Ton Weapond Carrier Beep WC51 1:35 scale, kit 35S15

The project

Many of these Dodge trucks were left behind by the Allied forces after WW2 ended. Soon they became very popular among civilians and were used as tractors, milk trucks, fire trucks and so on.

I decided to build and paint my Beep as a junkyard style rust bucket with a story. It had to be a rusty WW2 veteran, used for many years by a bricklayer and finally retired, together with an old concrete mixer in the trunk bed.

Building & Painting

The kit was a joy to assemble with no major fit problems. Parts show crisp detail and the engine especially looks great with just a bit of extra wiring/cabling. The horn needed to be drilled out, and the fan blades were too thick, so I sanded them; not hard work.

When the lump was completely assembled I applied Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer (see photo 1).

Now it was time to start all the fun! Why not combine the very popular hairspray method with the salt technique? The first thing to do was spray on a couple of rust browns (Tamiya Acrylics are my favorite). I then filled my airbrush to carefully spray the hairspray. Here and there I sprinkled on a bit of salt in the drying hairspray layer. A bright grey was then applied. After careful picking and rubbing with a short, stiff brush dipped in water, the lump started to look somewhat old, but not old enough of course… (see photo 2). To begin the weathering, I brushed on a dirty oil paint wash (burnt umber / raw umber / mineral spirits), immediately followed by gently dabbing AK Engine Grime, giving extra attention to the oil pan. Different rust pigments (AK and MIG) were worked in to the wet surface where necessary. I then applied AK Light Rust with a fine brush to create subtle chips and scratches. AK Engine Oil was the solution to create greasy, oily effects. There had to be dust too! I added the dust pigments dry and sealed these with AK Pigment Fixer (see photos 3+4+5).

The chassis was primed with Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer (see photo 6), and a rusty dark brown was airbrushed on; to create a bit of depth a lighter rust tone was also added (photo 7). Again I went for the combined hairspray / salt method, and this time a faded olive drab paint layer was sprayed on. Very realistic effects can be created easily (photo 8+9). Washes completes the weathering of the chassis.

The driver’s compartment was finished the same way (hairspray / salt, washes, AK rust products…) (see photos 10+11+12).

The steps were given a yellow paint layer to add a bit of interest to the model. The seats were painted, weathered and completed with fine fibres to create a bit of damage (see photo 13).