I am building the Tamiya kit for a relative who drove on the Red Ball Express and have a couple questions. I have been talking to guntruck a bit and he has been of great help.

1. I have read various accounts of where (or if) there was a red ball on the truck itself. One reference said the trucks had little pennants on the atenna with a red ball....others have said it was painted on the front bumper. Does anyone have any pics of this or any info on it?

2. I would like to model the blackout lights as they were used on the Red Ball-- but have no references as to what they looked like. Can anyone help with this?

3. I have been looking for jerry cans to add to the model as that is what my great uncle transported mostly. Tamiya's kit has drums and buckets....which I don't want. I am looking to fill the entire bed with jerry cans-- what is my best option for this?? I have seen an Italeri kit that has just jerry cans-- but they are German....were there any differences between the two?

That's it for now I think....thanks!

Hi Jeeves. I can't help with info on the red ball symbol but one of the resin makers (Resicast or similar) does have a dump body with a load of jerry cans. Just can't quite remember which one though.

The US and German Jerry cans were different. This is just an idea. Cut a block of polystyrene and glue a layer of cans over it giving the impression of a full load. Italeri jerry can set is the better one to get.

Jeeves,

There is a book by "David P. Colley" that you can pick up at AMazon : .

I also did a simple Google search and found this pic: . You can see the red ball in the lower right hand corner.

Try the Google thing and good luck!
Dave

Welcome aboard Jeeves! Glad to have you with us!
Hmm... should'nt we be asking "Jeeves" the questions? LOL :-)
Like Cliff said, you could add a bogus layer in the bed and just for the top visible layer use the cans.

Anyway, like the guys above said, do "Google" search and you'll find info on the Red Ball.
Here's a great pic of jerry cans being loaded for delivery:

For whatever it's worth my Dad was a truck driver in WWII, though not in the Red Ball Express. His most common load was gas in 'Jerry' cans. He used to say that they would have to hide their load of cans to keep Patton's Third Army from steeling the gas. Bad enough that their loads got stolen, Patton also had a habit of "recruiting" the drivers for his infantry units.

You might consider putting a canvas cover onto the duce and half and just have a single row of cans that would be visible through the rear opening.

Thanks all!!

Hey cliff-- that's not a bad idea....this will be my first model that isn't a WWII aircraft though-- so I am a bit nervous. Any tips on how to do that for a newcomer to armor?

cdave-- Just finished reading that book from my library in town-- it was a good overall overview and gave me a good mindset for the project Your picture of the trucks helps quite a bit-- thanks!!

Kencelot and Halfyank-- thanks as well....that was another great pic-- I will have to try cliff's idea or break the bank buying Italeri kits

Now if I can only get an idea on those blackout lights.....

Jeeves the best thing about the Tamiya GMC kit is that you open the box add glue and paint, Shake and out comes your model looking good.

That's how good the kit is. Are you going to have the bonnet (hood) open to show the motor?

have fun PM me if you need any info or have Questions about it. :-)

Hi Jeeves welcome to the site.Italeris jerry can set is superb makes Tamyias look very sad |bye the way Italieris set is german ,us, and uk. well worth the money If I remember correctly Tamyias have only two handles which is wrong,should be three for all those nations.

This new Tamiya Allied Accessory set (#35229) is pretty decent. Welcome aboard.

Patrick

Hi,

Welcome aboard.

There have been two other topics about the RED BALL EXPRESS here at AA:

• RED BALL EXPRESS


• Redball Express in 1/72?

there you have some more info about it.


HTH

Welcome to Armorama.
While US and German Jerry cans are different, at one point in the war the US troops used all the German Jerry cans they could capture. I'm not sure of the exact time frame, but it was not unusual to see trucks with mixed loads.

Thanks again guys....

So it seems that other than a few references, there were no red balls on the trucks themselves....cool!

Now...about those blackout lights