Hi Alan,

Been following your LRDG builds with great interest, as I'm in the process of doing much the same thing, minus the superb craftsmanship, the figures (so far) and all the extra goodies. I'm using only the kit parts plus some Academy Browning machine guns and whatever I can build or modify myself.

On the subject of sand mats, the originals were made of canvas with sewn-in pockets to hold what I think were wooden slats or perhaps bamboo rods. Bamboo and wire ladders are what Ralph Bagnold used as un-sticking gear during his pre-WWII desert explorations. I made my own sand mats from thin khaki cloth stiffened by bits of the thinnest straws I could pluck from a whiskbroom. Fabric cement holds them reasonably well, and is colorless when dry. The mats roll up nicely and tied with khaki thread fit well on the racks.

A couple of comments on your gun truck. On the original Breda gun, that horizontal handle which projects from the back of the gunner's seat could be folded up. I cut mine off and glued it in a vertical position to allow the gun to traverse fully.. It's still a very tight fit, however. That battery on the right running board of the gun truck shouldn't be there. Only the WT trucks carried an extra battery for the radios.

The compass which comes in the Tamiya kit looks very much like an aircraft astro compass, which is the sort one might expect the Patrol navigator to have. I found some photos of the astro compass which look very much like compass supplied in the kit. Except for the scales they are pretty much all black, unlike the Bagnold sun compass which had a white dial as yours does.

Cheers

Dick

"Quem não tem cão, caça com gato""
Rough translation: Ïf you don't have a dog, you hunt with a cat".

Hi Dick,

Thanks for looking in and the comments on the battery and handle, two points to note.

I changed the compas on both trucks based on the pics I saw.

On the sand mats, I had considered doing something similar but using tissue and very thin plastic strip. I believe they were painted red/white and could be used as air recognition markers.

The kit OOB will build into a good vehicle, some parts are a bit thick but can be thinned down and I choose to use the kit bumpers by drilling out the supports rather than replacing them with the PE parts. Eduard provide a host of bits but I've only used some not all, as some of them were a buggger to fold .

Still a long ways to go yet, just been a bit slow in getting on with things.

Thanks again and enjoy your build sounds great

Al

Alan,

Any updates?

Mike

Hi Mike,

Sorry been a bit slow on these recently, I've been building the Italeri MAS Boat for some fun and a change of topic, but adding an interior meant the build has gone on longer than originally planned

http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/forums/169007&page=1 linkname









My projects do tend to take on a life of their own

I'll be getting back to the trucks very soon, as the bulk of the boat interior is done.

Blame Al Ross and all those hatches and empty space lol, lol

Al

Your work on both projects is amazing. I was wondering that perhaps you could combine the LRDG vehicles and the MAS boat in a single diorama? I couldn't do it. I don't have the talent, time or money really but I just had to suggest it. Have fun and keep up the good work.

Hi Mike,

Thank you kind Sir. My builds are far from perfect but they are usually pretty interesting.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

Well with the MAS Boat finsihed and the Royal Couple Happily Married time to get back to the trucks. The problem with breaking a project is that it takes a day or two to pick up from where you left off any find thing again .

Thought I'd fit and plum the radio next and started work on an extension stand for the Vickers .303.

Al

Hi folks,

Well the radio is fitted and the mud flaps added. For both the radio door and flaps I used the PE set. You could just as easilly thin down the kit parts and add a little additional detail. The Eduard set is good but being soft metal it tends to bend too easily at times.





Al

Very nice work, Alan. Do you know of an image of the Philips Model 635 receiver the LRDG used to receive BBC time signals?

Cheers,
Dick

Hi Richard,

Sorry no, I've seen this question asked before. If it was just a receiver then are we talking standard type 1930's wireless set?

This is the 1936 Crosley Model 635 I believe.



Here's a link to an old wireless set site. They all look similar although size varies

http://radio-passion.pagesperso-orange.fr/annees30/principalannees30angl.htm

There is a 1938 Phillips 470U that looks like the type of thing you might expect to see.

I'm not exactly sure where this data on the Phillips 635 comes from, but given that there was more than one radio truck it must have been easily sourced for issue in the desert @ one per radior vehicle so I'm kinda surprised no picture exists, well not one that I have seen yet.

Also what's odd is that the military tend to give everything a designation otherwise how can they order items/parts etc. I've often wondered if this was a personal item that has made it's was into history via the re-telling of a story and applied to one specific troop/vehicle only? Those with more LRDG knowledge than me may have kit lists etc that I haven't seen so in truth I can really say.

If it was a small receiver that attached to the No 11 set then I've no idea what it may have looked like, as I've never seen it.

Al

Hi Alan,
I did another internet search, (for the 5th or 6th time) and turned up a couple of plausible suspects. The Radio Museum lists two Philips 635 v receivers which fit the situation - built in 1939-1940, one by Swiss Philips and the other by Philips-Eindhoeven. Both have short wave bands and are powered by 6 volt batteries, either dry or wet. The case dimensions are w - 50 cm x h - 29 cm x d 21 cm. It's likely that the Dutch-made radio would have been available from commercial sources in Cairo when the LRP/LRDG was being organized. You can see pictures of the sets at www.radiomuseum.org. I don't know where they stowed it on the truck. Those vacuum tube radios (valves to you Brits) weren't designed for bouncing around on rough terrain. Maybe they took out the tubes and packed them in cotton.
Thanks for the reply,
Dick

Hi Dick,

Good find. Found the Swiss version, that looks possible.

I have added some locking plates to the underside of the Breda. I think there were also some sort of additional support bars around the back axle but I can't find a decent enough picture to be sure where they go or fix to.



Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

Started owrk on the fitting to hold the spare wheel on the nearside. Also added the rifles to the cab and a small tool box. I might replace the tool box with a larger one for 3" Mor or 25pdr ammo.

Throught I'd add a coulpe of Thompsons in cases as I have a few of these left over from the Para Jeep builds.







Al

Hi folks,

Well it's been a while since I did anything on these two, as you can see they have gathered a little dust!! Since the last post I've just joined up the sub sections and added a sun dial to the second vehicle. I finished the bolt plates under the breda too.

The main part of the build is therefore done, next I need to add the spare wheels to the vehicles and finish off adding the small PE elements on the sides and rear tail gate. After that it will be the guns and stowage, whilst thinking about a final display area.

I have two thoughts at the moment, one related to the Barce raid in September 1942 and their entry into the town at the first Italian outpost. I thought this might be a suitable building:



and the other a mountain road scene that would allow me to 'stack one vehicle above the other



Both kits are Great North Roads. One other thought is at a re-supply point.

Anyway with a few days off next week I hope to get a little more done.





Al

Hi Allan, a while ago there was a Breda truck buid by Jeff Webb, can't find the complete article, but maybe you can mail him.
He had the extra rods to brace the breda.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/154031&page=1

Cheerio, Arno

Hi Arno,

Thanks. If you look up a couple of threads I've already added the two points on the uderside at the rear of the truck and locked the breda base down. I think Jeff's are a more accurate effort but one does what one can. I think there is a 3rd point but I couldn't get an accurate picture to duplicate that one. However, I don't think it would be visable unless you turned the truck upside down.

Thanks again for the thoughts.

Cheers

Al

A little work on the spare wheel for the Breda Truck.

I have this pic which is a neat one.



Made the fittings out of plastic and will glue them in place when they have set properly. Most probably paint as much as possible before fitting to.





Al

I like what I see.
What am I saying? I Love it.

Cheerio, Arno

Nice!

Hi Aron and Neal,

Thanks for looking in.

Fittled the spare on the Breda Truck.



and added a spare to the RT truck. I used an old Tamiya steel helmet for the disc, drilled a hole through it and pinned it with a brass rod to a small square plate. Then added the handle from plastic round.



Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

A little more porgress.

I finally fitted the Breda, added a small blanking plate to cover the hole underneath and added the towing hooks to both vehicles.

On the Breda there are some small lifting hooks on the top of the turntable, it might be worth leaveing these off until you have the gun mounted as I knocked a couple off during various test fits, but fortunately some reasonable repalcements exsist in the kit so I've re-installed those too.

I took Dick's advice and moved the rear handle on the seat to the upright position and if you are planning to store anything in the rear RHS of the gun then do the same with the small bottom one, but I've just left mine.

Started to sort out some stores for the side lockers and I have a small radio that I might add for the mysterious receiver.

I added the PE sand trays but used the kit parts for the holding brackets, just thinned them down and clean them up. I also had to move the spare wheel on the RT truck forward a bit to accommodate these.

Anyway here you go.















Al

good kits

very nice..i'm learning a lot.

Hi Alan,
These are some very nice trucks you've built! I've got a couple of the old Matchbox ones on the way, so I'll be building the braille version of one of them soon....

Just one thing, it is not Pressed Iron Planking but Pierced Iron Planking.