Here's the story...searching for idea's on building Trumpeter's MTVR , I stumbled upon images of "Medusa". I was hooked!!! This truck has been damaged in 3 occurances w/ IED'S, and the Marine's maintenance has repaired it back to front line service!

This is "Medusa"



The story and photo is from dvidshub.net

A HUGE thank you to Frenchy for providing me w/ tons of pics and links to help clear up details hidden in shadow.

I found the kit wheelbase was incorrect for my build..so why not chop up a 60 dollar kit?? The MK 36 is 5486 mm , where the standard kit was a short 4673mm. The kit frame has a recess for the TAK 4 suspension..




After a tasty beverage, a strip of sprue was glued inside the frame rail, and extended the wheelbase the required 21.5 MM


The quick look at photo's confirmed the frame was hanging over the back wheels too far...another session w/ a razor saw, and the frame is complete. The above pic shows the "bobbed " frame .

More to come !!

Jeff

Very interesting . . .

Good clean start can't wate to see more!

You're welcome Jeff ! I'm sure you'll make good use of them

H.P.

Nice work
Keep it coming

The mixed body colors after the repairs will make it even more interesting!

caveman- thanks for looking in..I've always been amazed by your ablility to scratchbuild, any feedback is welcome!

seb43- thanks for looking in!

165thspc- the variety of repairs gives a new meaning to "weathering" ! Thanks for looking in

I started the service winch, a few areas were questionable...but a little imagineering filled in the blanks. My buddy paintman helped settle the winch into the frame ! Thanks Bill!




The rope is pricey braided fishing line, the fittings are scale car bits. There's still a multitude of bolts to add.

Also throughtout the weekend, the crane assembly was started. The base is a whopping .080" sheet !!! Then a spool of wire was donated for surgery for the lower rotator unit. The ring measures an even inch. Topping that off a .030" disc , which still needs a ton of hex bolts..but my dog wanted to play..



Thanks for looking in! any questions/ feedback encouraged!

I tried a tip from "mother" after locating a photo of the wrecker portion. I'll let him pass along his top secret advice...

A visit to the Manitowoc website was helpful w/ a few brochures about their cranes...but the model number 1731 didnt match anything??? Oh well, I made the side plates for the crane...030" sheet, and added punched disc's for the through pin that will attach the boom.





here's where I'm headed



The beam is a massive piece, w a lift capacity of 22, 000 lbs. MIne is 10mm wide x 13mm tall and 118.0mm long

Thanks for looking in!

I have a few cool progress pics to share..I realized the boom sides had the incorrect shape seen in the previous photo. there's a "beavertail" on the rear section, so here's the new panels..



While the sheet was out, the reinforcing plates visable along the sides were made..







Thats just a tease...

Another area that was bugging me was the rotator base. I originally made it fixed...nope, a light bulb went off..and after drilling it out, installed a plastic rod . Now it spins like a top !

The trunnion and cylinder mounting plates ..




I'm still unsure about the small plates for the hydralic cylinder..they look too small. Any opinions on this detail ?





My buddy is letting me borrow his "Chopper" , and this tool helped w/ the hex bolts that surround the rotator.A task that would normally take me several tries, made this a 10 minute job. The bolts are 1mm hex rod. I just spaced them by eye..



any comments welcome

thanks for looking in !

I love it - I love it - I love it!

Cheers

Ciro

Lookin' really good!

Man! Am I impressed? H...... Yes

I do have a quistion though, those cables that connects to the winch, how are they made? I've been looking for a way to make connecting nuts on cables etc for like ever?

Outstanding skills

Mmmmm!! I love getting my daily fix of white styrene! Great stuff.

Kenneth- thanks for the interest ! The pipes were made w/ fine solder, and hex connectors from Hobby Design. Here's a link

http://www.hlj.com/product/HYDHD07-0043/Aut

Seb- thanks for the comments, great review of the Real Model tires...guess what I plan to order ! The resin tires are a direct fit onto the kit spindles ?


Graeme- glad ya like it so far. I'm really enjoying building something from the white stuff!

thanks everyone for the feedback, there's so many details to add, but enjoying the work

I couldn't stand the over inflated look of the kit tires..so after reading seb43 review, I placed an order for the new Real Model tires !

work continues, pics coming soon !

Happy Fathers Day !

progress has been really slow, but I decided to try building the LMI unit on the crane. This unit alerts the operator if the crane is being operated beyond specified inputs ! Think of it like a nagging wife...anyway, Mine is simply a few discs, a spare return roller from a MLRS kit, and .030 sheet.

This is the work so far..





The pics also show the angle indicator behind the LMI..the plate is .005 sheet, and a .010 gage. I still need to add the raised lettering PAT on the processor box, still uncertain how to accomplish it correctly..any ideas??

more to come!

the truck also has a tower on the rear I'm calling a "gooseneck" that mounts the rear tow bar. The next photo was of a brand new FMTV wrecker being delivered. I was allowed to snap a few pics by the driver..

Question...this truck shows a different tow bar unit than those on prime portal ? Here's the one I'm building




The one on prime portal has a much smaller "gooseneck" .

these are just a few of the tow bar parts..




There's a part in this photo w/ the small star I'm thinking of laminating sheet and sanding to shape..any one have easier suggestion ??



Any feedback welcome!

Outstanding build

Fantastic build

Seems you learned well grasshopper...great work, clean and crisp. Looking forward to seeing it on any of the contest tables soon. Will say this, it's going to get a lot of attention.

How's it going Jeff...things are better theses days. I'm looking forward to get back modeling soon. Give me a call during the week.

Take care my man,
Joe

Oh yeah, say hello to Bill or better yet have Bill call me when he can.

AHHHHHHH! I love seeing all that WHITE plastic! Awesome work and stunning craftsmanship.

Man, this is so sick!!!!! I really need to get better and get close to this scratch build level.


Jay