Greetings fellow Braillers!

As many of you might be aware, I did the partial build review of this kit.



For those that haven't seen it, you can find it HERE.

I've made some modest progress on this kit since the review and thought it might be the time to document it in this thread. At this time the truck has a preliminary base coat of sand. I did some preliminary shading in the cab area before attaching the cab back, seat and fuel filler. I had also used small pieces of styrene sheet to fabricate pedals. The cab and cargo bed are dry fitted while I determine what still might need refining.



Several items in the cargo area are also dry fit (including the Lewis gun) as I'm still trying to decide on how I'll fill out the stowage.



I've been sifting through the various spares boxes looking for anything that can be added to a load. So far you see in the area a wooden box from this kit and an Italeri fuel barrel. The latter took a lot of work to eliminate the seams both top and sides. I also have available numerous other storage boxes left over from Academy, Hasegawa and other kits as well as a plethora of Jerry cans from Dragon kits that could be utilized.





I've also been tinkering with Milliput, Sculpey Polymer Clay, tissues and tissue paper to try to create other items for the back truck bed. Nothing successful yet!

As I'm working on other projects and sill undecided as to what will go in the back, it might take some time.

Thanks for looking,
Jan

Good to see this one making a reappearance in a blog.



Well, I imagine if anyone's got a sizeable braille spares box, it's likely to be you. I hadn't noticed before the big bracket things over the front wheel arches - on the box art it appears that they are custom made tarpaulin holders, is that really what they are? (and not for giant Swiss rolls...)



I have a feeling that you might be looking to recruit a little bit of crafty help for that aspect of the build. It is possible to roll Sculpey out really thin then roll it up to create tarps, blankets etc. then again, at this scale, it is difficult to get it looking sufficiently fine as it gets difficult to handle. The old wine bottle lead is another possibility (though not many wine bottles seem to have it these days).

Looking good so far Jan.

You can get lead foil from your local dentist. I asked and got a big bag of lead foil rectangles perfect for tarps and suchlike.

@firstcircle - Matthew,




And I fear to inform you, good sir, that in this case you'd be wrong! Honestly, I do have an interesting collection of spares (thanks especially to older Dragon kits) but they are often particularly unique to a given vehicle type (fenders, gun barrels, an upper hull or three, fuel drums etc). However, most things like stowage are fairly limited. The one exception is my stash of Jerry cans, thanks to the number of SdKfz 2XX kits that I've built. Things such as boxes, bed rolls, ammo boxes and the like are rather limited. This is a reason why I'll often sift through the LHS's HO model railroad section to find something suitable.




The brackets purpose are to hold sand mats. These were long pads made of reinforced heavy canvas that might have wooden "slats" sewn into pockets in them to assist in providing traction for the drive wheels. In some cases one side of the sand mats were a sand in colour (or painted to match the vehicles), the other side was a series of red and white stripes. This is because the sand mats doubled as air markers. In the event the LRDG needed an aerial resupply the sand mats would be laid out like a signal T for the approaching aircraft. Here's a picture for information purposes only.






I've had my SWMBO assist me in trying to use Sculpey but she has had no more luck than I in achieving decent results. While the material can be flattened pleasantly thin, it is near impossible to roll it primarily due to the scale size and of course finger size. (same applies to Milliput). Both have potential for tarps and the like provided they lay somewhat flat. I haven't seen any foil on wine bottles in my area in years, except on the most expensive champagne bottles.

@sabredog - Michael,

Glad you like it but it's got a ways to go.




As it would have it, our last visit to the dentist was not that long ago. I'll keep it in mind the next time we go for a check-up. A fellow modeller from my area has suggested using a very (extremely) fine brass sheet and rolling that up with fine strips of styrene as the wooden slats glued to it. Again, rolling will be the issue as these things size is .25" (7 mm) long by .3125" (4 mm) wide.

I have also tossed around the idea of seeing if I might salvage (through modification) the kit rolls. The top surfaces are actually rather nice and even show the "bulges" for the wooden slats. It's the ends that are the issue as three of the four have rather deep sink holes and the fourth is just plain smooth. One would have hoped that with slide-moulding they would have been able to achieve a better representation.

Thank you both for commenting and offering suggestions. Any help from the people here is always greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Jan

Nice to see this Blog show up so soon, Jan. It's looking good so far and am curious to see what you can do with it. With those sand mats, couldn't you fill the ends and then scribe them? At this scale would anyone actually see the end detail?
Anyway I'm glad to see this one as it might inspire me to finish my Humber.

Regards,
AJ

@tread_geek – Jan,

Good to see you’re hammering away on this one. I know you will somehow manage to come up with solutions to create your stowage.

In the past I have used a technique that I read about in one of the Paine modeling books for creating stowage simply by using shaped scraps of plastic under neigh a piece of facial tissue to simulate a tarp. I’ll share this technique with you here if you have not already heard of this. I’ve modified the technique a little and it goes something like this:

1) Cut a small section of facial tissue and a small piece of wax paper and set the tissue on top of the wax paper.
2) Coat the facial tissue with a mixture of water soluble white glue and water (75:25 mix) and apply the mixture with a paintbrush to the tissue. (Toilet tissue comes apart when dampened with water but facial tissue stays together).
3) After the tissue begins to dry I remove it from the wax paper with a set of round nose tweezers and place it over the plastic shaped objects.
4) Add a bit more of the water and white glue solution if needed to get the tissue to conform around the objects using a rounded off ended toothpick.
5) When the glue and water solution has finally dried you can paint the tarps with either a paintbrush or airbrush, the treated facial tissue will easily take acrylics or enamels as well as washes and is durable enough for dry-brushing.

You can also form tired up rolled tarps from dry folded up tissue and tie the ends with very inexpensive thin and narrow plain dental floss for simulating straps. Then apply the white glue solution over the entire piece. The facial tissue technique could also be used to simulate textured vehicle seats. Use could even use rolled up gaze (small interlace) with this technique to simulate a camouflage netting, an item carried on these vehicles. Hope this helps you out?

I just noticed the rope around the sand mats! I found a quite a few good sizes that will work in our scale in the model ship rigging supply rack at my LHS. See if you can find any at your LHS?

~ Eddy

@weathering_one - AJ,

Thanks for commenting and your suggestion got me looking at the kit mats again. Of the four ends of the two mats only one could possibly pass a potentially useable. Two other sides have rather deep sink holes and the last end has some texture with a small sink hole. Next I'll see what can be done with some putty. I truly hope that you get that inspiration and get your Humber going!

@Baille - Eddy,

Thanks for your ideas and I'll add them to the possible list. I'm open to suggestions but haven't yet got a clear idea of what I am after. That's why I mentioned at the start that this might take a while. I'm also stalled with the painting as I don't want to take things too much further until I determine what will be where.

Thinking about things I decided to try a simple proof of concept experiment. I got some simple facial tissue, cut a strip .25"(7mm) wide and proceeded to try and roll it (boy, that was an interesting experience). Here's some images.







As I hope all can see, there's no glue or anything and it definitely isn't rolled that tight but it did show me the potential and that this particular tissue is too thin for the mats {they're actually quite thick). I've also picked up some close weave netting that I'll experiment with for making camo netting.

Until next time.

Cheers,
Jan

@tread_geek – Jan,

While looking at the pics you posted with your attempt at rolling tissue I was thinking how that technique may work with thin pieces of styrene. Let me elaborate a little . . .

Perhaps cutting a series of styrene strips to the proper length and placing them spaced side by side on a lightly soaked tissue and folding the tissue over these pieces could give you the desired effect that you’re after? You could easily trim the tissue after it has become slightly dried and then roll it to shape and see if that will work? I hope I’m not making this confusing for you?

~ Eddy

Does anyone else remember those plastic sheets that you colour with coloured pencils, then put in the oven and they shrink doewn to about 10% of the original size? I thought I remembered once someone saying that a similar thing could be done with crisp (chip?) packets - and it made me wonder if there's any way of making the roll bigger then shrinking it down to the required size. There's also that shrinking plastic tube stuff you get for electronic connectors. Just a thought, and probably a stupid one.

@Braille -Eddy,

Thanks for your thoughts and I have been thinking of something similar. A fellow at local club suggested that instead of styrene strips that bamboo might be better.

@firstcircle - Matthew,

This shrinking plastic sheets and coloured pencil item is totally news to me. Your other ideas unfortunately aren't really that suitable. It has also been suggested that I try Milliput or Sculpey but I fear that I am rather limited ,to say the least, in sculpting skills.

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While engaged in another review build I took some time over our long weekend (Canada Day) to do a bit more work on the truck. I've set aside the sand mats for the moment and tinkered with plastic instead. Firstly, after creating a small 90 degree square out of styrene I was able to finally attach the cab area to the frame. The sloppy single attachment point for this purpose would most likely have led to the cab sitting askew. Once this was done and dry I attached the front bumper. While the instructions seem to strongly imply that you attach the bumper to the frame, this would be a mistake as the attachment lugs on the bumper are too short and would interfere with attaching the cab.

Here's a few images of the cab and bumper attached.









Not very visible in the pictures is some preliminary weathering on the truck frame and engine area I've also taken some time to fill the area around the headlights as the mounting depression on the fenders leaves a gap once the headlights are attached.

While I had the paints out (and after attaching the drum magazine to the gun) I did the preliminary painting of the Lewis Gun. Below are pictures of the gun dry fitted in the dry fitted cargo box.





To be honest, I've created a new dilemma for myself after reading about these LRDG "groups." It appears that this particular version was primarily a radio vehicle with a secondary "gun truck" role. I have mostly enough junk to load it up but my thoughts are about what would be carried. The groups had varying numbers of vehicles (6-8 being somewhat common) and each had a purpose. Wouldn't a radio truck be a major protected member (can't have the radio shot up)? Shouldn't the area around the Lewis gun be kept clear for the gun operator? One source describes other trucks being specifically assigned for unit cargo so what would this truck carry (spare radio parts, ammo)? See where my thoughts are going. Speaking of ammo, I'll need to create some Lewis gun magazine boxes. What I've dug up is that they were metal and 18.75"x9.25"x6.5" and they held four magazines.

My thanks again to those that commented and offered suggestions.

Cheers,
Jan

Jan, regarding stowage, would not even a designated radio truck at least be carrying items required for crew survival in the event of becoming separated from the rest of the group, so water and fuel cans, and then don't they all have great coats and personal bags? In photos a lot of it seems to be stowed on the outside. There are however also photos of some looking surprisingly sparsely loaded, almost like the one on the box lid.
Slightly
Shrinking plastic - it came back to me that they were called Shrinky Dinks. Apparently it's stretched polystyrene that reverts to its original size when heated.

Yes Matthew, and therein lies the quandary. The lighter the load the greater odds they are on a return journey to base. Another question is what is stowed in the large fixed "container" at the front left of the cargo bed? The greatcoats, blankets, extra clothing perhaps a few spare parts! Then the question of consumables such as rations and the like. Are the loaded trucks you mention the supply vehicles? Can we presume that they would keep their drums, Jerry cans and such for future use for fuel and water? What about ammunition? Thanks for confirming that my impressions have a validity.




I've researched this based on your additional info above and see that it was a common craft item. I can also see the potential as it shrinks to 5/8 original size and also expands in thickness. I'll check the local craft/toy shops to see if it is still available. It might prove useful for many other uses.

In my opinion, all thse thoughts are valid and worth considering. This speculation can be an enjoyable side of this hobby but also be open to a certain amount of artistic licence or with different materials, speculation.

Cheers,
Jan

Nice to see this progressing and I really like the colouring of the preliminary machine gun. I still think that you might fill the ends of the sand mats and then use Milliput to make some string-like sections and coil them around the ends. Sort of how you see some coils of rope. Just smooth the outer circle to blend with the sides. Hope you know what I mean? For storage maybe keep it limited to some Jerry cans for gas and water and a few boxes as if its returning from a patrol.

Regards,
AJ

Thanks AJ but the machine gun is just Tamiya Metallic Grey with the same company's Red-Brown for the furniture. As for your suggestions for the kit sand mats, it was actually suggested by a local fellow Braille modeller before you posted your thoughts on the subject. As it sounds like a simpler possibility than some other methods, I've see what I can do.




Thanks for your vote in that direction as I've been kind of leaning that way. Four or five Jerry cans, a couple of smaller boxes a tool box, perhaps a small rolled tarp or two and of course the large drum .

Cheers,
Jan

Jan, no doubt you have found this site or similar, but it does go some way to addressing some of your questions:

LRDG

Matthew,

Firstly, I apologize for not acknowledging your note and yes, I found the site while researching the Chevy. It actually is excellent and I've made a number of notes from the information there. I've been preoccupied with a couple of reviews but haven't forgotten about this one. I've found a rather interesting material that appears to be like a rather thick newsprint that might work for the sand mats. I have started painting the tires (tyres) and found a few more items for cargo. I'll post an update after I get a bit more done.

Cheers,
Jan

After a month and a half I finally found the opportunity to put a bit of work into the LRDG Chevy. In my defence, I've been busy with summer household projects while squeezing in the odd review.

The sand mats issue is still unresolved despite trying to make them from various materials. This is an ongoing problem. Wanting to make some progress I turned to the wheels. I was fairly happy with the styrene tubing filling the voids but noted that I cut a couple of these inserts a bit too large. This required some sanding filing and then filling to get them looking acceptable.

Before removing the tires from the sprue I decided to give the rubber area a base coat of Tamiya NATO Black as the first finishing step. It was at this time that the cab and cargo box were attached to the frame.

The Outsides



The Insides



Note that the rightmost wheel needs a bit more filling towards the inside. The two middle wheels while not perfect will be mounted on the rear axle and thereby not be very visible when mounted on a base.

The tires have a moulding seam running down their centre that needed to be removed. in some areas I was able to scrape the seam away but some areas needed very careful work with a very fine file so as not to lose the very fine tread pattern. The fit of the rear axles into the wheels was quite loose so I had to use a gap filling glue to secure them. The front wheels are even looser so more care will need to be taken when attaching them. In the pictures below the front wheels are held on by Blue Tack.





Hopefully the next progress update will be more timely.

Cheers,
Jan

Looking good, Jan and you did a great job around the wheel rims. The inside plugs are a lot better than the originals with the big cavity but I guess that they shouldn't be noticeable as they are when on a base. I also notice there is something different about the pictures? When I blow them up I can see more detail? Can't wait to see this one progress!

Regards,
AJ

Jan, just ran across this. Nice work so far. I have a suggestion for you, but it's not about the mats Are the loading ramps glued on yet? if not you should try to drill out the holes in them. I don't think it would be that hard to do, and would be a big improvement for a little work Jeff T.

@weathering_one - AJ,

Thanks and yes the styrene plugs should work pretty well although they were time consuming to get just right. Should I do another I might look into using something like Milliput to fill the voids. There are two minor changes with these last pictures. The first is that I'm using a new poster-board sheet for the background and the images are taken at 4:3 format. I can't see why they should be any different from my previous images as the base resolution is the same!

@imatanker - Jeff,

Thanks and I'm always open to suggestions. Now, by "ramps" I take it that you are referring to the sand channels on the right side of the truck! Yours isn't the first suggestion of this nature as a couple of people at a local club also made it. THe truth of the matter is that this piece represents two channels that are not aligned perfectly with each other. The ends are ever so slightly offset from each other and the holes at the ends are moulded open. When looking at the right end the holes go right through. ON the left end the holes are moulded so you see a bit of the end of the channel under them. Basically, the positioning is such that holes in both channels would not line up and boring through them would be inappropriate.

Here you can see the right side, the offset and the last holes of the back channel are through and through



The next two pictures are of the left side of the channels. In the first the end holes are through but in the second you can make out a bit of the underlying channel in them.





Hope this clarifies the situation.

Cheers,
Jan

Ah-Ha, now I see. The closer pics make it clear. You are right, drilling through would not look right. So much for that idea. so they are called sand channels? I assume they are to be put under the tires to improve traction or to get unstuck correct? Jeff T.

Yes, sand channels appears the most common term for these perforated metal objects. The rolled up "sand mats" serve a dual purpose but are in a few publications referred to also as sand channels (which to me sees incorrect as they are too flexible). As sand in the desert varies in density, each has their point to be used. The metal channels are the ultimate for using when the rear wheels are stuck in extremely soft sand. If you are interested in the LRDG just check out the link that firstcircle provided above.

Cheers,
Jan

Clean and good work until now Jan !
Be honestly please:this kit deserve the money[almost 30 $ in my country]?
Cheers and i wait for wheathering!

Thanks for the appreciation, Dani and NO, I do not think that this kit is worth $30! As it is, you could get one from DragonUSA for $19.95 but the shipping cost might still push it to $30. At a local hobby shop I have seen it for $23.95 and even that seems too much.

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My eternal quest for the "perfect" sand mats may have come to an end. I gave up on trying to improve the kit parts and returned to experimenting with other materials. I currently have some mats done made from what is called craft crinkle ribbon but haven't taken any photos yet. After spending a lot of time thinking about how I'm going to finish this thing I decided that it was time to get started. With a base of Future on and dry I added the decals and then applied another coat of Future. Once that was done I've started on the weathering from the bottom up. There's still a ways to go but it is a start.

Another issue arose with the instructions for the decals. For the Kiwi bird decal for the right front hood (bonnet) the instructions show that you have the option of decal 3 or decal 4. Under each bird is a coloured bar that is red for #3 and green for #4 decal. Sources conflict on which colour was used by which group (R or T). I went with the box art that shows the T9 truck with the red bar.











You will note that I had a small problem with the truck registration number on the right hood. I'll take care of that later as there are plenty of spare 'L' letters on the decal sheet.

I have also reviewed the LRDG Chevy w/Breda and rather than start a separate thread for that I'll post any updates for it in this Blog.

Cheers,
Jan

The wheels are done and I've made progress on the sand channel and started some work on the cab interior. Here's an overall picture.



This next one shows a bit of the started interior.



The next two are with one of the potential sand mat(s) just placed on the carrier frame. I found what I believe is a decent thread that will be the rope that will be wound around the mats later.





The overall colour is so unusually light that it's proving somewhat difficult to find appropriate shadow/hilight colours.

Cheers,
Jan