Howdy fellow Truck'orama (ites, philes, ans, .......ohhhh, fellas),

I have been trying my darndest for literally months now to keep this a secret from our good Campaign leader 'Roo, but I am in need of his assisstance so I guess I'm forced to finally spill-the-beans.......

But, before I 'fess up, I have got to give Cliff huge kudo's for not reading me the Riot Act all this time for not 'officially' having signed up for his Softskin Campaign.......good man that 'Roo......no matter what the authorities say about it!

Anyway. I REALLY wanted to enter something in the Campaign that our good Mr. 'Roo would get a kick in the handrails out of. And, I thought, I've got this really nifty conversion kit for the Tamiya GMC 2.5 ton kit I got from some fly-by-night resin outfit located out in the middle of Timbuk-Oz that turns the kit into a very cool 'Radio / Command Body version of the venerable old softskin....butttttttt, I wasn't all that happy with the open top version of the GMC offered by Tamiya. I much preferred the closed-cab version of the wee beastie. Only problem is....it's way OOP.
What to do.....
So I got on the horn to Lara Croft and inquired if she had some spare time to help me locate the hardtop version of the kit I was seeking.....she said, "Sure, just as long as I get a nice long romantic kiss out of the deal".......what could I do?....I agreed.
After scouring the four corners of the globe (and carefully avoiding Oz in the process), I wound up finding the elusive prize sitting in of all place's..........EBay!
So after plunking down some smuggled in Rubles I picked up in a game of 5-card stud I played while in Nepal, I wound up with an old Testor's kit, dated 1981. The kit is actually of a 2.5 Ton Gmc Water Tank Truck, but, it does have the "fully enclosed cab" as Testor's puts it.
But now to my question. After having combed the world over, and having 'endured' the rather pleasant company of my traveling companion Lara Croft, and after being forced to spend the Rubles I had originally planned on giving my daughter to use in her school 'Show-and'Tell', will the Testor's kit I procured be a proper candidate for my Radio / Command Body conversion I got stuck with from that worthless, hole-in-the-wall, walkabout challenged resin guy out there in Sheila-ville?

Tread.

A couple of pics of Da Aussie Hounds Radio Command Body Conversion plopped on the Tamiya Chassis. Roo's resin conversion kit is 1st rate, builds easily, and has clear concise directions--which makes it plainly clear that "Ma Pouch" was in charge of this whole deal. hehehehehehehe

Aww, surely you could've found a way around spilling it to Roo. Oh well, the suspense of not being able to see it more than makes up for the surprise. Can't wait. Good luck with converting such an old kit to a relatively new one!

Jeff

lol I love it!!!!!! :-)

Tread the 'Roo Resin' OOP (for now) radio/Command body will fit the Italeri and the Heller GMC kits with minor work to the body mounts where it attaches to the chassis.

This is one conversion I have not done with it but I always intended to.

Here's a pic from Roo's Archives of the closed cab version.



Now if a guy of my skills can make the body then a man of your skills can modify it to fit :-)

Signed Roo the little

Howdy chums,

Thanks for the input WWH, I remember your build and appreciate your posting pics of it again for me...............wait a minute, I take that back. After taking another look at the fabulous job you did on yours, I will be hard-pressed to perform as good a job on mine. But, I must press on, otherwise 'Roo will crank that two-wheeler of his up and roll right over my modeling hands!

Thx for the words of incouragement USNavy2534. As I've already said, after seeing WWH's fine work up close again, and adding to that having Cliff as the task master, I will need it!

And as for you Brother 'SonofaDingo', that input is what I was wanting to hear. I suspected as much after looking at both the frame rails and the bottom portion of the conversion. My more important concern was the chassis length. But, if you say it fits.....that's 'gold' with me.

Also, your supplied photo is almost precisely the vehicle I had in mind. I plan a few changes, but nothing dramatic. The photo also addresses a small concern I had about the pioneer tools set placement. Or, more accurately, shows that the set was not placed on the left front of the Command body (my Testor's kit does not come with a pioneer tool set).

And, you also say ; "...This is one conversion I have not done with it but I always intended to..."?
Ya mean, I'll be doing a truck conversion that you haven't done?............this is just getting better, and better.....


Tread.

Oh, and if I had half the skills you do I'd consider myself a lucky guy! .............ya Sheila! :-)8

Hmmm length should be OK Tread as both styles of kit are of the same chassis length.

No I have not done this conversion my friend I have been waiting for you to do it for me LOL :-)

Also I love the fact that you made no comment about me being an

Neat Tread, real neat.

Howdy guys,

Since the the enclosed-cab version of the GMC is so hard to find, I was going to cast a copy of mine so I can do it again, but I don't really have the time unfortunately. Besides, it gives me an excuse to see my traveling companion (Lara Croft) again when I try to find a replacement.........

Now, in regards to the project. I am planning on adorning the vehicle with an array of 'stowage'. I'm also hoping to dress-up the Command Body portion of the vehicle, and give it a more 'lived-in, around, on top of, out of' kinda look.
Any suggestions?........................

tia,

Tread.

UM I know an old Dingo bait called Roo has a 3 piece resin cast of the cab

Put a cammo net on the roof and or hang tarps from the sides to look like it is an out door office.

Hmm I think Tread just wants to pinch my ideas

"...UM I know an old Dingo bait called Roo has a 3 piece resin cast of the cab... "

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh............holdin' out on me huh? Well, next time I need one of those cabs, I'll have a decision to make won't I?
I'll need to decide whether I want to spend some more time with the rather voluptuous Lara Croft, or come knocking on the door of some skinny Aussie guy with hat in hand...........hmmmmmm, what to do? what to do??.......

Yer pal.

Tread.

Post Script: Thx for the tarp suggestion, really like it.

Tread you are welcome to a cab if you want one. They do require a fair bit of cleanup as they are a squash mold but the finished item is very good.

PS> I wish I was still 'skinny' :-)

Howdy again fellas,

This is mostly to 'Roo, but anyone is invited to comment.

I am considering adding some 'life' to my build. I've already received a dandy of a suggestion from 'Roo in the form of the overhead tarp idea, but my question is about the access doors on both sides of the body of the Radio /Command body.
In the second pic down kindly provided by WeWillHold of his fine example, showing the right (passenger) side of the vehicle Radio/Command box, there is an indication of a single access door.
And then, in the pic provided by 'Roo from his excellent picture Archive, there is an indication yet again of a double set of access doors on the left (drivers) side with what appears to be an exterior handle on the lower portion of the lefthand door.

My questions are: First, are these in fact doors? And if so, in what direction would the single door swing, and would the doubledoors open 'French' style (like a saloon door)?
And lastly, is that an access handle on the lefthand door?

tia.

Tread.

OK tread you are correct they are doors. The thing on the lower left of the double doors is a reflecter. The handle is in the centre of the doors in the 'normal place'.

I am unsure how the single door opens as I have no pics of this or of the interior of this type of radio/command body.


Now the thing you see on the front side of the LH door is a clip type of arrangement to hold the door open. You can see the corressponding piece on the front corner of the body.

Hope this helps Tread

Howdy fellow Truckaholics,

Me again.

I've already built up the majority of 'Roo-tabaga's R/C Body.
And it needs to be said that, this conversion kit that our good Mr. 'Roo has put together is a very nice little piece. Not only is his packaging extremely pleasing, but the fit of the parts, and the ease of construction is superb. If our talented Brother Pouch ever thinks about re-releasing the conversion to the world at large again.......pick it up!
I feel fortunate to have one of these OOP kits.

Now, that I spread enough butter on the subject to require having my HDL's & HCL's checked, I've got a few more questions..........

From the picture kindly supplied by 'Roo of the hardtop version of the R/C Bodied vehicle, the roof appears to have a slight overhang over the sides of the body 360 degrees around. The supplied roof sections when mated tend to sit flush with the outer edge of the body sides. To maintain an attempt at accuracy (hopefully), and to remedy this, I will be splicing in a piece of square styrene stock between the roof halves and then sanding and filling till done (pictures supplied at a later date). Also because of this, I had to stray from the indicated construction directions and build all four walls without aid of the 'squaring' effect of the attached roof sections. Instead, I attached the wall sections one at a time, utilizing my metal grid tray to maintain 'true' square. I then glued the floor sections (which by the way fit superbly) to the already assembled walls and let dry.

Since I have already shared with you (who are interested) the fact that I am going to 'open up' the R/C body itself to add more 'life' to the build, I will also share some of the further ingredients of the project in hopes of getting some creative input on the subject.

This vehicle will be built as a vignette/dio depicting an Australian unit operating in North Africa in the early stages of WW II. My first thoughts are to create an 'at rest' moment. When the vehicle is deployed and temporarily encamped.
Now, since I cannot even imagine (nor have I ever seen) that they would keep the vehicle doors and windows 'shut' while in the desert sun, I have chosen instead to create an environment that suggests the reality of trying to ward off the blazing sun, while at the same time allowing the maximaum amount of air exchange.
In this effort, I will be creating a fairly sparse interior as just a suggestion of what's going on inside the vehicle. I have used my trusty jeweler's saw and cut open the two side-by-side doors on the left (driver's) side of the vehicle to show the inside. My personal little 'trick' is; I'm going to create to scale, a set of beaded curtains (kind of 'Benghazi' style) and have them draped right at the opening left by the propped open double doors. One side of the beaded curtains will be pulled to the side suggesting recent access.
I'm thinking of using a couple of (possibly) stacked ration boxes serving as quickly erected 'stairs' to get in and out of the vehicle.
Utilizing 'Roo's suggestion of the overhead tarp arrangement, I will also be creating a small table and chair setup just outside the open door along with a few extra items.....
I've even got a few ideas to save me from taking on the fig painting chores......

But, since I've lost my train of thought in regards to the questions, I better ask them before I forget again.

1) First and foremost: are there any pics of the interior of one of these babies?
2) Did all the Australian force's operating in northern Africa wear those cute knee-high 'potato sack' shorts like the British Forces did?
3) What is that little door, on the driver's side lower rear, just behind the rearmost wheel for?
4) Since this version of the vehicle seems to be outfitted with the smaller version of the fuel tank mounted in place of the larger, normal fuel tank. Would there be any evidence of personnel who operated these vehicles having carried extra fuel cells with them?
5) Being a "Radio / Command" vehicle, wouldn't the vehicle have had some sort of extendable aerial mast??
And if so, where would it be?
6) Where would the spare tyre(s) be carried/mounted?
7) Given that this vehicle would be operated in rough/remote terrain (and in my case, a desert environ), would there be any accomadation for 'marston mat' style panels to be mounted for getting 'unstuck'?
8) (And I'll make this my last ) Is there any source (other than your fine Archive 'Roo), where one might find more photos of this vehicle in action??????

TIA all.....

Tread.

OK Tread I will try and answer as best I can.

If you put your glasses on and look at the Instructions of the Roo kit you will see that the spare wheel sits on the back of the body. There is a hub there for this.

The Aussies in the desert used British type uniforms the same as the British troops. The only real difference is the 'slouch hats' of the Aussies.

I have NO pics and have never seen a pic of the interior but it may have been similar to one of the other types. I will add a pic of this at the end of this post. The main difference would be clear space under the benches for the signal personel to sit in chairs.

you will notice that there are two fuel tanks of a smaller size added to this vehicle. Combined they add up to the same volumn as the single larger tank. Jerry cans would have been carried for extra fuel the same as any other GS type GMC.

The aerial most used on these trucks was a demountable pole affair which stowed between the chassis rails from the rear of the vehicle. Hence the cut out at the bottom of the back. It was mounted away from the vehicle.

The small hatch was probably (this is a guesstamet) an electrical fuse/connection box for power from a generator or for the plugging in of the aerial.

As to Marsden mats these too would probably been carried but where and how I do not know as I have never seen a pic with them fitted.



Now this is the interior of an electrical repair body. It IS DIFFERENT to the Radio/Command body but I am picking that it would be similar in style apart from the fact that the Radio/Command had the doors in the sides and not at the rear like this Pic.

If anyone does have photos of the interiors of these van body types, especially the interior of the Radio/Command I would be eternally grateful and add you to my hall of the infamous....er I mean famous people I know :-)

regards
Cliff

POST SCRIPT FOR TREAD!
only one thing wrong my friend. Aussies did not use this type of radio/command truck!

In your usual 'aplumb' you have answered (for the most part) my questions, and have given me more information then I could have hoped for.......ya Dingo bait!

First, about the spare tyre.......I'm apparently blind as well as synapse-challenged I guess. My apologies.

Further. Since you hit me on the head with the...."Aussies did not use this type of radio/command truck!", I am shaken.
I was planning on building this as an homage to you Aussie buggers, with you in particular.......but, as I have apparently been working under an incorrect assumption on my part.......I suppose it will have to be a 'partial' homage.....

Your picture is all I need. I was just trying to ascertain (confirm) the location of the table. I can work off of what you so kindly provided (believe me, I'm getting quite used to working from ONE photograph!).

You also answered my question in regards to the aerial mast. But, you said..."It was mounted away from the vehicle...." I don't suppose you would have access to any pics of said mast, would you? This would actually support my exterior setting, and would be mighty helpful.

And lastly, your input on the wee door to the rear, and the Marston Mat is greatly helpful.
The door I'll ignore.
The Marston Mat is nice fodder for my dio indeed!

Thanks again SIR. You are indeed one of the 'gems'.....

Tread.

Last time I was at the Local Hobby Shop, they had a few of those water truck kits. I did pick one up formyself, at the time. Maybe I'll stop tomorrow and pick up the others, and this way I can sell them on Ebay for outragious prices..... :-) :-) :-) :-)

"Or,....I can sell them on Ebay for outragious prices....."

or offer to sell them to your 'mates' for what you paid for them because you care about our modeling 'karma'...........now come on Grumpy......who's yer bud?.......come onnnnn, .............

Good on ya Grumpy. If you can find 'em, more power to ya.

Tread.

Tread

I do not have a pic of the aerial (sorry) but they were tall ones with 4 to 6 stay wires hanging off them.

Grumpy




you rotten sod I was going to charge a lot of US dollars for my resin ones when Tread wanted one :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

"...you rotten sod I was going to charge a lot of US dollars for my resin ones when Tread wanted one ..."

Yeah!.....right. I still owe you big already!............maybe we can work out something regarding, as Mad Max put it...."Gazzilline"? :-) :-)

Tread.

Howdy fellow "Move It!" companyero's (sp?),

Here's another small update on my Radio / Command bodied entry for 'Roo's truck Campaign.

In an effort to 'space out' the two roof sections to get a more acceptable overhang (for me). I've spliced in a small section of Evergreen .080 x .125 rectangular styrene stock between the two. Since our good 'Roo has so accurately moulded in the gentle slope of the exterior surface of the roof, I have decided to 'walk' my spliced in section from one side of the roof, to the other.
Pics below:

This first shot shows the piece of .080 x .125 rec. stock cut to match the width of the roof section, and first tacked to the outer righthand edge of that section with CA glue. If you look at the left hand side of the new piece, you can see that it (for the moment) extends up past the upper surface of the roof section....


This next shot shows that I've 'walked' the styrene piece further out to the 'crown' of the roof line and tacked again with CA glue, making sure to not overcorrect. And as you can still see, in a more exagerated view, the new piece still extends up past the top of the roof surface on the left.


The third photo shows that I've continued to 'walk' my piece all the way to the lefthand side's outer edge, maintaining conformity between my new piece's outer surface, and the existing outer surface of the roof section itself....


From this point I will first sand down the outer edge (the side facing the other roof section) till it complies with the exact thickness I desire (the .080 x .125 piece is just a smidgeon too thick). Once that is done I will then glue the two halves together, and proceeed to sand and fill till it matches up with the existing roof contours.

...more boring news to come......

Tread.

looking good Gordon.

Howdy fellow 'Move It!" buggers,

Just wanted to take a quick sec and post a pic of what little progress I've managed so far.
Unfortunately I do not have the deft hands of our good brother 'Roo, but I am working my arse off to be worthy enough for an 'honourable mention' at least.....

Here's the pic of the R/C body built, and put together sans roof...



As you can see (hopefully), I have managed to cut both drivers side access doors off of Cliff's nicely moulded body section. I have propped them there just to give you a hint as to what my intentions are for them.
And, if you peer inside you can see the rudimentary interior I am building for it to at least give it the appearance of a something going on inside. There are table tops on either side of the body ala' Roo's supplied interior shots.....
Based on those interior photos I am considering adding real Basswood flooring on the lower floor section (right at the entrance) to help it look more accurate. I am already working fairly extensively with simulated Basswood planking for my 'Mud Sweat & Gears' entry, so adding the floor sholdn't be too hard. Although, I probably should have thought about doing it a stage or two earlier........

Here's another shot of the same body, but with the roof dropped on so you can get a better idea.



If you look towards the front (right of the picture) of the roof, you can just make out the 'added-in' section between the excellent roof halves supplied by 'Roo. I have shaved/filed down the spliced in styrene strip to match the outer roof edge (front of the picture), and have begun my initial filling/sanding to meld it all together...

Tread.

That looks real good Tread. Just a bit of a caution. when you fill file the top joint you made do not forget that there should be a seam line on that joint line to act as a sheet joint line.

Apart from that I really like what you are doing with it.

Thanks
Cliff

Howdy 'Roo,

Thx for the input. And thx for the reminder on the roof seam. I already had plans for that, but was about to bang on your door for some ref shots of the roof.
My plan at this point is to simply scribe a line in almost the same spot as the one you provided. Hopefully, that will be "close enough for government work".

I do have another query tho...and this is a bit of an odd one. In fact I plan to post a topic to the masses (since you're the only one kindly interested in my 'wee' topic here) about this question.

My plan is to create a small vignette where the occupants/operators of the vehicle are outside. As part of my attempts at adding 'lived in' detail, I thought up the idea of adding radio frequencies scrawled on the outside of the R/C body in simulated chalk.
My 'intel' request is; what (now) British wartime radio frequencies would have been......

Tread.