Cliff asked me to start a thread on my project, a 2-pounder en portee, which was inspired by this painting of 2LT George Ward Gunn, J Btry 3rd RHA, VC (Posthumous) at Sidi Rezegh.



First, I need to acknowledge all the help I got from our leader, Cliff Hutchings, AKA Mr Roo, and a country-man of his, Cliff Wignell. Both of these gentlemen have gone out of their way to provide references, pictures, and assistance.

Having said that, I accept responsibility for all differences in my project & the info they provided. There are several major "research" issues. Basically, I am building an "early" war "British" 2-pounder en portee. The references leaned very heavily to the Canadian (CMP trucks) and Australian (portee details) and I can tell you there are differences, not to mention the New Zealander versions. Quite simply, I went from a dearth of information to an abundance of conflicting information. Throw in that I did not know if the vehicle in the print was a Chevy or Ford and now you know why I have grey hair.

So I made a decision. Although my original idea was to build the Chevy 3-tonner, I decided to build a Ford instead and to portee the gun using the sketchy "British" info I had; where necessary I would borrow, use, or abuse the detail pix of other vehicles to fill in the gaps.

To do this I decided to kit-bash & scratch some combo of the Tamiya Quad Gun Tractor (Ford), and the Italeri 15-cwt Supply Truck (Chev) to come up with the F-60L. The Quad gives me the basis for a 12-series (early) cab while the 15-cwt gives me a basic frame & under-cart. Anything else I'll cobble together as I go --I also have a Bedford QL and an Italeri Chevy Gun Tractor as well as a large supply of Evergreen & Plastruct for odd-ball parts if needed.

The 2-pounder is, of course, from Sovereign. It is a nice kit that I have built before & so I am aware of the pitfalls & I know the things to tweak for detail. As the 2-pounder itself isn't a soft-skin, it won't get much play in this article. As with my first (& still not finished) 2-pdr, hacking a decent crew will be the hardest part of this ....

Key to the pictures following. Black/green pieces are IT CGT or 15cwt, tan parts are TA FAT, white is primer or Evergreen; while any shiny stuff is probably brass or Eduard PE for FAT / CGT. And as these are in-progress, you'll see dust, scratches, seams, etc ....

I welcome any suggestions, questions, observations, or assistance.

Part 2:

I split the Italeri 15-cwt frame, removed the engine compartment filler junk, and cut two new pieces to extend the frame to a long wheelbase. I intend to put some kind of engine in it (little detail) and fix up the drive train. I don't have exact plans, so the new frame (esp cross member) is kind of a swag. Then I noticed the horrid sink marks on the frame & other major components & set to filling same and cleaning up flash & pin marks. I also figured out the LWB CMP had more rear springs, so I've hacked aux springs in the rear by adding a set of smaller springs to the kit springs.

This picture shows the original kit frame and my new one.



Here is a further picture of the frame, with more parts added. I still have a few pieces to go. You'll note further mods from my last pix & the addition of engine mounts from the FAT. Note also the aux springs on the rear (I did these from scrap pile before I realized the CGT kit had 'em!).

Part 3:

The next picture shows the TA FAT cab floor, the IT 15cwt cab floor, & some pieces. A few whacks & hacks later is the next picture which shows the cut-down FAT floor merged with some 15cwt parts & some Eduard PE I'm chopping up for a floor. This plus the engine are all just sitting there, not glued down yet.

Part 4:

Here we are at a further step. I'm working on the actual portee features, so I can match up with the gun itself. In all these you'll see the frame with undercarriage, the work on the spare tire carrier on the frame, the cab modifications, the wooden flooring, the engine rework, and some of the work ongoing to thin out kit parts & or replace by P/E. I have been working on further modifying the cab & floor to get the right slant to the doors; just using the TA FAT cab as is, leaves things a bit to squarish. I'm also working on correcting/detailing the engine.



You can see some of the hacked Tamiya cab as I add P/E & things -- note the linkage for the clutch, brake, and gas-pedal -- all that continues into the wheel well, where I'll have something to look like real linkage to the appropriate areas. I have got a slant in the sides now -- may not be enough, but it is all I can do without too much surgery. On the rear frame, you can see where I am working on the gun leg mount, rollers, etc.

And here are most the parts kinda tacked together to show the basic idea. Note that there are a lot of un-trimmed pieces of Evergreen/Plastruct at this point.



With the bed right behind the spare tire carrier ready, I can start work on the ammo box, seats, and winch. With the rear bed started, I can start on rails & things. The frame needs some detailing underneath, then I can start on rear fenders, fuel tanks, storage boxes, etc. The cab is close to being mounted on the frame & I can finish the rest of it from there. The engine can wait a while. It is time to get back to the 2-pdr itself so I can do the little wheeled carrier it sat in "en portee" & merge that with the decking.

I got out the 2-pdr carriage parts & found more air holes than last time I did this so will have to proceed very slowly. I need to get the carriage part built so I have something to work with while doing the rear deck & fittings.

I have learned a lesson -- do not install the driveshafts until done screwing around with the chassis -- this one is showing the wear a bit too much.

And, yes, that is a spot of blood on the decking, errant x-acto .... One must suffer for art, I guess ....

Part 5:

Here are the current pieces & parts. I've been adding detail to the cab -- throttle, brake, clutch pedals & linkage, grill work, hood & doors are working. I've added a few parts to the chassis -- the brass cylinder is the vacuum tank, and you can see the fuel tanks. But the bulk of work went into the rear deck so I could load & mount the 2-pounder. You can see rails, the trolley, the chocks, and part of the 2-pounder carriage, and oh yes, the start of a winch.



The two-pounder sits in a trolley which is winched up the rails to clamp up against the chocks at the end of the rails. There are 24 little pieces of Evergreen/Plastruct in the trolley, and I'll let you count bolt-heads...



Here's a view from the rear when the trolley & carriage are snugged up to the chock.



And here is most of it tacked together ....



Now I'm bottle-necked on the chassis. I've got to throw in a few parts to simulate master cylinders & what-not and run some fuel, brake, etc lines & cables so I can get it painted before mounting the two rear bed pieces. I can't go much further with the rails & whatnot until I get the bed mounted.

In the mean-time, I can do the ammo box & seat on the intermediate bed, and I can start real work on the 2-pounder itself.

More to follow, albeit at a much slower pace ....

John that is fantastic work. Yes I noticed a couple of things that were not right but I am not a rivit counter so I am not going to comment on them as they are not going to be seen all that easily when you have finished.

The details you are adding really make this and the effort you have put in to the build shows and I believe you are going to have one fantastic model when you have finished.

Thank you for sharing

An absolutely stunning piece of work John,your an inspiration to us all.I look forward to seeing the finished product.

Great thread John. Very interesting stuff. Please keep it coming.
Chuck

I got some drawings for this and the 6pdr portee some time ago, built the 'standardised' 6pdr but bottled out on this one.
You've done an really excellent job so far John. Anything that has been missed, only a real truckaholic would notice, so I wouldn't worry. Perhaps you've inspred me to dig out those plans again..............

I look forward to seeing the finished item.

Looking fantastic so far John.

John you have my up most attention on this build. You are doing a fantastic job so far. I know very little about these trucks but I know talent when I see it. I will be following this build so please keep us posted on your progress.

'Roo:

I'll bet the one glaring item is my use of the "rear winch crossmember" from the FAT/CGT -- I knew the F60L didn't have the winch, but I got lazy & didn't scratch another x-member.... The other is probably the dummy x-member I tacked in half-way along the extended frame-rails - a swag. I'm sure my use of a Chevy frame & undercart is causing other fidelity problems ....

Anything is OK to comment on -- I'll acknowledge missing something or give my reason for ignoring -- it's all part of the learning process.

Yes John it was in the cross member part of the chassis that I noticed a few errors. But as I said they are not going to be seen all that easy once the deck is on.

We all need to remember that these are scale models and not a full sized truck scaled down.

John you are doing a real good job on your model, the only problem I see is the same problem I have, is engines.

All my old models I can steal an engine from, is an high performance V8, and back in the 30's and 40's I got to looking a V8 gas job is none existent.
Everything is straight on the gas jobs, the 4,6,and straight 8.

Now I do think the Germans banked the multi cylinder tank engines but they were something like 16 or so cylinders, now don't quot me on how many, but they were well more then 8, I believe.

I could be wrong, maybe another country had them, and I don't know about it, but what I looked at, sure does confirm what I said.

At least every model I got, that I studied, all have the smaller engines, like even that armored Panzerwerfer 42 Maultier only had a straight 4 cylinder.

Howdy jRatz,

I am really enjoying looking over your shoulder on this John! Your step-by-steps are 'candy' for my eyes.

I am watching this one intently, please keep up the good work.

Tread.

Thanks for the info & I'll keep it in mind for other kits, but in this case the kit is almost right.

The Fords used a V8 90L of 3.18 x 3.75 for 95HP.

However, the kit representation thereof has some big inaccuracies. I started to fix them, then put it aside to work on the truck itself.

Note to all: If this project gets bogged down, the detailed engine ain't gonna happen ....

I thank You for that information John, I never dreamed any truck could get any power, with the Sherman needing power, and them hafting to bank them straight sixes, with it taking up all that room, and hafting to make room to make them fit.

Is there another engine that had the plugs in the center besides Chrysler Hemi?

Then I also got to do some more schooling, but I'm glad you got me on the right track now, I'm sorry about the misunderstanding, I really thought that the trucks never got any V8's until later.

Kerry

I've mentioned making decisions based on the info available and what my concept of the project was. One of those decisions was the rear bed of the portee -- it could be a single-piece/level or a two-piece/level affair. I selected the latter because it seemed closer to my vision and also because I figured I'd need the fudge factor offered by the raised deck when fitting the 2-pounder legs and was I ever right !!!

One of the difficulties with a project such as this is the precise mating of parts from disparate kits. The TA & IT vehicles weren't bad; they are close enough to fit with little effort. And while I try very hard to build things to the proper scale size, I am not working with exact drawings, but rather pictures from which I have to interpret size & shape. Sometimes, now matter how I try, the kit parts won't match so "adjustments" have to be made -- this is the fun & the pain of this type work.

The first place I ran into problems was making the rails, trolley & chocks for the gun carriage. When all was said & done, the chocks became "representative". Another thing that took a great deal of time & effort was getting all those pieces in place such that the rear trails of the carriage were not too high.

Why, all this talk & no pictures ??? Read on, it is a good intro to this post.

But first a word from the cab & frame. I was not happy with my doors, neither the scratch-built ones or the openings on the cab -- part of the problem was that the floorboard was flush with the door post & they just didn't sit / cover right. So I reworked the cab side with some 10-thou strip to build up a proper ledge and rebuilt the doors to fit snugly. I had to reposition the fuel tanks because they were too far back (like 1/32" or so) and getti8ng in the way of the soon to be built storage boxes. I built steps for both sides from some kit rails, Evergreen, & spare P/E. At the very rear of the chassis you'll see two triangular pieces that will hold the 2-pdr wheels.

And 'Roo, note the rear x-member isn't so "winchy" anymore ....



So, now the frame is coming along. I need storage boxes on each side just aft of the fuel tanks, and I need fuel-can carriers aft of them. Other than that, I need to do whatever wiring & detailing in/under the frame itself ... and oh, yes, the battery & still have the spare tire carrier to finish. I can start the cab clean-up & final detailing as I've got my fit issues resolved.

Now we can move on to the rear deck. With the rear part, trolley, etc done, it is time to move on to the raised piece. The trails of the 2-pounder partially fold and end up sliding under the combination ammo box and seat.

I started with the ammo box -- there were two styles, top-load & front load -- and I chose the latter. One of my problems was the size of the ammo box vs the size of 2-pdr containers. Lacking exact dimensions and any shot of the inside of the ammo box, I decided to make one that seemed the correct size/proportion and to not get hung up over exact storage -- loose rounds & whatnot would work. So what you see is the ammo box, with seat. I still have to do the fold-down door. It is made of thin ply and "angle iron" with holes drilled to take .032 wire as a pseudo-nail. I may not have mentioned it before but I usually build up wood parts & then coat with MinWax clear poly-eurathane; that allows me to "preserve" the wood thru the build.



The 2-pdr carriage was something else. The kit comes with rear leg pieces that can be positioned as desired & glued down. I needed more flexibility to fit this into my mount, so I spent time carefully drilling holes thru the leg mount and pin, then running a piece of wire thru to hinge them. This is something I wish I had done with my first 2-pdr. I had to do it a couple times because the resin wasn't strong enough to hold the wires & motion, requiring rebuilds with scrap resin.

And here is the first fit of the carriage onto the rear decks with legs folded.



And all that work with size, mismatch, etc, more or les pays off as the legs lay down about as flat as they'll get ...



Now I can work the seat handles, ammo door & hinges, and the mount for the seat, to include the winch bearings and handle. I also need a couple small brackets to hold the folded legs. A bit more work on the clamp for the front leg & things will be moving quite nicely. But there is so much to do before I can start painting & joining the bigger pieces, not to mention getting to work on the rest of the gun.


Anyway, here it all is, with the ammo box & seat kinda propped into place.



I am having FUN !!!!!!!!!

John this is looking better and better. You have put a fantastic amount of work in and it is really paying off.

Once you tell me it is OK I would like to do this as a proper feature article for Armorama. I will edit and format it if you just continue to update it at your own pace.

Cliff:

Article is OK, anything you need let me know. Don't cut out the part about all the help you have been, or permission is withdrawn !!!!

I've got a couple problems -- back to decisions & in this case I made the wrong one, way back when I was hacking the Tamiya cab. I left the "frame rails" on figuring it wouldn't look too bad sitting up on the Italeri frame.

Well, now it sits about 1/8 too high off the frame & that makes the vertical position of the fuel tanks vs the steps & fender wrong. It is pretty obvious from the side view.

I do not want to try & fix this properly -- I'll probably break to many things. I shall make one attempt at kludging things & see if I can live with it.

Update 30 Nov: After study, I decided to try & fix it. I took off the fuel tanks & steps, carefully. I will look at it again tomorrow to be sure of what I am doing, but I think I can take 1/16"-5/64" out of the cab frame, make a few adjustments elsewhere, and it'll be much closer. It''l probably add 3 days to the project, so don't expect much progress elsewhere.

John

Not saying much.... but am reading each segment as posted....

When last I appeared, I was about to correct the cab, which I decided was about 1/8" too high. That proved to be a chore as one change lead to another change to another, but I finally got to a point where I was reasonably happy. But it took a long time because I had to be careful to not really screw things up.

Plus, I had to take time to finish my getting my Private Pilot Certificate, all of which happened this past weekend (in stronger winds than I am really used to!), so after 50-some years of wanting to be a pilot, I are one ....

Anyway, let me lead off with another reference picture so you get a better idea of what I have been shooting for. Again, many of my detail pictures do not match these particular vehicles, but these are what I want, so I am having to kludge my way thru.



Anyway, I chopped most the molded-on frame from under the cab to lower it a bit more than 1/8". Once I did that, the wheels & fenders didn't look quite right. So I moved the cab forward a bit over 1/16". That required rework of the engine compartment, frame, and a couple other things, not to mention pulling the steps & fuel tanks off. Originally my steps & tanks were roughly attached in/at the points on the Italeri frame, but now I had to sand all them off/down & re-attach the steps & tanks forward. This turned out very well & not only did I fix the height & location of the cab, but also was able to make a better fit of the steps & tanks. Yeah, maybe it isn't obvious from previous pictures, but I know it wasn't right ....

Another bennie is that I gained that 1/16" to lengthen the bed. I didn't actually lengthen anything, but by moving the cross-ways bed forward, I uncluttered the winch & leg area, so it was all for the better.

As all the above was happening, I continued to work on the ammo box which sits up on the deck and also started the storage boxes on each side of the vehicle -- I still haven't done doors for either. I also replaced the wire "hinges" which allowed the gun carriage legs to pivot with a real nice hinge made from a cut-down tailor's pin.

Rather than several detail pix, here are two views of progress to-date:






I can put more work into this now, at least until family shows for the Holidays. Before I proceed, there are two more areas that need fixing. I now think the rear platform is too narrow & I'm going to add a plank on each side. The other problem is that the cab is too "square" from the top -- you can see from the reference photos how the cab obviously slants inward toward the front. I've done what I can with that and cannot do anymore without a major setback.

Happy Holidays to all !!!!!
John

Once again a lot of work and effort has been put into it. Yes I can pick up a few "not quite right " areas but when it is finished I very much doubt anyone will notice anything untowards.

Since my last post here I also have discovered new information on the differences between Ford (V8) and Chev (6) CMP's. The chassis in the front area especially are totaly different between the two with the major difference being the gearbox crossmember on the Ford. Tamiya made a major mistake in this area with the Quad.

Also almost all the early CMP's that went to North Africa were Chev's and not Fords. So there we have it more information turning up all the time.

I look forward to seeing this master piece finished John and if you need anything just let me know as for some reason I seem to have a lot of spare parts for both the Italeri and Tamiya CMP kits. :-)

Cheers
Cliff

Just want you to know John, that I am enjoying this thread so much..... great work so far....... thanks for sharing your building with us.

I cant wait for the next update! Great work!