Well here we go. My project is the Tamiya Dragon Wagon, with an Italeri LCM on board. I also have four different sets of Eduard P/E for the DW. Oh, yes, I have lots of Evergreen. Unfortunately for me, there are some really super projects in this Campaign, so I'm afraid mine will look a bit mundane -- I'll try to perk it up a bit.

I actually started this about 9 months ago, with the Trumpeter LCM, but quit very quickly when I figured out how off the Trumpeter hull was. Animal was kind enough to let me in with this "LeMans Start", so I thought I'd lead off with where I am on start day.

I have added brake lines to the trailer, sanded off various molded on lugs & handles to be replaced by home-built stuff, and reworked the rear ramps - the latter because the ramps were removed & stored on the gooseneck when hauling the LCM.



Some of the brake lines, etc, are wasted work because the LCM will hide them, but I like to do it anyway because I might display this without the LCM someday. The ramp hinges have been reworked for the same reason -- I can put the ramps back in & display it with something else aboard. I don't like "toys" but I do like my models to have enough "working parts" to allow me to vary the display and/or better show how the real thing worked.

I also partly opened up the right side tool compartment -- I intend to display it with open doors. To do that I took out the metal stiffener but then the trailer sagged so I chopped out the mounting pieces & reglued it tight inside the tool box area. I'll just cover it with display stuff.

The bulk of my work went into correcting the trailer axle -- Tamiya left off all the brake mechanisms. To do this, I had to fill in the inner side of the walking beams, then glue the backing plate to them rather than to the wheel. I then came up with a way to glue in the outer rubber fitting so the wheels will turn (not well, but enough) without always falling off. Then I made the brake levers, arms, & rods from Evergreen.

Here are the original parts, atop some of my sketches.



Here is the reworked axle. Note I have shown one walking beam right-side up & the other upside down just to show the modifications.



I'll continue (or restart) work on the trailer so I can get it ready to hold the LCM. The tractor won't get started till after I get the trailer & LCM done, or at least I don't think it will.

As always, comments and suggestions are always welcome !!!!

John

Mundane! none of your work is mundane to me John. You actually do a lot of detail work that I don't normally do. So with this in mind I am going to be super carefull when doing mine so that the quality will be equal to yours, Animals and Guntrucks, and in fact every one else in this campaign.

Cheers
Cliff

holy moly rooman....this guy is sick.....but my DW is going to start this week....lots of competition out there

I'd never even have noticed those details where missing from the kit, let alone thought of doing all that work on a kit that would need a mortgage to buy at UK prices!

Well done so far John.

I am going to enjoy this build a lot. The attention to detail and the research you have done is great. I might be embarrassed to display my work now. I really like that there are going to be so many Dragon Wagons built. Yours with all the extra detail and the Gunnies conversion with the soft Cab and looking forward to see what Kevin will do with his masterpiece. Of course we all know that the Roo will astound all of us with his scratch/kit bashed creations. I feel so humble sitting in the midst of all this talent!!