well here she is finished.

This is a 1940 Maple Leaf Chevrolet 3 ton GS of the Darwin Overland Maintenance Force. These were imported from Canada and had the 'Indidn' patterned bodies built on them locally. They were normal trucks with mudguards, bonnets (hoods) etc until they made there first trip from Alice Springs to Darwin in the Northern Territory's of Australia.

I have not put decals on as I wanted this truck to be a fair representation of the vehicles rather then a individual vehicle but this one is set up as a convoy 'Fitters' (breakdown) truck.

All comments welcomed.

the last update can be found here... https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/71795&page=1















Photos of the whole build can be found here... http://photos.kitmaker.net/showgallery.php/cat/16082

cheers
Cliff

Cracking job Cliff, reeks of age, wear and tear and hard work.

The engine is excellent!

Your title says "no kit chev?" Does that mean you scratch built the whole thing? I mean you might as well scratch build some of your wonderful vehicles, they are more your work than the kit makers.

Looks great. Like a saying we have here, it looks like forty miles of bad road.

Brilliant job,Cliff.
Now I get a sense of it from all the chats in the MSN chat area.I like the tied down spares.The motor is well done.I half expect it to boil over at the radiator cap any moment.

Mr Roo ...Sir ..........again a magic moment......... :-)
can feel the dust in my sanny........love it to bits....before it shakes to bits :-)
aye
BARV
(GOSMG)

Cliff

In the words of Darth Vader, "Impressive ---- MOST Impressive."

I know you Aussie Hounds drive on the "wrong" side :-), but seriously, did the driver basically have to scoot across the seat from the passenger side of the cab to get to the drivers position on these, (I mean with the spare being positioned right on the driver's side door like that)?

Also, you should consider sending one of these master pieces to your bestest U.S. buddies, so we can show them off for you (blush).

Keep up the great work Cliff.

Steve
ps : Kudo's on the engine work and pics ---- very very nice!

Excellent Cliff. It really has the worn-out look, off to a "T". Love the sparewheels as stowage. Nice one.

'Roo:
Just wonderful - the concept, the build, the details, the weathering -- I like the lean of the turned front wheels !!

Drums still look like some nasty toxic waste ...

Great job !!!!

John

Another Mr. Roo classic. Very, very nice work Cliff. The exposed engine really adds to the character to the vehicle. I'll bet if this was taken in B & W someone like myself wouldn't even be able to tell the difference.

Cliff maybe you could title it "An Oldie but a Goodie" as corny as it may sound.

As usual, an excellent job.

This is a creative, and most impressive addition to the campaign. Great job on finishing up.

Jeff

Steve the short answer is yes there is only one cab door on the LHS (Passenger) side of the vehicle due to the placement of the spare wheel.

Some of these vehicles looked like this at the end of there very first trip due to the fact that in reality there was no North South Rd in the beginning. If they were lucky there was a dirt cattle trail if no it was untouched country so the first convoys had to make the road as well.

Thanks for the kind comments.

Cheers
Cliff

as i see the painting steps of this in MSN,not a big surprise for me.i knew this will be a masterpiece when done...congrats bro...super built

Cliff

Another great trck from the master Was it common for those trucks to not have the hood/bonnet over the engine?

Chad the bodies cracked up due to the constant vibrations from the ground they travelled over and cracked off. So in a lot of cases they were left off and in fact often left were they had fallen off.

Cheers
Cliff

Another great build there... great work.. and it looks like its been worked almost to the breaking point...

WOWWW,

It's excelent.

Congratulations.

Brother Roo, another superb example of your endless talent at building unusual subjects. One thing is for sure, as long as you keep building these beauties they will not be forgotten and lost. Way to go in preserving your Down Under history. Bravo

Cliff

An absolutely fantastic job. Having travelled that road (in more recent times than when this beast did) I would suggest quite a bit more dust :-)

Roder's idea about a big red (roo) on the bumper isn't too bad either - I am sure they had to supplement their rations somehow out there.

Brian