hello all.. its been a while since I've posted anything so I thought I'd do a update so everyone knows i've been working LOL.

anyways this is Tamiya's LRDG 30 cwt.. so far nothing fancy. just basic construction.. a Basecoat of Armor sand to be lightened a bit during the weathering phase.. with a couple of scratch built sand channels and the tires have been treated with a weathered black color to start out with..

Good start. Couple of suggestions:

I'm not sure if they are going to be covered up, but there are two huge sink marks in the back of the cab. Also the tool compartment just behind the cab isn't quite flush with the side. Not sure if it is supposed to be that way.

Other than that, you are well on your way to a great model.

Jeff

Hi Delbert, your Chevy is going together nicely, its good to see someone doing one of those beauties. Heck, I would happily do a traveling companion for the one that is completed on my shelf. My only comment and tip is that you can drill out the short pieces of tubing that support the frame for possible tarp (or antena?).

Could you please explain how do you approach the custom sand channels making? It would help me with at least three projects

Jeff, the ejector marks in the back of the cab are going to be perfectly covered by the seat bench, and tool compartment behind the cab is right on the spot from what I've seen in the photos.

Cheers
Pedro

A nice tidy job on this old kit. Of course it is not often I use more then the front sheetmetal and running gear of this kit (LOL) but it does make up into a fairly accurate kit of the LRDG vehicles.

Cheers
Cliff

Hi delbert,

Thanks for posting this, I have been experimenting with some LRDG paint schemes and chipped paint affects on an old Italeri M3 Scout Car with a view to building one of these.

Grateful if you keep us posted on the build, looks good so far, still a great kit even though it's been around for a while.

Will you be mounting .303 vickers MG? If so I'd be interested in how you do the mounting bracket.

Here's a couple of sites I found just in case you haven't come across them already.

http://www.lrdg.de/vehicles2.htm

http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/lrdg/lrdgvehicles.html


Many thanks.

Al

Thanks for the comments all and yes those 2 huge sink marks will be 100% covered by the seat.. I know even if you can't see em your suppose to fill em but somehow those 2 got by me..

As for the tool box.. the vehicles were basicly outfitted in the field by the troops that used them so you can prob find variations going either way.

Grzegorz:

The sand channels I built were pretty simple and straight forward..

I took some flat stock styreen.. .15 or .20 cut to size.. glued a peice of half round styreen stock down each side with a plastic weld cement in this case plastruct.. seals the peices together..

when that dried I took a sanding stick down the top of the part flating out the half round peices so they are flat on top. Then I drilled out the holes.. the only grip I have is I didn't do a very good pattern on them. but they look better than the ones that come with the kit.

Cliff:

. thanks I know what a truck buff you are and how you enjoy seeing people build em.. :>

Allen:

thanks for the links and yep those are where I have done the most research for this project.

I'm planning on doing a light wash some chipped paint and a filter coat to tie it together.. I hope it comes out the way I see it in my mind's eye.. and yes i'll be posing photos when I get that far.

I'm not sure what I am going to use for the main gun yet. my choices seem to be the basic Lewis gun..which i'm leaning towards. but I also could use a Vickers K .303 of which I have a single mount and double mount for (from tamiyas SAS jeep. but the mouldings are a little dated.). Or possibly a .50 caliber MG.. the british version is almost identical to the U.S. version.

As to the Browning MG: LRDG used both British and U.S. versions of .50 cal and yes, they are identical, but htey are Air Pattern MG's
with totally different barrel than the ground issue. Just like this one:

Image from the site: http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/lrdg/lrdg.html
Nice example of the Air .50 cal can be found in the Academy's U.S. MG set.



And I just figured something about the sand channels: Why not copy the kits part in thick aluminium foil and cut that to size?
I have to go try that out immediately!

EDIT: After few minutes of work this is how it looks:


With a bit od practice... I mean the dang thing is quite fragile, but with a bit of care you should be able to even cut out
all of the lightening holes

Cheers
Pedro

Hi Delbert,

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking Resicast .303 Vickers MGs for mine. They are the only company I know that makes the full version.

The good thing about an LRDG truck is that there are lots of options.

Re the paint experiment on the M3 Scout Car, In used a standard Tamiya buff XF 57 and Medium Blue XF 18 for the sharp camo. When it had dried I rubbed in a coating of MIG Dark Mud Po33 which has given it a very light pinkish tinge which looks pretty good. The dark mud gave me a fright as it just looked too dark at first but as I dusted it off and it worked into the buff the effect was pretty neat. Sorry I can post a pic - no camera. Still some other effects to add but this is the closest I've come so far to getting that very light pink effect.

Cheers

Al