When modeling all sorts of stowed equipment, especially tarps and other rolled fabrics, can they be positioned so that they partially cover an engine grille? Or would this have caused problems in real life?

Ralph

This depends. There are winterization kits that are tarp covers that go over the engine grill intakes. The M113 set comes to mind. It consists of little square canvas pieces that tie around the engine grill and keep out the frigid air until the vehicle warms up. Works like the school buses grill covers. Normally though, tarps are kept off of the grills, they would restrict air flow to the radiator and cause the engine to overheat or if it was an engine intake grill, it would cause the engine to stall. Most AFVs like the M113, have two grills, one for air intake to run the engine, the other for air intake to cool the engine.

Like Sabot said, winterization uses, there are vehicles out there that do have tarps covering them, but echelons higher than I consider it a sin to cover the air intake of an Abrams and have it running. Can cause the engine to starve and quit.

It used to get so cold at FT Carson, that when we got one M60A1 running we would back it grill door to grill door and through the tarp over the gap between them to try and throw some heat into the tank that you were trying to start. Diesel fuel has a bad habit of jelling when it gets -10 and below. You could barely move the purge pump handle up and down to get fuel to the engine

This thread reminded me of somethng I saw at the KC AMPS meeting last week. Everyone brought in "real" gear for show-and-tell and we had a great assortment of weapons, bayonets, uniforms, etc. About halfway through the meeting a fellow came in with a footlocker full of stuff that had belonged to his great-uncle in WWII, who was killed by a German sniper in April 1945. The footlocker had been in his great-aunt's attic until last year.

The thing was like a time capsule and had all sorts uniforms, some field gear and lots of personal items. One thing that caught everyone's attention was a large (approx. 5x3 feet) Nazi flag. It had the swastika only on one side and a grommet on each corner -- it was a vehicle marking flag! The flag was stained with grease, oil and soot from the vehicle. We were all salivating at the idea that this thing had once been draped across a panzer, armored car or halftrack.

SgtSauer and others from Armorama were at the meeting -- I don't thnk any of us will forget the stuff we saw that night. All of this stuff belongs in a museum. I hope the fellow who owns it treats it right and understands what he has stewardship over.

Back to Ralph's original question -- study actual photos of the vehicle you are modeling. I think you'll notice that "soft" stuff was usually hung or placed on the vehicle away from sources of heat -- such as the exhaust or the engine grills. Most modern vehicles have bustle racks or other stowage bins so crews don't risk starting fires with their personal gear.