Esci 1/48 Ground Support Set (a sort of WIP)

The tractor is a 70's Ford 2000 tractor not used past 1987 that I can verify at Ramstein.  The bomb jammer is an MJ-1A which was still being used in 93 as I helped to unload one from a C-5 in Egypt for the first overseas deployment of the B-1 during Operation Bright Star.

Cool! Thanks for the info sir! Just curious, but can you recommend a shade of green for the tug? I know after Vietnam the Air Force changed colors from yellow to a very dark green on their ground stuff, but I have no idea as to proper FS color or shade.

It was a dark OD.  Google for Ford military tractor for pics of some surplus examples.

Yes, I crossed paths with AF ground equipment at many bases in my time in service. I was just hoping for a more definitive answer. It looks darker than 34079, and a tad more grayish as well. No worries, and thank you for pointing me in the right direction.  I can go green or yellow on this thing depending upon era I see.

Yup, a Ford USAF Model 621...

I pulled these items off the sidelines this week and began painting them up. Along with a few other items. I'm gonna paint the tractor and tow bar in green, then most of the rest in yellow. Aside from the too, and extinguisher carts, which my research say should be red.

I am unaware of such unique items.  I find this extremely interesting.  Thank so much for sharing these products here with forum members.

Toshi

Thanks for looking in Toshi. In 1/48, in addition to this set, which is now boxed by Italeri, there is a good amount of aircraft support equipment out there for WWII and modern aircraft put out by Tamiya, Hasegawa, Skunk Modelworks, Airfix, and Revell. As well as ground crew figure sets by ICM and Eduard and several of the previously mentioned companies. They are a great way to add a little more interest to aircraft displays. 

I am working on some of the same or similar equipment right now as well.  I am in the wash/weathering stage.  I am creating a dio for my Havoc and these were some of the ground equipment bits I was able to find in various kits I had.

Bomb lift

Clarktor Tug & Fuel Barrels

Bomb and crates.  Crates made from popsicle sticks

I like your idea of using some small crystals to replace the light lens.  I am going to steal that one from ya.

62, those look real good. Are those the Promodeler items, or the ones that come in the Accurate Miniatures bomb set? Looks like you did a little extra work on the bomb cart.

Intersting idea about the bomb in a crate. That is something I've never come across before. Ive always seen the bombs in dumps without fins... row upon row like at a market.

I'll get some more progress photos up in a day or three. I've been airbrushing all day on this stuff and I need a break with cool and fresh air...

The tug came out of a f-86 monogram kit.  The bomb cart and bomb is from accurate miniatures.  I have only seen a couple of pictures showing bombs in crates for the allies.  Mostly I saw what you described.  I am not sure how accurate the bomb crate thing is.  It may have been something the allies worked out with other Allie forces like raf.

Well now, this is something I'm familiar with. This is what I worked on in the AF. When I was working on this stuff in the late 80's everything was dark OD green with yellow stenciling. Paint chips were not permitted and were painted over as soon as found and all the equipment was washed and kept clean weekly. So overweathing this stuff is unrealistic. We were held to high standards in upkeep of all the equipment from Ox carts to bomblifts, ladders, test mules, -60's, you name it. I love to see all this stuff and I need to get some of this for my modern jets.

Very cool indeed, Sir. Here is what our stuff looked like at the time. Different eras had different colors as I know you are aware. But, very cool.

BK

That's very cool BK. Thanks for the info on weathering. I was wondering about that. So, in that regards, even areas that saw high wear such as the tow pintles and tow eyes were spot painted ASAP? I painted the tractor and tow bar in the dark green yesterday. And then more coats of yellow on the other stuff. 

The inside of pintle hooks and the ouside of the ring were chipped down and left alone. Other than that any chips or scratches were handled asap and everything was kept well maintained. The colors on that Hase kit are spot on too.

BK

Ok, sounds good. Thanks for that information. I'll probably pick up the 1/48 Hasegawa set in the near future. And some of the Skunk Modelworks stuff later on. This stuff is kind of fun to build and paint. Sort of a cross between armor and aircraft.

Nice work on that Stik, glad to see you brought this thread back.

There another company that hasa nice selection of ground equipment in 32, 48 and 72nd scales. One thing i liked was they had an old and newer versions of the bomb lifters. I'll post the link tonight.

When i was working at RAF lakenheath a couple of years ago, one thing i noticed was how well maintained all the ground equipment was. They had their own spray shop there, i am guessing this is common on USAF bases. And as well as seeing the odd F-15 in there, they would often have various bit of equipment getting a full paint job. Deffinetly look after it.

Thanks Bish. I'm gonna be looking into getting more of this type of stuff. Nice change of subjects for me.

Interesting bout how the USAF keeps their stuff looking so immaculate. Now that I think about it, I don't recall ever seeing any of their stuff looking rough,  either when I was on bases for duty, or for air shows. Always looking good. I guess I should talk with my son about that stuff, seeing he's a blue suiter now.

This is that site i mentioned. Their main focus is 1/32nd, but they have some nice 48th and 72nd stuff.

http://www.videoaviation.com/

They seem to be based in Europe and i have not bought anything from them yet so can't vouch for them.

Thanks for that Bish. They have some great stuff there! 

Pretty neat little set here Stik. I've been considering more and more having extra little additions to my builds. You're certainly twisting my arm some. =]

bvallot

Pretty neat little set here Stik. I've been considering more and more having extra little additions to my builds. You're certainly twisting my arm some. =]

 

I never thought about it until recently. Then I realized I had all this stuff just sitting in my stash. And plenty more out there to be had. They certainly will add to the builds. (Twist twist...)

Wow, looking at that loader and figure, I had a flashback memory.

Remember Harvey,  "Dirtball"?

I remember Harv... he is active over on LSP... not sure if that is the same Harvey. 

Thats a great photo and perfect reference for how I want mine to look.

I forgot to mention. Since most of the AGE equipment spent time on or near the flightline and was moved around day and night, they all had reflective tape all over them so they would show up at night. The bobtails we used had pintle hooks on the corners and center of the bumper and we would tow pieces of equipment two wide and up to four deep sometimes. Try backing up that mess. We took great pride in parking those trains neatly. If memory serves, these had 4 cyl diesals and SUPER low gears. Top speed was like 25 with the pedal mashed. BUT, they could pull a mountain.

BK

More power to ya for towing and backing those things. No thanks. I hated towing any single item. Forward was easy enough, but backing... did you know a HMMWV can tow a flipped 10k generator trailer on dirt pretty easy? Don't ask how I know... 

thanks for those photos... that bobtail almost looks like it's made from a M38A1 hard top Jeep... I would love to find one in 1/48 for my collection... 

I wonder what I can use for the reflective tape stuff???

That is a CJ-10 bobtail.  Here is info on them:

http://www.fourwheeler.com/project-vehicles/129-1210-the-elusive-jeep-cj-10/

It is based on the new CJ-5/7 after 1971 which had the longer cowl from the older CJ-5/M-38A1.  The AF also uses Dodge 3500 and Ford Super Duty F-350 bobtails.  And for reflectivie tape, why not slivers of the real stuff.

Thanks for the info on the bobtails. I found a good photo of one of the truck types towing a bomb trailer. I'll need to see what I can find.

Slivers of actual reflective tape sounds like it would be to thick in 1:48... I need to look for some decal striping, me thinks...

And here is everything you need to know about USAF vehicle markings and painting:

http://www.g838.org/g838_manuals/36_1_3_combined.pdf

And by 1993, vehicles and equipment could have scratches and dents from use without touchups.

The real tape is way too thick for 1/48. Heck, it's thick on the full size units. I was thinking perhaps an alclad base with clears of yellow, red or grey/white over it. If you could find decals that would rock. As for them allowing more wear than before I'd have to agree with that as the photos of the more modern stuff is way more weathered and worn, and grey now too. Too bad, we took great pride in having all our stuff in tip top shape. Makes me wonder what else they are cutting corners on. 

Now that I'm thinking of it you could paint it using automotive candy colors in yellow and red. Those would be a really good match.

BK