Tamiya 1/35 LRDG 30 CWT Chevrolet patrol truck

That thing looks really neat !! You did a WHALE of a job on this one. Thanks for taking the time to post it.                                  Bob

Thank you Bob. I appreciate your kind words.

It looks really good, stik. I think the bush hat may be a little too small for the figure's head, however.

Thank you sir. Yes, the Bush Hat is something of a challenge. If I place it at certain angles it looks ok. At others it looks too small.

This is great!  Trucks and jeeps stuffed with a lot of extra crap and bristling with weapons always look cool.

Hey Stik, that absolutely rocks!!  I love it!  The weathering is great and I can't wait to see the finished third crewman!   Those guys look like they are ready to raise all kinds of cane!  Great job!

Eagle90

BB, I agree, there is something about armed & packed wheeled softskins... they are not quite so soft anymore...

Eagle thanks! Yes they are ready to raise a serious ruckus with all the stuff I put in there for them. I will be doing some figure work this week so hopefully he will be done quickly.

Nothing like rummaging through the spares bin to find all sorts of goodies to dress up a build. Looks like your foraging efforts have produced a nice load-out for this one stik.

The driver looks like he 'aquired' (or transferred pecuniary liability of) an American knit 'Jeep' cap, perhaps from a US Army Grant instructor, depending on the timeframe?

Well according to the website, the LRDG got the 30 cwt trucks in 1942, so it is possible...

Bill you are very right on when the spares bin has just what you need...

I was at the library last month and while browsing the world wars section I found the book "In Rommel's Back Yard" which come from Alistair Timpson's memoirs as edited by Andrew Gibson-Watt.  It turned out to be pretty interesting and gave me an neat picture into a part of World War 2 I really didn't know much about.  I took from that book that the LRDG loved their old Fords much better than the Chevy's but the old Fords were just too far gone repair-wise and the Chevy's were what they got for replacements (most of Timpson's dislike comes, I gather, from mainly the lack of 4WD which hindered soft sand travel.)

Either way, your Chevy is looking simply wonderful!

Brian

Nah, that has to be a rumor . . .

Thank you NH. That is interestng information about the vehicles. On the LRDG website, the opposite is stated, saying there that the group on the whole preferred the 2wd trucks for the increased range, somethng like 30%-50% more. But I certainly see and understand his preference....

BB, there you go again... ;-)

I know, I know. But you know I can't help myself.  

I'm learning a lot about these trucks here though.  I didn't know much about 'em before.  Good link.

This is a photo of a LRDG Chevy that was recovered from the Libyan desert in 1983 and is displayed in the Imperial War Museum in the condition that it was found.

it's amazing how well things survive out on the open desert.

and a correction, this was the site tht I got most my information from- the other link that I posted was not the one that I used

http://lrdg.hegewisch.net/

stikpusher

Thank you NH. That is interestng information about the vehicles. On the LRDG website, the opposite is stated, saying there that the group on the whole preferred the 2wd trucks for the increased range, somethng like 30%-50% more. But I certainly see and understand his preference...

One interesting story from the book is when Alistair's group had to leave a Ford deep in the desert when it broke down and was not repairable.  A few months later they were passing by and that Ford wound up being their saving grace when the Chevy they had blew a tire and they had no spares.  So they cannibalized the Ford's tires and were able to get their Chevy back on the move.

I do seem to recall him also mentioning that one of the bonuses of the Chevy was indeed as you say, the increase in range (I am guessing that it was one of those "well this negative point is kind of made up by this positive point" ), and since they had to carry everything they would need for a patrol, including gas, it was a good thing.

Brian

exactly- if you dont have it with you already- gas, spare tires, etc., youre in a world of hurt when you needthat item. Aerial resupply was in its' infancy back then, so indeed the patrol has to be extremely self sufficient.

Great build and neato loading. Just to pick a nit, I would wonder if the barrel of the front mounted MG has a droop at the end, or if that is a camera angle?  Hat looks good to me, but if you can hollow it out a bit, maybe it would fit better.

I think that is a combination of camera angle and teh shape of the muzzle- the real K gun had a sort of muzzle brake to counteract muzzle climb. Essiantially the top half was gone forcing gases to push the muzzle back down during firing.

I actually had hollowed out the gun muzzle a bit with a small drill bit in my pin vise.

Well here is the final update for this build here. I eventually came up with a proper team leader/officer figure for this build using a figure from Miniart's British Armored Car Crew figure set.

Anyways, last night, I took this build to IPMS for the monthly contest- Third place in Master Division. 

Nice Stik!  And congrats on the award!  The LRDG sure had some interesting history, much like the SAS of that same theater of Ops.  This is the second LRDG build I have seen in the last few months.....I am starting to get the itch to build one.  A problem for someone with so much to do and so little time to do it.

Brian

Yes, the LRDG was one very impressiv unit indeed. One tough bunch of SOBs. I hear you about wanting to build this or that with those constraints. I am in the same boat myself, and all these new GBs popping up that I would really love to partake in do NOT help... Thank you for the kind words Brian.