The Jeep and driver look great to me. Really nice work!

Thank you Gamera, I’m considering a Legend stowage rack instead of the Blackdog resin rack.

Hmm, yeah the Legend rack does look much better but don't discount the Black Dog ones. I've used the resin racks with molded in storage and they look great when all painted up. 

After some consideration I decided to try building a stowage rack from scratch, what you see in the first photograph is a prototype made from .060” angle polystyrene. I think if I make another it should be a little larger, but I need some stowage pieces to determine the right size for a rack.

However, I‘m now wondering if a rack is even necessary. Stowage pieces can be put on the back seat, or even left out altogether. My recent objective has been to represent the 1944 photograph as close as possible, but my original plan was to reproduce in a diorama what the 1944 photograph represents.

In that photograph we see an M4A3 Sherman passing a Jeep facing the other direction. The Jeep has a radio and presumably is part of the 9th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

We know from the research that Stikpusher and Ixion did the location of the photograph above is a place called Petite-Rosiere on the road between Neufchareau and Bastogne, near the village of Nives. The M4, was from Combat Command A (CCA) of the 9th Armored Division, which was located southeast of Bastogne at the opening of the counteroffensive. Combat Command B (CCB) and Combat Command Reserve (CCR) were both to the northeast. CCB was sent as a blocking force in front St Vith, and CCR was sent as a blocking force in front of Bastogne. Combat Command Reserve was broken up into task forces and placed into the path of 5th Panzer Army advancing on Bastogne. They were outnumbered and out-equipped, had hold at all costs orders, and were nearly destroyed. Only a few survivors were able to escape being killed or captured. Their sacrifices bought time for the 101st Airborne to get to Bastogne and, along with the surviving elements of 28th Infantry Division, 10th Armored Division, 705th Tank Destroyer Bn, and several other units, make their heroic stand that prevented the German Army from recapturing the Port of Antwerp.

Sergeant

I came across this color photograph of an M4A3 Sherman that I believe represents an accurate example of paint used on most U.S. Army vehicles in the European Theater.

Sergeant

 

 

Sergeant

I came across this color photograph of an M4A3 Sherman that I believe represents an accurate example of paint used on most U.S. Army vehicles in the European Theater.

 

 

 

Comparing the Vallego 71.043 color with the photograph above and considering the dirt and fading I'm satisfied the FS34087 is a good match for World War II U.S. Army Olive Drab.

 

 

The only problem with that photo is that it was colorized. It is originally a B&W photo. It matches because somebody made it match.

Here is the original photo in B&W. Below it is a photo of a 9th Armored Division M4A3 76mm fresh out of the Engineer Camouflage Battalion paint shop. You can see the mods peculiar to the 9th in this photo.

stikpusher

Here is the original photo in B&W. Below it is a photo of a 9th Armored Division M4A3 76mm fresh out of the Engineer Camouflage Battalion paint shop. You can see the mods peculiar to the 9th in this photo.

 

Sarge, 9th AD had some of the most visually interesting tanks. Between the screening added for foliage attachment, lack of stars on the sides, and the three color scheme, the look pretty unique and warlike. Not bad for a “rookie” unit at the time of the Bulge. They would get blooded there and by the time of Remagen a few months later accomplish what was thought almost impossible, capture a bridge over the Rhine.

Happy to help you keep your dio accurate!

stikpusher

Sarge, Happy to help you keep your dio accurate!

 

snapdragonxxx

Vallejo is my primary go to paint at is chipset accurate and is a very high quality paint with a strong pigment which means that you don't need to use much to get the right depth.

I only use other brands when I have to and when I need colours that are not in the Vallejo range. The only exclusion to this is AK's Xtreme Metal range which beats Alclad hands down and won't melt your model! That and Vallejo's Metal colour range sits and co-exists side by side on my bench and gives me a huge tonal metal colour variety.

many other brands(mission, AK etc) use scale correctness formulae quoting light reflectability, which according to what a leading ophthalmic surgeon here in the UK says is total BS as the colours we see depend on the rods and cones in our eyes and differ from person to person as well as our subconscious lightning or darkening what we see in order to bring out detail.

Vallejo can always be modulated anyway by the depth of paint you apply although this takes some practice and thinning the paint a little.

 

I love how the Jeep has turned out with the Vallejo OD and the dry transfers directly on to that paint will look great. No varnishes needed!

 

 

James

 

First of all is the correct registration number series and bumper codes an important detail in a diorama? If so, how do you find the right information? I have been reading this article https://olive-drab.com/od_mvg_markings.php from the Olive-Drab website which leads me to believe this subject is as confusing as the discussion of which olive drab paint or camouflage color is right for a specific time period.

The following numbers are the Archer items I selected, but I’m not sure about either the registration numbers or bumper codes: AR35048W, AR35058W and AR35066.

Hello Sarge!

Well, that tends to be a problem, most of the time. First of all, use all the info you have on your photo reference. There's not much, that's a pity. Now you're left to improvise. Look for jeeps from the unit operating in the area - copy the bumper codes, just be carful about the last number (marching order) - this tends to be meaningful. For example bumper code with last group containing a 6 might indicate the commander of one of the units. The registration (hood) numbers are less meaningful, but you might want to tweak them a little, like avoiding sequences that come up in well known kits. A jeep with a radio should have a hood number ending in  -S - meaning the wiring of the car has been "silenced" to ensure interference-free radio operation.

Hope it helps and good luck with your build, have a nice day

Paweł

My 2 cents: serial numbers are probably the least important aspect in a dio such as this, unless you have good solid reference. I do know that for the US  Army in WWII, the first two digits of the serial number denotes vehicle type. The rest was vehicles individual number. Also that a “S” suffix on the serial number denoted that the vehicle was equipped with a radio suppression system. I remember having those on tracks that I crewed upon long ago, but no longer recall their exact function.

Bumper codes are more important if visible. After all, you would not want to use unit bumper codes for an Ardennes diorama for a unit that did not serve in the Ardennes, say the 1st Armored, or 1st Cavalry Divisions, they served in other theaters. And even if you go with a unit that served in that battle, at least use one that served in the proper area. You would not want to use bumper codes from units that served on the northern flank of the Bulge, when your diorama is set on the southern flank. So a little more research to see what sort of units did route control in that area will go a long way to telling you what you need. The individual vehicles bumper number, without a good photo reference, will be an educated guess at best, based upon standard army regs and practices.

actually that was about 5 cents...

stikpusher

My 2 cents: serial numbers are probably the least important aspect in a dio such as this, unless you have good solid reference. I do know that for the US  Army in WWII, the first two digits of the serial number denotes vehicle type. The rest was vehicles individual number. Also that a “S” suffix on the serial number denoted that the vehicle was equipped with a radio suppression system. I remember having those on tracks that I crewed upon long ago, but no longer recall their exact function.

Bumper codes are more important if visible. After all, you would not want to use unit bumper codes for an Ardennes diorama for a unit that did not serve in the Ardennes, say the 1st Armored, or 1st Cavalry Divisions, they served in other theaters. And even if you go with a unit that served in that battle, at least use one that served in the proper area. You would not want to use bumper codes from units that served on the northern flank of the Bulge, when your diorama is set on the southern flank. So a little more research to see what sort of units did route control in that area will go a long way to telling you what you need. The individual vehicles bumper number, without a good photo reference, will be an educated guess at best, based upon standard army regs and practices.

actually that was about 5 cents...

 

After looking at my copy of the December 1945 USA Order of Battle, would the unit you would be looking for, is the 149th Armored Signals Company which is an organic unit of the 9th AD?  I could ask a friend of mine tomorrow who is the #2 expert of the Bulge in the US.  The radio suppression system is the use of special filters in the spark ignition system of vehicles to eliminate static and noise on the radio system.

After looking at the vehicle markings site, I would mark the bumper as 9triangle-149S-unit vehicle number (made up).

richs26

After looking at the vehicle markings site, I would mark the bumper as 9triangle-149S-unit vehicle number (made up).

 

I‘m familiar with vehicle suppression technology used by the U.S. Army on Vietnam era equipment, but not WWII. I was a sergeant in charge of a platoon of radio and radio-teletype repair and operation personnel in the 70’s.

The Army hired me  as a Sergeant because I had been a Petty Officer in the Navy and trained as a Ham Radio operator and electronics technician In college. I worked on telemetry systems used at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (Observatory).

Isn’t Goldstone out between China Lake and Ft Irwin?

A Signal unit Jeep as part of route control for the Combat Command movement does make sense. Obviously MPs do the actual directing of traffic, but I have no idea what their organic comms would be. 

stikpusher

Isn’t Goldstone out between China Lake and Ft Irwin?

 

A Signal unit Jeep as part of route control for the Combat Command movement does make sense. Obviously MPs do the actual directing of traffic, but I have no idea what their organic comms would be. 

 

 

 

The telemetry equipment I helped design was done in a laboratory during the late 60’s and early 70’s. Myself and other technicians worked for an Air Force electronics engineer who developed a method for transmitting high frequency telemetry signals on existing low frequency (3000 Hz bandwidth) telephone lines. What we did 50-years ago is considered normal today.

What is truly amazing is this engineer who I admired, his name was Joe Kortman served with my Father in the China Burma India Theater and later was stationed in Laon, France as Commanding Officer of the Communications Squadron of the 126th Bombardment Wing. Laon, France is where my Uncle Harold died. He was the Flying Officer of a Lancaster bomber in 153 Squadron of the Royal Air Force.

https://obits.columbian.com/obituaries/columbian/obituary.aspx?n=joseph-marvin-kortman-joe&pid=173391493

Ah,,, “used at Goldstone” was the phrase that you used, not “I was at Goldstone”. I do recall on my times out on certain areas of Ft Irwin that you could see those massive dishes of Goldstone in the distance. The attached OC (observer controller, a sort of wargames umpire) told us that it was Goldstone and NASA/space comm stuff. It was miles away, but even from a distance those things looked huge.

Hello Sarge!

Good thing I didn't explain radio suppersion to you in detail :-)) Very interesting what you wrote about your service in Vietnam. Made me think about that MRC-108 jeep I want to build one day, although, I know, that's air force stuff and not the army.

Anyhow, I believe you'll feel the better about adding that -S to your radio jeep!

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

stikpusher

Ah,,, “used at Goldstone” was the phrase that you used, not “I was at Goldstone”. I do recall on my times out on certain areas of Ft Irwin that you could see those massive dishes of Goldstone in the distance. The attached OC (observer controller, a sort of wargames umpire) told us that it was Goldstone and NASA/space comm stuff. It was miles away, but even from a distance those things looked huge.

 

Waiting for Archer transfer decals before installing spare tire, steering wheel, and rearview mirror. In the meantime, I’ll paint the antenna olive drab and install window glass. Also waiting for Vallejo paint to give driver a realistic face and hands.

Then I will begin work on the Sherman M4A3 tank. When the tank is finished, I will prepare the diorama before weathering the tank and jeep.

Sarge, everything is looking great so far. I just would advise a double check on the cord for the headset. At what point did they cords switch from straight to coiled? As a boy, I remember old straight cords on phones. I know that old radio sets had similar cords, but somewhere along the line between WWII and Vietnam they went to the coiled type like we use now.

Here’s a good view of a WWII set up that looks to be pulled from a TM.

Stik, it is amazing how showing someone what you have done flushes out little inconsistencies in a project. You are absolutely correct about the cord.

I looked at at least two-dozen pictures from a World War 2 TM and not one of them showed a coiled wire like the Legend instructions indicated, or a headphones hanger for that matter. I thought it was pretty clever how Legend simply took a piece of soft wire and made it look like the coiled wire we have today, but totally missed the fact this was not the way it was done in 1944.

I‘m going to remove the headphone hanger and the coiled wire altogether, they are a nice detail, but not accurate. I’m still considering a stowage rack similar to the picture below and if I do the headphones with straight wire can be placed on the back seat, otherwise I will leave the rack off and place stowage in the back seat. The headphones can either be laid on the front seat, on top of some stowage item in the back seat, or not shown at all.

Thanks for your candid observation, you are 100% right about the coiled wire.

Sarge: She's coming along great! 

And thanks guys for the history lesson, I didn't know anything about Goldstone, Joe Kortman, or straight vs. coiled wires till today. 

The radio suppression thing is interesting, I toured the Green Bank Radio Observatory in West Virginia a few years ago and they used something like that that on all vehicles to keep down the interference with the big radio telescopes. I was told don't expect to be able to get a cell phone signal either!   

Gamera

Sarge: She's coming along great! 

 

And thanks guys for the history lesson, I didn't know anything about Goldstone, Joe Kortman, or straight vs. coiled wires till today. 

 

The radio suppression thing is interesting, I toured the Green Bank Radio Observatory in West Virginia a few years ago and they used something like that that on all vehicles to keep down the interference with the big radio telescopes. I was told don't expect to be able to get a cell phone signal either!   

 

stikpusher

Here’s a good view of a WWII set up that looks to be pulled from a TM.

 

Stik, that is an M-38A1 setup with the giveaways being the steering wheel, the grab bar, and the TP-25 in the right corner.  It is out of a 1963/78 TM.

richs26

 

 

stikpusher

Here’s a good view of a WWII set up that looks to be pulled from a TM.

 

 

 

 

Stik, that is an M-38A1 setup with the giveaways being the steering wheel, the grab bar, and the TP-25 in the right corner.  It is out of a 1963/78 TM.

 

Here is my primary reference for the BC-1306 (SCR-694-C) radio set. TM 11-230 C, dated 15 August 1944, see List of Illustrations Figure 9 on page 10 http://radionerds.com/images/3/37/TM-11-230C.pdf

Thanks for you insight richs26.