US Army K51 Radio Truck + K52 Trailer by Rik Thistle - MiniArt - 1:35 - 1944/45

[Egilman]

Rik, you have a private note brother...

[Rik Thistle]

Egilman,

 

I hadn't found any of those videos...thank you!

 

And it's great that these vehicles are still around.

 

Richard

[Egilman]

My pleasure My Friend...

 

Here's a couple of pics of what the trailer looked like...

 

 

Hope it helps....

 

 

[CDW]

As soon as I saw that straight 6 engine, I knew it was a Chevrolet. It looks almost identical to the engine that was in my ‘51 Chevrolet. Down to the detail.

[Egilman]

10 hours ago, CDW said:

Down to the detail

{Chuckle} Except for the color... (they were OD green in government service) Although I will say they looked a lot prettier in Chevy Orange... or even black....

[mtaylor]

11 hours ago, Egilman said:

{Chuckle} Except for the color... (they were OD green in government service) Although I will say they looked a lot prettier in Chevy Orange... or even black....

I think you're right...  And maybe a chrome valve cover?

[Rik Thistle]

Hi all,

 

Some more updates on the radio truck progress.

 

Only 4 pics but they cover a lot of fiddly parts being installed.

 

First, an easy one.... the tyres and wheels. The pin vice was used to open out locating holes for the wheel pairs. The wheels were given a quick paint using Black and Olive Green. They will later have dust etc added.

Above. Also added were more Prop shafts. I found these difficult to install since since either the engine or Diff (... the prop connects both) needs to not yet have been glued into final position. The problem being the props 'key in' to the Universal Joints....anyway, I found a way around this with the engine and diff already glued in to position ;-)

 

Below, preparing the exhaust system. There are three pieces of Photo Etch added to the exhaust...a wrap-around for the muffler/silencer plus two tiny PE exhaust mounting brackets.

 

Below, exhaust now installed, and given a quick 'rust' paint job.

 

And the wheels...and radiator assembly added. It's slowly starting to look like something which may be able to move under it's own steam.

 

Next post should include the fitting of the driver cabin seats, the bulkhead and some flooring.

 

All for now, catch you soon,

 

Richard

[Egilman]

Lots of skills on display here...

[Rik Thistle]

Hi all,

 

This week, just a quick pic of some sub-assemblies I've made up whilst focusing on gardening/planting duties.

 

Below, a couple of side panels, the engine bay bulkhead assembly and the floor with seats and control levers added.  These will all now be put to one side as I concentrate on the next page of the manual, the radio gear.

 

Coming soon, the radio gear and cabinets.

 

Sorry this is so brief. I hope to get back to longer posts in a few weeks.

 

Richard

[CDW]

Richard
I know it’s off topic (sorry) but what are you planting this spring?

Edited May 5 by CDW

[Rik Thistle]

CDW,

 

Mostly bedding plants eg Pansies, Marigolds, Marguerite daisies, etc...and moving some young Foxglove and Lupin plants to better locations (...sometimes their self-seeding locations are ideal, other times not so). 

 

My garden is 'mature rustic' rather than well manicured..... I prefer it this way for two reasons a) it requires less maintenance 😉 and b) the wildlife seem more at home in it.

 

My location is central Scotland, so we are a few weeks later than the South of England (say) which gets warmer earlier.

 

Richard

[CDW]

55 minutes ago, Rik Thistle said:

CDW,

 

Mostly bedding plants eg Pansies, Marigolds, Marguerite daisies, etc...and moving some young Foxglove and Lupin plants to better locations (...sometimes their self-seeding locations are ideal, other times not so). 

 

My garden is 'mature rustic' rather than well manicured..... I prefer it this way for two reasons a) it requires less maintenance 😉 and b) the wildlife seem more at home in it.

 

My location is central Scotland, so we are a few weeks later than the South of England (say) which gets warmer earlier. From the times they immigrated here in the 1700's, both were farmers until more recent generations, thus my interest in gardening. 🙂

 

Richard

Thanks Richard.

I am descended of 2 Scottish clans on my maternal side, the Caruthers and the Polk (Pollock) clans.

Edited May 5 by CDW

[Rik Thistle]

Hi all,

 

Another short post to keep the build ticking over. Thank you for the Likes and comments.

 

So, onto the insides of the 'radio shack'.

 

First thing needed is a table. Space is at a premium so the shack's contents are designed to optimise the available space inside the shack.

 

 

Radio equipment can generate a lot of heat so there may be some kind of cooling available inside?...or perhaps they opened the rear doors when possible.

 

Some more of the shack equipment being readied.

 

Finally, a quick look at most of what is going to be fitted inside the shack. I've made a guess that the bench seat cushions are black coloured, and possibly leather (?).  I need to add some details to the instrument panels, and hang the telephone handset + cable.  I don't believe there are any decals for the radio equipment, but there are some for the cabin dashboard.

 

All for now, back soon.

 

73s

 

Richard

 

PS:  CDW, yes, I think that a lot of us have a bits of other nationalities in us these days. It helps keep the gene pool strong 😉

Edited May 13 by Rik Thistle

[Rik Thistle]

Hi all,

 

Work continues on the K51 radio truck.

 

The pic below shows the inside of the truck with all the radio kit installed. I had seen pictures of the radio boxes painted green, so went with that colour. But after having a further look I can now see some images of installations where the boxes were painted black. Black makes more sense since it helps dissipate heat slightly better.  I'm still puzzled as to how the radio equipments were kept cool - heat reduces reliability.  All that seems to be available is to open the back doors of the vehicle, to let the heat out.

Above, circled in red, is the telephone land line that could be used to communicate directly with HQ by cable.  A large reel of telephone cable is attached to the K51 truck's side.

 

And below a couple of pics of the telephone in use.

 

 

I had planned to make my build a US version, complete with US military figures but could not find any with suitable poses.

 

However, there is the 'Masterbox 1:35 Scale Commonwealth Armoured Fighting Vehicle Crew' which includes Montgomery and some tank crew.

...and the MiniArt K51 kit does accommodate 5 different users, including the 8th Army ie

- British Forces Radio Station, 8th army sector, Italy, October 1944

- Corps Signals Unit, 2nd Polish Corps, Italy 1944/1945

- 1st Armored Division, 829th Signal Battalion, North Africa, Spring, 1943

- 102nd Infantry Division, European Theatre of Operations, Autumn 1944

- US Marine Corps, 4th Marine Division, Pacific, 1944/1945

 

So the idea occurred to me that Montgomery (who was active in Italy in 1944 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Montgomery ) and one of his tank Commanders might have commandeered a K51 radio truck for a short while. So I came up with the scenario below.

 

I can't get the radio operator's feet to fit under the table. But it is reasonable to imagine he would likely have turned to face Montgomery who will be holding the telephone (currently lying at his feet) in his right hand....it was holding a mug of tea. So the final poses will be something similar to above.

 

The radio operator's left foot is too high so needs a box to rest on...I had thought of using a Jerry Can but I'm not sure that would have been positioned so close to the radio truck as electricity and petrol are a dangerous combination.

 

OK, that is it for this post. Progress isn't too rapid, but now that I have some figures to work with it might spur me on 😉 - see you in a week or two.

 

Richard

Edited May 22 by Rik Thistle