Chevrolet C15a FFW by realworkingsailor - IBG Models - 1/35 - PLASTIC

[realworkingsailor]

So, it has been nearly a month since I did anything constructive on this build! Waiting for parts.... waiting and waiting.... and waiting.....

 

Well, time to get going again!

 

One thing to note, the IBG kits are definitely not for beginners. There is a very high part count for each step, and the parts are small, fiddly, and need precise cleanup and fitting, or things can go wrong very quickly.

 

The cab assembly I've made up to this point has involved no less than 27 parts (even after leaving a few off to make painting easier)!

 

 

 

A good couple of hours work and the familiar pug-nosed profile of the No. 13 cab begins to take shape. So far, I have left off the seats (4 parts), mirrors (four more parts) and fire extinguisher (one part). The grill is PE and I will add that next, followed by the headlights (well, what was left of the headlights after the blackout masking was applied). 

 

A word of caution, even though the seat bases are all the same part number, they are mirrored left and right for each seat to accommodate the supports for the seat backs. The rear supports should flare outwards to pass around the seat cushions. For whatever reason, IBG did't give different part numbers.

 

After all the work, I couldn't resist a little dry fitting to see how things look when all the major components I've built so far is brought together:
 

 

 

Finally, it's starting to look like a truck!

 

Thanks for all your patience! Hopefully there will be no further parts related delays!

 

Andy

[realworkingsailor]

A quick little update for a snowy Thursday morning!

 

A few more components have now been added to the cab:

 

 

The "headlights" have been added, these consisted of an insert and the blanked lens. IBG seems to have forgotten about the blackout hood that covered the somewhat useable headlight. I made mine out of some styrene rod. Fun fact: while in England, the hooded headlight was on the left hand side of the vehicle, but a couple of days before D-Day, the headlights were swapped so the hooded light was on the right in order to account for the change of roadside the vehicles would be using when on the continent. Interestingly, this change does not appear to have been applied to vehicles operating in Italy.

 

The PE grill fitted perfectly, no issues there. The cab back and roof are glued together, but otherwise just dry fit for now.

 

 

A little bit more clean-up on the really large sprue attachment points, but otherwise it's really starting to look like a truck! It's nearly time to start getting some paint on this build!

 

 

I have quite the collection of various parts that will need to be painted separately. Unlike when I build the Tamiya Ford gun tractor, which broke down into only three convenient sub assemblies (not counting wheels and tires!). A bit more planning is needed with this kit!

 

Thanks for all the "likes"

 

Andy

 

 

[realworkingsailor]

Well, after nearly a week, I have a brown truck.... or at least, an array of brown painted components that might assemble into something vaguely resembling a truck...

 

 

I wanted to paint my truck in the early to mid war SCC2 brown, rather than the more commonly seen SCC15 OD green. I'm still debating whether to keep it solid brown or add the SCC1a dark brown disruptive pattern. 

 

British and Commonwealth vehicles used in the Italian campaign could be found in pretty much every possible British paint scheme, very often at the same time. Often the regiments were so short on time, and replacement vehicles needed so badly at the front, that (re)painting was often neglected. When the 5th Canadian Armoured Division, along with 1st Canadian Army Group Royal Artillery (which included the 2nd Medium Regiment RCA), were sent to Italy in the fall of 1943, they went without any motor transport or armour (no artillery guns, tanks, armoured cars etc). The political wheeling and dealing that brought the balance of 1st Canadian Corps to Italy (1st Canadian Division had been in Italy since Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily), meant that the Canadians would be taking over the vehicles and guns of the British XXX Corps, who were sent back to England in exchange. This fact was kept secret from the Canadian troops (so as to not dampen moral) by telling them that their vehicles has been lost en-route (a myth helped in no small part by a Luftwaffe air raid that sank two ships and severely damaged a third while the convoy was passing Algeria). Many of the vehicles left behind by XXX Corps were no prizes, however. Many had been in service since the desert campaign, and suffered from many war weary miles. The War diary of the 2nd Medium records an eventful journey in late December 1943 by an advance party in an old Dodge D15 15 cwt truck. The truck had no doors, no brakes, the transmission was missing a gear to two, questionable tires. They had to travers a not insignificant portion of Italy's mountainous terrain in winter. How the men and the old Dodge managed to survive the journey is still unknown.

 

Back to my C15a FFW,

 

 

Some more test fitting and detail painting has also been carried out. 

 

 

Unfortunately the dashboard is rather lacking in details. Yes there are some buttons and switches, but there's nothing for the speedometer or other indicators that were located in the rectangular panel to the left of the steering column. I will be painting the seats and setbacks in a kind of khaki colour, and after they've been added, I can finish assembling the cab.

 

Just for fun another dry fit of the compontents:

 

 

 

I will also need to add a few more small details to the rear area. There were a number of brackets for hanging various small radio components, like the headsets, spare aerial mast sections and even a few rifles. I should be able to make those up fairly quickly and get them added on without too many issues.

 

Thanks, as always, for all the "likes"!

 

Andy

 

 

[realworkingsailor]

 A small Saturday update.

 

I've been picking away at some smaller parts the last few days. I've so far managed to get all the resin components of the No 19 radio set sorted out and off their casting blocks. Not much to see yet until after painting and assembly.

 

I've also managed to sort out my dashboard!

 

 

When I was researching this kit a while ago, I noticed Scalemates had an Eduard PE detail set listed as an aftermarket upgrade. Clicking on the uploaded instructions, Eduard would have you cut out a print of the dash and glue it in place. I simply downloaded the instructions, scaled the dash to the right size on white paper, then printed on some blank decal paper I had kicking around. I painted the pachgound insert with RAF Ocean Grey. In hindsight, I should have gone with a lighter shade, but this will do. At least it now looks like there's something of a speedometer in my truck! 

 

I have also begun to add a little wear and tear on the interior surfaces. I first made a mix of RAF dark earth, lightened with a drop of Khaki, thinned to a wash and dry brushed the mix onto various surfaces to represent worn, but not entirely removed paint. This was followed by dry brushing some Humbrol Gunmetal for where the paint may have worn off more completely. I will slowly build up the layers until I am fully satisfied. I plan to follow this with a dark wash to get in the deep recessed areas and bring out some of the details.

 

Anyway, that's about it for now, thanks so much for all the "likes"!

 

Andy

[realworkingsailor]

With the approaching holidays, things have slowed down noticeably, but I think I have enough done to qualify for some form of an update. This will likely be the last until after Christmas.

 

Most of the work I've managed lately has been with the chassis. 

 

I did, however, get the seats painted and glued in the cab.

 

 

The seats were not without some small challenges. The cushions were fairly straightforward, but because of accessibility, I had to use CA glue to attache the forward ends to the bases. Regular cement was used at the rear. The seat backs are not held on by very much, just a small scarf joint on the uprights. Annoyingly, even though the frames were all aligned and square (the cushions have a couple of notches that line up with the lower part of the vertical backrest frames), they still ended up being a fraction too wide. It took tome time and faffing about to get the backrests to stay where they were stuck, but they remain fragile. The sooner I can get the cab back and roof on the better (a couple of small things to do yet, and that will happen).

 

As for the chassis, the wheels, engine, radiator and exhaust have now been added:

 

 

I gave the engine and any mechanical components a black acrylic wash to lend a bit of a greasy, oily look and bring out some of the details. Most of these bits will be hard to see once everything is assembled.

 

 

The exhaust was another tricky component to add as it lacks any positive locating points. There's only a butt joint where the pipe meets the manifold and a peg on the plate above the muffler (but no corresponding hole in said muffler). To add to all that, the tail pipe slopes downwards from the muffler in order to clear the fuel tank. This is not evident in the installation instructions for the muffler, but it shows up a few steps later.

 

 

As a bonus feature, I have also drilled out the end of the tailpipe so it actually looks like a tail pipe and not a solid cylinder of plastic poking out from underneath.

 

Finally, since I was on a roll working on the wheels earlier (pun intended), I finished the spare tire mount that sits between the cab and the rear compartment.

 

 

This was one of those weird "gotcha" parts to build. Everything I'd seen in the instructions, and from what I determined when dry fitting, indicated to me that I had to keep the spare tire separate in order to facilitate painting, as the brackets would not allow the tire to be added if I had glued them on first. Well.... turns out that assumption was very much incorrect. After I painted and assembled everything as per my plan (I didn't glue the spare in, thinking the brackets were enough to hold it in place), I picked up the now completed assembly up by the tire to put it in a safe place, only for the tire to slide ever so smoothly up and out from between the now solidly glued brackets..... facepalm....

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone who is following along and throwing in the odd "like"! 

 

Andy