I am currently rebuilding an old model that I had used for parts. I built the AFV Club M49A2C shortly after it came out, around late '94 to early '95 when I was in OBC at Ft Sill, OK. A few years later (2004-ish), I pulled the cab and a few other parts off it to build my M54A1 “King Cobra” guntruck.
The rest of the fueler was relegated to the spares bin.
Recently, I came across it and decided to rebuild it. To do so, I needed a new cab. I was able to source a complete cab parts B sprue from the AFV Club M35 series trucks from a contact in Hong Kong.
I also sourced some missing parts from a fellow modeler at Armorama, Wayne “namengr” Wickell. Thanks to him for the missing gear box, fuel tank, and a couple other small parts.
The rest of the frame and M49 tanker-specific parts were mostly still there, albiet a little worse for wear. I had to rebuild a few things and reattach a lot of the parts. The frame alone was in four pieces with all the axles separate. I built the air tanks in the middle of the frame from scratch.
I plan on building it as a late Vietnam to early '70s era M49A2 w/o winch in overall green with white markings, like below.
Here it is so far, ready for paint.
For markings, I found a German decal set from TL Modellbau that includes the “Flammable No Smoking…” markings in white, as well as black.
I will be using decals from the M35A1 “Nancy” Gun Truck kit for common markings in white. I also have a set of the Archer M35 instrument decals for it as well.
I hope to have some paint on it soon and I am waiting for the decals to come in.
Good luck Gino, I like revisiting old projects. I’m such a packrat and many of my kits have been damaged in transit awaiting the discovery of parts and inspiration.
Cool project! I’d love to do something similar some day… Thought about building the old style tank, with the wheel cutouts, but I think it’s too complicated and I miss references for that, so probably I’ll stay with the A2C tank.
Thanks guys. It will be a fun rebuild. Just received the “Flammable…” decals in the mail today. Hopefully it will be painted and decalled soon.
It must be “Fire Water”…good stuff!!
Pawel, I had thought about rebuilding the bed to the earlier M44 as well, but didn’t want to start over. You could get the Revell/Monogram M34 “Eager Beaver” kit and use it’s bed parts and wheels/tires as a base and combine them with the cab, frame, and M49 tank parts from AFV Club. That is what I was thinking of doing. It is pretty decent for a 50+ year old kit.
I already have the Revell truck but my plans for it are to build an M34 using some of the AFV Club parts. As for the early M49 tanker the problem with it is not only the bed is different, but also the tank - it’s divided differently than in the M49A2C and I bet there are other differences that I just don’t have enough references for, so I just plan to do the M49A2C almost OOB with the exception of backdating the blackout lights (already drew them in 3D: https://www.shapeways.com/product/549MYYM6B/1-35-us-military-blackout-tailllights-24x?optionId=68738639) and other details as appropriate for Vietnam.
Now I didn’t notice it before, but the combination of “Flammable” and “Potable water” really made my day… goldhammer, thanks for pointing this out.
Lol, yeah the whole ‘flammable’ water labeling. The whole ‘off-road vehicle’ struck me as funny too since it seems AMC wanted too much for the name ‘Jeep’…
The mislabeling of the truck could be one of two reasons. First, it might have been for potable water until it showed signs of contamination and then switched to being a fuel truck.
Second, it may have been used to “fool” enemies that it wasn’t really fuel.
While I agree that they wanted to get around the trademarked grill, I have also read in the instructions of the Tamiya-boxed SAS-jeep that the soldiers sometimes removed the bars to improve the air circulation through the radiator for better cooling. OK, that doesn’t sound too realistic neither…
I think it’s kinda dumb - every model built of the legendary Jeep only increases the value of the brand… They should actually be paying the modellers to build the models here! Thanks for reading and have a nice day
Well Pawel you obviously aren’t a lawyer. Model railroading in the US went through the same crisis. What was once a country with hundreds of railroads has turned into one with just a few mega-railroads. Which in turn have massive legal teams. They assert that all of the “fallen flags” that the parent corporations assimilated are brands now controlled by the current corporations
I suppose that’s true, but I also share with you the opinion of the pointlessness of it all.
Why the BNSF railroad would care if one models the old Spokane, Portland and Seattle is beyond me.
Work continues on the fuel truck. I was able to get it painted and added all the decals. I used Testors Model Master Olive Drab for the overall color. Next up is a dullcoat, painting the lights, and weathering.
The Archer cab decals are really nice. They really dress up the cab and instrument cluster.
The white common markings (stars, US Army serial numbers, stenciling, etc.) are all from the AFV Club M35A1 Nancy Guntruck. The bumper numbers are from the spares bin. The “Flammable…” decals are from the TL Modellbau set.
The decals in the pump compartment are from the fueler kit.
It is indeed very nice! I just love the cab interior with all those stickers/decals/data plates.
One problem though - the hood star… Since at least 1956 the T.B. specified (3-11-e) “On horizontal surfaces the star will be applied with one point directly toward the front of the vehicle or equipment. On vertical surfaces the star will have one point directly up.” and it was accomanied by thic cute drawing:
Ugg!! Damn, you are right. How did I screw that up? Decisions, decisions. Do I fix it now that it is all gloss-coated and sealed in place, or just let it go and chock it up to Joe not reading the reg right? We’ll see.
Gino - sorry about that! I just figured better now than when it’s really done, right? I hate when something like that happens to me… good luck with your build, I really like how this is turning out
