This one is is all Bitbite’s fault. So I finished the basic build a few years back and then once painted in sand put it on the shelf. Not quite finished, but not undone either. BB and I had been conversing regarding his SAS jeep build, and I have been in a North Africa frame of mind since my Tiger put me there and looking at my 8th Army display shelves reminded me this one needed to be finished.
So after pulling my truck off the shelf I found this website… absolutely superb on the information within
After a bit of online reading there I went to work on completing my truck. Apparently they would change camo schemes on tyheir trucks during a patrol based upon the terrain that they were operating in. Well I found one that I liked that was Slate or Silver Grey and Midstone. Since the original color I had painted this was close to Mid Stone I figured that this would work. Then I went to town raiding all my spares bin equiping my vehicle based on what I found on the site. I swapped out the kit’s Boys’ .55 Cal. AT rifle for a better one from an Italeri weapons set, added a 2" mortar from an Airfix British Infantry set, as well as some Mills’ bombs (grenades). I dug up all the “flimsies” and oil cans I could find, as well as a couple of German early style Jerry cans, various wood crates, stowage boxes, tarps, blanket rolls, etc, and some sea bags that were issue to Tommies. The site said tht the standard truck crew was three men so I added packs and haversacks for three. As well a couple Thompsons with drum magazines and foregrips from an Bronco Commonwealth Equipmenjt set, and of course an MP-40, after all SF types occasionally use enemy weapons to confuse the enemy in limited visibility firefights with their sounds… I also added a pintle mount Vickers GO “K” Gun to the kit for the co driver.
Weathering was done with the Tamiya Compact stuff and some Mig pigments in the cargo bed.
now the basic kit comes with two figures, but sonce the standard crew was three, I added this figure that came from the old Italeri Allied Truck Drivers set. He was prtty bad originally, but I replaced the head with one from Dragon and cut off the original Aussie Bush Hat from the figure, and cleaned it up a bit so it will fit on the modified figure. Once he is done, I will post a photo of him in place
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!
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. [Y]
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?
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!
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…
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.
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” [:D] ), and since they had to carry everything they would need for a patrol, including gas, it was a good thing.
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.
