Mirror Models US Diamond T 968A Cargo Truck. 1:35

[Shar2]

US Diamond T 968A Cargo Truck
Mirror Models 1:35

History
The Diamond T Model 968 Truck, Cargo, 4 ton, 6x6 (G509) was produced during World War II, beginning in 1941. Early production used civilian instruments and other parts. The designation was changed to Model 968A when military standard instruments and components were substituted. It was produced with both the closed metal cab and, by 1943, open soft-top military cab. The final version was 968B. Its military role was as an artillery prime mover and for general cargo transport.

The Diamond-T 968 Truck, Cargo, 4 ton, 6x6 was powered by the 6 cylinder, 529 cu. in. Hercules RXC engine that developed 106 hp. mated to a five speed manual transmission and two speed transfer case. The truck weighed 18,450 pounds and could tow 25,000 pounds.

The Model
The kit comes in a glossy top opening box with a depiction of the truck in use on the top. On opening the box is jam packed with seven sprues of light grey styrene, a small sprue of clear styrene, a small photo etched brass sheet, a vacformed tilt and a length of rope. Whilst the mouldings are very nicely done with some great details, there is a feeling of a limited run kit to it. The sprue gates are quite large, even for the smallest of parts and the plastic appears quite hard. The instructions too are not what we’ve come to expect from modern manufacturers, being a little in-descript and sketch like. Although the sketches are clearly drawn the parts location isn’t always that clear. With the best part of five hundred parts in the kit, the majority seemingly concerned with the chassis and suspension, great care will be needed when building these sections up.

The build begins with the construction of the eight wheels. All the wheels are injection moulded and come in two halves and because of the big sprue gates they will need quite a bit of cleaning up along with the resulting seam once joined together. The front wheels are provided with an inner brake drum and outer centre hub, whilst the rear wheels are joined together by a much larger brake drum with a fluted centre piece and a rear panel, plus an outer central screwed panel. The spares require a hole to be drilled to allow fitting into their respective positions. The points where the holes are required are clearly marked.

Next is the engine build. This is very comprehensive and begins with the assembly of the block, which comes in two halves, to which the sump is attached, followed by the cylinder heads. The auxiliary drive unit is fitted to the front, whilst the clutch and gearbox are fitted to the rear. The numerous ancillary parts are then added, along with the intake and exhaust manifolds, air intake filter unit, distributer, auxiliary drive belt and cooling fan. If the modeller wishes, they can super detail the engine with the addition of wiring and piping, especially if the engine covers are to be posed open. Once the engine is complete it’s on to the radiator, radiator housing and grille consisting of seven parts.

Then it’s on to the drive train, with the assembly of the front axle, which comes in four parts, the transfer box, and the wheel mounts, complete with ball joint for the steering. The steering rack is then attached followed by the CV joints. Now this is where the instructions go a bit awry, instead of build the rear axles, it moves off to the building of the winch, which is a very nicely detailed unit, which just requires some rope to wrap on it. We now move onto the chassis the two longitudinal rails are fitted with several crossbeams, the completed winch, plus the front and rear end pieces. With the chassis rails closed up the air bottle and towing hook assembly can be attached. The front suspension hangers are then attached in their respective positions, followed by the leaf springs and the front axle sub-assembly. The rear suspension hangers are now attached, and then it’s on with assembling the complex number of parts for the rear suspension. These include the axles, transfer boxes, dampeners and air units. Whilst great care will be required to assemble all these and fit them to the chassis straight and level, it will be well worth it as the detail is quite amazing. There is an intermediate transfer box between the front and rear drive units along with the drive shafts and universal joints, which all have to be aligned correctly. With the drive train and chassis nearly complete the engine mounts and engine is fitted along with the associated drive shafts to the intermediate gearbox.

Moving on to the cabin the complex set of levers is assembled and fitted to the cabin floor, followed by the seat mounting frames seat squabs and rear cabin panel. The seat backs are then fitted, as is the rear panel window. The drivers’ compartment front bulkhead comes in a single piece moulding, to which the drivers pedals are fitted along with the instrument panel, coaming and steering wheel bracket. The two piece steering column is assembled and passed through the cabin floor and previously fitted bracket. The wheel can then be attached along with what looks like a column shift lever made out of 0.3mm wire provided by the modeller. The cabin roof is now fitted with the two windscreens, following the written instructions carefully. The roof is then attached to the front coaming first, before being attached to the front of the cabin floor and the rear cabin panel. You must then dry fit the cabin with the engine cover so that the gearstick spigot fits into the hole in the gearbox, whilst at the same time the steering rack gearbox fits into position above the front axle. The written instructions here are in fact very useful, but take your time to get the alignments right. Once the cabin is glued into position you can start fitting the engine panels, the front mudguards, mudguard supports, lights and light protectors, followed by the front bumper. The cabin doors are fitted with their clear windows, but before fitting to the cabin, they will need door handles and window winders made up of 0.3mm wire. The cabin is then completed with the fitting of the roof convoy light and the wing mirrors.

At this point the wheels assembled at the beginning of the build can be attached to their respective axles. The two fuel tanks are then assembled along with their supporting bracket assembly under the cabin, followed by the two footsteps, one each side. The truck bed is assembled from the bed, which has seven angular strengtheners attached underneath, front and rear panels, inner side panels and outer cargo bars, which have headrests built into them. The rear mudguards are attached to the rear underside of the bed with a fuel can holder fitted to the left hand mudguard. The bench seats are then fitted to either side of the bed and the now completed assembly can be fitted to the chassis. Lastly the two spare wheels can be attached to front of the bed on the brackets provided. Normally this is where the build finishes, but with this kit the modeller is actually provided with a vacuform tilt, which when cut out and painted slides over the cargo bars and tied to the wire hooks which will need to be made up from 0.3mm wire. It’s nice to see this option as it is rarely available in recently released truck models.

Decals
The small decal sheet provides decals for two different registrations, along with various placards for around the truck. There are also various sizes of US star and a number of unit markings for which you will need to check your references.

Conclusion
It’s great to see this truck finally released as an injection moulded kit. Whilst it is certainly not for the beginner, with care, patience and a bit of skill the average modeller should be able to produce a great looking model. The number of parts is quite daunting, but this is only due to the impressive level of detail for the drive train and chassis which will actually be quite visible. The addition of the tilt is a nice touch; just wish other manufacturers included this. All in all an excellent kit, and one I can quite happily highly recommend. I can also recommend the Squadron Signal Walk Around book on this series of trucks, a very useful reference guide.

Review sample courtesy of

[Panzer Vor!!!]

Oh well another one for the list , Kudos to Mirror Models for a exciting range of releases that the mainstream manufactures have ignored . Does it come in German grey though??