1/72 GMC CCKW-353 Gasoline Tank Truck

[Nigel Heath]

My normal builds are aircraft so this is a bit of an excursion for me. I have not build a road going vehicle since I was a teenager.

This is just a supporting model for the diorama I have planned for my Flying Banana, RFI here.

I have both the Hasegawa (fuel tanker) and Airfix (covered flat bed) truck kits to work with, the plan being to use the best bits from each in a cross kitting exercise.

Here is the box art which is proving quite useful:

The spues, grey for Hasegawa and green for Airfix:

I think this will be mainly based on the Hasegawa kit and I started on assembling the forward fuel tank as I know I will definitely need that:

These are supposed to be identical vehicles although you would hardly think so:

The guards for the lights are horribly chunky, I am thinking of fabricating replacements out of PE and wire:

These side frames also look quite chunky:

The box art shows what they should look like:

Note also the tie down straps for the tanks.

The Airfix wheels are moulded with the correct six spokes (the Hasegawa ones have five and are not so detailed) but they have appalling sink marks and worse than that are actually distorted:

I think I will be writing to the kindly Mr Airfix for replacements.

I have also discovered that Eduard once made a PE set which catered for the light guards amongst other things. There are / were also resin wheels available from Milicast. I need to conduct further research to see if these are still available from anywhere.

So this build may have to go on hold for a bit while I source stuff.

That 1/48th Komet could be getting built sooner rather than later!

Nigel

[louiex2]

Loved the Flying Bananna build so I can't wait to see what you do with little wheelie things. Looking forward to seeing all the lights work, pumps whizzing around... Another Nigelization of lumps of plastic being and thus the saga continues.

Here's a link to great CCKW site that may be helpful http: //www.cckw.org/

Edited May 19, 2014 by louiex2

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Nice to see you got a later release of the Heller/Airfix kit with the correct wheel-hubs..... I've not attempted this kit-bash myself yet (although I've got the bits to do it), I believe the Hasegawa kit is somewhat overscale, so some approximation may be neccessary.

Possibly useful article here: http://www.onthewaymodels.com/reviews/SBrezinskiGMCStudebakerReview.htm

EDIT - Eeek.....Up close those wheels are hideous!

I swear Heller's QC sometimes amounts to little more than giving a suitably 'Gallic Shrug' before chucking any old tat into the box.....One of my Somua S-35 kits (IIRC) had a cigarette burn in the sprue!

[Sgt.Squarehead]

If you are after 1/72 AFV accessories, Tracks & Troops is THE place.....If it's available, Milan WILL get it for you, but it can sometines take an age before he is successful:

http://www.tracks-n-troops.eu/shop/index.php

Here's their current selection of GMC related goodies:

http://www.tracks-n-troops.eu/shop/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=cckw+353

No connection other than as a satisfied punter and the odd chat on ML Braille.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Irritatingly, with a bit more poking around on T&T I discovered this:

http://www.tracks-n-troops.eu/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_10&products_id=5751

It's a tanker conversion for the Academy kit.....Had no idea such a thing existed.

TBH the Academy kit isn't all that special IMHO, certainly no better than the Heller/Airfix tool and I believe it may have some fit issues around the cab.....Several reviews can be found here:

http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=146992

[Vally G]

Hi Nigel,

Looks like you have your work cut out for you.

Good to see you in this section of the forum, though!

Kind regards,

Adam

[perdu]

Am I really here in hard hitting wheely things land?

Is any of it a dream, oh please let it be so...

Ah no, not a dream. I've been lured here by thoughts of shared dinners, lunches and bijou snackettes.

And Nigelisation of a trucky thing

Ah me, what it is to be a fan.

Oops for Airfix, wot orrid wheels. Hope they do the right thing for you mate.

Blimey, got to keep coming back here as well, I'll never finish that aeroplane at this rate...

[Test Graham]

The Milicast replacement wheels were 1/76, and they do look smaller when in place.

I've long believed that the Hasegawa hood and fenders (bonnet and wings) owe more to the postwar trucks than the wartime ones. If I was doing this conversion I'd find a way to fit the Hasegawa tanks onto the Heller/Airfix body. I believe Hasegawa (or somebody) has done a more modern USArmy truck which might make an interesting comparison.

I quite like the Academy kit, which is rather more crisply moulded than the Heller/Airfix which appears quite soft-edged and well, soggy, in comparison. Both however are superior to the PSC example or the awful Coopertiva one.

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks for the input Graham, you points are noted and taken on board. In many respects the Airfix mouldings are more refined and detailed than the Hasegawa ones. From what you say the Milicast wheels are not an option although I think their set includes some PE as well. If I order a full set from Airfix maybe some of them will be usable. I also have a cunning back up plan to do something with a silicon mould and resin to salvage the better wheels. More thinking is required.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

I've put in a request for info on replacement wheels over on ML Braille.....Someone will know for sure.

There is the Armory set, but they aint cheap: http://www.tracks-n-troops.eu/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_10&products_id=8784

I'm hoping Milan will respond to my message as T&T do a resin and metal upgrade set for the Airfix kit, but I don't know if it includes wheels.

I've checked my kits.....All of them are early tools with the wrong front hubs. I can offer you a better set of rear wheels though.

[Nigel Heath]

Am I really here in hard hitting wheely things land?

Is any of it a dream, oh please let it be so...

I think this place is known as the dark side. We must tread carefully and keep our wits about us.

Andy, that is very kind of you. I don't want you to go to too much trouble, lets see what Airfix can come up with first. Like I say I think I can possibly fix the Airfix wheels with some resin but I have loaned all my silicone and resin to Duncan B for the next month or so - another reason this may have to go on hold for a while. I am now going to have a good look into all the aftermarket stuff.

[JOCKNEY]

Evening Nigel

I think you got a dodgy set of re moulds fitted on the cheap with the Airfix version, no doubt the hasegawa one comes complete with go faster stripes etc. which also explains why the later has a larger bonnet, it's for the bigger turbo and no2 injection unit !

Cheers Pat

[Nigel Heath]

I have had a good look at the PE that seems to be available from Eduard at the moment and pretty much decided that 90% of it would end up in the spares box and I can scratch build the other 10%. I had a look to see how the Airfix doors fitted on the Hasegawa cab:

The answer is not very well - too small.

Concentrating my efforts on the Airfix chassis, I started to get an idea of how things fitted together:

Some strips from my Extratech structure elements set could make for good tank straps:

The other strip is a leftover strap from the Eduard Banana tank straps but it is too wide and short.

I had a look at how the fuel tanker body sat on the Airfix chassis:

Clearly the longitudinal rails are going to have to be reduced in height:

I have been puzzling over where the fuel hose comes out of this thing and come to the conclusion that these cabinets must house reels for the fuel lines:

There are supposed to be parallel sided but they have been moulded with a pronounced draft angle on all sides. I am thinking they should be cut off and scratch build out of plasticard. Maybe the doors can be modified and reused. There will also need to be one open with a reel inside. Some reference pictures would be handy...

You can see more of the problem here:

I found that the Hasegawa screen surround has not knitted together during moulding:

Never mind, I am thinking that would be better scratch build as well.

The Airfix screen is not much help really and further confirms scratch build would be better:

I did a sketch of what these rear bumper features should look like:

Again something scratch build would be better I think.

Hmm, the jobs list is pilling up, this could take longer than I thought.

I have another question, what colour should this vehicle be? Olive drab would appear safe enough but I have seen quite a few fuel tankers in red.

I apologise for not actually building anything and thinking out loud but I am still getting my head round this little beastie.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Your reference should be with you in a day or two which will hopefully stand you on firmer ground.....Its a 250 page monster with loads of photos of more variants than you can poke a stick at (no plans unfortunately)! A quick check of my copy reveals that the hoses are indeed stored in the lockers, just as you thought.....The kit represents a gasoline tanker, which should be correct for your Banana.

There are also images of several other types of tanker including a post-war French helicopter refueller, which might be even more appropriatem but which will also require a lot more scratchwork.

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks KT, I have found some good workarounds on Scalemates for the basic truck, anything on the fuel tanker side will be much appreciated.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Found this thread on ML Allied DG which may be of help:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1300033182/CCKW+353+Fuel+Tank+Conversion+help

How's that for timing!

[Nigel Heath]

Brilliant! No reel then, they just bung it in there (a bit sloppy if you ask me). Its good to know how the door opens, I was wondering that - it looks like a few Jerry cans might be an idea to busy things up as well.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Jerry Cans!

Those things are a whole subject in their own right.....I'm not getting myself involved in that lot!

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Nige.....It's occurred to me that this type of tanker uses gravity-feed.

There's going to have to be some sort of pump between it and the Banana.....No idea what such a thing might look like, I'm afraid.

It's looking like Armory are your only option for replacement wheels (so far).....Their stuff is very nice, but cheap it ain't!

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks KT, I have submitted my request to Airfix for the replacements. I suspect they will not be much better than what I have as the problem seems to be endemic with the tooling. When I have them I will select the best and try to improve them with a mould and some resin. I have reasonable confidence in that but if it does not come up to scratch I will elect for the aftermarket option.

I have been thinking about what to use for the fuel hose since I started down the electrification path with my Banana. Seeing your picture has nicely crystallised my thoughts. What I think I need is some black rubber tubing with a an outside diameter of around 1.2mm. I think it needs to be quite flexible so that it drapes in a reasonably convincing way although I could put some metal wire inside it (along with the two electrical wires) to force it to conform to a realistic profile. I guess approach would be to send out a dedicated plea to the wider BM community to see if anyone knows where to source such an item.

I had not considered the need for a separate pump, that is yet more food for thought.

[perdu]

A roll of normal solder shaped as is

Paint it satin blacky

Fettle the two end attachments

Hiya Unca Bob

Surely once the Bananana and the Truck are together it will not be being moved about again so solder (or very expensive lead wire) will take the very form you need, permanently.

Hasegawa?

Are they the folks who have always made objects of desire from polystyrene?

How the hell did they comeup with that bloody yugly lorry... (he asks rhetorically...)

Inside that locker on the real thing picture not the manual schematic are the two thingys pumps that feed the flow forward or simply flow valves?

So much extra stuff to learn in the course of the Nigelisation of Jimmy

lead on McDuff

b

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Most of the Hasegawa 1/72 vehicle range is rather closer to 'Old Airfix' in quality than to 'Old Dragon' (new Dragon 1/72 AFV kits suck at the price).....Their SdKfz.251 and SdKfz.234 range are very good, the rest is dross by current standards.

[Nigel Heath]

Perdu I am afraid your solid lead wire idea for the fuel hose won't work as it has to be a tube so that the eleky wires can be fed through it. My thinking is that the fuel tanker will be permanently glued to the base as the wires will enter the base via the back wheels. I want my helicopter to be lose though as will probably still want to fly it around from time to time.

Tonight I decided I knew enough to cut down the longitudinals, I decided the quickest and least labour intensive way was the scribe and snap method

It looks a bit brutal, well it was actually but here we go.

After a bit of clean up the fit with the tanker bed was not too bad:

The rails now feel very flimsy and I am keen to get some cross pieces fixed in there to reinforce them but first there is this sink hole to deal with on the part that fits between the pair of rear axles. I can also drill out those lightening holes in the rear cross member thingy:

Here is a good picture of this general area:

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Wouldn't it be easier to just run the wires from the pump to the Banana.....That way only the pump needs to be fixed permanently to the base so you can remove the 'precious things' for transport?

[Nigel Heath]

Hmm, good point. Are you sure about this stand alone pump? Those lever valve controls in the hose cabinet look a bit over engineered for gravity feed valves. Might they not be pump controls???