Tamiya US 21/2 ton 6x6 Cargo Truck

[patmaquette]

Hi all,

This is my attempt at Tamiya's kit of the GMC deuce and a half. Dating from 1997, I found the moulding and fit to be excellent - a good choice for my first vehicle kit in this scale. I also bought Tamiya's accessory set 231 to go with it, this having the 0.5" Browning mount over the cab area plus a few other bits and bobs. The kit was built out of the box(es) apart from the cable for the winch.

I also used the kit to try out weathering techniques and learnt a lot from a fellow modeller who showed me the oil dot technique, the use of pigments for dust and mud effects and gave me some links to helpful videos on YouTube, so many thanks to him.

Thank you for looking,

Pat

[stevej60]

That's a beauty,it is still a lovely kit to build but not often seen here.

[patmaquette]

15 hours ago, stevej60 said:

That's a beauty,it is still a lovely kit to build but not often seen here.

Many thanks for your comment, Steve - I'm glad you like it,

Pat

[Head in the clouds.]

Very nice indeed Pat, I shall use the pics as inspiration for my first truck build, it will look like a truck but not like your truck😁

[FrancisGL]

A very cool truck, one day I have to start making trucks, and this seems as you say, a good candidate to start. It has a lot of potential.
For my liking, and it is not critical at all, it is a bit clean, and in the box, it could use some extra equipment, such as jerrys, or drums, for example.
Cheers mate.👍

[phildagreek]

Very smart!

[Badder]

Hi Pat,

I love the colour, and the dusty look, and most especially the beautifully even matt finish. Having said the latter, I do think the wooden steering wheel needs a bit of a polish! But that's the only thing I can see that would be an improvement. It's a great looking kit, tidily built, painted perfectly and subtly weathered to a nice level.

 

My first Tamiya kit was an SAS Jeep back in the late 70's and then in the early 80's I left the hobby and only returned 6? yrs ago. Somehow I've completely missed the 'Deuce and a half' and have always wondered why no one brought it out as a kit! Now that I know it exists, I am going to have to break my vow of 'not buying any more kits until I've completed the ones in my stash' rule and ask Santa to buy me one!

 

BTW, is that tow cable braided fishing line?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[BIG X]

Very nice job Pat - well done on a cracking build.

 

I'm just about ready to have a pop at my first 1/35 truck - the venerable Opel Blitz from Tamiya - so wish me luck.

 

Steve

[Kev The Modeller]

Lovely build 

[patmaquette]

On 09/10/2019 at 18:05, FrancisGL said:

A very cool truck, one day I have to start making trucks, and this seems as you say, a good candidate to start. It has a lot of potential.
For my liking, and it is not critical at all, it is a bit clean, and in the box, it could use some extra equipment, such as jerrys, or drums, for example.
Cheers mate.👍

Thank you Francis. That is a very fair comment. The model is "a stepping stone" as I go through the learning curve of vehicle modelling, (especially painting and weathering) and I was keen to get onto my next build, rather than put additional items onto it. However, I do intend to make it part of a diorama in future and will add "stuff" to it then.

 

20 hours ago, Badder said:

TW, is that tow cable braided fishing line?

Hi Badder and thank you for your comments. The cable on the drum is a silver-coloured string made from synthetic yarn. I found it in my spares box but can't remember where it originated from. I wrapped it around the drum and glued it in place. I did have to paint, wash and highlight it. The tow rope and eye that is on the front bumper is a separate piece. Again, it came from the spares box.

Cheers,

Pat

Edited October 15, 2019 by patmaquette

[patmaquette]

12 hours ago, BIG X said:

Very nice job Pat - well done on a cracking build.

 

I'm just about ready to have a pop at my first 1/35 truck - the venerable Opel Blitz from Tamiya - so wish me luck.

 

Steve

I hope you enjoy your build, Steve. I learnt a great deal building this one.

Cheers,

Pat

[Badder]

6 minutes ago, patmaquette said:

The cable on the drum is a silver-coloured string made from synthetic yarn. I found it in my spares box but can't remember where it originated from. I wrapped it around the drum and glued it in place. I did have to paint, wash and highlight it.

Hi Pat,

 

Well, your cable looks fine too me. It just looked like it might be braided fishing line.

 

So, I'm including the following for your and your readers' benefit:

 

'Braided' fishing line is made from woven (or braided) strands of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene fibres and is usually coated with nano-resins for abrasion resistance. It's extremelystrong for its diameter, more than steel cable, and can be purchased in lengths from upwards of 10m (freshwater angling) up to 1000m (sea fishing) and in breaking strains from around 2kg and approaching 100kg (sea fishing). It therefore comes in wide range of diameters. As with all products, there are cheap ones and expensive ones, but if you were the kind of modeller who plans on making lots of barbed wire fences, tow cables, or rigging up model sailing ships, they are certainly worth looking at.

 

Rearguards,

Badder