Serving thirsty cylinders -or- 600 gallons of booze for the Army Air Forces

[Toryu]

A preview of a combo of vehicles which got ready for my next airfield diorama (here). These kits are hard to find in 1/48 and I was lucky to spot them on the web a few years ago. Both are resin with some PE parts.

 

 

The Dodge WC 52 - or ¾-ton 4x4 Truck - comes from Pilot Replicas, a Swedish firm which offers it with markings of the Svenska Flygvapnet.

 

 

 

 

The kit is a gem with nicely crafted detail. The resin parts are quite resilient and not too difficult to assemble as long as you DON'T follow the instructions. Pilot Replicas suggest to add the body structure piece by piece (hood - cabin - cargo bed) to the completed chassis. This is not a good idea because the various elements won't align properly and leave considerable gaps. After dry-fitting I decided to first assemble the body as a whole. Eventually cutting and sanding became inevitable to harmonise floor and chassis. Some weakness in the wheel/tyre assemblies made me develop a sturdier method of fixing them to the axles. Finally I added a few details like the front features, the open windscreen and the movable tailgate. Decals from the spares box completed this enjoyable model.

 

 

There were two versions of the so-called 'Weapons Carrier' in the ¾-ton category, the WC 51 (w/o winch)¹ and WC 52 (with winch), of which some 255,000 were built. Incidentally, WC was not an abbreviation of 'Weapons Carrier' but the Dodge model code. The truck was extensively used by the US Army. On airfields it served various tasks such as personnel and cargo carrier, field workshop or tow vehicle.

 

 

In tow here is the 600 gal A-1 Fuel Trailer from Des Kit. The box contains only a dozen parts which are easy to put together. Not uncommon for a resin model it calls for meticulous sanding to remove excess material, and for some additional detailing, partly provided for by the PE parts that are included.

 

 

 

 

The trailer was manufactured by Standard Steel Works. I didn't find any documentation about the A-1 in US Army Technical Manuals², and Des Kit's instructions are very poor, not even showing every available part. Some details were copied from an inspiring model which I detected on internet, others are fancied. The lettering comes from the decal pool and my printer.

 

 

I hope you like the pair. For more great airfield equipment follow this link.

 

Thanks for looking - Michael

 

 

 

¹ MIG Productions had a WC 51 (48-065) and a WC 54 Ambulance (48-197) in their catalogue but it seems they are sold out.

 

² I also ordered the A-3 Fuel Trailer from CMK (8031). The two models have different pump and pipe systems and other small variations.

  The A-1 looks like using a petrol engine to drive the pump while the A-3 had a hand pump.

 

References

U.S. WWII Dodge ¾-ton 4x4 WC-51 & WC-52 Weapons Carrier, Technograd Technical Manual Series No.6031, Erlangen, 2014

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_WC_series

Trailer Fuel Servicing 600-gal. Type A-3, U.S. War Department Technical Manual TM 9-2800, Page 456, 1943

http://www.milinfo.org/2019/09/remorque-600-gallons-type-a-3-us-air-force-au-1/48-des-kit.html

 

 

[Bullbasket]

That looks great. I take it that the windscreen is etched brass. It looks very fragile.....but good.

 

John.

[Pete in Lincs]

A lovely little scene, Michael. Lots of detail in such a small size.