Mercedes L 4500

[edjbartos]

I have missed so much of this and have now read the different updates that you have done. Amazing work, there are so many wonderful things that you have done in this build , a real inspiration. Well done and keep going...👍

 

Ed

[Modelholic]

I'm not thinking 'as a searchlight' more...pool the light slightly off to one side.

If the driver was to lean out and look forwards of the front wheel it might be a little more illumination to the (e.g.) edge of the bridge perhaps. The sign holder makes sense as well. 

Tom

Edited December 31, 2022 by Modelholic
bad spelling

[Lummox]

Crikey, we're well into the new year and I've been a bit remiss in my updates. Apologies for that - it must have been the excitement of returning to work.

 

On 12/31/2022 at 11:28 AM, edjbartos said:

I have missed so much of this and have now read the different updates that you have done. Amazing work, there are so many wonderful things that you have done in this build , a real inspiration. Well done and keep going...👍

Thank you Ed. I'm flattered that you took the time to catch-up - it's really appreciated. 👍

 

On 12/31/2022 at 3:48 PM, Modelholic said:

If the driver was to lean out and look forwards of the front wheel it might be a little more illumination to the (e.g.) edge of the bridge perhaps.

I see what you're driving at Tom. It can't have been much fun having the responsibility of being the lead driver in a convoy in blackout conditions. It's almost as if Zvezda were reading your mind when they sculpted the driver figure that comes with the kit:

 

 

So, the the L4500 saga continues into 2023, with focus being on the rear light clusters which protrude from the chassis on 'stalks'. There are circular running/brake combination lights on both sides, but the left side additionally has a Notek rear light and license plate. Here's what the kit provides (I've managed to lose the left side 'stalk' somehow, it being a mirror of that on the left). No matter, everything will be replaced using etch from the Voyager update set and a fair bit of scratch building:

 

I'd love to show some period pictures to show how the lights appeared, but rear views of the L4500 are as rare as hen's teeth. It would seem that proud drivers always took photos of their beloved trucks from the front. The only period examples I could find were of flak vehicles - I'm guessing that the addition of a bloody big gun on the bed made the rear view more appealing:

 

In these examples we see Notek and license plate on the left 'stalk', and the circular running/brake light combination on the right. This seemed to be a common configuration on many different vehicles, and I considered going this route rather that the circular running/brake light both sides. Not having any photo confirmation either way for the standard truck, I decided to go with the configuration that Zvezda and Voyager have provided (which can also be seen in various diagrams/graphics):

 

Another unclear area was the format of the circular running/brake lights. The etch replacements were very different in terms of size and style that the kit examples. The kit lights look similar to those that appear on extant trucks (and indeed in a couple of the graphics above) but I was concerned that these could perhaps be post-war modifications?

 

The etch lights look more like those seen in period pictures on various vehicles, so I decided to go with them rather than repurpose the kit versions:

 

All that waffle gives some background on my thought process (which may well have been flawed). Now for the actual update (and about time I hear you say).

Firstly, there was some challenging soldering of brass rod (for the 'stalks') and the etch light brackets and license plate. Although not apparent from these images there were some awkward angles involved, the 'stalks' not being attached at right angles to the chassis, being set at approx 30 degree backwards and 10 degrees up:

 

We could then attach the various lights to the brackets. For a change the flap on the Notek was set to the up position ('normal' running mode, as can be seen in the flak truck images posted earlier). Kit manufacturers always seems to represent the Notek with the flap down (in blackout convoy mode). I don't have a clue what was the most common flap position to be honest:

 

Lights always look better if they are wired up in my opinion. The circular running/brake light appear to have a cable entering at the top. The Notek has a cable socket at the bottom right:

 

I've assumed that the 'stalks' would have been hollow, the lighting cables running up the 'stalks' to exit along the bracket somewhere (this is a big assumption, which seems logical, but may well be totally wrong). It's worth adding the wiring as the rear of the light clusters will be highly visible:

 

And that brings things up to date. Reading back through this post it seems I've been 'thinking aloud' and waffling quite a bit. Apologies for that, I'll try to be more focused on the next update (which will cover attaching these light clusters to the chassis, which I'm not 100% sure how to do, so I may well waffle a bit).

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[echen]

12 minutes ago, Lummox said:

I've been 'thinking aloud' and waffling quite a bit.

All very informative. Please waffle on!

[DanReed]

Very nice blog, please keep it up 

Dan

[Model Mate]

Please keep waffling… this is a super detailed build that deserves a good amount of waffle! Amazing work.

[Bullbasket]

Those light clusters/number plate a a work of art. Brilliant. I would think that those lights in the photo are as you suspect, post war additions. There appears to be an orange indicator in the centre. During/pre war, they would have been equipped with trafficators.

 

John.

[Stef N.]

So that's unanimous. Waffle on Paul.👍😀

[PeteH1969]

Nice Very Nice.

[THEscaleSHOW]

On 16/01/2023 at 18:08, Lummox said:

Crikey, we're well into the new year and I've been a bit remiss in my updates. Apologies for that - it must have been the excitement of returning to work.

 

Thank you Ed. I'm flattered that you took the time to catch-up - it's really appreciated. 👍

 

I see what you're driving at Tom. It can't have been much fun having the responsibility of being the lead driver in a convoy in blackout conditions. It's almost as if Zvezda were reading your mind when they sculpted the driver figure that comes with the kit:

 

 

So, the the L4500 saga continues into 2023, with focus being on the rear light clusters which protrude from the chassis on 'stalks'. There are circular running/brake combination lights on both sides, but the left side additionally has a Notek rear light and license plate. Here's what the kit provides (I've managed to lose the left side 'stalk' somehow, it being a mirror of that on the left). No matter, everything will be replaced using etch from the Voyager update set and a fair bit of scratch building:

 

I'd love to show some period pictures to show how the lights appeared, but rear views of the L4500 are as rare as hen's teeth. It would seem that proud drivers always took photos of their beloved trucks from the front. The only period examples I could find were of flak vehicles - I'm guessing that the addition of a bloody big gun on the bed made the rear view more appealing:

 

In these examples we see Notek and license plate on the left 'stalk', and the circular running/brake light combination on the right. This seemed to be a common configuration on many different vehicles, and I considered going this route rather that the circular running/brake light both sides. Not having any photo confirmation either way for the standard truck, I decided to go with the configuration that Zvezda and Voyager have provided (which can also be seen in various diagrams/graphics):

 

Another unclear area was the format of the circular running/brake lights. The etch replacements were very different in terms of size and style that the kit examples. The kit lights look similar to those that appear on extant trucks (and indeed in a couple of the graphics above) but I was concerned that these could perhaps be post-war modifications?

 

The etch lights look more like those seen in period pictures on various vehicles, so I decided to go with them rather than repurpose the kit versions:

 

All that waffle gives some background on my thought process (which may well have been flawed). Now for the actual update (and about time I hear you say).

Firstly, there was some challenging soldering of brass rod (for the 'stalks') and the etch light brackets and license plate. Although not apparent from these images there were some awkward angles involved, the 'stalks' not being attached at right angles to the chassis, being set at approx 30 degree backwards and 10 degrees up:

 

We could then attach the various lights to the brackets. For a change the flap on the Notek was set to the up position ('normal' running mode, as can be seen in the flak truck images posted earlier). Kit manufacturers always seems to represent the Notek with the flap down (in blackout convoy mode). I don't have a clue what was the most common flap position to be honest:

 

Lights always look better if they are wired up in my opinion. The circular running/brake light appear to have a cable entering at the top. The Notek has a cable socket at the bottom right:

 

I've assumed that the 'stalks' would have been hollow, the lighting cables running up the 'stalks' to exit along the bracket somewhere (this is a big assumption, which seems logical, but may well be totally wrong). It's worth adding the wiring as the rear of the light clusters will be highly visible:

 

And that brings things up to date. Reading back through this post it seems I've been 'thinking aloud' and waffling quite a bit. Apologies for that, I'll try to be more focused on the next update (which will cover attaching these light clusters to the chassis, which I'm not 100% sure how to do, so I may well waffle a bit).

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

Simply speechless!

MD

[Lummox]

On 1/16/2023 at 5:21 PM, echen said:

All very informative. Please waffle on!

Cheers echen - waffle request noted. 👍

 

On 1/16/2023 at 9:34 PM, DanReed said:

Very nice blog, please keep it up 

Thanks Dan, I certainly intend to keep this going, albeit slowly.

 

On 1/16/2023 at 10:51 PM, Model Mate said:

Please keep waffling… this is a super detailed build that deserves a good amount of waffle! Amazing work.

Cheers MM, kind of you to say - waffle request #2 noted. 👍

 

On 1/17/2023 at 9:15 AM, Bullbasket said:

Those light clusters/number plate a a work of art. Brilliant. I would think that those lights in the photo are as you suspect, post war additions. There appears to be an orange indicator in the centre. During/pre war, they would have been equipped with trafficators.

Thanks John. I suspected indicators too, which would certainly be at odds with the installed trafficators. That being said, I've seen talk that the running lights were red and the brake lights orange/yellow, so I haven't quite discounted the veracity of the kit lights. 🤔

 

On 1/17/2023 at 6:55 PM, Stef N. said:

So that's unanimous. Waffle on Paul.👍😀

Cheers Stef - waffle request #3 noted. 👍

 

On 1/18/2023 at 10:09 AM, PeteH1969 said:

Nice Very Nice.

Thanks Pete. 👍

 

On 1/18/2023 at 12:10 PM, THEscaleSHOW said:

Simply speechless!

Very kind of you to say MD. Thank you. 👍

 

It would seem that my waffling isn't quite as annoying as I feared, which is a good job really 'cos here comes another dose...

Recent work has concentrated on the attachment of the light cluster 'stalks' to the chassis. The kit 'stalks' would have attached to bracket plates moulded onto the chassis. No real problem with this to be honest, apart from the fact that if I had used them they would have lasted about 5 minutes before being pinged off and ultimately lost:

 

The Voyager set provides representations of the bracket plates, these being jolly small 1.5x1.5mm things, which I wouldn't fancy soldering to the replacement stalks, and wouldn't be very robust when attached to the chassis. Hmmm, back to the '5 minutes before being pinged off and ultimately lost' scenario in my mind:

 

A more robust solution was needed, namely the tried and trusted method that was used on the width indicators on the front mudguard. All trace of the moulded bracket plate was removed from the chassis, and brass tubes then inserted that would serve as sockets to accept the 'stalks' of the new light clusters. It all sounded quite simple, but I had a devil of a job getting the tubes at the necessary '30 degrees back, 10 degrees up' angle so the 'stalks' would sit correctly relative to the chassis. I ended up drilling much larger holes than needed, and resorting to lashings of CA to secure the tubes and make good the 'excavations'. Eventually the tubes were set at the correct angles, where they could then be sanded flush with the chassis. The PE bracket plates were then drilled and used as surrounds for the tube 'sockets' (usefully hiding most of the filler required following the shoddy drill work):

 

Hiding the results of the shoddy drill work was more problematic elsewhere, namely the rear chassis cross member which ended up with a 'brass tubing encased in globs of CA' look which was far from aesthetically pleasing. I hadn't taken a great deal of care in this area as I assumed it would be mostly hidden under the overhang of the bed. I was quite wrong, the area is quite visible - oh, bother! There was no easy way to clean up the mess, so I resorted to camouflage, using sections of PE (bottom sections of etch tool clasps if anyone is curious) as pretend brackets for the cross member. Totally fictional, but they don't look too out of place, and certainly serve to hide the gloop:

 

So, what do we end up with? Well, light clusters that are securely attached to the chassis:

 

I was worried that the license plate on the left cluster would foul the exhaust, but all is well. Miraculously it would appear that I've got the angles about right as all the protrusions seem to marry up to plans quite nicely. Yay!

 

We'll finish up with a few views that show the light clusters in context with the rest of the truck. First from the back:

 

...and the left:

 

...and the right:

 

Job done!

Enough of light clusters, let's move onto other things, like the tow pintle. Talking of which, I wonder if I could canvas your opinion on what comes with the kit. It doesn't look much like what we saw on the flak truck earlier, or that on a wreak example. I'm wondering if it may be a post-war thing, or perhaps it's OK? Dunno

 

Cheers, thanks for looking, and thanks for your continued support. Much appreciated 👍

 

Paul.

[Jochen Barett]

2 hours ago, Lummox said:

+++

Enough of light clusters, let's move onto other things, like the tow pintle. Talking of which, I wonder if I could canvas your opinion on what comes with the kit. It doesn't look much like what we saw on the flak truck earlier, or that on a wreak example. I'm wondering if it may be a post-war thing, or perhaps it's OK? Dunno

 

Cheers, thanks for looking, and thanks for your continued support. Much appreciated 👍

 

Paul.

 

A quick google-search ("lkw wehrmacht anhängerkupplung") did not bring many good results (few pics of LKW rear ends, some post war pics might show "new" post-war parts), but the Anhängerkupplung supplied with the kit almost looks a bit post-warish to the uneducated.

Rockinger https://www.rockinger-agriculture-catalogue.com/index.html?no_cache=1 and Ringfeder https://www.ringfeder-rf.com/en/ are brands found frequently

 

On of the "interesting" results is showing a simpler solution with a less elaborate mechanism:

 

http://www.fahrzeuge-der-wehrmacht.de/Bilder/Buessing_900_Le_12-1.jpg

 

 

[Kelscale]

Looking good!  Some fantastic scratch-built solutions and PE work 👌

 

I'm not sure of the date of this shiny black chassis image but the pintle looks like the kit one. No light cluster or licence plate brackets are evident.

 

[vaoinas]

Beautiful detail work, Paul.
I'm speechless.

About the tow pintle - my bet is they used the standard pintle there and the kit one is probably post war.

 

 

Kristjan

 

[Lummox]

On 1/23/2023 at 9:46 PM, Jochen Barett said:

A quick google-search ("lkw wehrmacht anhängerkupplung") did not bring many good results (few pics of LKW rear ends, some post war pics might show "new" post-war parts), but the Anhängerkupplung supplied with the kit almost looks a bit post-warish to the uneducated.

Rockinger https://www.rockinger-agriculture-catalogue.com/index.html?no_cache=1 and Ringfeder https://www.ringfeder-rf.com/en/ are brands found frequently

Thanks Jochen, the Anhängerkupplung (love that word, it's so descriptive!) certainly looks like it should be post-war doesn't it. But looks could perhaps be deceiving? 🤔

 

On 1/24/2023 at 9:27 AM, Kelscale said:

Looking good!  Some fantastic scratch-built solutions and PE work 👌

 

I'm not sure of the date of this shiny black chassis image but the pintle looks like the kit one. No light cluster or licence plate brackets are evident.

Cheers Los, and thanks for the chassis reference picture (I'll be using that later). 👍

 

On 1/24/2023 at 10:08 AM, vaoinas said:

Beautiful detail work, Paul.
I'm speechless.

About the tow pintle - my bet is they used the standard pintle there and the kit one is probably post war.

Thanks Kristjan, much appreciated. A post-war pintle was my first thought too. 👍

 

 

Unfortunately work commitments have recently got in the way of the more important things in life. I've been sampling the delights of hotel life around the Winnersh Triangle, which has severely limited my bench time resulting in build progress being painfully slow. Every cloud has a silver lining though, and one advantage of being stuck in a dull hotel is that you have plenty of time to trawl the web researching items of interest (no, not those 'special interest' items before you ask ). I'm afraid that this update will therefore be heavy on the waffle and light on the progress - 'plus ça change' I hear you cry.

 

You may recall that a question was posed on the veracity of the tow pintle that came with the kit, it looking very different to what is seen elsewhere. From now on I'll call the the kit version the 'wide-mouth' pintle to differentiate it from the 'standard':

 

The 'wide-mouth' pintle isn't necessarily wrong, but the question is whether it's a post-war addition. Something very like it is evident in extant trucks as can be seen in these images. I suspect that the first two are different views of the same vehicle. The third image is of interest as bizarrely the rear chassis cross-member appears to be upside-down (and so therefore is the pintle). Looks like someone may have misinterpreted the instructions when building their 1-1 truck?

 

Other 'wide-mouth' examples include that on the image kindly provided by @Kelscale, and the image on the right that shows the pintle in a drooped position on a truck that is definitely post-war:

 

Period images of 'wide-mouth' are very hard to come by. If you squint and use your imagination you may convince yourself that this poor image of a flak truck shows the elusive pintle. Not sure though, it may well be just a case of wishful thinking:

 

Following Jochen's lead, I thought it may be worthwhile looking at pintles on other German trucks of the period, the rationale being that if the 'wide-mouth' is evident elsewhere you could perhaps conclude the style is not necessarily post-war so may well have been seen on L4500s. Perhaps, though maybe a bit of a leap!

Unfortunately clear period rear views of other trucks proved to be as elusive as those for a L4500. No matter, let's see what kit manufacturers have come up with...

 

Starting with the Opel Blitz: Tamiya's offering top, Cyber-hobby's bottom. Hmmmm, those pintles look 'wide-mouthy' to me:

 

Now the AFV Club Büssing NAG 4500A 3t crane. I spy a 'wide-mouth' style:

 

Finally the Das Werk Faun L900 hardtop. Another 'wide-mouth', and interestingly the kit instructions suggest alternative pintle types, 'Type 1' looking to be our 'wide-mouth', 'Type 2' the 'standard'. Hmmm, interesting:

 

Following all this digging I think I've convinced myself that both styles of pintle could have been in use during the war. OK, this conclusion may be flawed, but let's run with it. Given that the 'wide-mouth' pintle is back in the picture, how did the thing actually work? Well, although there appear to be several variants, my understanding of the basic principle can probably be best illustrated by the following images - pull lever up, maneuver trailer into pintle, push lever down, off you go:

 

With all this in mind, let's get back to the build. The kit pintle was (carefully) removed from the chassis, the area being tidied up and bored out to accept re-worked pintle(s):

 

The kit 'wide-mouth' pintle was jazzed up with shiny brass (not sure of the accuracy of all this but it looks kinda similar to examples elsewhere):

 

An example of something that looks like the 'standard' pintle was 'borrowed' from a Dragon Sd.Kfz.251. There's quite a difference in size isn't there?

 

For comparison, here's the two pintles mounted on the chassis. Decisions, decisions. I think I'm leaning towards 'wide-mouth', but it maybe looks a bit big, and I still have a nagging doubt that it may be post-war. Argggh! What's the old joke? I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure.

 

 

As waffles posts go, that one probably took some beating! Thanks for sticking with it, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[Kelscale]

I have seen period images of the Radschlepper Ost with a wide mouthed pintle and I'm pretty sure zero survived the war! Maybe have a butcher at pics of those.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Kelscale

[Jochen Barett]

1 hour ago, Lummox said:

... Given that the 'wide-mouth' pintle is back in the picture, how did the thing actually work? Well, although there appear to be several variants, my understanding of the basic principle can probably be best illustrated by the following images - pull lever up, maneuver trailer into pintle, push lever down, off you go:

 

I'm not an expert on pre-1980 Anhängerkupplungen, but keep in mind: That "pintle" is of German origin

and there is a spring to the operating handle and a funny vertical rod deep in the throat of the mouth.

So my guess (backed by post war Anhängerkupplungs-experience) is: You disengage some sort of safety catch, pull lever up, maneuver trailer into mouth so the "eye" pushes the vertical rod in, the lever snaps down catching your trailer, you (re-)engage the safety thingie (connect everything for the trailer's lights and brakes) and off you go.

 

There has to be some sort of "functional advantage" to justify that complicated pintle compared to a construction with a mouth and a simple "pin" dangling on a chain like the one shown Januar 23rd:

 

 

[Lummox]

It's been a while since the last update, but I am still plugging away with this when time allows.

 

In some ways I'm my own worse enemy when it comes to moving things forward and 'just getting it done'. The more you look, the more you see, and once seen, it cannot then be unseen. I sometimes wish I could turn a blind eye, I really do. But I can't, so end up going down rabbit holes of work that I hadn't planned on doing. A good example can be found in the rear suspension...

 

If we look at the leaf spring 'hangers' on the rear suspension we see that it is an open structure, closed off with a 'stop bar', and with the ends of the leaf springs poking out:

 

The kit, however, simplifies the whole area, representing it as a solid moulding. The end result is, well, a bit rubbish:

 

I could have ignored this shortcoming. It's not that bad, and not overly noticeable. I could have ignored it, but no, not with that little voice saying 'it just isn't good enough, you should do something about that'. So off down the rabbit hole we go. Firstly the suspension 'hangers' were carefully excavated to approximate the 'U' shape (easier said than done). Some runners off an old etch upgrade set were happily just about the correct width so could be fashioned into leaf spring ends. Drilling the 'U' hangers to accept some brass rod for the 'stop bars' completed the job:

 

 

So what do we end up with?

Is it an improvement on what the kit provided? Yes, I think it is. Was it worth the time an effort to produce the improvement? Erm, not too sure to be honest.

 

Next job was to fix this strange object. What on earth is it? Is it part of a droid from Attack of the Clones?

 

Here is the object mounted on the rear of the chassis. I think, but am not sure, the object is a valve to control the supply of compressed air to a towed trailer. There look to be variations - the on/off lever for example being on the bottom of the value in the first image, but on the top elsewhere:

 

A new lever was knocked up to replace the somewhat 'chunky' version provided on the kit. The valve unit was then mounted onto the chassis. I'm not sure in what position the lever should be if no trailer is being towed (and so the air supply is 'off'). The lever is movable for now awaiting a decision:

 

I suspect, but again am not sure, that the coupling for the trailer air supply is the 'thing' to the right of the towing pintle on the rear cross-member. The kit coupling leaves something to be desired being a softly moulded 'lump of blobbyness':

 

So, down a 'we don't really need to do this but what the hell' rabbit hole we go to fashion a replacement coupling. Here's what it looks like in situ, along with some reworking of the socket thing to the left of the towing pintle (which I assume is something to do with the electrical coupling to the trailer):

 

Finally, here's a view to give some context on how everything hangs together:

 

And that just about brings things up to date. Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[Pig of the Week]

Not been around for a while, other stuff intervening, had a quick look at your progress (I'll have a proper perusal when I get in later) 

Some absolutely stunning work here with attention to detail second to none, this is one of those models it'd be a shame to paint really! 😁

[NIK122]

Firstly, are you a moonlighting watchmaker?....................Sorry I couldn't resist. Your skills are enviable. Each improvement (well researched), is a work of art that would make a fine book on modelling the subject. Just a thought.

If you have already seen and are aware of the images below then no worries but I thought you might be interested.

Looking forward to your next post😎

[Jochen Barett]

On 28/02/2023 at 17:29, Lummox said:

It's been a while since the last update, but I am still plugging away with this when time allows.

+++

I could have ignored this shortcoming. It's not that bad, and not overly noticeable. I could have ignored it, but no, not with that little voice saying 'it just isn't good enough, you should do something about that'. So off down the rabbit hole we go. Firstly the suspension 'hangers' were carefully excavated to approximate the 'U' shape (easier said than done). Some runners off an old etch upgrade set were happily just about the correct width so could be fashioned into leaf spring ends. Drilling the 'U' hangers to accept some brass rod for the 'stop bars' completed the job:

 +++

So what do we end up with?

Is it an improvement on what the kit provided? Yes, I think it is. Was it worth the time an effort to produce the improvement? Erm, not too sure to be honest.

+++

Next job was to fix this strange object. What on earth is it? Is it part of a droid from Attack of the Clones?

Here is the object mounted on the rear of the chassis. I think, but am not sure, the object is a valve to control the supply of compressed air to a towed trailer. There look to be variations - the on/off lever for example being on the bottom of the value in the first image, but on the top elsewhere:

A new lever was knocked up to replace the somewhat 'chunky' version provided on the kit. The valve unit was then mounted onto the chassis. I'm not sure in what position the lever should be if no trailer is being towed (and so the air supply is 'off'). The lever is movable for now awaiting a decision:

 

I suspect, but again am not sure, that the coupling for the trailer air supply is the 'thing' to the right of the towing pintle on the rear cross-member. The kit coupling leaves something to be desired being a softly moulded 'lump of blobbyness':

 

So, down a 'we don't really need to do this but what the hell' rabbit hole we go to fashion a replacement coupling. Here's what it looks like in situ, along with some reworking of the socket thing to the left of the towing pintle (which I assume is something to do with the electrical coupling to the trailer):

 

+++

Paul.

 

Talking about rabbit holes, "A priest, a rabbit, and a minister walk into a bar. ... "

 

Yes, it was worth it to improve the end of the leaf springs, I just wonder how long it will take until you replace the entire package of leafspringlump with individual leaf springs.

 

Under normal circumstances that valve handle will be "in line" with the tube when open and at a 90° angle when closed (in German-influenced cultures under normal circumstances).

 

Thanks for not only improving the Kupplungskopf (air coupling) but the Anhängersteckdose (electrical socket for the trailer) as well! Unfortunately Wikipedia is dealing with the more modern ones only, but you get the picture https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhängersteckdose (check the English version https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_connector too and draw your own conclusions). And I'm left a bit puzzled since there is only one air coupling not a red and a yellow one, but Rome was not built in one day, so maybe it took iterations to reach perfection with the Federspeicherbremszylinder and all the goodies.

Edited March 3, 2023 by Jochen Barett
typo

[Lummox]

Crikey, it's been over a month since my last post! So much for my good intentions to update more frequently. I'll just have to go and sit on the naughty step for a while.

 

To be honest I haven't had chance to do great deal of modelling, but I have been pottering here and there, so there is a little progress to report upon. But firstly I feel I must apologise for the tardy responses to those of you who we're kind enough to comment. That naughty step is going to be very busy.

 

On 3/1/2023 at 8:38 AM, Pig of the Week said:

Not been around for a while, other stuff intervening, had a quick look at your progress (I'll have a proper perusal when I get in later) 

Some absolutely stunning work here with attention to detail second to none, this is one of those models it'd be a shame to paint really! 😁

Cheers Mr P, good to hear from you. It's funny how people view things differently as I'm looking forward to that first coat of primer which ties everything together.

 

On 3/1/2023 at 7:21 PM, NIK122 said:

Firstly, are you a moonlighting watchmaker?....................Sorry I couldn't resist. Your skills are enviable. Each improvement (well researched), is a work of art that would make a fine book on modelling the subject. Just a thought.

Many thanks Nik. I think you flatter me, but I very much appreciate your comments. A book is an interesting thought, though I doubt it would make the Sunday Times bestseller list.

 

On 3/2/2023 at 9:23 PM, Jochen Barett said:

Under normal circumstances that valve handle will be "in line" with the tube when open and at a 90° angle when closed (in German-influenced cultures under normal circumstances).

Roger that Jochen, message received and understood. I somehow knew that you'd come up with the answer - thank you 👍

 

 

OK, so what progress has there been? Still beavering away on the chassis, we've moved up front to work on the headlights. The kits offers standard and blackout options, the latter being chosen as they are more prevalent in period photos, and the kit rendition of the standard glazed headlight is not too convincing. It was surprisingly tricky to get the lights oriented true in three planes, but I think we've just about manged to avoid the Marty Feldman look:

 

Now on to the pioneer tools. 'Hang on', I hear you cry, 'I thought we were working on the chassis, so why are you messing about with tools?' Well there is a method to my madness, which will become apparent a bit later. The kit provides no tools whatsoever, but the Voyager upgrade steps into the breach somewhat. Firstly the spade, where Voyager provides the head, stating that the shaft should be 'scratch built', but they unhelpfully give no dimensions. No matter, we'll just measure spade shafts from kits in the stash. Ah, spade sizes appear to vary massively, which suggests that there was no standard spade size? In the end I went for a 'median' spade length:

 

 

Next the pickaxe. Voyager provide an axe in resin, which is OK, but does that shaft look a tad weedy and misshapen to you?

 

Let's replace the shaft with some nice shiny brass. Not as easy as it sounds as were not dealing with a round section where we can use brass rod. We need an oval section, which can be achieved by annealing brass tube which is then squashed against an internal rod of the correct diameter. Then it's merely a case of separating the resin shaft, drilling the axe head, and inserting the new brass shaft:

 

OK, so why exactly are we bothering with the tools at this point? Well Voyager would have you mounting the tools on the bed sides, but I could find scant evidence for this in period photos (this being the sole example I could find, the spade not actually being in the location suggested by Voyager):

 

You can, however, find many example of the tools mounted on the chassis around the bonnet area. This is where our tools will be mounted.

Let's start with the spade which was up front on the driver's side, these flak trucks being the clearest examples I could find:

 

Initially I wondered whether this tool location was specific to flak trucks, related to the bloody big gun being mounted on the bed where the spade would normally go. This doesn't appear to be the case though as we see the same spade location evident on 'normal' trucks:

 

How the spade in actually attached is not too clear, so we'll have to use out imagination somewhat. The 'cage' Voyager provided for the spade head was 'pimped up' using scrap etch and mounted on the chassis just behind the headlight. A tool clasp on the mudguard completes the mounting (the clasp just being wide enough for the spade to be removable to simplify painting):

 

Now for the pickaxe, which appeared to be mounted in a similar position on the passenger side:

 

Zooming in on the clearest picture, we see a tool clasp close to the axe head, some kind of 'stop' on the chassis, and what looks to be a simple loop on the mudguard. Initially I thought that the tool clasp was mounted on the bonnet side, but the geometry is all wrong, so the assumption is that the clasp was attached to some kind of bracket mounted on the chassis (this thinking may well be flawed). We want the axe to be removable for painting, which meant we needed a workable clasp (it being impossible to slip the axe through a fixed clasp in this location). A section of scrap etch fret was used to fashion the makeshift bracket, onto which the clasp was soldered:

 

The bracket was then mounted on the chassis just behind the headlight and a loop attached to the mudguard, The axe could then be mounted and the clasp closed to secure. The chassis bracket may well be a figment of imagination, but it seems to be a feasible arrangement:

 

Finally, I thought it would be a bit of fun to replicate some of the period photos to see how the end result compares. The kit bonnet was roughly assembled (much of this won't be used as we have etch replacements) this being placed against the 'work in progress' radiator so we get an idea of how the tools will look in context. The fabricated tool mountings aren't perfect, but they're not too shabby:

 

 

 

And that's things up to date. It's turned out to be a bit of a bumper update, which is surprising given the small amount of progress. Amazing what a bit of padding can do. 

 

Cheers, and thanks for looking,

 

Paul.

[NIK122]

Ok! No flattery this time. Only sincere praise. Bloody brilliant 🙂

[Jochen Barett]

Just in case there was a slight doubt for a fraction of a second (yes, these are for plumbing, but the "logic" behind the lever is the same in pneumatics)

 

https://www.stabilo-sanitaer.de/messing-kugelhahn-kugelventil-1-1-2-zoll-dn40-mit-hebelgriff/a-444893/

 

 

and

https://www.atmos-forum.de/?dwqa-question=achtung-bei-kugelhahnen-auf-stopfbuchse-achten

 

[APA]

I've been away for a YEAR and you still haven't finished this!!!!😳

 

For goodness sake stop sweating over stock cocks and pull your finger out!! 😜

 

Very nice though. 👍🏻😎

 

Andrew