Thunder Models US Tug Clarktor 6, MILL-33 Heavy Duty Airfield Tractor (32001) 1:32

[Mike]

US Tug Clarktor 6, MILL-33 Heavy Duty Airfield Tractor (32001)

1:32 Thunder Model via Albion Alloys

 

 

Having its origins at the beginning of the 20th century, and formalising the company name at the end of WWI, the Clark Materials Handling Company was formed around and named after their chief designer Eugene Clark.  They were innovators in materials handling, creating one of the first transport tractors that utilised the internal combustion engine.  They produced the first towing tractor, and in the mid-20s created forklift trucks by modifying one of their tructractors, also adapting them to another use, generating another portmanteau – the Clarktor, which was also first manufactured in the mid-20s.  By the time of WWII, the Clarktor-5 was in common usage with the Allies including the British, and when the Clarktor-6 was released in 1942 it too entered service with Allied forces.  Powered by a 3.8L flat 6-cylinder Chrysler engine that output 62hp, it could travel at a maximum speed of 15mph, which was perfectly sufficient for towing aircraft, although getting to and from the next towing job must have been a little tedious.

 

The RAF and FAA used over 1,500 Clarktor-6s under Lend/Lease, using its power and traction to tow any ordnance that the British forces launched, dropped or fired, and it could also pull aircraft up to 90 tons, which covered everything up to a fully loaded heavy bomber.  The Mill-33 was a lighter-weight variant with single rear wheels, and it carried on in service until well after WWII, when it was superseded by more modern types, although many of the Clarktors were bought and cared for by civilians, either used by small airstrips, maintained as historic exhibits or by re-enactors.

 

 

The Kit

This is a brand-new tooling in 1:32 that will allow modellers in this scale to add them to dioramas or attached to an aircraft in a towing situation.  The kit arrives in a flat top-opening box with a captive lid, and inside are three sprues of grey styrene, four flexible black tyres, two frets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a clear sprue, a small decal sheet, instruction booklet printed in greyscale on glossy paper, plus two high-gloss sheets with painting and decaling instructions on both sides.  This is a full-detail kit with an engine under the hood and chassis depicted, with PE details that improve the look and give a more realistic scale to some of the most important aspects of the model, such as the perforated bumper/guard at the front.

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the motor, building the block from seven parts that includes the fan belt, adding intake and exhaust manifolds, plus styrene and PE ancillaries and a six-part transmission box, the completed assembly trapped between the two short chassis rails along with a horseshoe bulkhead in front of the driver, and a mounting plate with PE bracket under the front of the engine.  The radiator and feeder hoses are applied to the front of the rails, using the cowling temporarily without glue to test-fit and adjust the fitment of the two ends of the engine compartment.  The leaf-springs are fitted under the engine bay, with an axle straddling them, and two pivoting stub-axles joined by a linkage, plus a few detail parts under the engine.  At this point the steering column is fitted, but it is shown in already in place in the instructions, and the detail parts are being added to the bottom end, so take care with assembly here.  A steering arm with pivot are attached between the left chassis rail and the axles, then it’s time to build up the rear axle with differential bulge from two parts, fitting it above the leaf-springs with bolted retention plates underneath, and the shortest drive-shaft I have ever seen, comprising four parts.  A pair of levers are installed on the transmission box, with more detail parts on the left chassis rail, fixing the radiator feeder reservoir to the driver’s bulkhead and curving a PE heat shield around it so that the driver doesn’t burn his knees.  There is a small diagram showing the location of stencil and dial decals on the bulkhead, totalling five in all, although they’re best left off until painting is done.

 

The floor of the vehicle is placed between the rails, with an end-plate at the rear, covering it with a tread-plated PE skin that is bent up at the front to create the kickboard, through which the two pedals are threaded, with a scrap diagram showing the ledge on the bulkhead where the kickboard should locate.  The exhaust consists of a downpipe that leads to a two-part muffler under the chassis, with an exhaust pipe leading out of the rear, angled down at the end.  The driver’s floor is bracketed by the two rear arches, and a seat base is made into a box from five parts and is glued to the PE floor with super glue, fixing a plate to the rear of the chassis that holds the towing hitch with pin.  The driver’s seat is made from cushion and backrest that is glued to the top of the base, adding a PE fairing around the steering column, and a wheel at the top, plus a PE four-bladed fan at the front of the engine.  Another PE insert fills most of the gap around the wheel and pedals to prevent debris from jamming the pedals.

 

 

 

The front and rear wheels are made differently, the front wheels consisting of smaller tyres and two hub halves.  The rear wheels are a little larger and more complex, making the inner hub from three parts, and trapping the tyre between it and the front hub half.  Each wheel fits in an arch, one per corner.

 

The protective front bumper extends up over the radiator, and has perforations to let the cooling air flow through, so it is supplied as a PE part that is bent to an angle on both sides, has stiffener plates added to the sides, and two mounting brackets on the flat front portion, which attach directly to the tops of the chassis rails, using super glue (CA) again, and adding two more L-shaped brackets from beneath to the inner edges of the rails.  The last task is to create the engine cowling, starting with the base rails, which are folded to an L-profile and mounted on top of the chassis rails, adding the front arches from PE parts that are bent and folded to a template that is printed at 1:1 in a diagram below with measurements, a job that is repeated on the opposite arch.  The top cowling has a pair of headlights with clear lenses attached to the front edge on PE brackets, and a PE badge near the driver’s end.  The side cowlings are flat PE parts with two mesh vents sections in the middle, and these are detailed with a grab-handle at the top and two clasps at the bottom.  There are question-marks printed next to these last steps, although it’s not entirely clear to this modeller which parts are optional, so check your references to be sure.

 

 

Markings

There are four decal options on the small sheet, and each option has a page of profiles that have been penned by AK Interactive, so uses paint codes  from their acrylic and RealColor ranges. The operators and period of service aren’t given on the profiles, but some clues can be found in the serials, one of which says “RAF”.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

 

 

The decals are printed anonymously, and are printed only in black or white, so registration isn’t an issue.  The only multi-coloured decal is a lamination of black under a white stencil, but you may want to paint the plate black during detail painting to save having to wait for the extra layer of decal to set.

 

 

Conclusion

Great news for 1:32 modellers, who can add a tractor to their latest model without resorting to resin, and with just a little bit of basic PE wrangling to create realism where it matters on the kit.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK in all good model shops.

Review sample courtesy of

 

[FG2Si]

It's a very nice model. Nicely detailed and it goes together fairly well. I built mine as part of the Go Large or Go Home GB.

 

 

Unfortunately I had so much fun doing it, I didn't paint it. Now it's going to be a bit of a challenge to do so.