Chariots of Fire

This one will be somewhere in between, Bob. It's a special build with certain specifications that will become apparent eventually.

Here's an updated photo with all wheels finished. The underside of the body was given an initial coat of dark green OD paint.

Adjustments have been made in the wheels. I used some Tamiya "German gray" for the tire color. Tires are not jet black, especially the sidewalls. The part that is in contact with the pavement is darker because it is constantly being worn away just a little but not the sidewalls. The wheels were modified to a 6 lug design rather than the original 5 lugs that were on the Power Wagon that I originally took the wheels from. The 5 lugs were cut off and the surface sanded smooth. Then I traced around a hexagon pattern that is on a circle template. A hole was drilled at each angle point and a piece of brass wire was glued in. Then #15 fusion beads were dropped over the wire and superglued. Then the wire was cut close to resemble the studs. The front wheels are done. The back ones needed to be done at the time of the photo.

Yes, they were constructed with soft tops, Windshields that would fold down and had steel tubing ribs that held the top in place.

I think the body is done on this build. The tie down hooks are in place, the fuel tank was filled in and the filler tube was added. On to the front end to get some steering for the front wheels.

That last shot is a good one! The pieces look like they belong together!

Trumpeter makes a brass tubing set called Master Tools. There are 8 pieces in the set ranging from 1.1mm Dia. to 1.4mm Dia. Got them at the local hobby shop. I was told they were telescopic but they are not. But they are good size for spark plugs. Each piece is almost 8 inches long. Item Number is 09944.

Looks pretty good to me, Greg. I use small brass tubing (0.018) dia. for plugs. Holes are drilled in the head. If desired, you can over drill just the surface of the holes to show a depression in the head. Insert the pieces of tubing and then carefully grind away the tubing so that they are all the same height. Insert small craft wire in the tubing for the plug wires. This is quite small stuff but the look is pretty good. In the photo below you can see the "plugs" and some pieces of craft wire that will be inserted into the brass tubing. I crimp the wire over first so that it is bent toward the distributor where the wire is cut and inserted into the top. This is a Dodge T-214 engine, BTW that I used in the Weapons Carrier projects.

Got some casting done today. Tires and wheels are the same as on the WC projects I worked on. So 4 more mud/snow non-directional tires were cast along with the wheels. I need to change the lugs from 5 to 6 but that is no problem using some wire and some ceramic hex nuts. With those done the rear axles were set up for the inner wheel pieces. The Honcho kit wheels snap on a very flimsy plastic axle stub which I never liked. So a piece of 1/8" diameter brass tubing was slipped over the outer portion of the axle and the center was drilled out for a small screw and washer. The inner wheels were opened up for a bushing that slips over the brass axle. The screw and washer act as a retainer for the wheel so that it will not slide off the axle. The outer wheel will be glued on after all painting is competed.

Thanks, Alan. The M-715 had the Jeep Tornado OHC 6 cylinder engine. Was not much on power or speed. Our local FD had an M-715 built into a brush unit and the changed out the Tornado for a Chevy V-8 and kept the four speed transmission. Here's what the tailgate now looks like with some hardware added.

That's pretty cool!😎

Here are more pix. I did up the tailgate with the "JEEP" stamp in the middle. The kit tailgate had it so it got incorporated here. One small compartment box is done also on one side but it may change some. Not convinced that I like it at this point.

I hear ya, Tom. Our local FD had one that they turned into a brush truck. They changed out the Tornado for a Chevy V-8 but kept the 4 spd transmission.

Unfortunately, Greg I don't have a full workup on the specs so you are probably right. It won't affect the wheel base, though so I will stick with what I have. Here is the latest. The body is on the lengthened frame. and a couple of details added to the windshield.

I've compared the military spec for the M-715 wheelbase and found that the Honcho kit wheelbase is 10" too short. I had to cut the frame and lengthen it with a splice on each side. Glue is drying now. When it's done pics will be posted. That's the military box on back. Even at this angle you can see that the rear axle is not under the center of the opening.