Scratch Built 1951 Mercedes-Benz L 6600 Sa & Tank Semitrailer (BV-Aral Livery)

[Plastheniker]

Hi,

 

after

 

1937 Mercedes-Benz L 10000 Scratchbuilt 1/24

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=75830

 

Scratch Built 1951 Büssing 12000 U13 6x4 Underfloor Engine Truck

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82042

 

Scratch Built 1958 Mercedes-Benz LP 333 Twin Steer Truck aka "Tausendfüssler"

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/107735-scratch-built-1958-mercedes-benz-lp-333-twin-steer-truck-aka-tausendfüssler-plus-tutorial-making-louvers-complete/

 

this is my fourth scratch built German vintage truck.

 

 

The L 6600 was Mercedes' first new truck design after WW2. Very roughly spoken it was an evolution of the pre-war L 6500; the L 6500 was a shorter 4x2 version of the a. m. L 10000.

The L 6600 and its numerous descendants became a big sales success not only on the domestic market (also as rugged military versions) but also on growing export markets such as Middle East, Africa and South America. Its reliability and durability became almost legendary. Thus retrospectively the L 6600 can be regarded as crucial for Mercedes' rise to the world's largest truck manufacturer.

 

The followig b/w pictures and the sales brochure show early 6600 models, the colour picture of a restored L 6600 Sa (the addition Sa stands for Sattelzugmaschine = tractor) shows some minor modifications for keeping the vehicle road legal.

 

 

 

Since WW1 BV-Aral was the most important German oil company with a wide petrol station network. In 2002 BV-Aral was sold to BP. Because the BV-Aral brand was so well-established in Germany all BP stations became BV-Aral stations, so blue/white filling stations and tankers are still ubiquitous.

 

 

My tractor is completely scratch built (including rims and tires) except a few small parts as the headlights, the steering wheel and the Mercedes star.

Building the trailer I could fortunately use several modifiable parts of the Revell Hanomag trailer and the Italeri Topas trailer.

 

For building both models I spent approximately 1100 hours.

 

This is the result:

 

 

[Jim B]

Beautiful work, Jürgen.  Just fantastic!

[ChrisR]

AWESOME!!

[Chariots of Fire]

Beautiful clean workmanship!  Nicely done!  1100 hours is a lot of work time!!

[Scalper]

Wow,,, Nice Scratch building... very nicely done.. you have some great talent 

[traditional]

Jurgen,  when I see your name, l always know we're in for a treat.  Your truck models are always outstanding, and this scratchbuilt Mercedes is no exception.  Also, your photography is gorgeous.

Congratulations on another superb model.

[89AKurt]

That is SPECTACULAR!

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Your work never ceases to amaze me! This is another excellent example of your amazing craftsmanship! Your interiors and dash details are my favorite!

[1959scudetto]

On 17.4.2019 at 4:41 PM, traditional said:

Jurgen,  when I see your name, l always know we're in for a treat.  Your truck models are always outstanding, and this scratchbuilt Mercedes is no exception.  Also, your photography is gorgeous.

Congratulations on another superb model.

Exactly my thoughts ... Perfect as always, Jürgen !!!

[Modelbuilder Mark]

(Jaw drop)  wow, great looking model.

 

[Plastheniker]

Thanks for the comments so far!

 

Maybe you find the following contemporary X-ray drawing in high resolution  interesting, that shows the simplicity of the 6600's design:

 

 

[Richard Bartrop]

That is amazing work.

I do have a question about something I've been wondering about for a while now. I've noticed that German big rigs of that era, all seem to have their engines hanging way over the front axle, and it's something that seems to be unique to German trucks.   Is it some quirk of local regulations, or just a case of "This is how we've always built them"?

[ATHU]

Looks absolutely phenomenal Jürgen!! Superb work!!?

[TECHMAN]

On 4/17/2019 at 3:09 PM, DRIPTROIT 71 said:

Your work never ceases to amaze me! This is another excellent example of your amazing craftsmanship! Your interiors and dash details are my favorite!

DITTO!!!!

DJ

[Plastheniker]

Thanks for the further comments!

 

 

On 20.4.2019 at 9:05 PM, Richard Bartrop said:

That is amazing work.

I do have a question about something I've been wondering about for a while now. I've noticed that German big rigs of that era, all seem to have their engines hanging way over the front axle, and it's something that seems to be unique to German trucks.   Is it some quirk of local regulations, or just a case of "This is how we've always built them"?

 

More or less considerable front overhangs (also on COE trucks) were and still are a common feature of almost all European trucks. These overhangs keeps wheel bases short and by this turning circles small.

 

Many European countries are mountainous and all have historical towns. This makes roads often narrow with sharp bends, construction sites and company premises are often cramped. Therefore good manoeuvrability and visibility are particularly important.

BTW this is also the main reason for the complete disappearance of conventionals in Europe appr. 30 years ago.

 

[peekay]

Simply incredible! Fine art in scale.

[Vince66]

Great looking Euro build 

[Hermann Kersten]

Hi Jürgen,

Absolutely fabulous, exactly as we are used to from you.

 

Hermann.

[Dominik]

On ‎17‎.‎04‎.‎2019 at 4:41 PM, traditional said:

Jurgen,  when I see your name, l always know we're in for a treat.  Your truck models are always outstanding, and this scratchbuilt Mercedes is no exception.  Also, your photography is gorgeous.

Congratulations on another superb model.

totally agreed. i'm always speechless while i look at your models. uncredible work.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Spectacular. It's always a genuine pleasure to see anything you build. Absolutely some of the best model work on the planet.

[Plastheniker]

Thanks for the comments!

 

I wonder if descendants of the L 6600 were sold in the U.S.A. too.

• A historic sales brochure of the L 326 in English indicates the size of the fuel tank in US gallons

• A photo of a 326 tractor shows running lights. To my knowledge these were used only in the U.S.A.

 

[CRUSADER2]

That is absolutely top class work, modeling as good as it gets, a really inspirational piece of work!!!! 

 

[redneckrigger]

Fantastic work, sir! As always, an absolute joy to behold!

[chuckyr]

Another success.

[chuckyr]

On 5/7/2019 at 3:09 PM, Plastheniker said:

Thanks for the comments!

 

I wonder if descendants of the L 6600 were sold in the U.S.A. too.

• A historic sales brochure of the L 326 in English indicates the size of the fuel tank in US gallons

• A photo of a 326 tractor shows running lights. To my knowledge these were used only in the U.S.A.

 

I don't know.  I'm sure if they did, it would have been most likely around the east coast of the United States. The dense population centers of the eastern US are more similar to the dense European geography than any other part of the US during that period of time.  By the mid 1950s, North American truck manufacturers were adapting their vehicles for the newly constructed interstate highway system.  Continuous high speeds, long uninterrupted driving shifts and larger, more comfortable cabs would have possible made typical european truck platforms unsuccessful in the "States".  Volvo tried to enter the US heavy truck market in the late 1950s and failed.  They didn't get it right until the late 1970s and they had to acquire an already existing dealer network.  To my knowledge, the first Mercedes truck to have limited success in the US was the L series of the late 1960s and early 1970s.   There were a number of European auto manufacturers trying to compete in the US after WWII.  DAF and Skoda tried an failed to sell automobiles in the US.  Furthermore, with the 1966 US federal vehicle regulations requiring safety and pollution controls on all new automobiles, most  smaller European manufacturers were eliminated from the US market.