What non-auto model did you get today?

[Agent G]

[WigWag Workshop]

Hey Der Folks,

A couple new kits, and a FREE roll of Transfer Tape from Railroad Kits. 

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by WigWag Workshop

[Snake45]

On 5/16/2020 at 10:46 AM, unclescott58 said:

Bay of Pigs Sea Fury? I'm surprised that a kit using that theme was ever offered. I'm sometimes amazed by the odd things that are made into model kits. A Bay of Pigs Sea Fury? 

Of course--why not? The Sea Fury was pretty much the (Cuban) hero of the Bay of Pigs, firing the rockets that sank both the Houston and the Rio Escondido, essentially dooming the whole operation virtually at birth. Had those two key ships not been lost, who knows how things might have turned out? Sea Fury was a key player in that game. I'm surprised it hasn't been so kitted before, or more--maybe it's the relative dearth of reference material. 

[Mike999]

The $6.00 Sea Fury came today. The seat is glued to the cockpit tub. No big deal, it saves me the trouble.  And there was a nice "extra" in the box: a pack of 4 unused, still sealed red-sable paint brushes in different sizes.

re the Italeri 1/35 scale GMC Water Truck for $10 upthread: that was a steal!  The Italeri "hardtop" GMC's are still highly prized by military modelers.  Besides the water truck, Italeri did a hardtop version with a cargo bed.  Aftermarket companies have done countless resin conversions for that Italeri GMC: short wheelbase versions, Air Corps bomb trucks, the conversion carrying the huge LeRoi air compressor in the bed, etc.

Some builders have even kit-bashed the Italeri cab onto the Tamiya LRDG Chevrolet truck, to make a stock-ish Chevy 3-ton truck.

The Italeri kit wasn't bested until Tamiya did its GMC truck, but the Tamiya is still not available as a closed version.  Most recently Hobby Boss did a GMC hardtop with full engine/chassis detail. But according to Der Experten on the military forums, the cab has shape/dimension problems. That 40-year-old Italeri kit still looks better. (And costs a LOT less.)

Since Italeri re-issued kits from Peerless-MAX, rumors persist that the Italeri and Peerless-MAX GMC trucks are the same kit.  The Scalemates site even shows them as the same kit, but that is wrong.

There are differences in the 2 kits, which are obvious when you see them side by side.  The Peerless kit looks bigger and clunkier, and it has split Timken axles instead of banjo axles. Both types of axle were used on the real trucks.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

6 hours ago, Mike999 said:

...re the Italeri 1/35 scale GMC Water Truck for $10 upthread: that was a steal...

THANKS for the additional info. I have a long standing fascination with CCKWs, M-34/35s, and M-135/211s, amassing piles of reference material and kits to get into once I finally get all the way retired.

Almost bought a running M-135 back in '95 for $1500, but was put off at the potential cost of rebuilding the automatic gearbox when the time came. I had been told by "experts" it was a big Allison, and only years later did I find out it was actually an old-school GM iron-case Hydramatic. Had I known at the time, she'd be sitting outside today.

 

[Snake45]

Here's the only CCKW I've ever built. I think it's supposed to be a communications truck, though I never put any antennas on it. 

 

[Mike999]

Here's one of the neatest 1/35 scale conversions based on that Italeri hardtop GMC kit:  the American Red Cross "Clubmobile," used to hand out coffee and doughnuts.  It includes the coffee urns and other necessary accessories. Made several years ago by Masters Productions in France.  Lousy pic, but not mine, found on the internet.  

Edited May 21, 2020 by Mike999
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[Mike999]

Got this recently.  The Legend #1327 ZS-55AM civilian wrecker conversion.  It converts the 1/35 scale Tamiya T-55 tank into this heavy-duty tracked wrecker. The model is based on a real vehicle in the Czech Republic.  It's a VERY complex conversion with resin and photo-etched metal parts.  And all those neat decals!  I found it on deep discount at an online vendor.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Mike999
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[Snake45]

Wow! Good luck with that! 

[Ace-Garageguy]

After seeing mod3l Lover's post on the Italeri/Testors CCKW deuce-and-a-half water tank truck, which I didn't know existed, I started looking for one. Finally found an OK deal, not as sweet as the $10 mentioned, but not too bad considering its apparent rarity.

                                

[Mike999]

On 6/1/2020 at 2:54 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

After seeing mod3l Lover's post on the Italeri/Testors CCKW deuce-and-a-half water tank truck, which I didn't know existed, I started looking for one. Finally found an OK deal, not as sweet as the $10 mentioned, but not too bad considering its apparent rarity.                                

Glad you found one!  That looks like an original issue from 1980, judging by the box and the "201" kit number.

Italeri last re-issued the GMC Water Truck kit in 2014, in a "D-Day" tie-in box.  Italeri's web site shows that one as Discontinued now.  But like The Terminator, it will be back...

And like everybody else: every time Italeri re-issues a kit, it jacks up the price, sometimes by a hefty amount.  Its ancient Dodge WC-xx series, dating from the 1970's Peerless-MAX molds, now cost as much as the AFV Club/Skybow Dodges.  Which are much better kits, tooled in the 1990s, with engines and finer detail overall. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, Mike999 said:

...Its ancient Dodge WC-xx series, dating from the 1970's Peerless-MAX molds, now cost as much as the AFV Club/Skybow Dodges.  Which are much better kits, tooled in the 1990s, with engines and finer detail overall. 

Thanks for that info. The Dodge WCs, M-series, and PowerWagon direct descendants are another group of vehicles near-and-dear to my heart, and I've been looking at the Italeri kits...as I know nothing, zip, nada, about AFV Club/Skybow.

[Mike999]

4 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Thanks for that info. The Dodge WCs, M-series, and PowerWagon direct descendants are another group of vehicles near-and-dear to my heart, and I've been looking at the Italeri kits...as I know nothing, zip, nada, about AFV Club/Skybow.

You're welcome!  AFV Club and Skybow are both from Taiwan.  The Dodge WC-xx kits were released by Skybow first, but they only lasted a couple of years.  When Skybow went out of business, AFV Club got their molds. The AFV Club and Skybow Dodge kits are identical. 

Skybow released 3 Dodge kits that Italeri also did: the WC-57 Command Car with optional parts for Patton's vehicle; the WC-51 "Beep" 4-wheel Weapons Carrier, and the WC-63 6-wheel "Big Shot" Personnel Carrier.  Skybow never did 2 other Dodge kits that Italeri covered: the M-6 Anti-Tank vehicle (HA!) with 37mm gun, and the WC-54 Ambulance.  It's possible to put the Skybow chassis/engine under an Italeri kit, but a big job.

If you see a Dodge WC-xx kit in a BILEK box, those are also the old Italeri/Peerless-MAX kits. Bilek is a Czech company that did straight re-issues of the Italeri kits, but also upgraded some kits with a few new parts. They released the WC-54 Ambulance as a Signal Corps truck. Also as an interesting Military Police "paddy wagon" version with a resin roof rack and MP decals.

One bit of weirdness:  before Skybow folded, both companies did an M-41 Walker Bulldog tank kit.  Experts say the Skybow kit is a little better.  It's still available in an AFV Club box as the German/NATO version. All other M-41's in the AFV Club line are their original kit.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Mike999
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[Mike999]

This arrived yesterday with some other stuff.  The RPG Models Phalanx Close-In Weapons System.  It will make a good shelf-mate for the Russian "Kashtan" CIWS I recently built.  The Phalanx is plastic and photo-etched brass.  Lots and lots of brass...

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Mike999 said:

This arrived yesterday with some other stuff.  The RPG Models Phalanx Close-In Weapons System.  It will make a good shelf-mate for the Russian "Kashtan" CIWS I recently built.  The Phalanx is plastic and photo-etched brass.  Lots and lots of brass...

Very cool! Not long ago I saw a video of a battery of these at work in Israel, knocking down incoming rockets. I was amazed at how much it reminded me of the '80s video game Missile Command. 

[Mike999]

I've been selling some kits on eBay lately.  So obviously, I need to buy more kits!

This one I've wanted for a long time: the Lukgraph 1/35 scale resin kit of the Nash/Jeffery "Quad" truck.  Lukgraph is a Polish company, but Victory Models on eBay is a U.S. distributor that offers free shipping.  The kit has full engine/chassis detail and photo-etched parts.

The "Quad" was one of the first practical four-wheel-drive trucks.  Gen. John "Blackjack" Pershing used them when he was chasing Pancho Villa in the 1915 Mexican Punitive Expedition.  Many Quads saw service during WWI, to pull big guns and haul their ammunition.  The Marine Corps fought several "little wars" in the Caribbean during the early 20th century, and took the Quad with them to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

I went for the Marine version.  It has some extra "gimcracks" like wooden crates and shovels, and being a former Marine, I just like Marine Corps subjects. Lukgraph makes several different versions of the kit: U.S. Army, British, with or without the canvas roof, with a full canvas cover over the bed, etc.

If you're waiting for a cheaper plastic kit of the Quad, it should come along any day now.  Because I went and bought this expensive resin one. You're welcome!

Edited June 13, 2020 by Mike999
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[Ace-Garageguy]

On 6/4/2020 at 12:04 AM, Mike999 said:

...If you see a Dodge WC-xx kit in a BILEK box, those are also the old Italeri/Peerless-MAX kits... 

And thanks again. I was wondering about that. All your additional info is most helpful.

[Snake45]

On 6/4/2020 at 12:04 AM, Mike999 said:

If you see a Dodge WC-xx kit in a BILEK box, those are also the old Italeri/Peerless-MAX kits.

Back in the '70s, Squadron Shop closed out those Peerless Max kits for something like $7 and I bought three or four of the weapons carriers, just because I thought they looked cool. Then they went "dark" and got VERY hard to find for a while. In the early '90s, I swapped one of them to an armor modeler in my local club for a complete, mint, unbuilt, new in box AMT Sonny & Cher Mustang (with a $1.50 price sticker on it). Best swap I ever made! (Better yet--I've heard the other guy tell his friends the same thing!  )

[Scott Colmer]

I originally just saved this one on my eBay watch list. I thought it was neat. When the seller offered a discount, I had to pull the trigger. I am glad I did. The copy on the box was worth the 20.00 price alone. I plan the display it with an oddball car project that has been waiting to be finished for a couple decades.

There is a Dick Tracy Space Pod I'm thinking about too. These things are just too goofy to miss.

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 6/14/2020 at 10:25 PM, Scott Colmer said:

I originally just saved this one on my eBay watch list...

That looks like fun. Great copy on the box blurbs.   

[Ace-Garageguy]

Just got in an Italeri 245 Dodge 4X4 with an anti-tank gun.

Next target is the Italeri 226 ambulance.      Not many out there, but sage advice here has led me to a Bilek repop. 

[Snake45]

Cool! I have that "gun motor carriage" Dodge in a Testors box. I've seen the WC54 ambulance in Testors boxes, too, back in the '90s. Testors ones might be easier to find so don't forget to include them in your search. 

[El Roberto]

I got it yesterday since today's Sunday and no mail delivery.   Got a great Tamiya 1/48 F4U1 birdcage corsair. I built this kit before but I had it on a display shelf about 8' off the floor and apparently a plastic model kit won't glide. Never found all the pieces.

 

[Mike999]

On 6/16/2020 at 2:21 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Just got in an Italeri 245 Dodge 4X4 with an anti-tank gun...

Congrats on fulfilling your Dodge fix!  The M6 Gun Motor Carriage was probably one of the most hated vehicles in the U.S. Army.  It was theoretically a tank destroyer.  But by the time it got close enough to scratch the paint on a Panzer IV with its 37mm "door-knocker," it would have been vaporized by the German tank's main gun.  

After their misadventures in North Africa, most M6's were converted to unarmed vehicles, officially or not.  Somewhere here I have a book about the Dodge WC series.  A couple of photos show the 37mm gun removed and dumped unceremoniously in the desert.  A few M6's went to the Pacific with the Marine Corps, but according to the Wiki article, were never used.  It seems that would have been a better job for them, cracking Japanese pillboxes.  But they had almost no crew protection, and the gun could only fire to the rear, which was tricky on a battlefield.  

The Wiki article shows an M6 with an interesting modification - a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on the front bumper!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M6_Gun_Motor_Carriage

[Snake45]

3 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

But they had almost no crew protection, and the gun could only fire to the rear, which was tricky on a battlefield.  

Sounds like it would be what we technically call a "shoot and scoot" proposition.