1940 US K7 Truck Conversion - Part 4

Back to the Drawing Board!
When I was working as a Web Designer one of my personal rules became 'never use a new technique or tool first on a live job'. This was rule was born of long experience where I always found that 'new things' (however cool they sounded in theory) always tended to screw things up by adding unforeseen complications. Such - it turned out - was my attempt to jump straight into a ongoing project by adding 3D printing into the mix! 😣

My idea was to simply print out several individual parts that I wanted to use to 'retrograde' my ICM Zil-157 truck and just 'stick them on' to the existing parts. Uh-uh! That was a very short-sighted move as I has put little thought into how I would attach them and what knock-on effect they might have to the rest of the  existing kit assembly.

This picture above shows my move from printing small individual objects - and then sticking them together - to thinking about building a one-piece large component that makes it easier to joint other components to it.

This also means that I will have to do some simple modifications to the original kit as well...

In a nutshell - this is a 'look before you jump' situation. You can't just bang bits together and hope for the best, there has to be some sort of grand plan from the outset. Lesson learned.

The good news is that the initial 3D design work I did isn't wasted. I can simply put the individual object files together into one larger component...

So what started as a 'quick fix' of a job turned into something a little more complicated, but I guess that's pretty typical when you are trying to learn something new. Overall, I'm really enjoying the 3D printing thing, but I have so much to learn!

Still, the results - so far - are quite satisfactory and definitely a step up from my old scratch built efforts...

NEXT: Completing the cab and priming.

1940 US K7 Truck Conversion - Part 3

The K7 Mudguards...
The original American K7 truck had pretty beefy mudguards, but the Soviets soon got rid of those for something simpler (and cheaper to make). So, to turn my current kit back into it's precursor I'll have to make a set of these rounded mudguards to turn the Zil-157 back into the good old American K7!

But, how to do it? 😐

The American IH K7 - I like big mudguards and I cannot lie...

Creating an accurate and complex 3D model is a bit beyond my software skills (for now) so I had to take a sneakier tack. I spent some time trawling through the 3D model repository THINGYVERSE to see if I could find at least something similar looking (these big rounded mudguards were pretty common in the 1940s & 50s). Maybe there was another WW2 truck model I could filtch the mudguards from?

Well, and this is a funny story, it turns out there wasn't a suitable WW2 truck model BUT - for some strange reason - they did have a model of a 1950s Romanian Steagul Roșu SR-101...And you are not going to believe this (I didn't) but the SR-101 was a Romanian copy of the Soviet Zis-150 which was a copy of the US K7! 😂

The Romanian Steagul Roșu SR-101 - a copy of a copy of the K7!

Nothing I do is ever straight forward, but until I learn how to use a proper 3D modelling program - so I can create my own models - I'm going to have to settle for these half-assed shenanigans (making very simple models and 'borrowing' shapes/parts from Thingyverse). 

Anyway, I downloaded the 3D model files and opened the one relating to the cab component and happily there were those lovely big mudguards...

The messing around didn't end there though, after I did a quick test print I found that the model was not scaled accurately (typical). So, I had to do some measuring and some quick math and rescaled it so that the mudguards matched the size of my plastic kit's cab.

I printed the model out using the new black PLA I bought and set the quality to 'high' to make sure the rounded mudguards came out as smoothly as possible...

Not bad at all! 😊 Some of the cab was a bit messy (not my printer's fault, it was a crumby model) but fortunately the important bits were fit for purpose. It was now just a case of cutting the mudguards off the 3D model and doing a bit of a Dr. Frankenstein by transplanting them onto my Zil-157's cab.

Out comes my little multitool and a thin circular cutter...

First of all, I roughly cut out a chunk of the trucks bonnet including the mudguard. Then I carefully trim away the unwanted bits of the 3D print until I'm left with just the mudguard component itself.

Once I have a roughed piece I try a bit of preliminary fitting to get an idea how I will go about cleaning up a finished mudguard and how I will attach it to the bonnet...

Not too bad, and the size is spot on. But now I have to neaten this all up and permanently attach the grill and mudguards...Which is where I will leave things for now.

NEXT: (HOPEFULLY) A COMPLETED K7 CAB.

I'm Back! With a New Toy...

 It's fair to say that I lost my mojo for plastic model making. Because of my own OCD I tended to get a bit too obsessive about certain detail and often lost sight of the 'big picture'. This resulted is major 'burn out' and my subsequent near abandonment of this blog... 😥

However, a good example of this obsessiveness also happens to be the thing that is getting me to give military model making a second go! 😀

A long time ago (you know how it goes)... I got very obsessive about collecting a great many vehicles which were historically correct(-ish) for the Finnish 'Continuation War'. Most wargamers - because the game is the main thing - might compromise a bit on technical detail, I've seen a lot of Continuation War games played where the player 'makes do' with equipping the Finns with mainly German equipment with just a smattering of historically correct vehicles. A fair compromises as the Finns did actually use some German equipment.

A typical 'Flames of War' (15mm scale) compromise for a Continuation War
war-game scenarios is the heavy use of German vehicles mixed in with a
smattering of 'captured' Soviet trucks.

But me...Oh boy. No, I had to collect just about every historically correct make and manufacturer of vehicle that the Finns actually used. As usual I went over the top...

Anyway, cutting to the chase - one of my major obsessions was the International Harvester K7 which was bought from the Americans in 1941, just before Finland technically changed sides and became a nominal member of the Axis coalition with Germany.

The K7 was a big truck - at least compared to many of the trucks the Finns had at their disposal - and was used as a 'heavy mover' for their larger artillery pieces. My problem (in 2017) was that there was no 1/72 models of this truck available and I ended up concocting all sorts of convoluted strategies for making one...

My strategy (three years ago) to make a International Harvester K7 was to
convert a 1/72 kit that was available - the ICM Soviet Zil-157. The 157 was
a Soviet copy/modification of the K7 series which they had received from the US.

Above: The Soviet Zis-151. Here we can trace the development back from
the Zil-157 closer to it's American origins...

Above: The Zis-150, hardly distinguishable from the American K-7.

And finally - or rather firstly - we have the original American International
Harvester K-7. It was not actually used in large numbers in American military
use, they preferred famous Studebaker 2.5 ton truck. A few of these US K-7s
did see service with the RAF and, of course, were exported to the Finns.

In the end I discovered that the Soviet Zis-50 truck was a near exact copy of the K7s - which the Soviets received from the US as lend lease - BUT I didn't feel confident about scratch building the modifications needed to 'revert' this design to it's origins...

Now this is hugely ironic... Three years ago when I was still enthusiastically kit making
you could NOT buy a K7 or it's Zis-150 equivalent! Hence my plan to build and
convert a 'look-a-likey' Zis-157 (a later Soviet variant) into a fauz-K7! But now, as
you can see from the picture there IS a Zis-150! Du-uh!

BUT THAT HAS CHANGED...

And here's where I explain what has got me back. Good old Santa has generously supplied me with a lovely gift of a FLASHFORGE ADVENTURER 3 3D PRINTER!

Hopefully this bit of kit will allow me to make a lot of the parts which stopped me from finishing some of my conversions and will allow me to build some of the more complex models that I wanted but couldn't even conceive of scratch building (or didn't want to just make do by using a 20mm scale model and pretend it was 1/72)!

I soon got the printer up and running and have produced a few test prints (just to check it was calibrated correctly and to see what it could do)...

Though, aside from downloaded third-party models, I have already started learning to create my own 3D models in a piece of software called TINKERCAD. I started simple by making the missing wheels I needed for my K7 conversion...

The above simple model is just a test object where I want to test the ability of my printer to adequately produce quite small detailed objects. This ability is unknown to me as so far my 'small' printed models (see above) have not been that small!

And the results? 👉

Printed in 'high' quality mode (only took 11 minutes)! Unfortunately, it's
in that awful candy red PLA that comes with the printer to get you started...

To get the detail in this tiny model to show up I sprayed the wheel with some grey primer. Although I am impressed with the resolution on this 'high' quality there are still tiny 'steps' where the model has been rendered in layers - typical of 3D printing. You can buy an automotive filler/primer which helps smooth out minor indentations, I'll have to try this next. But, really, I am pleased...

I was shocked to see that it had even picked out the tire tread!

This was a very instructive exercise and has given me a lot of useful information which I can now carry forward onto the next stage. I think I can further simplify this design to help it print better and then, of course, I need to print out the full set of wheels. Then I can think about the other K7 parts I need to convert my Zil-157 model kit!

So, my journey begins...Again! 😁

Ford Trucks... 2nd (Re-)Starter Project

Yesterday I discussed what would be my first re-starter assignment - my Armourfast M4, which is mainly a painting job - and today I'm going to reacquaint myself with the other models I have chosen to get me going in the hobby again. These will be a pair of Hunor 1/72 resin 1939 V8 Ford trucks...

Now these models must have been the very last thing that I was working on before I stopped model making in 2018. I didn't even stop construction at a obvious place (unusual for me) and I seem to have has some sort of 'cunning plan' in mind...But goodness knows what that was!

I checked back on my blog - thank goodness for my blog - and it seems like these models turned out to be a bit of a challenge (I don't think I have had a resin model yet that hasn't been). You can check out 'the story so far' by following this link: Kitnoob's Finnish m39 Ford V8 Truck Saga.

But here's just one little pic which will give you an idea of how painful this build was...

😣

...But, of course, it's me we are talking about so I was obviously loving this! 😂

This appears to be the last photo I took, but it gives a bit of a false impression about how far along I was as this was just a dry fitting test. There were still several issues I still had to resolve before putting the major parts together...

The good thing about this particular job is that it will definitely dust the cobwebs off my construction skills. That's if I can find all my modelling tools, which are mostly still under some of the junk in my attic dumping ground!

On the wishlist... 1/72 ZIS-150 Truck

A truck that I would really like a model of for my 1/72 Finnish WW2 army war-gaming project would be an example of the American International Harvester K-7. This has been a kinda holy grail for me and it would nicely finish off my Finnish collection!

The original American International Harvester K-7 in the 'short' wheelbase
cargo configuration for military use.

Trouble is - nobody makes a IH K-7 in 1/72. This is probably due to the fact it was something of a rarity - there were many other US trucks that were made in greater numbers during the war - and also because it was mainly a civilian heavy mover, though it was used in modest numbers by the militaries of America, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union (lend-lease) and, of course, Finland.

The IH K-7 short wheel base model being used by the Finns.

Examples of the International Harvester K-7 (long wheel base) being used by
the Finnish Army as a heavy artillery prime mover.

So, how to model a truck that doesn't exist as a production kit? Well, there is scratch-building if I were a real masochist, but - more easily - there is also a little 'cheat' where I could convert a truck that is similar in appearance...Very similar.

In fact, the Soviet Union was so impressed with it's imported American K-7s that in 1947 they outright copied the design for themselves and called it the ZIS-150! And models of the ZIS-150 do exist...Bingo!

The Soviet made (copy) of the K-7, the ZIS-150.

As usual - with anything I set out to do - things aren't quite as simple as the initially seem to be. To begin with, the closest model I could find to the ZIS-150 in 1/72 was ICM's ZIL-157 which is a slightly later and modified truck developed from the ZIS-150. This would need some conversion to make it look like it's predecessor...

You can see the 'family resemblance' between the ZIL-157 and the earlier incarnations, the primary differences - from a modelling perspective - are the front grill (vertical instead of horizontal xxx), the fenders (the later truck had simplified 'flat' wheel arches) and the wheels (the Russians slapped on nice big chunky off-road friendly tyres). o, a fair amount of things to change if I want to make a 150 model truck.

Still, I have these models and they were a reasonable price! (They are pretty easy to source.)

On the other hand, there is a proper ZIS-150 kit that has come on to the market...

And again, there is a couple of flies in the ointment. For a start, this is the short wheel-base model and I want the long base version (for an artillery mover). Additionally, this is a short-run resin kit and I have had some very bad experiences with this form of kit (don't get me started) AND it is very expensive at 33 Euros (not including shipping)! Eeeek! 😲

So, what will I do. I could just stick to my original Plan A and scratch convert the ZIL-157 trucks - which I already have -  or I could take advantage of the Armada kit's correctly modelled grill, fenders and wheels, but then I would have to model a long wheel base! Swings and roundabouts.

There is a third way... I could buy one ZIS-150 and use it's parts to convert my ZIL-157 kits by making some mouldings from the Armada parts...

As usual - me being me - the slightly weird fudged 3rd way sorta appeals to me. After all, I can't do anything the easy way could I? 😂

1939 Chevrolet conversion - Part 2

Before I begin this installment of my truck conversion I have an apology to make. I would like to give my profound apologies to David Reasoner of Moonlite Modelwerkes who created the lovely resin 1941 Chevrolet I am about deflower!

That said...Let's operate!

First thing is to decide where best to make the first incisions...

Looking at the two pieces there seems to be an obvious seam where I can re-join the two disparate halves. There is a panel line which runs at the rear of the bonnet (the hood, if you are one of my American friends) and diagonally down the side of to the mud guards (fenders). Like so...

...Nurse, hand me my Dremmel!

While I try my best to make a cut that will mate the two halves neatly together I know I will have to do a bit of cosmetic work using Milliput, so the join doesn't have to be absolutely exact...

This is the moment of truth...Will the PST cab and the Moonlite Modelwerkes bonnet fit together?

Phew! 'IT LIVES!' - Luckily the two models were almost exactly the same width where the bonnet seams join! Oh joy, that makes things easier...

But really, that was the easy part, especially if - like me - you own a Dremmel...But at this point I should add a few words of caution.

* The resin of the Moonlite model creates a very fine dust when sanded or cut, using a Dremmel or similar - while making the job easier - does generate quite a cloud and I shouldn't imagine that it is good for you. I strongly suggest wearing a dust mask while doing this sort of work. *

That said, now we get to the trickier part...The front grill modification. 

It's worth looking at what I want to achieve compared to what I had. Here's a photo showing the front of the 1939 commercial Chevrolet next to the 1941 model, the latter being what the Moonlite resin model was based on...

Obviously the main difference is the size and shape of the grill, but luckily the hood and the shape of the fenders are similar on both models. So, in theory, all I have to do is shave back the grill on the '41 and replace it with a new scratch-built '39 grill...

As you can see, I have excavated away the front grill - again, using the Dremmel - and carefully re-shaped the fenders (mud guards) so that they curl back and in towards the back of where the new grill will be mounted. I've also shaved off the old 1943 style headlights so that I can fit some scratch-built 1939 shaped lamps once the new grill is on.

...So...There we have it. The first stage of the operation over. Next I will start to build up the new shaped grill with some Milliput.

I'm off for a lay down now!

Stash addition - PST 1/72 ZIS-6 truck

With my IL-28 mid-way through I am looking toward what I will be doing next. I picked up this relatively cheap PST ZIS-6 truck which will end up being the engineering truck for my Rapid Fire! Finnish late war army HQ company.

I'll do a full box review later, but straight off the bat there are two things I like. PST supply solid plastic tyres and they also include additional parts by using the sprue parts from other of it's ZIS series truck kits that give you some nice spares for your scraps box!

(One down side is that they do not include clear plastic parts for the windows. But I can deal with that.)

Cheap Ford-Werke V3000 (Pt.12) - Gloss coat

Tiny jobs while I sort out my man cave! This time I had just enough time to spray on a light gloss coat (Humbrol Acrylic Gloss) prior to pin washing and weathering...

This is the most creative phase of the work, do I want a pristine truck fresh at the front or do I want a war weary veteran. It's rhetorical really as I want to create something that is worthy of the V3000's nickname in Finnish use - "Hävittäjä" ('fighter').

Luckily I have a nice reference photo to work from...

Next: The pin wash

1/72 Finnish Ford V3000 - quick repair

Everything is a bit of a muddle while I carry out my man cave reorganisation  and bit of the projects I was working on are scattered all over. But in any case, I keep finding little bits and pieces to work on including my Ford V3000 truck which was in need of some repair.

The 'planks' that form the 'stake bed' had deformed, this is in part because of the poor choice of material with which I made the planks - very thin plasticard strips - and also because of the glue I used melted the plastic, weakening it. The strips ended up wrinkling and warping.

Repairing the warped plastic strips by gluing on thin brass ones.

Anyway, while tidying up I came across a sheet of thin brass and I wondered if I could reinforce my plastic planks by gluing thin strips of the brass to the inside. Hopefully the metal strips would straighten out my warped plastic ones.

I couldn't use anything thicker or the planks would then look odd. The brass strips did the job and straightened up the planking again. I'll give these a quick spray and then I can continue with this project once again.

Featured work - Neil Lyall's Gaz 42 & 120mm mortor

Military Wheels Kit 7250 GAZ-42 Truck & 120mm Mortar.

Photography is a wonderful thing, with good photography you can make a mediocre model look good, or with bad photography you can make a good model look mediocre. Neither my model making or my photography is anything to shout about so I really appreciate it when I see a nicely presented diorama.

Neil Lyall - over at the Braillebuilder blog - made a wonderful Gaz 42 truck in 1/72 scale along with an accompanying 120mm mortar. He has done minimal panel lining or highlighting on his models preferring a ultra realistic look helped out by some excellent photography...

I did a double take - the natural lighting helps the realistic effect and his subtle 'dust' layer gives it that weathered look without going over the top.

Neil choses some really nice scenics to create his dioramas and his train sequence is very well put together. And again you have to look twice to realize that it is indeed a scale model.

See more over at the the BrailleBulder blog.

Kit stash - Moonlite Modelwerkes resin trucks

Yes I said I wasn't spending any more money this month, but this was actually ordered a couple of months back (so there)! I recieved my order for a couple of pre/early WW2 American trucks this week and they are a couple of beauties.

My new Moonlite 1936 Ford and 1941 Chevrolet trucks in 20mm.

This is my very first order from Moonlite Modelwerkes of USA and it really was worth the wait. When you consider that these models are more or less made to order and there is some hand assembly done to them (they aren't the usual war game quality one-piece lumps of resin) then you understand why there is a bit of a delay between order and delivery. Besides that they do seem to be up to their eyeballs in orders, and I can see why.

I opted for a test order of just two truck (and now I wish I had ordered more!), a 1936 Ford V8-51 2½-ton truck and a 1941 Chevrolet MS4403 4x2 1½-ton truck. This was initially for my Finnish WW2 Rapid Fire! army project, but I have changed my mind now.

These models seem to be true 20mm (1/76) and won't fit in with my 1/72 kits - even if I kit bash them like my V3000 conversion. But they are just so nice that I may have to start a brand new project just to utilise them (in the meantime they will go into storage).

As I said these are war game quality ready-made models, with solid filled-in windows, so I would feel obliged to only use them with other similar 'ready to rolls'. Despite this the level of detail on these trucks is excellent, I particularly like the way Moonlite makes a proper chassis and wheel base for it's trucks - unlike the one-piece filled in and supported bases like those of Valiant and other resin war game model makers.

Another excellent feature of Moonlite's models is the rather unusual subjects of some of it's vehicles. Along side the usual military types they include quite a few less well know commercial types - like my 1936 Ford - that were common in early WW2 armies (like The Netherlands, Finland, France, etc).

Well, as you can tell I am very happy with my purchase and will think long and hard about how I can utilise these excellent resin models.

Here I compare my Moonlite models with a couple of resin one-piece models
I purchased from Valliant. Aside from the solid one-piece casting you will
notice a lot more fine detailing on the Moonlite vehicles. The Valliant
trucks are also closer to 1/72 scale.

To order from Moonlite you must email David Reasoner in the States and ask for a catalogue, all sales are conducted by email and you pay by PayPal. Postage was reasonable and David himself was exceptionally helpful:  hmsdiomede@aol.com

As an example, my Chevvy was $12 and my Ford was $10, which once you take the hand assembly and short run nature of these nice little models into consideration is well worth it.