Canadian Welding Truck

So about a year ago, my then-girlfriend and I were in Ottawa, and spent quite a lot of time in the National War Museum. One of the odd and wonderful vehicles in their vehicle park was a welding truck based on a CMP 15cwt.

(I know these images aren't cleanly seamed, but Photoshop went and got rid of the good version of photomerge and replaced it with a more streamlined and bad one.)

As you can see, it's a fairly straightforward cab, with a funky back-end. I decided I wanted to make one as a detailed objective marker, and set about doing my usual thing.

First, I procured the multi-part 15cwts from BF, and set about with a jeweler's saw to remove the vertical parts of the back end. I cut down first, to divide by chunks, and then across.

Once this was done, the remnants were shaved a bit more, and sanded flatter.

I laminated together plasticard, curved the top, and then added the grooves along the side. First I measured the width of the vents (and rough length) and placed pencil marks. Then, gently with a craft knife, I pushed in at an angle to bump the plasticard up to look like air vents. Doing this repeatedly along the sides gave the look of the proper vents.

The back-end was also cut into in a diamond-pattern to add the rear vent, and I glued two thin lines of plasticard along the side as what I believe is a rain-guard. This was all glued into place on the back of the truck.

Next I started adding the various pieces of stowage, as well as the wheel wells. The top of the welder needed a bit of puttying to ensure the colour was smooth.

(At the same time) I added similar stowage, as well as an extra pressure vessel, and a custom-cast spare wheel, put in a custom-made wheel well. I think the original was the smaller tires, but I used what I had access to. Some more stowage bins (including under the bed) and it was time to start dealing with wiring and the canvas frame.

For the first two tarp wires, I used paperclips. These are much thicker than to-scale, but I wanted to ensure that it would survive being packed away and used. Also new here, I've added the coiled welding cables, as well as one un-spooled, being frantically spooled by one of the crew (formerly a crew from a Sexton.) To fill out the objective base, I have a leftover stowage bin from a Sherman V, loaded with stuff, and I took some leftover pieces of photo-etched brass, and cut them to size to act as the collapsible table often found with the welding truck. I figure that being on the table at the time of the attack, these guys aren't so much 'careful packing' as 'Stow it! We gotta move!"

Here's the full objective just before painting: you can see I've added some extra plates to be welded on the table, and the thinner modeling wire has now been added to the truck itself. I have attempted to imitate as accurately as I can, except for one thing that ended up as a later project: This is a type-11 cab, the National War Museum example is a Type-13 cab.

Here's the finished, painted welding truck. I've decorated it like a welding truck for the Canadian 4th Armoured Division, but left off any regimental markings, so I can still use it when I make my Infantry Company as well. The colour in the right-half images are more accurate. I chose not to muddy up the wheels too much, since I figure with it not being a combat vehicle, they would have more time to avoid taking the messier routes. Also new on here is the windscreen: I prefer to use blister plastic to the provided windscreen pieces, so I can do a proper 'glass' windscreen. Simply cut the piece to the right size, and then paint multiple thick layers of paint (of the desired colour) on it to add a three-dimensional look.

For my second Canadian objective, I'm probably going to attempt to recreate a scene from Hogan's Heroes. I'm waiting on Morris 15cwts, and then I'll do a blog-post about that!