SPA Modeler

Since I was already painting wheels, I brought this kit to the bench to build along with the bomb truck. Typical Tamiya fit, but I was careful putting all the pieces of the cab together as there is no one part that locks everything together. I also deviated from the instruction's build order pretty often, such as to add the headlights and the blackout lights to the fenders before assembling it to the cab and hood. Much more room to work that way. I'm also leaving off a lot of small parts until I get to where I can get the decals on, to avoid breakage while handling. Tamiya supplies a brass wire to insert in the fuel hose, I used a slightly heavier gauge as the supplied wire was not as long as the hose, and the wire is nice because it makes it easy to form the hose into bends that stay put.

Here's where it’s at.



The frame is nice enough, but I noticed some details left out that would be better if added, such as brake drums, a steering gear box and drag link, and the cross tube between the rear axle spring assemblies. But it is easy to assemble and will be fine as added detail in a diorama. I goofed and installed the fuel tank, but it is not present on the tanker. It must feed off the avgas supply.



There is an instrument panel decal in there if you look hard enough.


The left door is just taped in place to keep parts in alignment while the hood/roof and engine side panel cure. I trimmed the door glass so I could pose it lowered on the driver's door.


One side was done at a time.


The right side dries with the door taped in place.


The hoses have been rolled onto the reels. The reel axle is just set in place to properly position and glue the feed pipe to the axle, and to allow painting all of the interior areas of the reel and pump compartments before the reels are installed.


Tamiya calls for the nozzles to be glued into the hose but instead I drilled out the nozzles to fit the wire, and trimmed the hose back to expose the wire. I took this photo with a 100mm macro lens, worked well for this small detail because of the high magnification.



The present state. I will do the decals next on this and the bomb truck. It's probably time to trim the hose to length, I'm thinking a scale 25 feet would be 6 inches, however 8 might be better. I suspect the hose material is a bit over scale in diameter.


The fuel truck's share of tires and wheels.

Tat looks really sharp looking. Almost makes me want to d one. Almost.

Very nice! I forgot I was looking at 1/48 and not 1/35.

Interesting subject...

John,

I have read your narrative through several times and I wanted to ask about the curing process with the cab sections. I tend to use superglue for everything but lately I have been wondering if a slow setting adhesive makes sense for tricky alignment issues. So I am very curious in this case to learn more about your decision making, and what pieces in your opinion need to be finessed with more time involved.

Also specifically I have to add my own compliments to both your photography and your work. Both are exquisite.

All the best - I hope you and yours are well.

Thanks, Bruce. I get a cleaner bond using Tamiya Extra Thin and can be more precise in where it goes. In my opinion it allows for a more durable bond in structures that have the possibility of flexing. The ability to move things to get the best alignment is good too. In this case on the cab there were at least three parts that had to go together all at once and had to fit around the door tightly, and there were no locating pins, just some ledges to butt up against.

I recently picked up two new lenses and I've been playing with them. Both are Pentax primes, one is a 100mm macro and the other is a 50 mm F1.7. Doing some short depth of field pictures, such as the one of the end of the fuel hose so the subject is emphasized. The macro is the first dedicated macro I have had, the other is a 28-80 zoom with a macro function and I've never gotten any useful results from it in model photography. It just wasn't sharp enough.

Here's a picture I took a few days ago in the neighbors' garden with the 1.7 prime.

Well, I've been beavering away on the trucks, I spent yesterday and today working on the figures and some bombs from a set Accurate Miniatures did based on the munitions in the TBM kits. I had already got the decals and the flat coat work done on both trucks. The figures still need work, the faces are not at all there yet but I have hopes. They also need a flat coat but I am close enough to have fun with a few pictures. The pose is not accurate as I found a really good article by David Doyle and the M27 bomb truck was not in widespread service until 1944 so the B-17F is not correct, it should be a B-17G. But the good news is the M27 served all the way into the Korean War era. The common bomb truck in WW II was the Chevrolet M6, for which of course I don't have a kit. However, I do have an inquiry in to Tank Workshop for one.

Must bein Kentucky.... blue grass. That looks great! Really enjoy what you guys do with dioramas.

Looking real good John. If you pick up a 1/48 Monogram B-17G, that kit comes with a bomb cart as an accessory to add to your collection of support items. The Monogram B-24s include a tracked aircraft tug.

John,

Thank you so much for your reply above. That was incredibly helpful, and your progress to date is extraordinary. I also looked up the specs of your Macro lens, very nice. I’m a fan of glass 50mm lenses (my favorite being a Canon LTM from the Sixties), but I did pick up Sony’s plastic 50mm to have a full auto setup and I think my ideas changed completely after I used this. Sigma makes great lenses as well. Have you tried any other brands?