1.5 Ton Railroad Truck AA Type
So here is the first kit build for this section of my website, and as you can see, something of a crossover between military and railway modelling, also serving my interest and love of winter landscapes, and my interest in Russian military history both before and after 1917.
The assembled collection of parts from the box, neatly laid out and all accounted for; the white envelope emblazoned MiniArt contains the photo-etched metal parts that come with the kit, some are very tiny indeed; there are also four sections of railway track included in the box.
The near completed chassis, lightly sprayed with Humbrol Primer No-1 at this stage; the radiator has been left off to allow greater access for painting the engine and cooling fan. A small single section of track was assembled to aid the alignment and fixing of the rail wheels, and to ensure that the chassis sat four square at each corner. On the subject of railway track that supplied with the kit is to the European Standard gauge, including Britain, of 4 feet, 8 and 1/2 inches or 1435.1 mm; whereas the Russian gauge of 5 feet or 1524 mm is not catered for in the kit, which is disappointing as the kit provides parts to build the Railroad truck to the Russian gauge. The Russian gauge track is available separately from MiniArt; but as only one or two at the most track sections are needed to display the completed model, and as four track sections are provided in the kit, why not provide two European gauge track sections and two Russian gauge track sections?
In 1/35 scale the European gauge is 41.0029 mm and the Russian gauge is 43.5429 mm.
All calculations have been made using scale conversion software; and it should be pointed out that the Russian gauge is usually referred to as 1520 mm, additionally most curvature allows a slight increase in gauge within a set tolerance.
A note of interest is that the Russian gauge has a military strength in itself, and was not chosen at random; in both the First and Second World Wars railways were an essential part of mobilization - without the railways of Great Britain the build up for the Normandy landings would have been impossible, as indeed would have been the logistics to wage war across Europe after the Normandy landings without railway support to the advancing Allied armies. Military minds have long since recognized the importance of railways, and the fact that Germany and France and Great Britain shared a common gauge made advancement across Europe with all manner of supplies a whole lot easier for the Allies - a fact not lost upon the Russians, hence their choice of a rail gauge different from the countries surrounding Russia; all the Russians have to do is withdraw their railway locomotives and rolling stock from falling into enemy hands and the invading army will be forced to expend huge amounts of energy and time reducing the Russian gauge to Standard gauge before it can use its own railway locomotives and rolling stock to supply its own army into Russian territory; of course, when the advance fails, usually in the face of the Russian winter or the slithering mud, and the Russian counter attack drives back the invaders, the Russians themselves have to restore their track back to the 5 foot gauge as they advance; but this is a small price to pay and Russian engineering is nothing if not vast and of a large scale, being masters of their environment. The Russian loading gauge allows a massive seventeen feet above rail height.
However, back to my humble Railroad truck which will be included in a diorama that is already part constructed, and will include Russian figures to match; more anon on that and the Railroad truck as construction and painting advances: watch this space.
In 1/35 scale the European gauge is 41.0029 mm and the Russian gauge is 43.5429 mm.
All calculations have been made using scale conversion software; and it should be pointed out that the Russian gauge is usually referred to as 1520 mm, additionally most curvature allows a slight increase in gauge within a set tolerance.
A note of interest is that the Russian gauge has a military strength in itself, and was not chosen at random; in both the First and Second World Wars railways were an essential part of mobilization - without the railways of Great Britain the build up for the Normandy landings would have been impossible, as indeed would have been the logistics to wage war across Europe after the Normandy landings without railway support to the advancing Allied armies. Military minds have long since recognized the importance of railways, and the fact that Germany and France and Great Britain shared a common gauge made advancement across Europe with all manner of supplies a whole lot easier for the Allies - a fact not lost upon the Russians, hence their choice of a rail gauge different from the countries surrounding Russia; all the Russians have to do is withdraw their railway locomotives and rolling stock from falling into enemy hands and the invading army will be forced to expend huge amounts of energy and time reducing the Russian gauge to Standard gauge before it can use its own railway locomotives and rolling stock to supply its own army into Russian territory; of course, when the advance fails, usually in the face of the Russian winter or the slithering mud, and the Russian counter attack drives back the invaders, the Russians themselves have to restore their track back to the 5 foot gauge as they advance; but this is a small price to pay and Russian engineering is nothing if not vast and of a large scale, being masters of their environment. The Russian loading gauge allows a massive seventeen feet above rail height.
However, back to my humble Railroad truck which will be included in a diorama that is already part constructed, and will include Russian figures to match; more anon on that and the Railroad truck as construction and painting advances: watch this space.
After allowing the primer to harden off for a few days the first coats of colour have been very simply applied using a 1.5 nozzle airbrush and 50/50 thinned Humbrol 150 Forest Green (Russian Green) and Humbrol 113 Rust then later added to the remains of the green mix to promote a slightly pink shade; everything is kept very loose, soft, and flowing at this stage, colours are blended, hard edges avoided, there is nothing in the colour that cannot be developed, or darkened or lightened as the model evolves: this is very much establishing the underpainting, and is a process similar to that employed in portrait painting; except, I am here creating a three-dimensional portrait.
Progress with the build has been slow of late, due to the commission work I am engaged upon; however, I wanted to upload this image because it has important implications for anyone building this kit, which shows construction at stage 20 in the instruction sheet; it is important to paint and fit the radiator before fitting the front wings, otherwise problems with the wings encroaching into the space for the radiator can occur, it is a tight fit. The other problem is when the crossbeams, parts Ce2 and Ce3 seen in grey above, come to be fitted across the chassis beams at the rear, these too are a tight fit on the slots provided in the lower edge of parts Ce2 and Ce3 and any inaccuracies in the vertical alignment of the two chassis beams Ba5 and Ba6 will result in the crossbeams not fitting on their slots, with the only recourse being to either open out the slots or try and bend the chassis beams to fit the slots with the risk of distorting the chassis. My remedy for this is to take parts Ce2 and Ce3 from the sprue much earlier at stage 6 and use these as a dry fit guide during the early stages of the chassis construction to ensure that the chassis beams Ba5 and Ba6 are in true alignment, so that by the time stage 20 is reached it is already known that parts Ce2 and Ce3 will fit perfectly. Overall, right from the start, accuracy and squareness in the chassis construction is vital as the basis for obtaining a good platform upon which to build the superstructure, this is also why I constructed a short section of the railway track, using just three sleepers, as a try track to ensure everything sits square on the wheels. This is a pretty straightforward kit, but patience and care are essential to produce what the kit is capable of producing: a solid and sturdy chassis to support the superstructure. The front wings have been distressed with some homemade battle damage and dents suitable for the diorama this model is destined to occupy at a later stage. This is a good kit, an interesting kit, and with a number of varied painting and weathering options ahead for those who wish to employ some artistic flair.
Construction has now moved forward to fitting the cab to the cab floor and wings, including the front bulkhead between cab and engine compartment; the instructions lead you to detail this part of the cab, including fitting the windscreen (E1) and delicate windscreen wiper (PE5) and windscreen brackets (PE3 & PE4) and parts A39; A40; and A66 to A97 to form a complete sub-assembly which you then fit to the chassis, cab floor, front wings mounting points. This means you end up with a very delicate windscreen assembly to handle as you manipulate the cab assembly onto the chassis; furthermore, it is not until you try to mate the cab side panels A39 and A40 to their floor mounting points can you determine whether or not the correct angle has been obtained to achieve the desired fit, and thus the curved profile arrived at to match the profile of the cab front bulkhead - it all requires a bit of fiddly work best achieved before the glue has gone off, and without having to worry about the effect of large fingers on that already in-position windscreen detail; so my advice is to filter-out all instruction to fit tiny detail parts until after the main assemblies are securely glued home, which means building the model from the chassis up, and only fitting the detail parts just before those detail areas are to become enclosed by later parts. I've also decided the spray-paint the cab interior before fitting the windscreen to save masking. On the whole the instructions are replete with very good exploded diagrams; but some license as to when to fit the detail is advisable, due to the amount of handling required during the build, and although the build does produce a strong chassis and eventually superstructure, some parts do remain vulnerable if attention slips a moment.
The slow build of this kit (next 2 images below) has given me plenty of time to think about where I want to go with this truck, and I now wish to pursue a wider artistic license with a field modified railroad truck; to this end the windscreen has been replaced by a gas-cut section of armour plate able to withstand small arms fire; the second view shows the cab removed ready for spraying the cab interior...and maybe that seat cushion looks a bit too neat and tidy, so I'm starting to think tatty seat cushion
This spray booth shot (below) shows the next stage in a pale-green matte primer that I mixed up, and sprayed on using an 0.4 nozzle to give a wide balanced coat built up with several very thin layers; the primer coat clearly indicates where more smoothing or finishing is required. At this stage I don't bother with masking as there is no glazing to worry about, and I like to allow a breath of overspray to add to the developing patina of matte colour shades; working in very thin layers of paint allows plenty of scope for going back over colour areas without obliterating fine detail. I am also thinking about how this model will fit into the diorama that I have planned, and how colour will be a constituent factor in pulling the composition together in the telling of a cameo scene from the Late-war Eastern Front.
Moving on the next two images (below) show how the application of weathering begins to transform the model during the build; this is useful to start getting a feel for the model, and essential for areas that will be difficult or impossible to deal with later as the build starts to enclose certain areas like the cab interior; as mentioned earlier the seat has been distressed to be in-keeping with the general decay and usage of the vehicle. The extra field-welded stay across the radiator support rods is the result of repairing damage caused by enemy action. The lower of the two images shows attention to creating that under-bonnet grime look that will be part of the eventual diorama display.
The next image (below) shows a leap forward to the fitting of the cab rear bulkhead and roof, and also the rear bed of the truck using the high sided option: the kit offers either six or four plank versions for the load bed. The rear of the cab and the front of the load bed has been weathered before gluing into position; the cab rear window has also been frosted for what will be a winter diorama in due course. When it comes to fitting the cab rear bulkhead and roof, together with the rear bed, you will find out just how accurate your chassis construction has been; any problems can usually be compensated by opening the slots in the rear bed cross bearers to fit the chassis longitudinal: the main thing is to ensure squareness with the cab, and level seating with equal overhang either side of the cab. The weathering will undergo later development and detail, with the application of snow sitting upon appropriate upper surfaces.
A peek (above) inside the cab; the doors are being prepared and will be fitted in the open position requiring new hinges to be made; I am pushing on with the build at the moment, and am keen to pull all this together with the planned diorama and figures.
I thought this interim image (above) of the project, with figures constructed but not yet primed or painted, may be appropriate at this stage, bringing together the various elements of the diorama for the first time in a viewing. Quite a lot has been going on in the background the past few months, as anyone who has read my News page will be aware; and as my medical problem is inclined to be somewhat uncomfortable at best, and painful at worst, sitting at the bench and working on this diorama is the way to remain productive at the moment. I took quite a lot of time over the composition, keeping to using found and to hand materials, and developing the story through a boxed set of figures, so that everything should be achievable without too much difficulty. Each figure was carefully considered for the pose in telling the story, adapted where necessary, and carefully constructed, taking great care to work each figure with files and scalpel at the joint lines of limbs etc. I probably spent two or three hours on the construction and finishing of each figure; and also added a few detail supporting items like the tool box, Jerry can, small wooden crate, taken from another kit to hand. Painting of the figures is now underway, starting with finely thinned Humbrol No-1 primer gently applied via a 3mm nozzle airbrush to maintain detail on the figures, and allowed a full 24 hours to cure: essential as the next stage is underpainting using Humbrol acrylic which does work well provided the oil-based primer is fully dry at warm room temperature beforehand. There are not many occasions when I use acrylic; but it certainly has a useful underpainting role due to its quick drying and slightly textured surface, ideal for clothing. The final stages of painting will be done with oil paints from my studio.
This is a quickie photograph (above) that shows a mid-stage in the oil painting process, developing the figures over an acrylic colour base to enhance the relief, particularly with the flesh tones which are mixed on an oil palette, before developing the clothing and the few oddments of detail parts that are lined up on the right. I am looking for naturalism, and a slightly impressionistic finish: relaxed; not rigid definition.