German Vehicle Side Indicators

I am having another senior moment…building the superb Tamiya Kubelwagen…Fat fingered and broke the front bumper “side marker” I am at a loss over the correct nomenclature name of the part. You paint the top white…I am looking to see if there are AM parts. Appreciate any assistance in the correct naming of the part and if AM parts exist
Many thanks,
DJ

Width indicator?

Front bumper? Mine doesn’t have one. And as far as I have seen, real ones don’t either and I am a vintage VW enthusiast.

Also hard to find any with the width indicators seeing as they were not particularly large vehicles and fit most roadways in Europe.

Pretty sure you don’t mean the semaphores on either end of the windshield frame.

Kübelwagen
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Are you building this vehicle?

I think he meant the rectangular markers on either side of the windscreen.

But they don’t get painted white …

Or this one?
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The circled things are trafficators. This is what is inside the rectangular housing.
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A section of Styrene stock on a wire is enough to replace one.

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If you mean the width indicators like these, then as has been said, the Kubel did not have them.

If you mean another vehicle, then yes, there are AM Parts available:





I am ready to loudly cry out “DUH!” Let’s start all over. I built the Kubelwagen and there are (as, many have pointed out) no side width markers. I returned to the scene of the crime and now can state that I broke the “width indicators” as petbat indicated for the Steyr Type 1500 by Tamiya. I broke the plastic one and need to replace it…any help provided would be greatly appreciated
Many thanks,
DJ

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Some of Dragons SdKfz 250/251 kits had both brass and styrene ones you could choose from. If you have any of those kits, see if it is one of those. This is one example:

They are not all that difficult to make either.
Trust me, I have lost and/or broken some.
Since the plastic part is molded it does not necessarily come
out as a perfectly round rod, usually the opposite.
If you have fine drills, around 0.5 mm, you can drill a hole
in the “foot” part (unless you have a suitable tube somewhere).
Take a piece of 0.5 mm metall wire (brass or copper, easier to bend
but soft steel wire will also work).
Glue a 1 mm plastic tube, or drill a hole in a rod, to one end of the wire
with CA or epoxi. Let dry and carefully file it to a ball.
A drop of epoxi might also work.
I think I created one little ball by letting thin layers of CA-glue harden
on the tip of the wire (like making handmade candles).
The new width pole may end up looking better than the original
part so you might as well make two.

Remember the text above for some other time with some other vehicle
Edit: Do like this instead.


The small indicator lights on the bumper are a modern addition due
to modern road traffic rules. War time vehicles did not have them,
see below

Use 0.6 -0.7 mm copper wire, anneal one end (heat in candle or
cig.lighter flame). Hammer the end flat, file the “pancake” to a circular disc.
Drill hole in bumper, CA, down the hole, done & dusted.

P.S. A word to the wise: the Tamiya parts are clunky and oversized, just saying …
Homemade will look a lot better :wink:

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Oh, well in that case you are totally screwed. All manufacturers specifically exclude that vehicle from their AM inventory.

Seriously, though, you should be able to use any AM that looks the same and is roughly the same length to match, but it would probably be easier to make a pair from scratch as suggested since they are basically an angled rod with a ball or flattened end.

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As far as I know, Steyr only used the type where the tube was flattened to a disc shape. Easy to make from styrene rod or a punched disk.

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Good to know.

My Friends-- I am in you debt once again. My thanks for steering me in the right direction. I am following Uncle Heavy’s procedure for making the width markers.
I appreciate your responses
DJ

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That’s the awesomeness of this community - so much knowledge to share. Even I learned something new today - that there are numerous beautifully turned brass aftermarket products available for these width indicators. Way to go team!

Jimbo

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