I like this thread. I have a couple going on now, what I think of as conversions, really. One is a KRAB from the Academy K9 and Trump’s AS90, just started, and the other is a completely fictional creation using a hull left over from something else and an ancient Tamiya Leo 1.
IMG_3774 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_3773 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
…or this, a “proposed” IDF SPH using an old Academy Merk 3 hull and the K9 turret:
IMG_3764 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I tend to get a little goofy with IDF whiffles, my thought being: who’s to say it coiuldn’t have happened?
IMG_2633 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_1870 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I find this kind of stuff refreshing every now and then, no pressure to be “accurate”, only functional, except for stuff like the KRAB, that needs to be as accurate as I can humanly make it.
Russel, that is some interesting work there!
Kudos.
This one , very cool. Are those rear spades made up of parts from an M9 dozer blade and TWMP ?
Right you are sir! Somebody give that man a cigar!
Great tutorial thread!
Old builds, current builds? I said I started this in 2006 but it’s not finished yet. So this is a current build that’s just bench side for now 
OK I’ll play, I think this qualifies for showing the process/progress of a scratch-build - apologies that it’s so image-heavy but I’m assuming those not interested won’t be looking in anyway.
The context was/is that nearly five years ago I started a large 1:35 scale project depicting the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague – it’s currently malingering in the Diorama section as “Operation Anthropoid” waiting for me to finish it. The scene required conversion of two MiniArt European trams to Prague versions, and then a third trailer which departed even further from MiniArt’s original kit components. Dimensions & details were all sourced from period & modern photos for which I had awesome assistance from at least 10 members, most notably Henri Pierre aka Frenchy. And two-thirds into it, I was put in touch with a very kind Czech tour guide who went to take photos of the real thing for me at the Prague Transport Museum…which up-ended my half-completed botched seating arrangement & helped enormously with other details.
So here is that trailer’s difficult birth, originally shown on the old Armorama site in mid-2019:
The real thing under tow;
Source material;
A tram if built OOB;
Tram heavily converted to Prague version. Grey parts + undercarriage from original kit;
The trailer vs a tram – handy for comparative measurements;
It begins - shortened part-scratched chassis with original;
Body progress – all Evergreen from the floor up;
Window frames 3D-printed by a patient friend;
The closest I came to a padded cell right here;
Wrong seating;
Corrected seating;
Fit-out utilising unlikely bits from old spares boxes;
But I had nothing to make a pair of these brake wheels;
Mike Freeman to the rescue – he “Just-sent-it”;
Trailer trash - never chuck anything until the end, if ever;
Naked line-up;
All dressed up;
I’ve skipped the custom decals & paint job as this has gone on too long already. So could the trailer have been all 3D printed? No doubt, but I found that every step of the way required so much trial & error (because I had no proper original plans/drawings to work from) that it worked out faster to make components direct from styrene - for me, anyway.
At least nobody’s released the trailer as a kit… 
Nice to reread/see all that work again. 
I never realized what an effort those Trams were going to be. I falsely assumed they would be OOB or just slightly modified. As it is yours’ are totally scratch built!
Much Respect, Kudos!
Ditto!
Hi Tim, Great to see this in a condensed “paperback” form.
… even though the original “encyclopedia” is still one of my favorite reads of all forum time.
Cheers!
—mike
Krupp Top: (or a top for your Krupp)
It doesn’t have to be a full vehicle built from scratch. Sometimes it is just a missing detail or a special variant you wish to model.
This top is made from one very tortured Italeri Opel Blitz truck top.
The Krupp vehicle itself is still a work in progress.
Here for comparison is an uncut Italeri Blitz tarp.
The roof was the right length overall but the top had to be sectioned lengthwise and narrowed.The rear tailgate skirt cut out and the cab side panels (or lack thereof) had to be formed. Everything was then smoothed out with putty and a bit of sanding.
Not such a pretty sight when viewed from below.
That bundled up rear fly cloth is a stock detail bit out of the Tamiya CCKW gun ring set.
Does anyone make such a cloth top in resin for the Krupp? If so I am not aware of it.
What are you working on these days Angel???
Hi Mike,
I’m detailing the rear of the Sturmboot Anhänger(Sd.Anh.108) I am currently building:
Cheers,
Angel
Last year I finished this 1/16 M109A6. It is based on the Tamiya/Italeri 1/35 kit, a lot of photos from the web and liberated US Army manuals.
Hans
Angel. I take it only one boat in each trailer set was intended to be motorized. The rest serving as pontoon bridge supports/floats ???
Nope Mike,
All three were motorized
Here is the arrangement of the Sturmbootmotors on the trailier
And that’s a picture showing the loading of the last one
All pictures for discussion purposes only
Cheers,
Angel
Angel, is that one reference drawing of a 3-wheeled trailer? That one also looks interesting! How unusual.
p.s. Merry Christmas
