38 FineScale Modeler October 2019
8
Leaving off the storage boxes seemed like an odd miss for the kit, but they were an easy fix.9
styrene. The hydraulic bar on top of the
crane is a length of .030-inch styrene rod;
the cover over the controls is .040-inch
sheet styrene, 12.
The warhead carrier was missing attach-
ment points for the crane. I drilled three
.039-inch holes atop the warhead carrier as
attachment points for the crane. Spare PE
handles approximated the latches shown in
my references, 13.
The rear hydraulic leveling cylinders had
a filter assembly hanging on the side. The
cylinder is .150-inch diameter aluminum
tube with Milliput to form the bottom. I
made the top from a square fo .020-inch
sheet styrene, spare PE parts, and .030-inch
styrene rod for the release handle. Next to it
is a support piston built from .080-inch sty-
rene rod and .020-inch brass rod for the
connectors, 14.
The Chicago fittings for the trailer air
brake and electrical connections were made
with .040-inch styrene rod and discs
punched from sheet styrene, 15. I estimated
where the electrical and brake lines would
run and installed them underneath using
some .032-inch solder, 16.
I made a mold of the side markers from
an Italeri M923 5-ton truck and cast new
markers in resin. Then I made the new
assemblies using .040-inch styrene sheet,
punched rings for the reflector, and the new
resin markers, 17.11
The steps were made from scrap pieces of PE. I used reference photos as
a guide.10
While the main leveler looked OK, it needed the hydraulic pistons for
accuracy.12
As with so many parts on this kit, the warhead
carrier was missing key details.13
Sometimes easiest is best: I fashioned the
bottom of the hydraulic filter from Milliput.14
Photoetched metal PlasticLatchesAttachment pointsIt would have been easy to leave this box off, but the model would have looked incomplete.I pulled out the stops on the davit crane,
adding details from top to bottom.