T&J Half Track

Hello everyone.  It's been a while since I posted anything I have been working on but I finally finished the Toys and Joys Half-Track.  It was a challenge in many way and took nearly 125 hours or so.  This is the seventh T&J plan I have built and I will say that the plan itself presented some of the issues and tedious work effort.  But in all fairness I also have to admit that some of the time was my own additions and being consumed with adding realistic touches that are not in the plan, such as the anti tank mines, the additional jerry cans, the weathering, the vehicle markings, the diamond plate,  the cnc'd drive wheels to simulate the cast wheels on the original M2 and, of course, the Ma Duece 50 Cal machine gun.   There were little issues with the plan itself such as parts on the sheets to fabricate and then no real reference to where the part went.  All in all, now that it is finished, it was an interesting  experience but if asked if I would recommend this plan, I would have to say I have mixed feelings.  However, someone else building this may feel 180 degrees different than I do.   This is not a plan I would recommend for the first time T&J builder.  The build can easily be divided to 3 subassemblies:  The rear box, the front end, and the chassis with track carriage and some undercarriage detail.   

Here are some "non foliage" photos of some of the work.

The front end is pretty straight forward.  The Ditch roller is an easy fabrication.  I chose to use pre-1944 insignia.  The yellow circle around the hood star was used to quickly help allied fighter planes to identify friendly vehicles.  From 15,000 feet or during a straffing run, pilots sometimes confused the star with the German armor cross and would straff their own side.  The bumper marking shows this particular vehicle was part of the First Armored Division, 4 Regiment, 1st Bn, H company and the 13th vehicle in the line of march.

The track carriage was not a hard build but the treads did take a bit of work.  I ended up cutting the treads on the CNC from a larger piece of stock.  The drive wheels in the plan were solid wood but I used the CNC to add the "cast" wheel openings in the front and rear wheels.  the weathering is dirt and modge podge mixed together and liberally coated on the undercarriage and in some of the wheel crevices.  afterward, burnt sienna and raw umber was used for more color.  The carriage would not usually have huge globs of mud since it was running but the mud would accumulate on the rear panel and undercarriage.  Then dry brushing was used to add subtle colors and depth.

The rear box was just that. . .a box.  It did not possess overly thick armor since this vehicle was used to transport troops, and later in the war dual and quad 50's were added for antiaircraft duty.  This particular model is set up for troop transport.  The two red-capped tanks are fuel tanks.  The lines in the floor indicate storage bins in the floor. The 50 Cal pineal mount is placed where a 3rd front seat might go.  Later models would have a track mounted around the front cockpit and the 50 Cal would ride on that giving better fire coverage.

A better view of the pintal mount for the 50 (also known as a Ma Duece) and the diamond plate on the drivers cockpit floor.

A slightly different view of the interior area.

A quarter view of the drivers side front.  The blue serial number, until 1944, was added to the vehicle in a color called Subdued Blue; after '44 the number was standard white.  The number is really a serial or VIN number that stayed with the vehicle until its end of life.  

Besides the extra jerry cans in the side racks, I added some anti tank mines for the vehicle,  Since half Tracks were usually assigned to armor units, the mines they carried were not considered antipersonnel mines but as you might guess, they were dual purpose.  I made them on the CNC, creating the bottom section with plunger and the top pressure plate.

Weathering for the vehicle was the standard oils, acrylics, pastels, and dry brushing.  Final finish was a couple coates of flat rattle can poly.  I know there are differing opinions on natural wood models vs painted models but when it comes to WWII vehicles, I can't not paint them.  So, I do hope that some of you find this piece a not too bad endeavor.  take care.