MOC: WW2 airfield ground equipment

[Ralph_S]

I'll be attending the Great Western LEGO show in Swindon next weekend, and decided to display some of my minifig scale aircraft models. Just having a few aircraft models on a table might be fun, but I figured it will be more interesting if I'd add some vehicles and ground crew too, so in the last weeks I've building a few new vehicles.

The first is the last I built: an RAF Matador Refueling truck. This will accompany my Mosquito bomber.

RAF Matador Refueler (1) by Mad physicist, on Flickr

Number two and three are a US Army Air Force GMC tanker truck and my own version of the ubiquitous Jeep, seen here with the ground crew. I've had the Jeep for a while, but never made a few changes recently. The truck is a rebuild of a model I built more than two years ago, but took apart, with a few minor improvements. Both vehicles are old dark grey.

USAAF vehicles and ground crew by Mad physicist, on Flickr

Here they are with my P-61B Black Widow, which I completed a few weeks ago.

P-61 Black Widow with air- and ground crew by Mad physicist, on Flickr

The fourth vehicle is probably the most unusual. It's a German Kettenkraftrad. It was originally developed as an air-transportable artillery tractor, but was actually used for all kinds of other roles. For instance, it was used for towing aircraft. I built it for my Heinkel He-219.

Kettenkraftrad (1) by Mad physicist, on Flickr

I haven't made a picture of the whole lot together yet. I'll also be bringing US Navy aircraft (examples I built for Ed Diment's USS intrepid), but you're going to have to come to Swindon to see those!

Cheers,

Ralph

Edited October 9, 2011 by Rufus
Indexed

[buddy]

Excellent MOCs, they all are very realistic and look like the real things. I look foward to seeing these in real life at the GWLS next weekend.

Extremely well done.

~buddy~

Edited September 25, 2011 by buddy

[Nightshroud99]

Wow just wow, the fuel truck is amazing, and how you built the german scout vehicle is ver clever.

[lightningtiger]

AWESOME vehicles, especially the RAF fuel truck.....oh, stuff it they are all AWESOME !

Might I suggest building a simple structure with a bell out front as a ready area with pilots playing cards or reading or even drinking tea while waiting for the bell to ring to scramble to their planes.

Brick On Fly On Fight On 'Ralph_S' !

[treeboy]

Love the Kettenkraftrad reminds me of Private Ryan.

Edited September 28, 2011 by treeboy

[Ralph_S]

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't remember a Kettenkraftrad being in Saving Private Ryan, but it's not unlikely.

Lightningtiger, thank you for the suggestion. I'm not going to be building any buildings for the show -my suitcase will be quite full/heavy already and there are only a few days left before I fly out, but I'll definitely look into adding some buildings if I do use elements of this for WW2 diorama.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Outstanding-- love the eye for detail, and the accuracy. We know we'll never get these from TLG itself, but love the level of modeling accuracy you've been able to achieve here. Top shelf stuff!

[Ralph_S]

Outstanding-- love the eye for detail, and the accuracy. We know we'll never get these from TLG itself, but love the level of modeling accuracy you've been able to achieve here. Top shelf stuff!

Thank you. It's the little details that makes these fun, IMO. I'm glad you like them.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Legostein]

Hello!

Those vehicles are again bristling with stunning techniques, Ralph! There are many things to discover, for example the inventive mudguards of the first trcuk and the brick-built ladder to its roof. Another thing that I like is a very simple effect: The 2x2 plates within the wheels. I can't explain it, but it simply looks right.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

[Ratshot]

This looks really good, you should buy some Brickarms weapons and helmets. They would definatley improve your figs.

[prateek]

Awesome job, as always Ralph. I really think these awesome models are what is to expect coming from you, but I really like your Kettenkraftrad. I don't think I've ever seen a vehicle as small as that made by you. I like how it turned out.

[Ralph_S]

Hello!

Those vehicles are again bristling with stunning techniques, Ralph! There are many things to discover, for example the inventive mudguards of the first trcuk and the brick-built ladder to its roof. Another thing that I like is a very simple effect: The 2x2 plates within the wheels. I can't explain it, but it simply looks right.

Cheers,

~ Christopher

Thanks for your very nice comments, Christopher. the main reason for the 2x2 round plates is that I wanted the wheel hubs to be dark grey as well. As far as I know, LEGO have never made the standard wheel for these tyres in old dark grey, only spoked ones. This meant I had to improvise. Using minifig seats for mudguards isn't something I invented, but I have used it on other trucks as well and it seemed a suitable solution for the mudguards on the matador as well. Standard LEGO ladders are too bulky to go on the tank, which is why I went for the solution with tiles. It's probably not a 'legal' connection, though. I am glad you like the look.

This looks really good, you should buy some Brickarms weapons and helmets. They would definatley improve your figs.

Thank you. I know that Brickarms are high-quality products. I won a contest a few years ago and received a Brickarms pack as the prize. However, they're not really for me. I might use custom stickers, but I prefer purist solutions. I've got plenty of LEGO pistols and rifles, but the groundcrews usually weren't actually armed, which is why mine aren't either. They may have had personal weapons, but normally wouldn't drag them around when servicing airplanes. I'm probably going to buy some LEGO black army helmets (they are in some ninjago sets) for the 'Germans'. They'll have to do.

Awesome job, as always Ralph. I really think these awesome models are what is to expect coming from you, but I really like your Kettenkraftrad. I don't think I've ever seen a vehicle as small as that made by you. I like how it turned out.

Thank you. I had a little look on brickshelf, mocpages and flickr to see what other builders had done and there are some nice examples of the Kettenkraftrad around, but they were all a bit big for my tastes. My airplanes are roughly 1/43 and I'd like to keep my vehicles as close to that scale as I can, making the Kettenkraftrad only about nine studs long.

Cheers,

Ralph

[Hollander]

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't remember a Kettenkraftrad being in Saving Private Ryan, but it's not unlikely.

Lightningtiger, thank you for the suggestion. I'm not going to be building any buildings for the show -my suitcase will be quite full/heavy already and there are only a few days left before I fly out, but I'll definitely look into adding some buildings if I do use elements of this for WW2 diorama.

Cheers,

Ralph

Een mooi stukje werk! (A nice piece of work!)

Especially the kettenrad.

[Ralph_S]

Een mooi stukje werk! (A nice piece of work!)

Especially the kettenrad.

Dank je (Thanks). The Kettenkrad is a weird little thing, but was fun to build. Driving it around is fun too. It works surprisingly well on carpet.

Cheers,

Ralph