1:35 U.S. 2 ½ - Ton 6x6 (tamiya)

Photo-etch for the American 2.5-ton 6x6 truck

A set of flat metal components to refine a model of the American three-axle truck with a payload of two and a half tons at 1:35 scale. It deals above all with things that measure millimeters on the real vehicle: the tarpaulin fittings, the steps, the louvers, the loops and the reinforcing rims. The plastic base is obtained separately. The target kit is Tamiya.

The truck that fed the front

Three-axle trucks with a payload of two and a half tons formed the backbone of American logistics in the Second World War. The soldiers simply called it the deuce and a half, and the statistics list hundreds of thousands of them. The best-known episode remains the so-called Red Ball Express in the autumn of 1944, when columns of these trucks supplied the fast-advancing units in France continuously, day and night. The vehicle served with a cargo bed, with a tanker body, with a workshop and with an anti-aircraft weapon, and in many armies it lasted long after the war.

What to watch out for

The loops and clips are so small that it is better to work with tweezers with rounded tips; sharp tips shoot the part away. Apply thin cyanoacrylate glue on the tip of a wire, not straight from the bottle. Before gluing, level the flat surfaces on glass by pressing them down with a razor blade, so that they bear without a gap.

Who the set is for

• Builders of American support and supply equipment
• Dioramas of the fighting in western Europe
• Modelers who are bothered by thick plastic on small items
• Collections of military trucks at a uniform size

The package consists of unpainted metal components only; have the tools and chemicals ready in advance.