sandsmodels

as promised painted pics of the wrecker.

26 minutes ago, 40 058 said:

That looks great!👍

Especially since you’ve made up from spare parts.

 

There was a Mercedes wrecker, similar to this, used occasionally on one of the latest series of Trucking Hell. I can’t remember the operators name now but it was up in Newcastle area painted up in yellow.

yes it was the same one from the batch brought into the uk from the singapore army, nice truck. glad you like it

i had in my stash a 1/72 diecast mercedes tractor unit which had no trailer and did not fit in with the other trucks so i thought as i have lots of wrecker parts why not make a wrecker out of it.

new wheels body and crane parts added as well as other details.

now we have a 3rd world wrecker similar to the singapore ones that were imported into the uk a few years ago and seen on youtube.

now just have to paint it up in a suitable scheme.

thanks for looking.

i was asked by a local railway club to make a low relief cottage for them, i duly made the model and sold them what i had cast off, i am now wondering if there is any takers if i put it back into production.

it uses the peco 0 gauge window & door sets and you will need to source drain pipes & guttering ect.

1/43rd jag for size comparison.

i was also considering a shop front as well.

thanks in advance.

not railway related but i made most of the berlin riechstag in 1/72, mad i know!

the board is 6ft long.

my 1/72 kraz 255b in resin

i have now found one of my pics of the elusive kraz/belaz trucks, i do have more i reckon but not in the same folder as this one, this was taken about 1982 when building our new sea wall which was overwhelmed in 81.

great model, the one near me was almost identical except for no names on the side, i wonder if it was the same one brought down here in the late 70's early 80's?

if i could work out how to post pics i would show you mine in 72 scale!

hi,

there used to be some of those gaz vans near me, the chap had several on a farm, they went over the years but i know not where.

they are pretty good off road though looking at youtube!

i will try to find the pics but i have looked several times already for a local chap writing a book on local characters but have not found them yet, annoyingly!

i too am a pro model maker and i make several variants of the military kraz 255b & 260, i like them a lot.

mine are smaller at 1/72 scale though., i would post pics but have not worked out how to sadly.

On 09/04/2024 at 22:50, 40 058 said:

It’s a nice model, that MAN/RABA. I’m pretty certain it’s an IXO base model as you can get it from them but with different load beds or tractors. It comes with the extended cab like mine or the standard day cab type.

 

Since it might be a while before I can dig out the model I need for the load, I’ll just tell you…

 

I was looking on Flickr at trucks etc as I usually do for detail photos, livery’s etc etc and stumbled on this photo.

Obviously there is no ERF in 1:43 so I decided I’d do something similar with the MAN.

 

Basically the load are elderly AEC tippers which have ended their days as road trucks and were now in use by a contractor who was in the road building business. They had a very big varied fleet of trucks like that, all now off highway use only for running spoil from one place to another during the construction of various motorways etc around the country. Most of them were absolutely battered and falling apart but they just kept going and going since there were no MOT requirements anymore!

 

Looking further at the photos of all this awesomeness I found a few real weirdo trucks including this.

This is the M25 being built, and mixing it with the old AEC’s is a Soviet!

It’s a Kraz 256B dumper!! 

 

 

What on earth is that doing in the UK, building motorways!?

 

Turns out a very small number were actually sold here new for mining, quarries etc etc. They were built in Ukraine and used massively by various Soviet Union companies and the military (as the 255) the 256 is basically a slightly newer civilian spec version. These export versions were, strangely, badged and sold as Belaz 256B’s. Obviously this particular contractor had managed to pick a few of them up and had them working on their projects.

 

Interestingly, this same type of truck was also used extensively in its various variants during the Chernobyl nuclear disaster! There was even a specific type of it built for that clean up job in the worst radioactive areas with a single cab (built from lead!), a radiology glass windscreen and special ventilation system for the driver. All of them were used for carrying contaminated materials away from the power station to special dump sites. They themselves became dangerously contaminated in the process and after the clean up finished they were pushed into deep pits along with many other highly contaminated vehicles and equipment and buried.

 

I think it’s incredible how, especially at the time, a big Soviet truck like that could have found its way into road building projects here in the UK working alongside British (and some German too) trucks.

So that is what I’ll model as the low loaders load. I already have a good 1:43 256B dumper model that I bought years ago so I’ll simply strip that down and give it a few alterations and a nice shabby coat of blue paint with a hand written number slapped on. Then it can sit on the low loader on its way out to its next construction project!

 

Finding the model is the thing though. I packed it into a big box with many others months ago ready to move! Now I can’t remember which box they’re in or where that box even is!

interesting reading the comments about the kraz/belaz trucks.

apparently there was a dozen or so belaz tippers imported into the uk by one of the firms making a motorway, can't remember which one but the info came from the wheels & tracks magazine in the 80's.

one of our local, (burnham on sea) contractors bought one and ran it around moving earth & rocks when we had the new sea wall here in burnham after the great tidal surge in 1981, he got into all sorts of trouble as it could not be established what the gross weight was and he was being pulled by the vosa & the police, he painted his bright yellow with red stars on the doors & bonnet. i have pics somewhere but alas i cannot find them, the chap died a few years ago now but people still remember his big yellow russian truck.!

great conversion work on those vehicles btw!

hi phil,

sorry for the delay in a reply, pc problems ect

i thought it was you

hope you are well?

nice work phil

did you once live near me?

the sp gun is definatley a sexton probably a mk2 with m4 suspension.

if you want 1/43rd ww2 models then the altaya range is very extensive but some are much harder to get hold of, there are numerous ww2 american vehicles like gmc 6x6, dodge wc 4x4, halftracks & jeeps.

not seen an m5/m9 h/track but there is an m3  & m16 half track in the range

the only real outside difference between an m3 & m5 is the m5 has flat mudguards and rounded rear corners, so unless you are really fussy most will not know.

the britsh did have some m3 h/tracks and were used in the sicily landings & early italian front.

great pics btw.

looks a nice conversion that

that does look good, i found those chinese m35's a while ago and are ideal for gaming and conversions, the only thing that does not look right is the cab roof a sort of halfway between a hard top and soft top one.

i did the wrecker conversion a long time ago and really forgot about it for ages.

i did speak to a yank who said they did not like them in service as they were under powered for towing.

i must admit i have a laugh when i see them pictured on ebay as who ever builds them does tend to get the wheels wrong!

thanks for the pic.

nice model, but mine is as near 1/72 as i could get it, imho if you compare it to the revell man cabs which is what they are based on., wheels look a lot bigger, i have bought and seen several supposed scaled 3d prints and most are not the scale they are stated as sadly.

the mog looks great, sold more in the uk than in oz? lol

i hope to do a foden also at some point when i get some spare time!

if only i had more time.

oh well

thanks for showing

hi

thanks for that, a few have been sold at auction by the main mod auctioners, can't remember the name at present.

crouch  have an ex us army oshkosh m1070 done as a wrecker and i have just finished both the gb & usa versions of the het's.

i wish i could post pics!

thanks again and looking forward to the mog as well

shaun

fab job on that, we do get the odd pic of civy versions of models but as that is still a rare vehicle in civy hands looks good in that scheme.

would it be possible to use a pic or 2 for the webshop?

thanks

i only found this post today, it brought back many memories of that area as i lived 1 street away and my mates house backed onto the railway embankment and we would spend many an hour getting through the hole in the fence and playing on or near the tracks in the late 60-early 70's.

great times.

On 02/02/2019 at 13:49, milepost48 said:

 

here a couple of pics of an American industrial building I just have finished.

Paul

excellent work

looks good and not far from me so i will have to go and take a look

thanks for the info.

thanks for the replies chaps

just hoping to get my new tt buildings right

hi all

are there any uk supliers of 3mm tt figures and if so got any links?

not really looking at  main supliers though, cottage industry ones 

thanks in advance

the plan is to take our range of frontages and make 1/2  gable ends and roofs into low relief buildings, with windows and doors filled in, i will probably make 2-3 first to see how they mould and cast.

we do have a large range of buildings and parts suitable i reckon from a small cottage to a full factory, i shall have to dig out the masters and see what is involved.

we made this o gauge cottage many years ago for a local model railway club.

i will post pics when i have made something.

thanks for your suggestions, very useful as i am not a railway modeler.