Mirror Models Diamond T 968A Cargo Truck WIP #7

"To Weather, Or To Not Weather? That Is The Question!"

That is something that I think most of us go through when we are building a model, whether it is armour, aircraft or automotive modelling. In the past, this has got me in trouble when I covered my Chevrolet Blazer model with mud a few years ago. But when it comes down to military vehicles and aircraft, you have to ask that question, "Does it need weathering?". In truth, the only time you will see a military subject really clean can be narrowed down to a couple of times in its life. 

1: When it first came off the production line.

2: When it has been in the workshop for a major overhaul and/or repaint.

3: When it is a museum exhibit.

So, we decide to weather the model, but, how far do we go with it? This all boils down to many different factors, the time of year, region in the world, type of vehicle, how it is being used and the weather conditions. For the Diamond T, she would have been active in the European theatre at anytime of the year. I have decided to weather mine as if it was in the Spring with some rain still around. The truck has been taken off road in the line of its duty, hence the lumps of mud thrown up around the wheels and chassis. So far, I have only done weathering on the chassis assembly and underside of the front mudguards. The upper surfaces and cargo body will be done a little later once they have had some work finished on them.

My normal method for creating mud on my models is by using modelling scenic scatter mixed in with some mud coloured paints. But last weekend whilst I was at the East Midlands Model Show in Hinckley, I discovered "MUD" from MIG Productions. This is a ready made paste for creating, well, mud. It can be used on the model itself or on the display bases. I will include a link to MIG's website page explaining about the stuff. I used the European Dry Mud (rough texture) on this project. I will finish off the weathering by using some pigments of the same colour from MIG's range.

MIG Productions Mud Range 

Now, onto the cargo body. Mirror Models supplied the kit with a vac formed cover to go onto the body. This looks okay, but I found it was too long and wide to fit the body properly, unless you decide to do a bit of chopping around on it. So I have decided to make my own cover for the body. Over the last few days, I have been mocking up a couple of templates for shaping the cover frames. After messing around and getting the first frame made up, I used that one as the basis for the remaining four frames to go onto the body. Each frame has been glued into location holes drilled on both sides of the body side panel top edges. They still need a little tweeking, but they look okay and roughly the right shape. Now I have got to work out the next stage and the best method to make the canvas cover.

Here is the vac formed cover supplied with the kit resting on the frames for reference. You can see how the cover is over-sized when it sits on the body.

Now it is time to get back to work and work out how to do this cover. I have a couple of ideas, but we will have to see what happens and what looks best. Happy modelling until next installment on the Diamond T.