1:35 M19 Tank Transporter & D7 Military Dozer
This build has been a long time in the making. For years I've wanted to honor my grandfather's service during World War II but have been unable to locate an AutoCar heavy truck model which he's standing by in the photo. I know there have been resin kits out there, but in the end I thought the M19 Tank Transporter was a great option to achieve my vision. So using the photo I formulated the vision of the build.
(Left) My grandfather T/5 “Bud” Moon circa 1944, Po Valley, Italy. (Right) The build replica.
Background
MY grandfather entered the army in the infantry and began his combat tour in North Africa. During this time his foxhole was run over by German tanks and he was heavily shelled. Due to the shelling he suffered hearing loss as well as PTSD. Rather than ship him off to a hospital and noting from his records that he was a farm kid from Minnesota, they asked if he could drive trucks and operate heavy equipment. From this point on through the end of the war he was in the engineers. The 715th Engineer Depot Company to be exact.
“We drove everything from Deuce and halfs, to heavy trucks. I had a license to operate all heavy equipment including cranes.” He told me back in the 1980s. He spoke of hauling everything from tanks and supplies to the front and the dead and wounded back from the front. He talked about the many bridge they build throughout Italy to help the 5th Army's advance to the Po valley.
Those stories inspired this build.
The Builds
MiniArt D7 Military Dozer
“This kit contains 609 parts. EVERYTHING you need for an ACCURATE MODEL in ONE BOX”, Boasts the manufacturer. This is true and I think 300 if them are for the tracks…Those of you who have build any variant of the MinArt dozers, know of what I speak, and I am proud to be part of that fellowship. If you haven't built one—be prepared to replace every control lever with scratch-built versions as I've never worked on a kit made from such brittle plastic. This kit is not for the weak of heart.
The kit is super detailed. Maybe too detailed. Seven parts for a fuel pump that's no bigger than .125” is maybe overkill. But I solider on, I have a vision for this build. It has to be easier than building a bridge while being staffed by Luftwaffe pilots.
In the end it was worth it. The build is now 1/3 done.
I Love Kits M19 Tank Transporter w/ Soft Top Cab
I chose this version of the M19 because it includes a turret mounted M2, whereas the hardtop cab does not, and I wanted the added feature. This kit was a ton of fun to build. Very detailed and NOT brittle. I started with the M9 24-wheel trailer which is a kit in itself. I did have to modify it a bit to allow for the D7 to fit. I also had a friend 3D print me some load binders to help secure the dozer to the trailer.
The truck is out-of-the box except for the addition of a pioneer kit, various tools and fuel drums. I came to understand the the box on the truck is considered a “ballast box” to add traction to the truck itself and was many times loaded with barrels full of slag for weight. I added custom decals to identify the truck as belonging to the 715th. I researched vehicle ID numbers to get it as accurate as possible, but the 715th has close to no mentions in the entire North African or Italian campaigns.
The T/5 Moon nameplate. The depot kept getting their trucks stolen by other companies so my grandpas CO had them all create nameplates and bolt them to the trucks to identify who's they were. That seemed to end the larceny of vehicles. It made a great addition to the build.
The figure and base
For the figure I searched high and low for trucker/engineer figures. Almost all of them are in heavy clothes, helmets, etc. None looked the part of the working uniform worn in the photo. Then I found the DefModel Korean War era Marine tanker. This was a great match so I order one from all places—BNA Models in Australia. Evidently, these are not available in the US. This figure is a super-detailed resin kit. I painted it the best I could.
Lastly, I worked up a base of grass and Ak interactive dry ground diorama acrylic media to place the whole scene in the Po Valley.
There you have it. Comment away and keep building.
Awesome
@coondog WOW! Thats amazing! The figure is so real i had too di a double take! Excellent work an d a GREAT tribute!
Thanks Cricket. Figures are always a challenge.
An outstanding job. I too am very impressed with your driver figure. His pose looks so natural. A great tribute to your grandfather. 👍
I think this project can be filed under "Labor of Love." Definitely a subject one doesn't see every day in modeling. Very realistic and I love all the great small detail that is what creates the realism. The figure looks great.
Overall, one of the best dioramas I have seen here.
Much appreciated coming from a Sage builder.
That is just beautiful, Matt! Hats off to a great job all around. My dad was wounded in the Huertgen forest in late 1944, then spent the rest of the war as a radio operator in Paris and Frankfurt.
Really superb result and a great honor to your grandfather, Matt @coondog
A beautiful diorama.
Awesome diorama, Matt! Excellent in every respect! Well done!
A great story, and a great vinyet. Both of my granddads were in the war, one in the south pacific and the other in the CBI theater. I miss them both and have a few good stories from both, but like most WW2 combat vets they didn't really talk a lot about it.
Beautiful work. Your grandfather would be proud of such a beautiful tribute.
@curtisshawk my grandpa didn’t talk about the bad stuff until late in his life. He told great fun stories about smashing. Fruit cart in North Africa and blowing a trolly car off the tracks with a deuce & half rushing to the front in Italy. That would make a great diorama. Thanks for the kind words.
Most of them didn't talk about "the bad stuff" ever. I only got my father to talk a little bit about surviving the kamikaze sinking of his radar picket destroyer at Okinawa by telling him the "official account" I had found in research. It turned out that long conversation on several topics of personal importance would be the last person to person conversation I would have with him. Most of us don't realize we sons and daughters of those guys were the children of PTSD, something I only eventually figured out after dealing with the issue myself.
It looks great!
That looks great. Like the mud on the dozer, chipped away from the base paint in the areas where they stepped to mount up. And perfect representation of wear on the blade face. You've been around these things I see.
The figure as said, is really good. Even the eyes. I can't do eyes. Kudos
@billkoppos Thanks for noticing the details. I always like to distress machines the way they would be from actual wear vs. just making them look beat up. Let face facts—this equipment was only 2-3 years old in some cases and the guys responsible for the upkeep of the equipment were reviewed and inspected for having the stuff in good working order. So, normal wear & tear is what I go for even though in some cases it can prove very subtle.
What an outstanding diorama! I especially love the oily, greasy look of that bulldozer, subtle; yet very realistic.
Fabulous work, Matt, you must be very pleased with the result, I’m sure your grandad would be.
Your attention to bringing detail to the kits and precision work to scale is truly exceptional. A very fine work. My compliments!
@coondog - What a fantastic homage to your grandfather! The amount of weathering looks fantastic, very realistic level of wear and maintenance.
Very nice job, Matt.
If you repositioned that right arm 180 degrees you'd damn near match the pic of your GrandDad. But it still looks great as is.
Excellent kit (diorama) superbly weathered, and nicely tied to historic events.