Did this happen? LRDG 15 CWT W/ Breda

OldManModeller

OldManModeller

Active Member
Joined
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So, many years ago I bought this kit and modified it. A single-kit bash, if you will. I am a fan of the LRDG and pretty much all things WWII in North Africa. I lived in the Mojave Desert for a few years and find the Long-Range Desert Group as being kindred spirits. I also love the CMP 4x4 truck variants as well.

20241110_115245.jpg
 
Any comments good or bad is appreciated.

I know that the metal thickness is way off on the doors and body.


But it is what it is.

Model on. Be well.

Eric
 
The build looks good . Did you do a search for that combination ? It would not surprise me to see it though. Many odd combinations were done .
 
Modelprofessor said:
The build looks good . Did you do a search for that combination ? It would not surprise me to see it though. Many odd combinations were done .
Click to expand...
This is a kit bash that I did maybe 10 years ago. After reading up and buying several books on the LRDG, I realized that they used what they had and what was good.

On a side note of the history of North Africa...
I even did research behind the film and author of "The English Patient", a favorite film to me. Although it was mostly fiction, it was deep to me. Historically... Almassy was apparently a homosexual, if one believes the historical opinions. None- the- less, the film was phenomenal.

The bottom line is it could have happened. My kit bash, that is. A search today on google shows me that similar vehicles were created.

It's all about history and maybe it happened. It's all about having fun, with history in the mix.

Be well. Model on.

Eric
 
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Great build! Photo setting really sets the mood!

Yup, at around the same I got enthralled (obsessed) with the LRDG and R.A. Bagnold, including his early exploits proving the feasibility of motorized travel in the deep desert... no small feat when you consider he did it 20 years earlier by Model T!
At one point I surprised an antique dealer by recognizing a theodolite (adopted in the desert for navigation) that he had in the window: fortunately my wife intercepted me before I found my credit card!
Like you, I collected every resource (physical and on the ether) I could find (that wasn't outrageously expensive), but I don't recall any photos or references to this combo in service with the LRDG. I'm pretty sure it did exist though as a field modification, as the belligerents were constantly 'acquiring' the other guys' stuff and putting it into service!
I even bought the same kit, mostly for the Breda, which I am yet to bash onto a Chevy 30CWT 'Heavy weapons' patrol truck.
I built the kit truck, and dressed it in a 'pinkish' (not so pink in the photo) camo scheme, regular 8th army.

IMAG0931.jpg


Glad I'm not the only desert aficionado! Hope to see more of your builds from that corner of the war.

Cheers
 
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BarleyBop said:
Great build! Photo setting really sets the mood!

Yup, at around the same I got enthralled (obsessed) with the LRDG and R.A. Bagnold, including his early exploits proving the feasibility of motorized travel in the deep desert... no small feat when you consider he did it 20 years earlier by Model T!
At one point I surprised an antique dealer by recognizing a theodolite (adopted in the desert for navigation) that he had in the window: fortunately my wife intercepted me before I found my credit card!
Like you, I collected every resource (physical and on the ether) I could find (that wasn't outrageously expensive), but I don't recall any photos or references to this combo in service with the LRDG. I'm pretty sure it did exist though as a field modification, as the belligerents were constantly 'acquiring' the other guys' stuff and putting it into service!
I even bought the same kit, mostly for the Breda, which I am yet to bash onto a Chevy 30CWT 'Heavy weapons' patrol truck.
I built the kit truck, and dressed it in a 'pinkish' (not so pink in the photo) camo scheme, regular 8th army.

View attachment 131982


Glad I'm not the only desert aficionado! Hope to see more of your builds from that corner of the war.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Yeah, I hear ya. I love the desert, in the winter. Been a desert camper, hiker, Jeeper, and motorcyclist since the 1970's. But, only in the winter time now. Did a few summer camping trips in the Mojave desert with my brother back when I was in my early 20's. We almost died. 123 degrees F one day.

Those LRDG and SAS troopers went through a lot.

I considered scratch building a dash sundial for that old build. Never happened. But It's still one of my favorite builds.

Your build is better than mine! Kudo's.

Be well. Model on.

Eric
 
OldManModeller said:
Yeah, I hear ya. I love the desert, in the winter. Been a desert camper, hiker, Jeeper, and motorcyclist since the 1970's. But, only in the winter time now. Did a few summer camping trips in the Mojave desert with my brother back when I was in my early 20's. We almost died. 123 degrees F one day.

Those LRDG and SAS troopers went through a lot.

I considered scratch building a dash sundial for that old build. Never happened. But It's still one of my favorite builds.

Your build is better than mine! Kudo's.

Be well. Model on.

Eric
Click to expand...
Nice! The closest I ever came to desert was in my imagination as a kid, crawling over snow 'dunes', recreating scenes from the 'Rat Patrol'!
 
On the subject of desert travel, I found this a great read!
I think I read elsewhere that after WW2, he went on to be something of an expert in desert dynamics, and brought in as a consultant in more recent desert conflicts.

17346196834618277239881480437107.jpg
 
BarleyBop said:
On the subject of desert travel, I found this a great read!
I think I read elsewhere that after WW2, he went on to be something of an expert in desert dynamics, and brought in as a consultant in more recent desert conflicts.

View attachment 132035
Click to expand...

Yes Sir. I own that one, too. And his book The Physics of Blown Sand.
And some books by David Lloyd Owen, Tim Moreman, Brendan O'Carroll.
 
BarleyBop said:
Nice! The closest I ever came to desert was in my imagination as a kid, crawling over snow 'dunes', recreating scenes from the 'Rat Patrol'!
Click to expand...

Maybe you could find the time and see the desert. Take a trip to Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico or east California. It sounds like you will love it.

The desert is a special place to those who can appreciate it. There is a magic to those who see it's beauty. Usually people either love it or hate it. To those who love the tranquility, peace, quiet and vastness: It is a spiritual place. To those who love the rocky hills and deep sand washes, it is freedom. The history of walking where a native American did or a gold miner in the 1800's, is epic to those who can 'see' it. And it still looks the same as it did for a native Indian in the 1600's and to that jackass miner in 1850. And to General George Patton at the desert bases prior to the US involvement in North Africa.

It's a love, like a sailor loves the sea.

Most people dread just driving through the desert on the way going to somewhere else. The keen will stop and marvel.

Be Well. Model on.

Eric

Enjoy...
https://www.historynet.com/patton-desert-training-center/
 
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Beautifully put.

Just last year, the Outer Banks evoked a bit of that, not so desolate, but with a view of the vastness of the sea, and shifting sands.


20230428_195712.jpg

At some point, I hope to tribute those early explorations with a couple of model Ts; ICM kits already sitting on my shelf.

Cheers!
 
OldManModeller said:
Yes Sir. I own that one, too. And his book The Physics of Blown Sand.
And some books by David Lloyd Owen, Tim Moreman, Brendan O'Carroll.
Click to expand...

Ha! then you'd like the books of Kennedy Shaw, Gavin Mortimer and Mike Morgan!
If you lived across town they'd be in your mailbox!

How was 'The Physics of Blown Sand'?
Unrelated to the LRDG, a book titled 'Sensitive Chaos' really captured my imagination many years ago - all about fluid dynamics, including the air and the water that surrounds us, shapes us and the environment around us...

I guess I've always been fascinated by the breeze, the clouds, the waves, ridges and drifts in the snow.
My father worked on a hydrographic vessel in the early 50s, and his photos of bergs, the sea, the rough coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador must have made an impression.

Cheers
 
Yep, I majored in civil engineering... which is unrelated to the desert in the big picture, but Bagnold brought engineering, war, and the desert together for me.
 
My dad was a hard core lover of the ocean. He was a US Marine in the 1950's, and he sailed sailboats in my growing up years in the 60s and 70s.

I loved the desert, he loved the sea. It's very similar, but different.
 
Just followed the link desert training center... will give it a thorough read when I have a clear head!

A few years ago, I came across a book about the 756th Tank Battalion's journey into Africa and beyond...
Danby, Jeff. Men of Armor, Kindle Edition.

I figured if I was going to build vehicles of the North African and Mediterranean campaigns, I should get informed, try and understand the circumstances, the experiences, or at least acknowledge the sacrifices and the events, big and small.

So beyond the tomes (mostly used) I was able to find on local hobby store shelves, I also turned to dozens of eBooks. (close to 80 at last count!)

To that thread about historical veracity, for me it's not so much about exacting accuracy either, its more about the satisfaction of re-creating an artifact that tells a story, retold through my eyes, shaped by my hands.

Cheers

Interesting how we come to this hobby from different angles, I majored in Fine Art, into a career in graphic design, museum exhibitry, then into tech with user interface design for mobile phones and complex systems (telecom, medical and insurance) software. Now I build tankettes and paint little men!
 
OldManModeller said:
The desert is a special place to those who can appreciate it.
Click to expand...
One of my favorite camping trips of my life was being out in the middle of the Black Rock desert in Nevada. Flat as a pancake, about 60 miles by 30 miles ancient lake bed. You could see every star in the sky from horizon to horizon, mind blowing.
I also really like Death Valley National Park away from the most popular spots.
 

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