Operation Bertram Scammell TRMU30/TRCU30 and Crusader III

I picked up the Thunder Model Scammell TRMU 30 at the beginning of the Covid lockdown and set about researching it's use in North Africa. The more I delved into the deception plan ahead of the Battle of El Alamein II the more it fascinated me so I decided to set my model during that operation. I had to order the Crusader III in from Japan and of course half way through the build Border released their version *doh* as the tank would be mostly covered by the Sunshade diguise I decided to plug on with the Tamiya/Italeri offering.
 

 

The kit had been sitting in Melbourne at HobbyHQ for quite some I think as the major trailer components were badly warped and required some inventive clamping to have them stright and sqaure.
 

I added some extra details to the jacks and ramps and made new carriers out of PE frets as the kit ones were incorrect in design and placement on the model.
 

As the tool box was going to be displayed open I added some woodgrain to the interior. A few hours of research and pausing videos gave me the carrier lock details which were absent in the kit although the PE chains were included. I next made the bracing rods that were added to desert vehicles to prevent them being damaged by driving on rough terrain, the spares box came in handy here plus I raided a King Tiger kit in the stash.

At this point I started on the Scammell tractor unit. The engine was going to visable with the side panels displayed removed so I added some extra pipes and hoses to the already beautifully detailed kit part. I wanted to have the front wheels not staright so I downloaded the detailed instructions from Perth Military Modelling to articulate them. I saw another build where the guy complained that the 5th wheel broke off several times during construction so I made a stronger spindle out of wire (not #8 sadly)

Now the tractor was assembled to the point the 5th wheel was at it's finished height I was able to attach the trailer and glue the ramps in their final position, which in turn gave me the angles I needed to butcher the Crusader suspension.

I weathered behind the wheels before gluing and now I was able to attach the tracks and wire them to axle behind the wheels so they held the contour.

The Crusader now was painted and decaled as a tank of the Queens Bays/1st Armoured Division.

The Sunshade disguise was the next job and scared me the most as I've not done a lot of soldering before. I made a jig to bend the main hoops so they were the exact same shape, cut all the little lengths then started on the soldering. All went well until I had to do a joint close to a completed one which would pop open once the heat hit it. After some colourful langauge and a couple of days back on the Scammell I tried again and this time got my young fella to press a screwdriver tip onto the completed joints as a heat sink and this worked a treat. There was actually 12 months between completing the solder job and finished the cloth covering, this was due to trying 12 different materials before finding one I was happy with and spending a lot of time back on the Scammell. The cloth I went with is used to line woman's clothing like skirts etc.

 

Back on the Scammell I added a lot of extra details to the cab, driver's step, offside semiphore (indicator), 2x rifle stowage, fire extingusher, book holder, passenger armrest, wheel brace and jack.