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[Allen A]

Hope this fits in this section and that folks find it of interest.
As part of my interest and active participation in WWII re-enactment I have friends with jeeps who often take me out with them on runs so much so that I joined the MVT myself. At Christmas a while back my kids asked me what I would like, jokingly I said a jeep .. imagine my surprise when I got one, no not the real thing of course but a 1/10scale RC model, which I had fun with turning it from a toy into a realistic model, and it was while doing this that I became aware of the 1/6 scale version and so bought one of those myself, again like the PT boat, not perfect but unlike the PT boat not a lemon either. !
I wont go into too much detail, the pictures will I hope speak for themselves, but I stripped it down and repainted it with genuine OD jeep paint as used on (real) jeeps, then went on to add a third pedal in the drivers side, there are only two in the factory moulding for some reason, replaced all the supplied very thin nylon straps for the axe/shovel and fuel can with wider elastic painted to look like canvas  The engine bay is simply of one piece moulded plastic detail, not a lot could be done with it so I just painted it to look liker a jeep engine bay should, the overall effect working I think. It comes with only one set of headlights fitted, so wanting more I added lighting to the front as sidelights and also a small bulb in the left fender light which was often hooded, and finally rear lights too. In order to make it more realistic, I put a ‘wiper motor’ above the wipers and then the retaining straps for the driver and passenger, again using and painting the same elastic as for the other straps, the final touch being to get stencils for it.
I had come across a picture of a WWII 8^th USAAF jeep at Shipdham in 1942 and used its markings for my model, they are available online to order and are very good quality, for the uninitiated the bumper marks decipher as follows .. 8 for 8thAAF, AAF star with red center, 44 (for bomb group, US Army star, 66 (for bomb squadron) and 4 is simply the vehicle No.
To complete the picture I needed a driver, and thereby hangs a tail as supposedly Action Man figures are 1/6 scale and should fit, the problem being they sit too high in the jeep for realistic appearances and after performing what can only be called major surgery on a couple of figures I have got them a little lower … BUT … the reality finally dawned that it is the model that is at fault as the seats in it sit a lot higher than seats in the real thing, that being to allow for the battery which is located in the chassis under the seats, Im working on a way to lower the seats .. ( I try not to think of what I did to the action man figures)
Having got the figures I wanted to dress them right too and was pleased to discover the Dragon in Dreams range of clothing and equipment available, talk about a $40 dollar saddle on a $10 horse, I paid about £3 each for the figures, it cost over £100 to dress them both, it was worth it though .. !

[Backerther]

Allen,


An engine room detailing is so useful for my jeep and me.
I have been looking for suitable images of real jeep. But the images I found were vague and obscure..!!!!
I may follow your way of painting in the very near future. !!
Thank you for your posting.!!

[Allen A]

Hi


If you want to pm me I can send you some pics I sourced not only for my model but also as part of my WWII representation and portrayal
Allen

[Allen A]

To follow on from my post on the other 1/6 jeep topic .. as stated although Action man figures are essentially 1/6 scale and should fit these jeeps, they do to a point, the fault being in the models design in as much as the seats in the model are set way too high compared to the real things, the pictures illustrate this I hope .. the first one being of a real jeep, I know its the passenger side in this picture and the drivers side in the second but in fact both seats are more or less the same height in a full size one.


In the second picture of the model .. 'A' is the 'door' level and 'B'  the approximate seat level in the real thing ...  'C' being the actual seat level in the model jeep .. if you transpose that to the top of the figures head 'C' is where the head sits at present and 'B' will be where the head will sit if the seat is lowered, with the corresponding eye level coming down making for a more realistic and in scale appearance  ??

[Backerther]

I intended the B level in vain....by cutting hips and hamstrings of the driver to the limit...
At least I eagerly wanted to get the eye level lower than upper frame of wind shield....
Unless I could do that it seems "the driver will surely get irritated" by his front view disturbed by the upper frame
Some pics I collected are...
But You know much better than these pics as you could easily watch the very real jeeps !!!!

[Allen A]

I intended the B level in vain....by cutting hips and hamstrings of the driver to the limit...

Yes me too, major surgery and unnecessary at that in reality .. when I think of what I did to Action Man when the fault was in the model and not in the figure ...
At least I eagerly wanted to get the eye level lower than upper frame of wind shield.... Unless I could do that it seems "the driver will surely get irritated" by his front view disturbed by the upper frame

Im 5' 10 and yes it can be true sometimes that your knees are by your chin but it is a low seat in reality, a devil to get in and out of sometimes especially as you get older, and having realised the problem the next time I sat in one I assessed where I was, my eye level etc for confirmation of what I was thinking ..

Some pics I collected are...
But You know much better than these pics as you could easily watch the very real jeeps !!!!

I not only get to watch them but I am also lucky enough to get to ride in them regularly too thanks to a couple of good friends who invite me out as passenger when and where the situation arises, our next outing being a classic car show in Hebden Bridge in a couple of weeks.

Looking under the seat area, there is it seems a little headspace there for want of a better word and of course smaller batteries too (with the same required output of course) so I am seriously thinking of attempting to lower the seat area so as to bring the figures eyeline more in keeping with what would be a more accurate presentation of both model and figure....

[ballastanksian]

And there lies that annoying thing of trying to get a model motorised and look realistic!


Your first issue is scale weight. The wee men are not heavy enough. As an example, a 1:32nd scale tank model should weigh a ton! I suppose then that a 1:6th scale figure should weigh more than it's actual weight in gold to get the cushions to squeeze realistically, but we cannot do this (unless very wealthy!) Your disappointment with the engine could help you with your seat height issue by putting the battery in the front instead and then would that allow you to lower seats alleviating bum surgery on your crew?


The 1:6th models and figures are very good and you've done a fine job with them and the model. I wish I could afford one of the Armourtek kits. The Rolls Royce Armoured car looks amazing!

[Bunkerbarge]

Lets assume a Tiger 1 at approximately 60 tons and a 1/35th model


Real weight = 60t
Scale weight= (Real Weight)/(35x35x35) or 1/42875, i.e. 60/42875=0.001399 tons, this converts to 1.27kg.  If you build a Heng Long Tiger 1 with all the metal upgrades, i.e. hull, tracks, wheels, turret, etc. it is actually not far off a scale weight, which is why it behaves so much more realistically than the plastic version does.

The seats on the ROC Hobbies Willy's Jeep are definately too high.  A simple solution is to simply cut the seat base down by a few millimeters to improve the room.  It doesn't look quite so obvious when the screen is down or if you model it on a LRDG or SAS version and remove the screen completely.

[Allen A]

Interestingly I was an a Tank forum and posted about the Jeep., is why I joined it to be honest and when I got the PT boat I posted on the boat section but not that many folks were into boats, hence Im here .. but I digress .. this point of scale/ size etc came up there too and I posted this in response and as an example how often vehicle bodies will be designed it seems to suit existing drive trains etc rather than as an accurate copy ... 


The actual size of a jeep is as in the attached picture which is of the specs as marked on the side of a 1945 Ford I was in today ie;
Overall height .... 69.75 inches or 1771.65mm or 295.275mm at 1/6
Overall length ... 132.25 inches or 3359.15mm or 559.85mm at 1.6
Overall width ... 632 inches or 1574.8mm or 262.46mm at 1/6

The Roc Hobby 1/6 scale specs are
Overall height 270mm
Overall length 5305mm
Overall width 258mm

Interestingly I'm about 5' 10" and I noticed today my eyeline was about level with the top of the windscreen and had the canvas top been fitted I would have needed to hunker down a little so as not to rub my head on it, so perhaps in having a 12" figure sitting slightly high isn't too far off the mark for realism purposes ??

Regarding the windscreen sizes, the real one measures 50 inches (1270mm) wide along the top line and is 22.5 inches (571.5mm) high whereas the model measures 8.125 inches (206.375mm) long  and measures 4 inches (101.6mm) high.... the end result being that the model, although looking good, is a mishmash of mismatched sizes and not in reality 1/6 scale overall which I find to be a shame, but perhaps being 'new' to this sort of thing, maybe I'm expecting too much ..?
going by these figures then the model is 25.275mm lower than it should be,.. 29mm shorter than it should be and 4.46mm narrower than it should be .. no wonder then we have trouble getting things to match and look right ..   

[Bunkerbarge]

I think you are always going to have to expect compromises with a working model.  Added to that will be the manufacturing 'tolerances' and a RTR RC model car is always going to be less than perfect.  Also the model has to actually be capable of operating in rough terrain so the model relies on oil damped cil shocks rather than the leaf springs with hydraulic damper units of the real jeep.


I think at the end of the day the model has a good overall presence and its imperfections can perhaps be forgiven for the sake of a good balance between a scale looking yet capable off road vehicle.  Mine is in the process of being converted to a SAS jeep so the windscreen has been ditched anyway!

[Allen A]

Yes of course, cant really expect it to be spot on, but still an all a degree of accuracy is perhaps desirable .. ? but as I say it seems the vehicle bodies are adapted to fit the existing chassis and  suspension configurations and as such we should accept overall appearances over full accuracy for what is as you say 'a good overall appearance'  (which they have and I think we can agree on),  especially after the variety of modifications done to the basic model that have been done by others.


Going back though to the question of the figures, checking over mine last night to see if there is anywhere else a battery could be placed (there isn't in reality), I realised, remembered actually, that my two figures sitting high as they do, are doing so after major surgery, so imagine how high they would have been before .. I will I think try and reduce the height of the cushion as a starter, again in the real thing that is quite thin, just enough so the occupants aren't actually sitting on rock hard metal it seems, and will try and make structural changes to lower the seat area on the body as a last resort .!!

[Backerther]

Allen,


I do look forward to your happy result and its report as I do not have any chance to see the real jeep willys MB...
It is the best if the cushion itself of the seat could be thinner neatly rather than the drastic surgery as I did to my figure.!