15 CWT

[The model subject is a Chevrolet 15-cwt CMP truck.]

History: Prior to WWII, the Canadian requirement for military vehicles was low and the Canadian automotive industry had no true "military vehicle" readily available for mass production. At the beginning of the war, the Canadian subsidiaries of the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation joined forces to produce military vehicles for the Canadian military. Since the United States was not involved at that point in the war, the Canadian Department of National Defense (DND) decided to continue its historical policy and directed the manufactures to develop vehicles based on British designs.

[The 15-cwt CMP truck is roughly the equivalent of the ž ton truck.]

The two companies decided to produce vehicles that while utilizing their own power plants and drive trains, would be based on common structural components. These common components were grouped into three categories: chassis, cab, and cargo / specialist body work. This provided for maximum inter-changeability of parts and for adaptations of the components to a wide variety of vehicles that included general service trucks, wreckers, ambulances, maintenance vans, field artillery tractors, Bofors AA gun carriages, scout cars and armored cars.

[It has a type 13 cab, and a wooden general service truck bed.]

British army defeats in northern Europe in 1939 and 1940 left them with a severe shortage of military vehicles. The British turned to the Canadian automotive industry to replace their losses. As a result, by the time of the British victory at El Alamein in North Africa, 80% of all the 8th Army mechanical transports where supplied by Canada. This represented 90,000 vehicles, (50,000 produced by Ford's Walkerville (Windsor) facility and 40,000 by GM's Oshawa facility). Throughout the balance of the war and well beyond, CMP vehicles continued to play a major role with British and Commonwealth forces.

[It's painted and marked to represent a support vehicle used by the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Regiment near Ortona, Italy in December 1943. ]

The model subject is a Chevrolet 15-cwt CMP truck. It has a 101" wheel base chassis, a type 13 cab, and a wooden general service truck bed. ("Note: "cwt" is the short form for the British unit of measure "hundred weight" or 100 pounds. This makes it roughly the equivalent of the ž ton truck.) It's painted and marked to represent a support vehicle used by the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Regiment near Ortona, Italy in December 1943. This unit was the senior regiment in the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Infantry Division.

[This kit was originally issued by Peerless Max.]

The Kit: This kit has been released multiple times by different companies. It was originally issued by Peerless Max with a 6-pounder anti-tank gun and crew. The truck by itself is currently available through Italeri. The kit used for this particular model is the Testors / Italeri issue, kit # 772. The kit shows its age with some flash around smaller parts and some sink marks on the chassis. There are also a significant number of ejection pin marks. They are mostly on the under-surfaces. With care, the kit goes together very well. Other than to fill sink and ejector pin marks, I used very little putty. The only kit based challenge I found was figuring out how to fit the nose and fenders to the main cab so that the cab would sit properly on the chassis, and the cab doors would fit around all edges. In the end, I opted to leave the doors open as I wasn't happy with their fit closed.

[I replaced the grill with etched brass screen and boxed in the area in front of the radiator.]

A number of detail changes were made to the kit:

1. The kit comes with a nicely detailed radiator but it is hidden behind a solid molded grill. I replaced the grill with etched brass screen and boxed in the area in front of the radiator. I cut the Chevy logo from a picture I had of a real 15-cwt to replace the one lost on the original part.
2. The front windows were opened by cutting the clear part in two and adding framing with styrene strips. The outer frame work was expanded to accept the now separate window frames, and the widows were glued in the open position. Scratch built window supports were then added.
3. The cab was detailed by replacing the instrument panel with photocopies of instruments behind a ˝ round piece of clear rod to represent the look of the real panel. I also added addition levers, fuel switches, and vents.
4. I felt that the side windows were overly thick so I cut them off to be stored in the truck bed. This was not an unusual situation in actual use.
5. To finish off the cab, I replaced the rifles holders with ones made from brass shim stock. To these I mounted Lee Enfield rifles (with scratch built straps) from a Dragon figures and weapons set.
6. The last modification was to replace the molded-on tie downs on the truck bed with ones made of wire.
7. The kit's representation of the tarp covering the bed is totally unconvincing so I decided to replace it with one of my own construction. This is where I spent most of my time on this project. From the CMP intranet web site I found a sequence of pictures that showed all sides of the tarp arrangement. I built a jig out of sheet styrene to represent the support frame work. I then tried various methods and materials to attempt to produce a realistic looking bed cover. Because of the complex nature of the tarp, I ended up drawing a pattern of all of the separate pieces, (28 in all including tied down loops) laying them out as if I was going to sew them together. I reproduced the parts in various materials, but the only one I was happy with was a tissue wrapping paper. Gluing the parts together with thinned white glue, I constructed the tarp on the jig. When dry, I sprayed the outside of the trap with thinned white glue to set the basic shape. Then I sprayed both inside and out with paint to fix the basic color. Next I added the tied down ropes, rolled up the side sheets and folded back the rear opening. When all was dry I transferred the tarp to the model. To secure the ropes to the tie downs and the side of the box, I covered them with a wax paste (used to secure doll house miniatures to tables and such). It's transparent and has just enough stickiness to hold the ropes in place.
8. To finish off the model, I added miscellaneous boxes, equipment, and tools from various sources to the bed. I then mounted the model on a landscaped base.

[The kit's representation of the tarp covering the bed is totally unconvincing so I decided to replace it with one of my own construction.]

Finish and Markings: In 1942, Britain found herself short of the chemical used to produce green paint, and all available stocks where given to the RAF for aircraft camouflage paint. At that time, the British Army came out with a new camouflage standard that did not include green. For all vehicles serving in Britain, the base color was a dark chocolate brown, given the descriptive name of Standard Camouflage Color No. 2.

[The kit was painted a mix of Humbrol 29 Dark Earth, and 170 Brown Bess in the ratio of 6:4.]

This color is approximated by a mix of Humbrol 29 (Dark Earth) and 170 (Brown Bess) in the ratio of 6:4. The entire vehicle, inside and out, was sprayed with this mixture. A wash of thinned oil raw umber was applied to add depth. This really made the excellent wood grain on the truck bed parts stand out. A light dry brushing with Humbrol 29 was used sparingly for some subtle weathering. Since tarps of the base color tend to be lighter in shade, it was painted with Humbrol 29 alone. The kit decals where used for the vehicle numbers, bridging markings, and the air recognition roundel on the roof of the cab. The 1st Division solid red square with gold leaf markings, and the senior regiment solid red with white number markings where custom made.

[This particular model is the Testors / Italeri issue.]

Summary: This was my second stab at 1/35th scale and the effort / result has reinforced my intentions to build more. This is a nice kit. With some combination of parts from the Italeri and Tamyia artillery tractors and some scratch building, a whole family of CMP vehicles can be built.

References:

Internet
  Made In Canada - CMP Vehicles; www.geocities/cmpvehicles/
  Maple Leaf Up; www.mapleleafup.org
  Miniature AFV Association; www.mafva.com

Periodicals
  RT, IPMS Canada, Vol. 9 No. 4, April 1976
  Esprit de Corp, issue unknown