CMP 15cwt

This is an experimental 1:100 (15mm) model of the CMP 15cwt utility truck, a variation of one that I designed some considerable time ago.

At the time I didn't have a resin printer, and I never got very satisfactory results printing the ribs of the tilt frame in FDM. So I did a quick redesign of that model to remove the frame entirely, and put some sockets in the walls of the cargo bed for wire ribs instead. The wire not only gives me a cleaner result, but a much sturdier one to boot — much more likely to survive wargamers' fumble-fingers on the tabletop.

I also designed and printed a bending jig to make sure that they are all the same size and profile.

The jig isn't particularly successful; it worked to a degree, but I think there must be a better way to do it.

I see from photos of the original vehicle that there should be some horizontal spreaders between the ribs. Maybe I'll get around to doing something about them some time.

I used 1mm aluminium tying-off wire for this proof-of-concept model, and it's okay, but some 0.5mm x 1mm brass strip would do a better job I think.

Next day...

I made a matching female part for the jig, so that I can squish the wire between the two, and that works a lot better.

In this photo I've tried a couple of alternative materials for the frame: copper wire (0.95mm) and soft iron florists' wire (0.89mm). I don't know what those measurements equate to in gauge. Both are a little bit heavy; something about 0.7 to 0.8mm would be better. The copper is easier to work with than the iron, mainly because it's polished and therefore slipperier.

Edit: Looks like those measurements turn out to 19 and 20 gauge respectively, for the copper and the iron.

 Coupla days...

Here are the two that I've completed so far, alongside an old Battlefront 15mm pointing-at-the-sky guy.

The stores in the back of the truck in the foreground are some modules I originally designed and printed to go in the back of my Chenillette, plus a rolled-up tarp made from epoxy putty.