Here are some images of Italeri's 1/35 scale GMC CCKW Water Tank Truck.
From Wikipedia "
The GMC CCKW is a 2½ ton 6X6 U.S. Army cargo truck that saw service in World War II and the Korean War, often incorrectly referred to as a "Deuce and a Half" or "Jimmy". The CCKW came in many variants, the simplest being open or closed cab, and Long Wheel Base (LWB) or Short Wheel Base (SWB).
CCKWs were employed in large numbers for the Red Ball Express, an enormous convoy system created by Allied forces to supply their forces moving through Europe following the breakout from the D-Day beaches in Normandy, from August 25 to November 16, 1944, when the port facilities at Antwerp were opened. At its peak the Red Ball operated 5,958 vehicles, and carried about 12,500 tons of supplies a day.
The designation CCKW comes from model nomenclature used by GMC; the first C indicated a vehicle designed in 1941, the second C signified a conventional cab, the K indicated all-wheel drive and the W indicated dual powered rear axles. The term "Deuce and a Half" is apparently a post war term that was generally applied to all 2½ ton cargo trucks.
Initially all versions were of closed cab design (having a metal roof and doors) with all steel cargo beds. But as the war progressed an open cab version was designed that had fixed 'half doors' and a canvas top/sides and the steel bed was replaced by a wooden one to conserve steel.
Just a note - my grandfather was a Seabee in World War Two, and developed a fondness for CCKWs. Later, when he became a house-mover, he used nothing but surplus CCKWs. He never called them "deuce-and-a-halfs", which is apparently a post-war term. He always called them "six-bys". I don't know if six-by is official World War Two slang, but that's what I use, based solely on his example.
ReplyDeleteA thing I noticed about the Wiki article is that states that CCKW's only had the 750 gal water tank example but this model clearly represents a tank that is larger then that.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to guess (and it's JUST a guess) that yours is the 750-gallon version, but the 750-gallon specification is kind of notional. 750 gallons of water would weigh about 6200 pounds, which I imagine was probably GM's maximum cargo weight rating. But the tank looks like it could hold two thousand gallons by volume. But if the truck could only carry 750 gallons of water, why put a 2000 gallon tank on it? I have no idea, which probably means I'm wrong! (Unless most of what looks like the tank was a compartment for storing a water hose about 17 miles long.)
ReplyDeleteWell according to the instruction sheet it says it was equipped with a standard 2650 I tank. Whatever that means. It's just that the tank on the model looks so much larger than the 750 Gal tank shown on Wikipedia here.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GMC_CCKW_750_Gal_Tanker.jpg
I'm thinking 2650 imperial gallons.
ReplyDeleteHello, have you get the instructions sheets of this model kit? Could toy scan them and send by electronic mail? Best regards, Laurent MARTIN
ReplyDeleteSend me your email.
ReplyDelete2650L= 700US gal lqd..close enough?
ReplyDelete