Discussion going on elsewhere on the Armorama website comparing the merits of the Italeri scale model container vs. the Trumpeter product.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/263665&page=1#2232365

I apologize that this thread seems to be getting so fractured. If you have not been following along it has probably gotten to the point where you might not know just what is being talked about. First it started with the Mk 8x8 LHS(The original Topic), then onto the CHU (Container Handling Unit), then container lore in general and now I throw in a side trip looking into the CROPS Flatrack.

This thread, like my modeling, just seems to go wherever the interest leads next at any given moment!

Again I apologize and promise to get back to the Mk eventually. I hope on one level or another everyone is enjoying the journey. I know I am.

Thanks too for all the input from ye fellow modelers. Keep it coming!

Regards.

Mike K.
165thspc

Dawg gone it - I need some loads for my CROP and for my two other Flatracks!





My 'load" may end up being just Lego blocks wrapped in Kleenex but I have got to do something.

Beauty shot here:

PLS with 20' civilian container using the original design CHU to grab the load.

Note: Container load lock laying on the ground waiting to be applied.

Once again I wish these and the Patriot rocket reload pods were available separately to use as Flatrack and HEMTT loads.







Anyone have the specs or a technical drawing on these? They certainly seem fairly basic and buildable out of brass tube and Evergreen shapes.

Another option would be using Voyager PE set 35007 :



and scratchbuilding the tubes...

H.P.

and THAT is why I asked!

Again thank you Frenchy

Worked some on the CROPS Flatrack tonight but the roller end is as yet, still un-detailed. Also finished up the open doors on the Trumpeter container.







This is almost every resin shipping crate I own and the CROPS rack is still not half full.

SOON TO BE NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Just in the odd chance that a few out there have missed this. Mike Goldberg has been working on digitally reproducing both the corner blocks for scratch building your own containers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . AND . . . . . . (drum roll please!)

an actual scale CHU digital model for we nuts out there interested in the supply side of modern combat.

TA-DAH! - Get ready to place your Shapeways orders!



(All images above are the property of Mike Goldberg - MS Productions)


Link to Mike G's page on the design and creation of his CHU:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/245315&page=42#2233003

Here are Mike's new ISO Corner Blocks that arrived today from Shapeways.
(I have added a light coat of primer in order to see them better:

Mike Goldberg's digitally printed CHU has now been uploaded to the Shapeways site and is available here for purchase:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/WATAJ4Z64/1-35-container-handling-unit-chu-msp35-070?key=7e1e586e1168db18924648a69d56456a

Digital renderings come from the Shapeways website:

The M-1 Flatrack:


This is considered by the military to be the ideal flatrack. However the increased weight of this bulkhead flatrack AND the increased cost of the design has forced it to be designated as "limited standard".

Picked up a partly started M270 yesterday on eBay so I will have a couple of those rocket pods coming my way for use as Flatrack loads.

p.s. I don't have any interest in the rest of the vehicle in case anyone should want/need it. Also I don't want it hanging around taking up stash space.

And just in case you thought I had forgotten about that big monster military KALMAR stacker/loader, here are a few specs I came across with the help of another Armorama member:

Had hopes that by today I would be deep into cutting plastic for my new scratch built/converted hippo fresh water container. Unfortunately the proportions and size of the water tank that comes extra with the new AFV Club M109A3 Shop Van did not live up to my hopes and dreams.

Oh, well, back to the scratch bench.


PLS with loaded Hippo and CHU in stowed position.

The German eqivalent of the Hippo is 20 ft. long, 8 ft. wide and 5ft. 8 in. high. The tank inside the frame is about 130 mm long,
32mm high and 69 mm wide. How about some sheets of foam and start carving and sanding?

What about Accurate Armour's 20 foot tank kit A142?

THANK YOU HermannB!- the Hippo concept originated in Germany and the issue of size/proportions/dimensions has been bugging me. I have had no luck so far finding a broadside photo that I might scale the relative size of the tank and the height of the container. - Thanks Again!

amoz02t - If I am not mistaken the tank from AA is cylindrical, has no pump and is a full height container. Myself, I am looking for the additional visual interest of a intermediate height container with the shorter, oval tank and the pump enclosure but thanks anyway.

Construction wise, I will go with the age old method "bulkheads (formers) wrapped in thin sheet plastic" for the tank. I had hoped to use the tank that came with the new AFV Club shop truck but using that is going to be just too much of a comprimise. Wrong height, wrong shape, maybe long enough.

Michael how much you want for the rest of that kit?

Dustin if you want the remainder of the otherwise complete Dragon M270 MLRS kit it is yours. I would appreciate help on the shipping as it cost exactly a ten spot to ship it here to me. KY to OK should cost about the same.

PM me and we will work it out. I am happy to ship it immediately. - Mike

Pm sent sir.

Bulkhead/former construction of a water tank for a large Russian Firetruck.

Been working of late on a couple of M26 MLRS rocket pods as loads for my LHS trucks and CROPS containerized flatracks, Here are the first results. Of course the kit I bought only had two pods so for the time being I had to multiply them into a full load using Photoshop.



F.Y.I. - It took considerably longer to place all those many decals than it did to construct the pods themselves! However it became immediately clear that the decals make the model.

I think I also want to take on a refrigerated container with all that open chiller equipment at the end of the container.



It looks like this might have to be a full scratch project however, as you will notice there are no corrugations in the sides of this container. (Means I cannot use the currently available model containers.) For refrigerated containers they use a flat double metal skinned panel with insulation in between to form the walls, floor and roof of the container. Also this is a MilSpec container with the flatrack lifting equipment built in so no CHU required.