First rule of model collecting is: If you see something you really need, buy it now because it will be gone or cost twice as much the next time you see it.
The second rule of model collecting is: Never throw anything away that is a model part. You can toss out the packaging, the instructions, the sprue but never the model parts. The day after you throw them away you will need them even if they have been in your collection for thirty years. Don’t ask how I know, let’s just say I hate digging through the trash can.
One of the reasons to keep stuff is it can be used in a variety of ways. My collection is mostly for miniature wargames of ground warfare. But I do have some aircraft to support the ground war. Often a model airplane will come with alternate parts for either a different version of the craft or perhaps wheels up or wheels down.
Those extra wheels, or bombs, or wings, or canopies can be useful on the ground in your wargame army. I like to include logistics in some of my games. That could be as simple as attack the supply convoy and win if you destroy half of the trucks. Or capture or destroy the supply depot.
Take a sheet of plastic and cut it into pieces that fit the cargo bed of your trucks. In this case the Roco 2 ½ ton cargo truck. Then rummage through the spares box and sort the items into small piles. Remember the American supply chain in World War Two included everything from BARs to bras, chocolate bars and hand grenades. So anything in the spares box can be useful.
Here are eight trucks that have supply loads in them. They include a unit small arms armorer. His job is to repair and refurbish worn or damaged rifles, machine guns, pistols and other unit weapons. He needs barrels of cleaning solutions, and oil. He needs a work bench to repair the weapons. He needs tools and manuals.
The truck below has a cot, stretcher and other medical gear, perfect for a hospital unit. Note the big air horn on the roof of the cab. Units often made modifications to their equipment.
The US Navy operated boats all over Europe. They used LCM to cross the Rhine River late in the war. Boats need repair and that means spare parts. Load up a few new propeller blades for them, or ropes, or fuel.
Some of these materials or activities would usually rate a specialized vehicle. But in a war you have to take what you can get. The armorer would usually be in a van, but if the van ran over a mine, the armorer is out in the open.
So keep the little bits that are left over from other projects and when you get enough of them, fill up your cargo trucks!
Don't glue the cargo into the truck, the same pallets can make a nice supply depot! That's your Bunker Talk for this week.
Mike Bunkermeister Creek