Cross RC UC6 Project
Page 4: Building the Trailer
A big old military truck should be pulling a big old something. I
truck like this could conceivably pull a trailer holding a tank or a
mobile rocket launcher, but nothing right was available when I first
build the truck. A few months later, Cross RC came out with this
howitzer which seemed perfect. It is far too expensive for what
you get, but it does look great behind the truck. It comes it a
large box with very well printed instructions.
The wheels and tires are similar to, but not the same as, those on the UC6 truck.
Primary constructions begins with the barrel. The main barrel tube
appears to be ABS, but everything else is molded. The second
image shows the elevation mechanism that will comprise the rear of the
barrel.
Now the main barrel is complete. It is easy to think of a barrel
as just a tube, but there are dozens of parts and a lot of detail at
work here. I thought it might be fun to mount it on my 1/35 scale
Ford F-150, but some people thought it might be a bit large. I'd
love to see what happens to the truck during recoil!
Now I've attached the barrel elevation mechanism. This isn't just a
static model of a howitzer. Although it is not motorized, it does
have some mechanical features. You can see the serrated disc
which is spring loaded to hold the barrel in place. A crank which
will be added later can adjust the elevation.
Now we'll start on the base unit. Each wheel can rotate at a
different speed since they are not locked to the axle. The round
plate that you see is a pad to stabilize the howitzer when firing.
It can be stowed for towing. Zooming in on the right hand image
will give you an idea of just how many tiny details are part of this
model.
I've finished the construction but not the finishing. The howitzer
effectively has two modes: towing and firing. The left hand image
shows the towing mode with the stabilizer pad stowed and the towing
forks together. The right hand image shows the legs splayed out
for stability and the pad down. On the ends of the legs are spades
which would dig down into the ground and react the recoil forces of the
gun.
And here is is behind the truck prior to finishing for scale. Note
that the stock hook on the truck cannot actually attach the trailer
because it is a closed loop. I had to cut out a section to make it
a hook. At extreme towing angles, the trailer can pop out of the
hook.
The first step of finishing is to paint everything rust colored using
primer. I had to do this before final assembly since some of the
details would be impossible to reach otherwise.
©2018 Eric Albrecht
