Conversions

My friend Wayne is making some SWS halftracks from Roco into a group of 251 halftracks. He has just started as you can see from this photo. Making vehicle conversions is one way to make us of otherwise junk vehicles, or even better, to make something you can't otherwise get.

The Roco SWS halftrack is out of production but Roco probably made a million of them and anytime you buy a used Roco collection a few of them are probably going to be there. I have about a couple hundred myself. Even I get to a saturation point and so I have started to convert them into other items. When making conversions, the best first place is to look at historical versions of your vehicles. There may be other versions that are easy to make.

The next place to look for conversion potential is proposed versions of the vehicle. Many times companies propose making different versions of vehicles that never get produced. These are good vehicles to make because they are based on real proposals.

The next thing is to analyze the vehicle and try to determine what field modifications could have been done to the vehicle. Sometimes anti-aircraft guns are added, or extra machine guns. Then sometimes extra sandbags are added. Sometime more aggressive conversion can be done. Cargo vehicle can be changed to tankers or cranes. Sometime you can look for a science fiction or even commercial civilian version. Sherman tanks are even now used for logging and towing.

So look for many types of items to create conversions in your spares box. That extra cannon might allow you to create a self-propelled artillery version of your original vehicle. Check the dollar stores for cheapo kids toys. Sometimes that crane, or cement mixer or tanker truck body can be lifted off and placed on the body of that surplus tank or halftrack or truck. Can make an interesting vehicle out of a junk one.