Trucks & Their Cargo

This Roco deuce and a half does not have the seats or the side rails. While not typical, these were sometimes removed, particularly if they were damaged or had to carry an oversized cargo. It is a good way to make use of damaged trucks. I got this one used with about eleventeen layers of paint on it. Including gold. There is always a gold layer.

The tow truck is a dollar store conversion. I got a dollar store tow truck and modified the rear end to make this Roco deuce and a half two truck. The US Army did operate tow trucks like this in WWII. The truck next to it carries a palletized cargo of a fighter plane engine nacelle and a fighter plane engine. US Army Air Corp.

Take a bit of sheet styrene and cut it to fit your Roco truck. I like to use Evergreen Plastic with the board pattern on it. It looks like a wooden deck. Lay it inside the truck bed and then stack various bits from the spares box. Almost anything will do, boxes, crates, oil drums, fuel cans, whatever is in there. I try and make them either totally generic, or work a theme. If I have some airplane parts, I used them for airfield trucks. If I have some fuel cans, and oil drums, they become a fuel transporter.

I have used small arms, rifles, BARs and other weapons to make an armorers truck. Boat parts to make a Navy truck or an Engineer truck for landing craft. Laid out on the wargame table these supplies can make a fuel dump, repair depot; good objectives for your enemy to attack. By being modular, these can be used in different trucks or as scenery.

Halftracks are part of the artillery unit. Most are armed with a single .50 caliber machine gun.