Ford 30-CWT GS 4x2 MCP 1941 3 ton. truck - Australian Army - case report

 Drivers!!!

    Let's get to know about an old project of a resin kit practically handcrafted by an old Brazilian manufacturer, now extinct, which represents a Ford 3 ton. 4x2 MCP 1941 truck  of Australian Army. The all history is based in this picture:

A Ford 3 ton. 4x2 MCP 30-CWT GS with .303 MG Motley mount
with the crew watching for enemy planes.
Australian Imperial Forces - 6th Division
withdrawal from Greece - 12, April - 1941

History:

    The advent of WWII put Canada firmly on the map as a major supplier of Military Vehicles of many types. Up until September 1.1945, no fewer than 857.970 vehicles were produced, roughly broken down as follows: 

• 4x2 Commercial and Modified Conventional Pattern (MCP): 388.299 (more than half of which were 3-ton 4x2 MCPs)
• 4x2, 4x4, 6x4 and 6x6 Canadian Military Pattern (CMP): 390.273 (including 209.004 3-ton 4x4) 
• Armoured Vehicles, wheeled and tracked: 50.241 (including 33.992 tracked carriers) plus 9.494 rear-engined chassis for India. 
• Trailers, Canadian Military Pattern: 19.663. 

     Actually, the grand total was even higher because production of certain types was continued until late 1945. 

Canadian built Ford 4x2 01T MCP 1941 3 ton.
Notice the tires 10.50 x 16 and GS 30CWT metal cargo bed

    All these vehicles were supplied to the Canadian armed services and the allies. The British took a very large proportion, other major customers being Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. Many were shipped CKD for local assembly and in some countries part-manufacture took place, as well as the mounting of indigenous bodywork. 

Ford Motor Works - Australia -Victoria, Geelong.
Ford Marmon-Herrington 4x4 trucks assembled by the CKD system,
being carefully checked by workers, before being sent into combat.
Notice the big tires for this version

Short wheelbase Ford Ambulance
Indian Army Typ 
Ford Australia -Victoria, Geelong.
1941

    The Canadians themselves used 'foreign' vehicles as well, e.g. Jeeps and Diamond Ts from the USA, Bedfords and Leylands from Britain. Motorcycles were all of British and US origin (Matchless, Norton, HD). Many of the Canadian vehicles eventually served with other United Nations member countries, particularly in the late 1940s and throughout the '50s. Surplus vehicles invariably found their way to civilian operators, all over the world, and a fair number have now been restored for preservation.

A new life for the veterans...
Ex Army Fords CMP 4x4 trucks in sale...
Notice the prices!!  Man!!!

    The so-called MCP (Modified Conventional Pattern) vehicles were contemporary civilian production types, adapted and militarized in respect of reinforced components, oversize wheels and tyres, austere detachable-top cabs, right-hand drive and other features.

Ford MCP 018T - 1941 towing a 4.5inch howitzer

Notice about the quasi-civil characteristics of this truck...

Australia, Northern Territory - 29, Oct., 1942.

41st Australian Field Battery

11th Australian Field Regiment

   An interesting feature of the Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) vehicles was their combination of British design requirements and North American automotive engineering. Initially this compromise was not a great success but from 1942 when all trucks received a much revised cab (No. 13) it was quite acceptable. In Australian service (almost always with the No. 13 cab) these vehicles were known as the "Chev Blitz" or the "Ford Blitz".

Chevrolet CMP cabin pattern 13
Aussie Chev Blitz!!

    The major vehicle producers in Canada at the time were linked with the US 'Big Three': Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Some of the manufacturing facilities were in close proximity to the US parent plants and certain parts and components were imported from there. The Canadian Chrysler (Dodge) and Ford factories were in fact just across the river south-east of Detroit. General Motors' main plant was - and still is - in Oshawa, Ontario. 

American propaganda poster showing Aussies Fords tractors in the desert
The 1st, 3rd and 4th trucks are 1941. The second is a 1939 model.

    The fourth manufacturer was FWD in Kitchener, Ontario. FWD chassis came from Clintonville in Wisconsin and were finished and completed or bodied in Canada. FWD was also engaged in the boxing of other Military Vehicles for shipment overseas. Chrysler Canada had the additional task of fitting out mobile workshops.

A strange coincidence ...
A Ford CMP 15-CWT american (see USAAF in the door)
alongside a Ford MPC indian pattern (RAF - British),
sharing the same fate in North Africa
Notice the star in the roof of the CMP cabin  and the
RAF roundels in the MCP front nose.
1942-43 (?)

A Ford MCP soft cabin from RAF
Notice the 10.50x16 runflat tyres, like LRDG Chevys...
Malta, March, 1943.

British Ford MCP 4x2 Truck RAF from 55th RAF Squadron
transporting Aussies RAAF airmen crew. 
July, 1942 - Egipt - Suez Canal - Ismailia

Aussie Ford 4x2 MCP 1941 truck with
three tonne Ausssie cammo

   Numerous other firms across the nation produced trailers and bodywork of countless types and variants. Bombardier and Farand & Delorme contributed tracked machines and the Tank Arsenal at the Montreal Locomotive Works in Quebec built tanks (Valentine, Ram, Grizzly) and SP gun carriages (Sexton).

Valentine Mk I Infantry tank

Ram Cruiser tank Mk.II

Grizzly cruiser tank

Sexton 25pdr. SPG

    Specifically in Australia, during the WWII, the Australian armed forces employed an astonishingly large variety of vehicles. Most were part-manufactured, i.e. built on imported (mostly Canadian) chassis. 

Ford 30-CWT GS 4x2 MCP 1941 3 ton. truck
Australian Army - Singapore Harbour - 1941
Come on, Aussies ... Push!!

   Others came from the USA under Lend-Lease or were brought back by units returning from the Middle East, or from other sources, e.g. diverted shipments. Some part-manufactured (Australian Pattern) vehicles and converted types were supplied to US forces in the South-West Pacific (reverse Lend-Lease) and also, later, to Netherlands forces and the British Pacific Fleet.

Aussie Ford MCP 3 ton "BENNIE" built as mobile cinema no.76,
stuck in a ditch, to the amusement of its driver ...
Australian Army Amenites Service
Port Moresby - Papua, New Guinea - 1942.

Two shots of the same Aussie soldier and truck
Private (Pte) Donald Cooper beside a Ford truck with a sign AAOC Road Patrol
9th Australian Division - Libya, Tobruk - 1941
 Australian Army Ordnance Corps (AAOC).
The Corps gained its Royal prefix (RAAOC) for its work during the WWII.

A brand new Ford MCP 3 ton workshop no.2
The same vehicle above
Ford Motor Works - Australia -Victoria, Geelong.- 1941

    Several types of Armored Fight Vehicles were made, of which UK-pattern tracked carriers were the most numerous. Of great interest was Australia's own Cruiser tank, known as the Sentinel, several of which have survived. 

AC1 Sentinel cruiser tank

    Many of the wartime vehicles, particularly Australian and American tactical types, were retained for service use after 1945. As suitable new types became available the ranks of the 'wartime Jobs' were thinned accordingly, although certain types - particularly 6x6 Studebakers - were not demobbed until the 1970s. 

Australian Women's Army Service personnel
with a long, long line of Studebakers 6x6 trucks

   A surprising number of historical military vehicles have been preserved, primarily in the military museums at Puckapunyal and Bandiana, both in Victoria, and the Australian War Museum in Canberra, as well as various smaller museums and private collections and all the time more relics are being discovered and rescued for preservation.

Preserved Ford Marmon-Herrington LP3A Artillery 4x4 tractor 1941
Australian War Memorial

Specs:

Ford 30-CWT GS 4x2 MCP 1941 3 ton.
Production	1940-1941
Model years	1940-41
Assembly                                            Number built	Ford Australia - Victoria, Geelong see text
Body and chassis
Class	​3-ton rated medium truck
Body style	2-door civil cabin, flatbed, stake
Layout	Modified Commercial Patern (MCP)
Specifications
Lenght Widht Height (cabine) Weight Engine	6.125mm 2.310mm (cargo bed) 2.275mm 3.200 Kg Ford V8-3,9 liter 95 HP - gasoline
Transmission Suspension Tires	manual - 4 fwd +1rvs Front: half spring Rear: half spring+ aux. 10.50 x 20
Wheelbase Brakes Fuel tank Operational range Max. Speed	158 in (4.013 mm) oil hydraulic vaccum-assisted (all wheels) 110 liters 500 Km 85 Km/h

The kit:

    When I built this kit (2006), it was the dark days when the injected kits from the ICM and Revell Fords did not yet exist ... 

    To get a Ford model, the only option was a Brazilian resin kit factory, now extinct, called Panzer Resin Models. The kits were very simple, extremely rustic and my kit was that it served as box-art for PRM.

Panzer Resin Models kit (#35012)
In a galaxy, far far away...(2006)

      My goal would be to make a truck similar to the one in the photo:

Ford MCP 4x2 30-CWT 3 ton. 1941
The vehicle features a Motley-type
.303 anti-aircraft machine gun station

 

    But my truck was executed as a truck from the same unit, but without the armament, but with the spare wheel attached to the canvas frame. Something like this (this drawing is from 2020...):

Unfortunately, I lost a lot of pictures of the building ... but I still have some here ...

The PRM resin kit, with details with cooper wire
and the tarp made with tracing-paper...
Left side

Ford MCP from Panzer Resin Model.
Right side

Ford resin kit - rear view

       In these days, the issue of painting with the Caunter Scheme was very controversial ... The "Blue Matilda" tyranny was still very strong ...

Matilda Mk II - Bovington Museum
The bluish Caunter escheme is very intense ...

"Bluish Caunter scheme"... Sorry...early days...

In addition to the strange colors (blue arrows),
some mistakes were made in the kit, such as the fuel intake on the wrong side
and the right headlight misaligned
(it looks like an anti-aircraft searchlight ...) Notice the red arrows ....

The colors have been improved ... but still in 2006.

The kit with decals and spare wheel in the frame.
Notice that this photo was used as box art by PRM

    But as I am publishing this article just now (October, 2020), I will take the opportunity to correct some errors and try to improve the kit as a whole ... 

   A good upgrade would be the color tones ... The Caunter Scheme has always generated a lot of controversy, but Mike Starmer can be considered one of the greatest experts on the subject ... After buying his excellent booklet on the subject (which I recommend without any reservation) ...), I decided to redo the old painting with the new colors available on the market.

A very, very good stuff for any modeler
who likes British WWII weaponry

Caunter scheme colors...

    I like to use these old and raw kits to experiment with new painting, masking and detailing techniques ... my conscience hurts less when I make mistakes ....

Caunter Scheme colors in the Aussie Ford truck...

Oh, man... This is embarrassing.
Watch your words, Ms. AK !!!

Do you remember the anti-aircraft headlights?
I took the opportunity and corrected that defect.
Now the headlights are in the correct parallelism ...
Also notice the two tow hooks that I installed in the front bumper.

After washing and dry-brush...
Notice the spare wheel tied to the canvas frame ...

Notice on the two shovels installed just behind the cabin ...
An essential tool in dry and difficult terrain, like in the Greek hills.

Another essential item in a dry terrain: a jerry-can with water, 
a gift from the Krauts...

Left side view...

Spare wheel close up, fuel drums in the cargo bed
and the shovels...

Did you notice Lee Enfield .303 inside the cabin,
leaning on the seat?

Chipping and weathering with sand pigments...
The windshields are waiting for a sandstorm ...

Notice the rope, tied to the front hooks and wrapped around the bumper ...

Notice the tail lights in red...

Almost ready...

    And the Aussie girl was fully recovered: Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck. Australian Imperial Forces, 6th Division, Headquarters, in the dark days of the retreat of Greece, in April, 1941.

Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck.

Australian Imperial Forces - 6th Division, Headquarters

Greece - April, 1941.

Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck

Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck - left side

Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck - right side

Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck
with Kojak and Rover, the dog.

Kojak couldn't resist testing the new vehicle ...

Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck and 
Dodge MCP T110 3 ton truck...
two civilian girls in military wearings...

Ford MCP 30-CWT GS 4x2 3 ton. truck.

Australian Imperial Forces - 6th Division, Headquarters

Greece - April, 1941.

Thank you for following this recycling project, friends ...