Thanks for the info Angel - too bad about not knowing what those other items might be. Shame the telescoping antennae were not the cable/crank type as the WWII Germans had. With the crank type there were far fewer pinched hands and fingers when raising them!

I have now added a bit more detail to the roof so I am happier with it than before.

Here are a couple of quick snaps to show current construction status:
(Roof is not attached yet waiting for me to install glass in windows.)

Looking sweet, Mike!

The telescopic antennae were raised by crank and each member had to be rotated 90 degree clockwise(IIRC), when fully extended, to lock it in place.Otherwise it colapsed.
These were the most labor-intensive devices in the Deymos-that's way we hated them...

Picked up a second Trumpeter GAZ-66 kit yesterday at a hobby show in Cincinnati. Have now started basic construction on chassis for GAZ-34 6x6 truck.







Will keep everyone posted if anything develops.

Nice work so far!

Also an interesting collection of images of the subject. I will add some more the next days from a real vehicle, now civil owned. Have to uplod the photos first.

Regards!
- dutik

Mike,
This would be really interresting build!
Should you need any refference on drivetrain components that were used on the 3 axle GAZ from other Soviet trucks, I can provide you with pictures-I have both other donors(ZIL-151,ZIL-157) as kits in my stash.

Dutik, am also looking forward to your pictures!

Yes Dutik any/all reference photos would be helpful - much appreciated.

Thank you Angel for your offer, I will keep it in mind.

Some others that I had found:



_____________________________________________________

Here we go:









- dutik

More of the same:









- dutik

And the last batch:







Enjoy!
- dutik

Thanks Dutik!

I do not recognize 2 of the radiosets though(the one in the middle and the one on the right)-obviously they are newer(or different) models from the ones we worked on 23 years ago.
The set on the left is one of the 2 R-111 available in the Deymos.

The van is owned now by amateur radio operators, so maybe the center and the right radio (with the keypad) may be added recent commercial radio equipment. I remember that my dad, who was a radio amateur, also owned some equipment that looked alike.

Regards
- dutik

The radiosets I did not recognize are:
R-134(the one in the centre)-a mobile HF set and
R-168-25U(the one on the right)-a FM set.

These are radio sets, that are also used by the military.

GAZ-34 Conversion:

Moment of Truth - Frame Cutting Day!

These are actually two frames, from two different Trumpeter kits. I started by building the front portion of one and the rear portion of the other with the intent to put them together to make one longer frame 6x6 truck.





I found one website that gave some basic dimensions: of the five GAZ-34s built, the longest was 6435mm overall. That would translate to 21.11 feet in length. (They said overall - I certainly hope that includes the rear bumperettes and not just the frame otherwise my calculations are going to be off.)

Dukit, Angel - this is the second time I have seen a reference to a control panel mounted on the passenger side of the driver's cab. I presume this is a remote for the radios so that the vehicle commander can continue to communicate while the vehicle is on the move????

Do these forward controls have other functions?

So far so good!
Sure you measured twice before you did that cut,

Did that website provide corresponding measurements for the 4x4 GAZ-66? If they did/do then you could calibrate their measurement methods by comparing with the 4x4 chassis.
/ Robin

That's the Officer control panel for use while the truck is on the move.Whip antennae could also be deployed from there(IIRC).

Angel - I measured 3 times and did the conversion math I don't recall how many times!

Robin - no unfortunately, they only gave me basic measurements for the GAZ-34 and the measurement for the distance between the front axle and the centerline of the bogie was definitely incorrect.

Gaz-34 Conversion:

Current status - first day's productivity.





Cream colored parts are from the two Trumpeter GAZ-66 kits, the olive drab parts are salvaged from a Tamiya Deuce and a Half and the dark green parts are from an Italeri Deuce.

Why do model manufactures make the connection points for mounting the wheels on a model vehicle so darn small?

It is like planned obsolesce, daring you to buy a second model when you happen to set your model down just a little too hard and a wheel falls off?

(Nothing has fallen off so far but I am envisioning that in my future with the Trumpeter parts in my GAZ-34!)

Good progress, Mike!

The connection points for Trumpy's GAZ-66 are huge compared to the ones in Hobby Boss ZiS-151(where the hub carries 2-albeight smaller- tyres)...might be a policy.
Yet the smallest(and worst) I've seen so far were AFV's leFH 18(or 18/40) half moon's type wheel connection points- the first one broke the moment I applied Tamiya's Extra Thin to the hub-axle assembly...

My solution is- drill, cut and insert wire,join hub and axle, apply Tamiya Extra Thin and a minute later CA, leave overnight.

I too have been reenforcing my wheel/axle connections with CA after the solvent glue has dried.

A slight bit of additional work accomplished last night on the driveshafts plus a shot of primer but mostly just offering additional close up photos to better show the axle structure on the conversion.







I had the choice of using the spring assemblies from either the Tamiya US Deuce or those offered by Italeri. However given that the Italeri wheels are even smaller than the Tamiya (cannot tell you which is more correct) I chose to use the Tamiya springs. As it was I still needed to lengthen the Tamiya springs slightly as the GAZ wheels and tires are even BIGGER than those from Tamiya so I needed to make for a longer wheelbase in the boggy itself.