As I continued to search, I began to fear that I may never be able to truly complete our truck…. Be on the lookout for Nancy again at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, IL around Memorial Day Weekend 2019! This little issue started us on the path of familiarizing ourselves with the brake linkage system on the Liberty and just how it would work. Upon formation the MTC adopted the branch color of purple (seen in the chords worn on the campaign hats of soldiers and MTC sleeve patches of the period). If you missed our first post when we initially acquired the generator take a look here! It built the foundation upon which the Quartermaster (and later Transportation) Corps would define truck and equipment maintenance. The kit consists of: - plastic parts - decal (4 variants) - scheme for coloring the model - detailed These can be easily replaced with new flathead screws and nuts. Similar also but far easier to discern at a distance is the Klaxon-3: a longer bell but the same body style and push rod of the Klaxonet which NARA photos indicate was built under contract for government trucks at some point during WW1. While no mechanic wishes to break and replace a part, this is particularly worrisome with our truck as anything on it that is original is near impossible to replace. However, if ground-off, the dimensions are perfect for fitting to our truck ( the 1012-B had no mounts on it at all and is meant to ‘sit’ on a small lug mounted to the truck and is then secured to the firewall via a ring mount). Though not the Army’s first attempt, it was the most thorough in terms of surveying and support, and the first to complete the trip from the east coast to the west. Premiering in August of 2018, our truck is one of very few in operating condition. This is a lesson we learned very early on with our truck as soon as we began driving it around our park since our foot brake pedal seemed to be completely unresponsive- luckily our hand brake worked very well. After successful trials, it was fast-tracked for production in early 1918. They also had a picture of a complete and totally original unrestored Liberty sitting in a garage. We also received our custom fabricated horn mount we’ve been dying to get which was the last piece of the puzzle. Our Klaxonet is an original body and mechanism with a reproduction bell. His suggestions and general observations were later published in a July 1920 issue of The Journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Now if we could just find an original working fuel transfer pump…. Present as one of a handful of observers, Ralph B. Burton accompanied the convoy through its duration and recorded many of the mechanical and engineering issues encountered. The convoy will make a stop at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL on Tuesday, August 20th and have all their vehicles out on display for the public throughout the afternoon. Beginning in early 1920 at the height of Poland’s existential war for independence against the Bolshevik Red Army, “several dozens” of Liberty trucks were reportedly obtained by the Polish forces from western allies. Our shop retails 1/35 WWI United States Army Truck Standard B Liberty (Plastic model) ICM 35650 Military Model on the Web. The take-down/set-up of the truck for shipment is always a laborious undertaking so a special thanks to all of the First Division Museum’s volunteers who helped out the beleaguered staff member prepping Nancy for movement. It is in fact a Model 712 which is pre-dates the 1012-B by a few years, but works exactly the same: Water goes in the top, drips slowly onto Calcium carbide pellets which makes acetylene gas which powers the search light! I have not been able to verify if these screens were ever on issued horns at the time, but at the moment it appears to be a post-war feature as most photos show no screen. The route through Utah devolved into what was essentially sandy river and creek beds with the occasional wagon wheel ruts denoting them as regularly traveled. America's Liberty B Truck As America's war effort ramped up in 1917, there was a collective realization that the fleet of vehicles needed to support a semi-mechanized army needed some standardization. We can assume then that while the war was over, hundreds of trucks were still enroute to Europe in late 1918/early 1919. Packard-built truck. While we are unsure if these brackets are original, they appear to be so and are also some of the few photos we were able to get close enough to potentially replicate as most original photos are nearly impossible to get a complete walk-around view of. 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