1/24 Belly Tanker
Model, Text, and Photos by Dale King

After the Second World War the hot rod community discovered cheap war surplus fighter plane belly tanks made for great Land Speed Car bodies. Many of them came from the ones used with the American P-38.

This model kit is a generic version of the racing cars of that time. The kit is manufactured by a new company called CMW (California Model Works) and is available on the West Coast from Motoi at Hapico and on the East Coast from Ed at Island Collectibles.

This kit was one of the pre production ones and had no instruction sheet but it turned out not to be a problem. The final version has a few very minor changes (none of which show) and instructions. It's a resin kit with soft rubber tires, a vac formed wind screen, yellow decals and some white metal parts and no p/e. All I added to the model was wiring and plumbing. The body color is Tamiya Chrome Yellow (TS-47) and I used Alclad on the wheel covers and fuel tank. The front suspension components and a few other small parts are done nicely in white metal. The decals I used are over 40 years old and came out of my ancient supply of such things. All in all a delightful model to build. My second kit will have either a period correct Porsche 4 cam 4 cylinder Carrera engine or an old blown Chrysler Hemi. Either should make for an interesting variation. A friend of mine is considering one with a '50s or '60s Ferrari engine. Like hot rod models your imagination is the only barrier.