Hi,
Although some Trabant Truck conversions appear to have been made, from what I can find on the internet it does not appear that a factory built truck was ever developed.  As such I was thinking of converting my 601S kit into a prototype 1960s era truck model.  The thought would be to eithr make it into something similar to the "R20" pickup truck variant of the Polish FSO Syrena, from arround the same timeframe, or perhaps make it into a flatbed type truck.

Regards

Pat


Trabant 601 S sedan (from Wikipedia)


FSO Syrena (from Wikipedia)




Sample Flatbed Truck (from Wikipedia)

Fraternal Greetings, Comrade PFJN!  The Peoples Praesidium for Automotive Excellence are much interested in your Trabant Truck proposal.  It will be of great value and benefit to the proletariat.     Should this come to fruition, you may qualify for the use of the deputy commissar's private toilet, and an extra ration of woolly socks in the next 5 year plan.  Za Rodina!


Seriously, this is a very good idea, and I'm keen to see the finished project.

The orange one looks a really practical machine. 

Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 01, 2024, 12:45:03 PMThe orange one looks a really practical machine. 

It's quite cute, too - has a very Mini/Minor 1000 look to it.

That reminds me that I have a Mini I was going to do something similar to 

Gondor

Quote from: Rick Lowe on March 01, 2024, 01:37:10 PM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 01, 2024, 12:45:03 PMThe orange one looks a really practical machine. 

It's quite cute, too - has a very Mini/Minor 1000 look to it.

I second that, or third it, or whatever!

Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 01, 2024, 12:45:03 PMThe orange one looks a really practical machine. 

It's a ute, of course it's practical!

Oh, a truck!
Either keep the existing sides at the back, or make it more like the Dodge Lil' Red Express Truck, with a box shaped bed and mud guards on the outside.

Quote from: perttime on March 02, 2024, 02:57:45 AMOh, a truck!
Either keep the existing sides at the back, or make it more like the Dodge Lil' Red Express Truck, with a box shaped bed and mud guards on the outside.

And a Hemi.................... 

Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 02, 2024, 05:10:02 AM

Quote from: perttime on March 02, 2024, 02:57:45 AMOh, a truck!
Either keep the existing sides at the back, or make it more like the Dodge Lil' Red Express Truck, with a box shaped bed and mud guards on the outside.

And a Hemi.................... 

That might require some modifications... 

Quote from: perttime on March 02, 2024, 02:57:45 AMOh, a truck!
Either keep the existing sides at the back, or make it more like the Dodge Lil' Red Express Truck, with a box shaped bed and mud guards on the outside.

Hi,
Making it kind of like a step-side pickup might not be a bad idea.

Since my knowledge of the Trabant and the Revell model were kind of limited, I did a little internet surfing and found out a couple things.

First, there were a couple different versions of the Revell model, and the early versions like the one I have, didn't have an openable trunk or hood.  As such, some of the details found in later versions of the kit in way of the engine compartment and trunk appear to be either simplified or in some cases missing in my model.  Specifically, the aft wheel well in my kit is kind of mergeed in with what appears to be the arm rests for the back seat, making the aft wheel wells kind of squared off, as shown below.



Since my build won't have a back seat I figured that I will probably need to modify that part of the model.

The second thing I discovered was that while the Trabant is often decribed as having composite body panels on a steel frame, I did not realize how extensive that frame was.  I was able to find a 3D model of the frame of the Trabant that showed it to extend from the bottom of the car to the roof, kind of like what you might see in a modern "unibody" type car, as shown below.


3D model of Trabant Steel Frame

One thing that you can see in the above image is how the wheel wells are made of steel, and how there is some framing above and around those wheel wells that help frame out the back end of the car.  This next image shows a real rough look at cutting away the aft roof and some additional plating at the aft end of the car.



Looking at the above image it does kind of seem like if you were to add some plating for the back end of the truck cab, and then also fill in the open spaces in the framing aft you could end up with something similar to a small "step side" pickup, as shown below.



I think I could still add the outer "composite" panels from the original car here if I wish, which seems to be what has been done in most of the conversions that I have seen.  However, if this is meant to be a purpose built truck from the factory, which perhaps may be meant for farm or light industrial work, there may not really be a need to glue those external panels on in the first place.

I think I may look into this a little further, before I make a final decision on how to proceed.

Pat 

Hi,

I've started making a couple initial cuts.  For some reason the kit is modeled in two different shades of gray, but the body is molded in white.  All of it has been easy to cut so far though, which is really nice for kitbashing 

Start!

"Step side" was the term that I was looking for 
Making the box might not be difficult. But what kind of mud guards would Trabant use? Nothing too complicated, I'm thinking.

Maybe something like those on a WW2 Dodge 1/2 ton?