Wheeled and Tracked Amphibious Vehicles

[Nick]

I work at a tourist attraction in London and inevitably get treated as a walking talking signboard. My stock answer to time related questions seems to be 'About 15 minutes', whether it's waiting times to get in or how long it takes to get somewhere or how old the Queen is....

Next door we have a pier served by different companies and a lot of people ask where they catch the boat rides from to go along the river...

Them: "Where is the Big Bus River Cruise?"
Us:     "On the water".


Today I had a mental image of a red Routemaster double decker bus with side floats chugging along the Thames with loads of tourists staring out of the window!

Nick B)  

[The Rat]

Today I had a mental image of a red Routemaster double decker bus with side floats chugging along the Thames with loads of tourists staring out of the window!

Go ahead and whiff that sucker! Here in Toronto we have recently started what they call Hippo boats, which are amphibious vehicles that hold maybe a couple of dozen tourists. After running them around town they drive into the water for a tour of the harbour. Boston has been doing the same thing with their Duck boats for decades. So try putting a hull on a double decker, outriggers, and open the top deck for both viewing and safety (easier egress)!    

[NARSES2]

Similar thing in London with the DUCK Tours plus I did one in Honolulu as well. I wonder how many of those old DUCKW's are left out there ?

[Captain Canada]

Geez Nick, for a guy who works at a tourist attraction you're not very helpful ! Kinda like my buddy who worked in retail, he said you could always tell when a customer had a question from 20 paces...just enough time to duck into another aisle and disappear !

They have the same thing in Halifax. Pretty cool ride as you get a good look at the Navy ships tied up at the base. Which they usually are, as the Navy can't afford fuel. The money allocated to them for fuel has been diverted to the Governor General for her private jet.

Nice idea, Nick...go for it ! And after you're taken some piccies of it, you can re-model it into a 'pressed into servise' variant with some AA guns etc.......

[Nick]

The yellow Duck Tours have at least 3 DUKWs and I have seen at least 1 more privately owned up in the Lake District plus a couple in museums.

In Montreal years ago they had yellow schoolbuses that gave tourist rides around the city and then went for a swim.

BTW, "15 minutes" is the average answer and not my only answer. Sometimes I up it to "20 minutes" or even "25 minutes"!

Nick  B)  

[Martin H]

theres quite a few Dukw's on the MV (military vechicle) scene in the UK, its not uncommon to see one or two in the line up at local rallies up and down the country.

The ones on the tour work in london are very heavily modified, not only is the body work messed with, they have new modern engines and brakes, and carry plenty of safty gear for when their in the water.

[RotorheadTX]

http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?n...rticle&sid=1001

[GTX]

Hi folks,

Something I picked up a while ago at Pacific 2008, but only just got around to looking at - Lockheed Martin and Gibbs Technologies have agreed to develop a family of high speed amphibious vehicles designed specifically for military operations.  Some of the ideas are intriguing:





See here (http://www.gibbslockheedamphibians.com/) for more info, including full details of the idea shown and others.

Regards,

Greg

[Mossie]

The ACC-R version you've posted looks very much like a modern DUKW.  The technology has been around for years, amphibious vehicles like the DUKW & Stalwart having seen service some time ago.  It just depends on they fit into the military planners schemes as to how well these designs will take off, amphibious ops seem to come & go like fashion.

[Research]

I am new to this forum and was wondering if anybody else here has built the Bronco 1/35th scale land wasser schlepper that I am assembling now. I have some thoughts that it is dimensionally off in places.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I would like to introduce you to Ray Mehlberger (aka 'Research') he is here because of me.  So please treat him nice.  Ray has been modeling for a long time and you may have encountered some of his kit reviews on Cybermodeler and Internet Modeler. 

I had suspicions that the HobbyBoss and Bronco kits might have been from the same mold but Terry Ashley on PMMS has an image of both hulls for comparison and that pretty much takes care of that argument in one fell swoop.  Here is a link to the Land-Wasser-Schlepper (LWS) kit comparison (between Bronco kit #CB-35015 and Hobby Boss Kit No. 82430)

PMMS Bronco LWS kit review

PMMS HobbyBoss LWS kit review

From the looks of the hulls, it would be interesting to see what it would look like with the suspension components and track from an American or British armored vehicle.  Maybe fit it with the suspension and tracks from a Centurion or a Sherman to give it a new lease on life.  I rather prefer the longer hull of the Bronco kit over the HobbyBoss kit since it provides a more pronounced bow shape with that slight uplift but that is just me and my personal quirks talking.  That boat shape hull certainly begs for a good WHIF treatment.  It certainly has the potential for conversion to something interesting that could involve fishing poles, bait bucket, and a tackle box. 

[GTX]

I wouldn't mind one of these (either kit) to modify as an amphibious assault transport.  I'm thinking o fitting a turret from either the PzKpfw I or PzKpfw II.

Regards,

Greg

[Daryl J.]

Ray,

Welcome, firstly.   This is a jolly lot with imaginations and skills that are harnessed and put to good use. 

Quite frankly, I'd love a LWS, preferrably from Bronco vice HB, to make a little *more* off.         



Daryl J., who does not fit on a V-Rod Muscle 

[Maverick]

"Big Ray from Ioway", welcome aboard Ray.

The LWS looks like a wonderful ship, I'm keen to head down Greg (GTX's) path, but go for a gunboat...

Regards,

Mav

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Howzabout mounting the M55 GMC (aka "Quad Fifty") in the back of the DUKW?  Floating air defender and convoy protector.