High Mobility Battlefield Logistics Transport - The Build

[rickshaw]

Yes, Brian, I blame you!

Why not?  Everybody else does. 

I'm OK with the scratch-building of the fork. I've got some wheels from a 1/32 die-cast ATV. The tricky part is making a fork that's only 120cm (4') wide (& stable), full-size.
The pallets for this will be small, for the caboose, which is designed to carry small & soft loads (supplies for small isolated outposts, kit bags, mail, etc.), & the forklift.

My idea is that the main trailer(s) will have their pallets stacked above the wheels with access from the sides (with armoured panels that hydraulically hinge open downwards) & no side/rear doors. They may, also, have hinged floor plates in the middle, where more light stores can be stacked for manual removal after the pallets come out. However, I don't want these things getting too tall, either, as that will reduce stability of the vehicle & make it a larger target.

There is a very small possibility I may "Gerry Anderson" the forklift, so the wheels move out to provide a more stable base (if I can work out a practical RW solution).

Believe me when I say I am developing a healthy respect for designers of RW logistics systems!



Guy

Mmm, I am sure there are such beasts in the real world with adjustable track widths for their wheals.  I can think of several ways to do it.  Perhaps Kit could provide a way of doing it from his engineering background?   I'd offer to build you a forklift of the truck mounted type we've discussed earlier.  I've seen a suitable 1/35 scale one to modify somewhere but like all such models tend to be fairly pricey.

Scratchbuilding it might be more fun though.  They are basically just a box, with the three wheels - two large ones at the front corners and some smaller ones in the middle at the back, on a castering arrangement.  A seat with OHP on one side.  The real problem would be building the hoist and the forks.  Not insurmountable, though.  You could use a 1/43 diecast one's, which might be the easiest way to do it.

[kerick]

Check out the floors for cargo aircraft and the roller systems they use. I think there is a type with balls that allow sideways and front to back movement. Might help.

[PR19_Kit]

  Perhaps Kit could provide a way of doing it from his engineering background?   

Who? Me? Er, um....... 

With hydraulic motors in each wheel you could move any one of the wheels anywhere you wanted it from a stowed position. There are fork-lift style vehicles that do this so they fold up into small spaces. That souns pretty much like the problem you have, but kerick's idea of the ball bearing floor would work too, I believe the C-17 has just such a floor and that would enable you to move the cargo anywhere you like, perhaps with just man-power?

[Mossie]

Verlinden do a nice compact forklift that should fit the space.  It's a bit vintage looking, but I wouldn't be surpised to see a few battered old workhorses lurking in out of the way supply depots.
http://www.network54.com/Forum/110741/message/1296665002/Verlinden+Productions'+Forklift+-+Another+Tiny+Model!

You also might be able to find a diecast one and repaint it, I found this nice little 1/35 teletruck by Joal that might fit your needs.
http://www.die-cast-models.co.uk/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=99&products_id=5037

[Old Wombat]

Mossie; the "JOA 267 - Jcb 'teletruck' Telescopic Fork Truck" might not be a bad idea but at £14-£15 (AU$20.77-AU$22.25) plus P&H it's a bit on the rich side for me.... & I'd have to change the wheels to something more off-road. However, it is very much in the vein of what I intend to build.

Kit & kerick; the moving of the cargo in the vehicle isn't that big an issue (except that it's a tight squeeze, given the small volume/floor-space to work with) & rollers should be fine.

salt6; this thing isn't in the HEMMT league, load-wise, but it should run rings around the HEMMT in the speed, manoeuvrability & battlefield survivability stakes. As rickshaw said earlier (in the Ideas thread, I think), a forklift is probably the fastest means of getting a palletised load off a transport in the field - which is important if someone is likely to be taking pot-shots at it .

On night shifts, right now, so model work has stopped for a week.



Guy

[Hobbes]

If you want the fastest way to unload, you need one of these:



a JCB HMEE with forklift attachment. 80 km/h (50 mph) top speed. 

[Old Wombat]

Nice, Hobbes, but it looks a little over 120 cm (4') wide, methinks!



Guy

[Hobbes]

You want the entire vehicle to be less than 1m20 wide? That'd be quite a pain in the donkey to unload from the caboose, unless you had a ramp in place.

Have you considered a truck-mounted forklift that will attach to the rear of the caboose instead?

[bigarv65]

I also was pondering PLS and a caboose mounted crane, but both have limitations if you consider that this might well be a 10 or 15 car train.  Keeping that theme in mind, it also seemed unlikely that this would be something that would roll right up on the battlefield, but could certainly have to face IED's, RPG, and small arms fire to get to a relatively secure location for unload.

A PLS system would mean having to unhook each car and unload them one by one, be time consuming, and breaks up the integrity of the train.  Having a crane on the caboose is possible, with the caboose unhooking and going along each car and unloading it.  Unless we are thinking of a larger marshalling area, then you would drop the cars and hook up a whole seperate train to bring back.

Now, I have seen flatbed trucks at house construction sites in my neighborhood that have a wide track forklift, very shallow from nose to tail, that essentially hugs the tail of the flatbed while moving, and then they lower it down, lower the forks, and start unloading freight.  It's very efficient and gets the job done with minimal drama.  Oh, I just saw Hobbes suggested something similar!

The side door idea works, but when I consider each and every car having to have ballmatts, or a loading arm of some sort, I see maintenance nightmares.  More than half of your cars would be deadlined and in the motor pool awaiting parts within a month of service.  Aaaaaaand, sorry about the reality check, I know it doesn't really apply to whiffs.  I know it certainly hasn't ever effected mine.  I go for style!

Just brainstorming.

[Steel Penguin]

how abought roof panels that split open and vertical launch rocket systems, the land tain pulls up... the roof panels CLANG open and theres a massive WOOSH and sheets of exaust. and the pallets come floating down on little chutes.. 
maybe i need a longer sitdown before posting ideas.

[bigarv65]

how abought roof panels that split open and vertical launch rocket systems, the land tain pulls up... the roof panels CLANG open and theres a massive WOOSH and sheets of exaust. and the pallets come floating down on little chutes.. 

YOU worked on the Mars rover for NASA, didn't you?  Go, Go, Skycrane!!!!!

[coolpop6307]

You could have it like the loram raptor rail handling system. It has Twin independent gantry cranes with telescoping booms that grab the rail but you could have it we the roof opens this swoops down and picks it up.








I think you would have to add a M2 up there for safety 


Just an idea

[raafif]

You could have it like the loram raptor rail handling system.

wow ! that is just so weird !  and see how wonky the rails on the right are in the last picture -- derail coming up

Lovin' your idea Wombat

[Go4fun]

I'vew taken pictures of train and engines working in railyards and I had one of a long flatcar just at the moment a longer string of cars hit it as it was the front car on a long string that was parked with the brakes locked. From the picture I would say it bowwed upward in the middle at least 10 inches.
Maybe there is pressure on those rails in the picture causing the rails to deflect?

[Hobbes]

Those rails continue over the entire train, so they have to be flexible to allow the train to go through bends. The cars on those rails have flanges on both sides of the wheel so they won't fall off.