Praga V3S R-140P

Today I discovered a forgotten "treasure" in one corner of my inventory in the form of two resin Praga V3S trucks from Ciro Models. I bought them a long time ago thinking they would be a nice addition to my aircraft models. I even started building one of the trucks, but it didn't work out too well. I lacked documentation and even the instructions were not very accurate... and I sanded the landing gear frame and the box roof too much. That was the final nail in the coffin and both boxes of kits disappeared into a corner of the closet, slowly fading into obscurity. Before I forgot about them completely though, I managed to get the drawings, plans and photos together and got an interesting book with lots of nice photos.
Well, today, after discovering both kits and admiring their contents, my desire to build them has returned.
After reading the book (in the foreground) and studying the drawings, I took these two beauties to my mercy again.

This kit is still in the condition I bought it in. And it will remain so for some time.

I'll start building the boxcar first. From my first attempt at building it, I have most of the parts cut from castings and the cabinet walls glued together, so it will go a little faster.
But don't expect any quick builds, I'll be building slow and easy. First I'll have to fix some parts that I messed up on my first attempt to build the model. ... And I'll also be splitting my time between building this truck and the Fokker D.VII, which I've been working on for some time now.

First I have to fix what I messed up when I first tried to build the model. I "managed" to sand down the right rear corner of the frame too much, which makes this part crooked. If you look at the back of the frame, you'll see that.

Looking at the right side of the frame from the side, you can also see how the side of the frame (approximately from the rear leaf spring) is gradually narrowing. In the photo it is from the leaf spring to the left.

To correct this mistake, I decided to make a new frame. To know how the different parts of the frame are positioned, I first photographed the frame.

Then I drew a plan with the exact dimensions of the frame. After this preparatory work, I started to cut the different parts from the frame.

I cut the longitudinal and transverse beams of the frame from plastic sheets according to the prepared plan. I glued the new frame together and gradually glued in the parts cut from the damaged frame.

Finally I glued the front bumper to the frame. This is from a set of photo-etched parts that are part of the kit.

I sprayed the chassis frame, the front fenders, the driver's cab and the inside of the cab with surfboard to unify the surface colour and to better see where to putty and sand.

To check, I assembled the sprayed parts (without gluing). I am satisfied with the result. The shapes of the model match the model.

To check, I assembled the sprayed parts (without gluing). I am satisfied with the result. The shapes of the model match the model.

To check, I assembled the sprayed parts (without gluing). I am satisfied with the result. The shapes of the model match the model.

To check, I assembled the sprayed parts (without gluing). I am satisfied with the result. The shapes of the model match the model.

I glued a fine wire mesh to the back of the radiator grille.

The steering wheel in the kit is unusable without laborious modifications.

Rather than laboriously modifying a steering wheel from a kit, I made a new steering wheel out of wires and pieces of plastic.

The radio station includes a two-wheeled trailer. In it were transported accessories that no longer fit in the car. However, the cart is not part of the set. I have to build that as a scratch build. The building materials will be plastic plates, beer can sheet metal, wires...

First I cut out the plastic plates and glued the base part of the cart together. I bent the U-shaped profiles from the sheet metal. I started to glue the metal profiles to the trolley one by one.

I started gluing the sheet metal profiles to the bottom of the cart and gradually assembling the cart chassis.

I started gluing the sheet metal profiles to the bottom of the cart and gradually assembling the cart chassis.

I cut out corner braces from thin sheet metal and glued them to the front of the chassis frame.

I added cross braces to the trailer frame and glued a (pre-made) pressure tank.

I made the handles out of thin wire and glued them to the frame. I made the cabinet on the front of the corpus from plastic plates and cut the metal plate from a piece of thin sheet metal.

I glued the photo-etched parts to the back of the cart. The kit is kind of versatile and also includes photo-etched parts for the cargo version of the wagon. I won't need them for the box version, but they found a use for the trailer.

I used a piece of thicker copper wire for the axle of the trolley. I cut the brake drums (or rather their faces) from a 1 mm diameter plastic plate and glued them to the axle ends. I glued thinner wires into the brake drums and threaded flanges made from pieces of insulation onto them.

I cut out individual parts from a 0.25 mm plastic plate and glued them together to make the fenders.

I illustrated the reinforcement mouldings on the fenders by gluing thin copper wires.

Finally I glued the finished fenders to the cart.

I cut brake cylinder holders out of thin sheet metal (from a pepsi can) and glued them to the axle of the trolley.

I made levers out of 0,25 mm plastic plates and glued them to the brake key pins.

I glued plastic tube flanges to the levers and finally shortened the pins from the brake wrenches to the correct length.

I finished the mechanism for closing the trailer's folding rear door. As well as for the sheet metal with the cutouts on the rear wall, I used parts from the photo etch car kit for the closing levers on the sides.

I added their brackets to the second springs I made (I haven't found the first ones yet, apparently they were swallowed by a black hole) and glued the complete assemblies to the chassis frame of the trolley.

Into the fenders I glued reinforcements cut from plastic plate thickness. 0,25 mm.

I glued the air distribution fitting to the pressure vessel and the air shut-off valve to the trolley frame.

On the front part of the drawbar I added a connecting eye.

The brake cylinder is made of plastic logs, to make the rubber "accordion" I used a piece of plastic log with a smaller diameter than the cylinder and wrapped it with thin wire. After gluing the assembled brake cylinders to the axle, I connected the pieces of wire to the brake key rods.

I glued the brake cylinders to the axle.

There are added arches on the hull for the trailer tarpaulin and hooks all around the hull for tying the tarpaulin to the trailer.

Vertical taillight brackets are added to the rear bumper. On the rear face of the hull, in addition to the hooks, there are also eyelets for tying a rope.

At the rear there is a hanging eye, body with handbrake handle and air shut-off valve, at the front of the air pressure vessel there is a fitting for the pressure air outlet. Also missing is the connecting hose for the air inlet from the tow vehicle.

View of the lower part of the trolley with the air pressure vessel and air pressure lines. I will add the axle with wheels and spare wheel holder (and wheel) later.

View of the lower part of the trolley with the air pressure vessel and air pressure lines. I will add the axle with wheels and spare wheel holder (and wheel) later.

I made a tarp out of a dyed tissue. I have the basic shape of the sail done so far, the details are yet to come.

I put the "canvas" sail on the trailer only for a test.

The canvas at the rear overhangs the fuselage as it rests on the ends of the levers of the rear hatch closing mechanism. There will be holes in the finished canvas for the levers.
Now I need to clean up a few spots that surfacer showed me, fabricate and add a few details and then the trailer can go in for final paint.

After adding a few odds and ends to the hull and frame...

...the trailer got a coat of brown-green paint.

A folding auxiliary wheel is added to the trailer hitch.

At the rear of the trolley I added anti-tip barriers and extendable supports.

One more look at the folded auxiliary wheel.

Trolley tipping barrier and extendable support in detail.

I added straps on the back of the trolley sail for unzipping the sail and holes at the bottom for the hull closing levers.

I cut holes in the bottom edge of the sail and threaded a "rope" to attach the sail to the trolley.

Finally, I put the sail on the trailer and tested how the lacing fits. I'll take the sail off, it would be unnecessarily in the way for now.

I will use these etchings to represent the tyre pattern.

Detail of one strip with lacing. I will need three strips side by side for the width of the tire.

I'll make the tires for the cart out of ordinary office paper. First, I cut strips of plain office paper 1 mm wider than the future thickness of the tire.

Then I started to roll the paper strip, painted on one side with paper glue (except for the part of the paper strip touching the sprue), onto a sprue the diameter of the future wheel disc. In my case it was a 10 mm diameter wooden log. In this way I gradually wound strip after strip until I reached the desired tyre diameter of 17 mm.

I waited a while for the glue to dry and then pulled the future tire blank off the log. I wound two more tires the same way and let them all dry until the next day. The next day I painted all three tires with thin CA glue and let them dry again.

I clamped the round log I used to make the tires in an electric drill and mounted the tire blank on it. Using sandpaper, I aligned and shaped one side of the tire. After turning the ring, I aligned and shaped the other side of the tire and finally the circumference of the tire. After sanding, I painted the tire with dark paint.

I glued 3 strips of etchings next to each other on the tire and made a pattern.

To unify the surface, I painted over the glued sample with dark paint. After spraying with surfboard to repair minor defects, the tires will be ready for the final coat.

I'm aware that the tire sample doesn't match the realness, but it's better than nothing. Plus, the photo shows the wheel magnified several times, it looks better in real life.

I cut the wheel rims from 3 mm thick plastic sheet. Then I drilled the discs in the middle and left them mounted on the drill bit. I clamped the drill with the discs on in an electric drill and ground the wheel rims to the correct shape. I made cones out of babus skewers and glued them to the centers of the wheel discs. I marked the edges of the discs (rims of the discs) with a ring of copper wire, which I glued to the side of the tires. I then painted the finished wheels and glued them to the axle. Finally, I glued the finished axle to the trailer springs.

I attached a cover sheet to the trailer with string. I gradually threaded the string into the hooks on the trailer and tied and secured it with a drop of glue at the end.

I attached a cover sheet to the trailer with string. I gradually threaded the string into the hooks on the trailer and tied and secured it with a drop of glue at the end.

I made the taillights out of transparent foil. I sanded it on the reverse side with coarse sandpaper and then painted it with red and orange transparent paint. Finally, I applied a coat of silver paint over the dried transparent paint. I cut the taillight "glass" out of the treated film and glued it in place on the back of the trailer.

I printed the license plate on photo paper, cut it out and stuck it on the trailer.

I made the handbrake rope from elastic thread for the sewing machine. First I dyed the thread with powder grated from the ink of a regular pencil. After dyeing, I glued the thread to the pulleys and levers of the handbrake mechanism.

To give you an idea of the size of the model, I photographed the trailer with a matchbox.

I went back to the modified frame and started adding more parts to it. The kit contains only the basic parts of the chassis - axles, leaf springs and wheels - leaving room for modification and adding details.
First I added axles to the frame. I measured and cut the individual gimbal rods from the copper wire in the bushing (I left the bushing on the wire to get the correct diameter of the gimbal rod). I glued these into the differentials of each axle...

... ...and then I glued the axles to the frame with the connecting rods glued on. First I inserted the free end of the universal joint rod into the timing gear and then glued the axle to the appropriate leaf spring. Finally, I fixed the end of the gimbal bar inserted into the timing box with a dab of thin CA glue.

I added a pivot lever on the left side of the front axle, I will add the steering gear rod after gluing the cab to the frame.

I made the steering rod from thin wire, the steering pin covers from photo-etched parts are taken from the kit.

I shaped the exhaust pipe from tin wire according to the photo...

I shaped the exhaust pipe from tin wire according to the photo and glued it to the muffler and frame.

I made the rear spring and stabilizer bar mounts from pieces of plastic.

I glued the stabilizer bars made of wire and insulation to the prepared brackets on the axles and frame with CA glue.

I used the same manufacturing process for the upper stabiliser bars and their attachment ...

... stabilizing rod holders are made of pieces of plastic, stabilizing rods - wire and tubing.

The box body parts in the kit are really nice and cleanly cast, so I figured I'd use them as a base, which I'll just modify slightly and then add the radio parts. But after a closer look at the photos and plans, I abandoned that plan. There were two reasons.
The first reason - the cabinet superstructure with the R-140 radio station had fewer windows and different doors.
Pictured is a comparison of the left side drawing with the left part from the kit.

The first reason - the box superstructure with the R-140 radio station had fewer windows and different doors.
The picture is a comparison of the drawing of the right side with the right part from the kit.

The first reason - the box superstructure with the R-140 radio station had fewer windows and different doors.
The picture shows a comparison of the front and rear with the front and rear from the kit.

The second reason - the mouldings on the inside of the kit parts. Since I want to make a radio device, the mouldings on the inner walls will get in the way.
After a short consideration, I have concluded that closing the excess windows, sanding the inner mouldings and cutting new panels and covers into the resin parts is so laborious that I'd rather make a whole new cabinet body.

A view of the cockpit with the radio. All this I will have to make and add to the model gradually.

To get an idea of the size of the individual instruments and their position in the cabin, I drew a simple 1:48 scale plan based on the photos. On the left is the radio operator's cabin, on the right the hallway. It's not a work of art, but the plan will serve me to measure the size of the parts in the cabin. The colors on the plan do not correspond to reality, they are just to better differentiate the parts.

To avoid having to laboriously glaze the window in the bulkhead door between the cabin and the hallway, I made the entire bulkhead out of clear film. I used Evergreen clear film because it can be glued with solvent glue. And since I only had 0.4mm thick film available, to achieve more strength and thickness in the bulkhead, I glued the two boards on top of each other. Of course, I did not apply the glue at the location of the future window. On this base of the future partition I marked the position of the window and door. I masked the window on both sides with masking tape.
I cut narrow strips of 0.25 mm thick plastic sheet and used them to line the window and door frames on both sides of the bulkhead. Finally, I glued the hardware label to both sides of the door. I will add the handles later.

The plan with the cabin interior is ready and there is nothing to prevent me from starting the production of the new cabin. I will use only the cabin floor from the kit, all other parts I will make myself.

I cut the walls of the cabin from a plastic plate. According to the drawing I cut holes for the windows in the walls. I glued narrow strips of thin plastic sheeting to the outer walls of the cab. On the real body these strips covered the joints of the body parts.

The sheet metal window covers are nicely cast on the kit body parts and it would be a shame not to use them. Especially as making new covers would be more labour intensive than modifying the kit ones. The radio body has only 5 windows compared to the 9 windows of the classic box body in the kit, so I have enough spare in case something goes wrong.

From the body parts from the kit (one side and the rear wall) I gradually cut 5 window covers.

I sanded all 5 covers to an acceptable thickness.

I glued the thinned window covers in place on the sides and rear of the body.

I sprayed surfacer on the completed chassis frame.

I sprayed surfacer on the completed chassis frame.

The rear axles benefited greatly from the addition of upper stabilizer bars.

The rear axles benefited greatly from the addition of upper stabilizer bars and lower stabilizer bars and rear spring retainer bushings.

Driver's cab after serfacer spraying.

Above the driver's cab roof was a wooden grating that allowed access to the aerial switch. The transmitting wire antennas were connected to it. I glued the grating together from thin strips cut from a plastic plate.

The grating is just laid on the cabin roof for now. It's still missing the pipes that attached it to the roof.

The only part of the cabinet superstructure that I will use from the kit is the floor. This is a view of the underside.

Body parts after spraying with surfacer ready for further work. Still missing the roof of the body. It will be done later. Since I'll be making it new, I need to assemble the superstructure first so I can "fit" the roof to it.

From pieces of plastic and wire I made a frame for handling the power plant located in the vestibule of the superstructure. It was used for easier handling when removing the power pack from the car.

If the frame was not needed, its place was on the rear wall of the cabinet superstructure.

I added small doors and ventilation grilles on the sides and rear wall of the superstructure and glazed the windows by gluing transparent foil on the inner walls of the superstructure. Then I masked the windows.

I sprayed the inside walls of the superstructure with light cream paint and the floor with light brown.

With medium brown oil paint spread with a sponge, I "laid" a floor covering with a light wood finish on the floor. In this photo it came out light, in reality it is a bit darker.

Dry assembly for control. The window on the bulkhead is still camouflaged.

On the inner walls of the superstructure I glued rubber window seals, which I made from thin wire painted black. I made a handle for the outer door out of thicker wire.

After masking, I painted the metal strips of the rectangular projections in the floor (above the rear fenders) green. On the bulkhead separating the hallway and main radio room, I painted the door frame and window frame beige. I added door handles (made from thicker wire) and painted them silver.

After that, nothing prevented me from starting to build the superstructure. First I glued the right side wall to the floor, followed by the front wall and finally the partition between the hallway and the main compartment.

I won't glue the remaining walls yet, they would make access difficult when equipping the superstructure with "furniture" and equipment.

In the entrance corridor of the superstructure, there was a mobile power plant enclosure on the right side and a spare parts and tool cabinet on the left side. Both were made of light wood. While I remember the shape of the power plant cover fairly accurately, I have only vague memories of the shape of the cabinet. Plastic plate and solid wire were used to make the power unit cover and the housing. Plastic plate and strong wire were used to make the mobile power plant cover and housing. Because the powertrain cover and housing are located between the bulkhead and the rear body wall, I didn't have to fabricate sidewalls for them.

On the front parts of the cabinet and the cover of the mobile power plant I engraved the doors and drawers, pre-drilled holes for handles and after assembling both bodies I first painted them with light cream paint. After it had dried, I used brown oil paint to render the wooden surface on both pieces.

I glued pieces of hard wire into the pre-drilled holes and ground them to the same length from the front.

I glued the finished mobile power plant cover in place.

I also glued the tool and spare parts box in its place.

A view of the mobile power plant housing.

To check, I attached the rear and side walls to the superstructure without gluing. Without pressing, the attached walls don't fit exactly, but it's enough for an idea.

A view of the toolbox with tools and spare parts stuck to it..

To check, I attached the rear and side walls to the superstructure without gluing. Without pressing, the attached walls don't fit exactly, but it's enough for an idea.

I set about making furniture for the radio room. First came the two workbenches. I cut the table tops and parts of the drawers out of plastic. I glued the individual drawers to the bottom of the table tops according to the photos. I drilled holes in the table tops and threaded thick wire through them - the legs of the tables. From the underside, I attached the wire legs with a dab of CA glue and used pliers to cut off the protruding pieces of wire from the top board. After the CA glue dried, I sanded the table tops smooth on a flat pad.

Then I painted both assembled tables. Table tops medium brown, drawers light brown and table legs light grey. Finally, I used a dark brown oil paint to create a wood finish on the table tops and drawer fronts. The table tops were covered with plastic sheeting, but the sheeting had a dark wood finish.

I put the finished workbenches aside and let the oil dry on them in peace. And set about making a shelf for the radio receiver. This was easier. I cut two squares for the shelves from a plastic table and thin strips for the shelf legs. I cut the cutouts for the legs into the corners of the shelves, prepared the shelf legs from the thin strips, and then glued those into the cutouts in the corners. To keep the two shelves parallel when gluing, I inserted a piece of 4mm thick plastic plate between them (without gluing). After the glue dried, I pulled it out and painted the glued shelf with light grey paint.

The cabinet is again made of plastic board, according to the photos it was grey.

Transmitter housing (as otherwise) again from plastic plate. So far it is just glued together without further modifications. On the front side there is a test photo with the front side of the transmitter. So far I have assembled the transmitter roughly just to check the dimensions and usability of the photo. I will still work on the defenitive form.

The anteroom is almost ready and the radio operator's room is slowly filling up. So far everything is just laid without gluing to check the dimensions and also to get an idea of the future shape. Although there is still a lot missing, there is still a lot to look at.

The cabin fans (in the upper right corner of the front wall) are again made of plastic plates. After painting them, I glued them in place. The power cables will still lead to them. I will finish them when the front wall is fitted with all the instruments.
(The transmitter cabinet (still temporary), tables and shelves are attached to the cabin without gluing for now.)

The switchboard cabinets on the bulkhead are made of plastic plates, the front walls of the switchboards are made of modified colour photography, printed on glossy photographic paper. As with the fans, I will add the electrical cables later.
(The transmitter cabinet (still temporary), tables and shelves are attached to the cabin without gluing for now.)

Finished tools.
Later they will be placed on the right side of the radio operator's cabin. As you can see, in 1:48 scale, some of the "boxes" are very small.

All my tools are made of plastic sheets of different thicknesses. I glue the larger tools as boxes, the smaller tools I cut as prisms from thicker boards. I print the control panels on glossy photo paper and cut them out with a sharp knife. I then glue the control panels to the prepared tool boxes with instant glue.
On the left (middle of the front wall) is the transmitter, on the table (from the left) is the R-138 receiver, the set of instruments for teletype transmission and the D-302 Dalibor teletype. The instruments are still in semi-finished form with the front panels glued on, there is no time to paint them yet. All instruments are just laid in place (without gluing). The table and shelf in the foreground of the picture are also just laid in place without gluing.

The first cables are installed, including the light switch in the cab.
The switch is made of a piece of plastic plate, the cabels are made of thin wires painted black.

I added a couple of "boxes" to the front wall.

Made from plastic plates and printed photos of the control panels.

From thin wires painted black I added cables to the control box and to the fans.

I used thin wires painted black to make and complete a cable harness from the junction box on the bulkhead to the instruments on the table.

I used thin wires painted black to make and complete a cable harness from the junction box on the bulkhead to the instruments on the table.

To test what the finished one would look like, I put the finished instruments on the table. (still without gluing).

To test how it would look finished, I put the finished transmitter in its place at the front of the cab (still without gluing).

For comparison the picture of the right wall of the real cab and the picture of the model cab. The right wall of the model cab still lacks the wiring harness above the cab windows and a few details.

As a complement to all the already finished devices I made a small fan and a fire extinguisher. The fact that they are really small is evidenced by the attached carabiner with matches.

As a complement to all the already finished devices I made a small fan and a fire extinguisher. The fact that they are really small is evidenced by the attached carabiner with matches.

The right wall of the radio station is completely finished. The wiring is finished on the wall, I added the interconnecting cables to the instruments on the table. The fire extinguisher and the fan above the teletype already have their place. Because some of the wiring extends to the front wall and the partition separating the hallway, the overlapping wiring harnesses are installed all the way to the apparatus located on those walls.

And one more view (with the added transmitter on the left center of the front cab wall) and a matchbox to give you an idea of the actual size of the body's interior.

On the transmitter I added handles to its individual modules according to the photos...

... and I finally glued the transmitter in place in the cabin. In front of the transmitter, I stuck a mat (colored paper handkerchief)...

... on the right side I added a desk, a shelf under the receiver and a cabinet...

... and I'll be adding more devices to them as time goes on.

At the same time, I prepared a few small things on the left wall so that I could stretch the cable wiring along this wall. Oh, not to forget ... above the right window I stuck the necessary red sign with the inscription WARNING, NO ENEMY LISTENS. It was not to be missing from any of the joints. It wasn't even missing from the field phone at the time. (🙂

I added three small boxes to the front left corner of the cab.

I added the receiver to the shelf on the left. I added wiring and a warning light under the window. That signaled that the antenna on the roof of the car was up. And on the table (to the right of the window) I added the radio control box.