Historiker

Today I tackled the battery box. The original box that was fabricated for the Kübel was pretty large and offset taking up all of the foot well space for the right rear passenger. And it’s not very authentic being a simple large aluminum box. You can see here that it’s too big.

I decided to fabricate one that was more authentic looking. That would also solve the space problem. First to yank the old one, clean up under it and paint…

I found a great website done by Mr. R.Olgiati with detail information on the Kübel wagen and he also hosts drawings for the floorboards and the battery box. I used these plans to create a close approximation (size adjusted for the Volkswagen floor pan used in the Kooblekar. Here the materials are laid out for marking and cutting…

Part way done with assembling the cut parts…

Battery box done and installed, I just need to make the front latch…

Finally a sunny calm day in Central Texas Hill Country and I’m making fast progress on restoration of the Kübelwagen. Among other things today I’ve cleaned up the jerry can holders, done a bit of wiring and applied more stencils.

Here you can see the nightime clearance stripes and the Ramcke - von der Heydte unit markings…

I also got some of the accessories mounted back on the Kübel, as you can see the jerry can mount in this photo…

and I got the stencils on the rear deck done…

Now I’m waiting on my taillamps and notek light to complete the rear end…

The stencils that I custom ordered from Axholme Signs have arrived. And they are great!

Tony even included a practice stencil so I could get used to the operations. It worked fine and the first real application was to my BMW R-71. The test will be the symbol used by von der Heydte fallschirmjager on their vehicles. The stencil is two part due to its intricacy.

Here’s the base portion of the stencil, the diamond, in place, masked off and painted…

Here’s the second portion of the stencil, the R, in place, ready to spray…

And the end result, wunderbar!

The stencils arrived today and just in time as I’ve just finished the painting. It’s looking good…

One problem with owning vehicles is keeping up with the keys at a event and also what key fob to keep them on. There are very few period key fobs available.

I want something large enough to so if they are dropped or misplaced I can see them from a distance. Or not forget them on the dresser when I leave for an event. I recently picked up two new key fobs off of a vendor on Ebay. They meet my criteria and are simple and well made. The topper is that they are Fallshirmjager themed!

I love them, and the slogans embroidered on them too…

Don’t whine, fight!

Fallschirmjager, fall from the sky and fight!

Several months ago I’d written about my project to add a skirt to my zelt text so It would be a bit more habitable. I forgot that I never posted pictures of the finished result. The tent is much more roomy with space for two cots and a small table.

It also creates a space to store gear away from prying eyes and sticky fingers during shows; as well as just a place to take a break in privacy for a few minutes…

Here’s the tent at the Brownwood/Messina tactical…

Washing, sanding. priming and painting…

Pressure washed and sanded the Kübel, also removed brackets for cleaning and removing more of those blobby welds. I just cannot believe that anyone would not clean up or smooth one single weld on a project like this…

Part of the Kübel primed and painted in Luftwaffe grey…

Here’s a little painting tip…you don’t have to buy that relabeled expensive special ‘Luftwaffe Grey’ paint that folks rip you off for 15 dollars a can for. SEM makes a stock paint that is really close. It’s 39183 Bumpercoater, very close match. Also a great primer is the Sherwin Williams 988 self etching primer.

Took advantage of a so so day, at least it wasn’t raining again to do more pressure washing of the Kübel.
Got the wheels off of the right side and cleaned the engine compartment also. I’ve started stripping the accessories and such off so that I can clean them up and grind down the lumpy welds on them also…

The shiny spots around the windshield frame are where I’ve been grinding down weld blobs…

An unpleasant and difficult to clean up surprise was that the previous painter of the Kübel used green duct tape to mask off parts. He left it on a suspension part on the right rear. After several years in place it was almost impossible to remove.

I’ve got custom stencils on the way for the Kübel from Axholme Signs. Tony was excellent to work with and very fast to gin up exactly what I wanted. So I’ve got to get cracking on the grinding down the ugly blobby welds on all the exposed seams and to get primer on then the finish coat of Luftwaffe Grey.

I started on the wheel wells. Today was nice and sunny for a change so I jacked the Kübel up, removed the left hand wheels and power washed the undersides.

After drying and cleaning with a solvent I masked off what I didn’t want oversprayed. Here’s the catalytic primer coat and the lovely blue masking tape…

The wheel well with finish coat of Luftwaffe blue and the masking tape removed…

Next to clean and mask off the wheels. They were in good shape with only a bit of rust on the inner sides…

Masking was done with short strips of tape inserted under the lip of the rim…

The wheel mounted back on the Kübel and ready to start on the other side…

Did some more small stuff on the Kübel. Finished the new floorboards with the exception of the right rear. I need to have a battery box before I know the dimensions. So far it looks nice and they are sturdy and tight fitting.

Also in the photo you can see the dash panel. I’ve ordered a new one from Blitzbikes along with two fuseboxes and some original style switches this will help the interior look more authentic.

Also I’ve ordered two tail lights and a notek lamp for the rear…

I’ve started on the body with a grinder to clean up all the bumpy welds and give a proper radius to the various tabs and fittings. In this photo you can see a bunch of stray weld sitting up in places and my scribe marks (done with a radius template) on one of the top hinge points.

This will clean up the detail appearance and also make the edges in the car a bit less deadly on the hands and other body parts.