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How I made a WWII D Ration Unit Perfectly Clear!!


rambob
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In the past I made up a clear K Ration, a C Ration B Unit and a C Ration M unit for a militaria display I put together a few years ago and there was a lot of interest in it. All of the contents are original, except for the M unit, but put into a clear container to show the insides, and all the while protecting them. Before anyone screams too loud, the B Unit I used for this was really in bad shape, with a dented and rusted can. I am including a link to my original post for these three rations for reference.

 

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/236753-how-i-made-a-wwii-c-ration-b-and-m-unit-perfectly-clear/&tab=comments#comment-1934815

 

Well, the last hold out for my “Make in Perfectly Clear” ration collection was a D ration bar. So having found the time during this Crapola Virus, I decided to tackle the project. The hardest part was to find a reproduction chocolate bar to go into the clear box. No one really makes an accurate dimension bar representation, because all of the repop bars I found are not even close to the real dimensions. I did find a company that does make a mold for the bar if you want to make your own bar out of chocolate, but I wanted to use brown wax. I bought the mold for $12 and tried to use wax in it, but it melted and deformed due to the heat of the wax. I should have submerged the mold in cool water while I was molding, which I believe would have worked. So to make a long story short, I ended up making the bar out of 3/4 in. thick pine wood. I found a drawing on the web with all of the bar dimensions and with my wood working skills and tools, I was able to make a dead nuts perfect bar for my D Rat. I painted it with Krylon Satin Expresso brown spray paint and afterwards it looked good enough to eat!! BTW. I used my Dremel mototool, with a milling bit to make the grooves in the bar, which was the trickiest part. I cellophaned the bar using my wife’s iron to seal the seams. WARNING WILL ROBINSON!! Put a folded piece of copier paper between the iron face and the cellophane, when melting the seams and keep the heat level about halfway on the iron. Failure to do this will result in, melted cellophane all over the face of the iron and your wife soundly kicking your butt!!

 

Lastly, I made the box out of a thin, stiff, plastic sheet that I had around the house. Obviously, it must be thin enough to be able to fold it, but stiff enough to hold it’s shape. Glue gun the seams after inserting the bar and you are good to go. But wait, how did Rambob get that beautiful label on the box. Unfortunately, if I tell you I may need to kill you, but here goes. Using Powerpoint I came up with the perfect and perfectly sized label for my D Rat box. I printed it out on paper and went to the Fed Ex store with a few sheets of old school, clear, transparency sheets. They copied my label onto the sheets using a LASER copier, NOT an ink jet copier. I then cut the clear label to shape and using a glue stick, glued it OVER the clear box I had made. The glue stick starts out purple but turns invisible as it dries. I labeled ALL of my rations using this method, which I am very proud of developing.

 

Regards,

Bob

D Ration Top and side.jpg

D Ration Top.jpg

D Ration Side.jpg

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I thought I would add a family picture of all four "Perfectly Clear" rations. Along with it is a "Perfectly Clear" Paratrooper First Aid kit I made for the fun of it. It is all there including the sewn on clear tapes to attach the kit onto a paratroopers helmet of gear. All contents are original except for the morphine syrette box. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Bob

whole family.jpg

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I just realized that the first-aid lettering on the paratroop first aid kit is rotated 90 degrees from how it should located. It should be located across the width of the packet. It happened when I was taking the picture and the name fell off since it is a separate piece. I glued the piece back on in the wrong orientation. It has since been made right. Here is how it should have looked.

 

Bob

Parachute Kit Clear.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
RustyCanteen

Very ingenious way of making them much more interesting for the collector and average person alike. I try to show someone an unopened ration, and they just don't get it unless they're a collector.

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General Apathy
On 1/16/2021 at 8:49 PM, rambob said:

In the past I made up a clear K Ration, a C Ration B Unit and a C Ration M unit for a militaria display I put together a few years ago and there was a lot of interest in it. All of the contents are original, except for the M unit, but put into a clear container to show the insides, and all the while protecting them. Before anyone screams too loud, the B Unit I used for this was really in bad shape, with a dented and rusted can. I am including a link to my original post for these three rations for reference.

 

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/236753-how-i-made-a-wwii-c-ration-b-and-m-unit-perfectly-clear/&tab=comments#comment-1934815

 

Well, the last hold out for my “Make in Perfectly Clear” ration collection was a D ration bar. So having found the time during this Crapola Virus, I decided to tackle the project. The hardest part was to find a reproduction chocolate bar to go into the clear box. No one really makes an accurate dimension bar representation, because all of the repop bars I found are not even close to the real dimensions. I did find a company that does make a mold for the bar if you want to make your own bar out of chocolate, but I wanted to use brown wax. I bought the mold for $12 and tried to use wax in it, but it melted and deformed due to the heat of the wax. I should have submerged the mold in cool water while I was molding, which I believe would have worked. So to make a long story short, I ended up making the bar out of 3/4 in. thick pine wood. I found a drawing on the web with all of the bar dimensions and with my wood working skills and tools, I was able to make a dead nuts perfect bar for my D Rat. I painted it with Krylon Satin Expresso brown spray paint and afterwards it looked good enough to eat!! BTW. I used my Dremel mototool, with a milling bit to make the grooves in the bar, which was the trickiest part. I cellophaned the bar using my wife’s iron to seal the seams. WARNING WILL ROBINSON!! Put a folded piece of copier paper between the iron face and the cellophane, when melting the seams and keep the heat level about halfway on the iron. Failure to do this will result in, melted cellophane all over the face of the iron and your wife soundly kicking your butt!!

 

Lastly, I made the box out of a thin, stiff, plastic sheet that I had around the house. Obviously, it must be thin enough to be able to fold it, but stiff enough to hold it’s shape. Glue gun the seams after inserting the bar and you are good to go. But wait, how did Rambob get that beautiful label on the box. Unfortunately, if I tell you I may need to kill you, but here goes. Using Powerpoint I came up with the perfect and perfectly sized label for my D Rat box. I printed it out on paper and went to the Fed Ex store with a few sheets of old school, clear, transparency sheets. They copied my label onto the sheets using a LASER copier, NOT an ink jet copier. I then cut the clear label to shape and using a glue stick, glued it OVER the clear box I had made. The glue stick starts out purple but turns invisible as it dries. I labeled ALL of my rations using this method, which I am very proud of developing.

 

Regards,

Bob

D Ration Top and side.jpg

D Ration Top.jpg

D Ration Side.jpg

.

Hi Bob,

 

Well Bob this is obviously a CLEAR CASE of you thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX . . . . . . . . :lol:

 

You have certainly come up with an idea most others including me have never thought of, well done and pleased to see this interesting new thread from you . . . . . . . standing by for more posts. ;) 

 

regards lewis.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I took the opportunity today to correct an error I had on the D Ration label where the word Ounces did not have a capitol O. So here is the updated image with the correction.

 

Bob

D Ration with corrected label.jpg

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