The Signalwinker
(or Signalstab) (Traffic control disk) was standard
equipment in the German
Army for directing road traffic, and at the start of the war all
vehicles were supposed to carry one. The early Kübelwagen have, by the
front
passenger's feet on the side of the body member a pressed-steel pocket
as shown on the right,
meant
to hold one readily available. (Picture from the US Army
TME9-803 field manual)
It is very easy to make a reproduction, which is good for collectors since originals are a bit thin on the ground.
To make it you will need a 150mm disk of 1mm thick steel sheet-metal, normally steel, a 350mm to 400mm length of 20mm diameter hardwood dowel, two 22mm lengths of soft metal rod (aluminium or copper wire, brass nail of the right diameter and length, bronze brazing rod, etc) 3mm to 4mm diameter to make the assembly rivets, and four washers that fit the rod, ideally of 10mm OD.
Paint the disk in white gloss enamel (RAL9003), then paint a 95mm circle in the middle in red gloss enamel (RAL 3000); repeat on the other side.
Cut with a thin saw a 55mm to 60mm long slot down the middle of the hardwood rod, and center the disk in place.Drill through dowel and disk two holes of the diameter of the
rivets, countersink lightly on both sides, place the rods in the
holes and the washers on the rods ends, and hammer in place,
alternating sides to form the heads equally. See here for guidance.
For a better aspect, before the final assembly both ends of the wood dowel should be slightly rounded (or pointed for the disk end), the whole handle sanded down to a fine polish, and finished with a coat or two of linseed oil.
And if you really want to show off, break out your set of 5mm or 6mm steel
punch dies, and stamp the licence plate number of the car along both
sides of the handle...
Note that the data in the illustration on the left, which comes
from a
pre-war 1939 German catalogue of car accessories, gives us an overall
length of
600mm
and a disk diameter of
115mm; the disks used during the war had a larger head, and the handle
lengths vary, so do not get anal about the them, the only
constants are the disk diameter of 150mm and the handle diameter of 20
mm. The dimensions given here have been averaged from surviving
examples and war-time photos, which show
some variability mainly in the length of the handle. For the metrically
challenged, help is available here.