A rubber-tyred wagon (well, a pair) for a change. Like Paul Karau (see the latest MRJ) I have a thing about building lorries as well as wagons and have a selection of examples that I want to do and which are gradually progressing. Not the
Mammoth, unfortunately, since the chassis will require a concentrated modelling session -because of the need to design the thing as well - which I do not currently have time or inclination for. So, instead, I'm producing a pair of military ambulances as Lowmac loads intended to compliment one of dad's vehicles, a modified Lowmac EU (the ferry version, from a Dave Larkin picture; it probably wants some
replacement buffers actually) with a BW Models Bedford TK (yes, the army did have some 4x2 Bedfords) on it.
The examples chosen are from the
Road Transport Images range and are some of the most distinctive post-war military lorries (and, by all accounts, some of the most ineffective), the Fordson Thames E3; there were also E2s for binned stores and E4s which were light artillery tractors. These were 4x4s with V8 petrol engines(!) and cabs more usually seen on Rootes group's Commers and Karriers and thus were usually referred to as 'Commer-cabbed Fords'. Slow and thirsty, these were exactly the kind of things I can envisage being transported by rail as required and besides, I like the peculiar looks of the things.
The RTI bits - resin cabs and body with whitemetal wheels - are better cast than the AEC but not without the odd bubble and the ambulance bodies are really quite nice. The chassis, however, are taken from the newish Bedford QL twin-pack lengthened by a few mm to represent the 12' 6" wheelbase of the original. These are much cheaper and better-detailed than the RTI equivalents and go together beautifully.
Here's the basic assembly - you can just about see the rear prop shaft has been lengthened - and below is the current state of play:
The rear chassis demonstrates that the two QLs are not quite the same and the rear has been packed so the bodies ride at the same height (I have a spec' sheet which provides all the dimensions - these are going to be fairly tight to gauge...) and the fronts have been lowered and adapted so that the cabs sit level and at the right height relative to all the other bits. Underneath, you can see that I've filed some flats on the tyres, winning another half mil' on the clearance battle.
I'm doing a bit of work on the cabs at the mo', mostly to enlarge the windows which are a a bit too small as supplied. They'd be a picture, but the light is not quite good enough for the comparison shot.
Adam
, so you're requirements might be considered a bit "bespoke" too.
(similar cabs etc to 1/48 are available but in 1/43 it really is a handful of complete resin kits or diecasts). The 3-D print market hasn't really swelled to adequate levels yet (will it ever?) and costs are high.
