1/76 Aifix Thornycroft Amazon SWB & LWB

[vindicareassassin]

A bit of a break from the Bedford QLs for me as I've decided to put these 2 together instead....

I'm going to be making and detailing the original Airfix Amazon with Coles crane in its Short Wheel Base form, plus the Long Wheel Base version of the Amazon of which there was only very few ever made. There are also modificatoins to be made to the cranes as they are the hotch potch of 2 different marks of Coles cranes, so I'll be fitting them out to represent the correct one.

These will be my first attempt at building a vehicle from a plan as all the QLs so far have been scaled off a photo up until now.



So, first up we have the chassis' being made ready, a 21mm extension added in to the LWB version and the original rear suspension lug holes filled as the bogies are actually supposed to be a couple of mil further forward.....

 

 

Fitting of the chassis support straps and start of the suspension fitting.....


 


That's it for now


ATB

Sean

[Bullbasket]

Ah, another one to follow carefully. Looking good so far.

A question for you. Are you familiar with the articles by David Jane, Gerald Scarborough and others in Airfix Magazine, Military Modelling and Scale Models from the 1970's, on converting Airfix and Matchbox trucks? Also the 1/76th scale drawings by Geoff Lacey of the same plus some US and CMP trucks? I have them if they are of any interest to you.

 

Regards,

 

John.

[vindicareassassin]

No John, not aware of the magazine articles, I am however aware of Geoff Lacey and John Church.

 

I just spent 30+ gold coins on 70+ Geoff Lacey drawings from Dan Taylor, with another half dozen on back order, the John Church drawings seem to have disappeared from the 'for sale' market currently, I did read somewhere they went back into storage after his death, and there was chat about them going to Bovington, whether that actually happened or not I'm none the wiser.

 

Which articles are there in the Mags mate, something might gentleman's parts my interest, though I think I may have enough on with the QLs, followed by the AEC and/or Retriever

 

ATB

 

sean

[Bullbasket]

Well, going by what I have to hand at the moment, they are as follows;

Bedford OX & OY, Thorneycroft Amazon WF8/NR6/Coles Mk.Vll Series 7 (now there's a coincidence), Albion CX, Austin K2, K3 & K6, Morris Commercial, Crossley 6x4 Derrick, Austin K5, CMP C60, Crossley Q, FWD 4x4 cargo, Ford CMP, Guy Quad Ant FAT, Commer Q2, Guy FBAX, plus others. There is one good article on building an RASC Workshop diorama from a 1982 Airfix magazine.

All of these are based on conversions from Airfix truck kits.

 

Regards,

 

John.  

[vindicareassassin]

And these are all articles in Airfix magazine from yesteryear??!!

 

Yes please, I'm definitely interested!

 

ATB

 

Sean

[Bullbasket]

Yep, Airfix, Scale Models and Military Modelling. Some are photo copies and are a bit faded, but the 1/76th scale drawings are crisp and clear. If you want to give me your postal address, I'll get them off to you. I don't build in anything smaller than 1/48th these days, so they are just taking up room in my files.

In the mean time, as you are building the Thorneycroft at the moment, do you want me to scan it and email it to you?

 

Regards,

 

John. 

[Chimpion]

I used to have one of the Airfix modelling guide books with a load of these vehicle conversions in when I was a kid. You may still be able to pick up a second-hand copy somewhere.

 

[vindicareassassin]

35 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Yep, Airfix, Scale Models and Military Modelling. Some are photo copies and are a bit faded, but the 1/76th scale drawings are crisp and clear. If you want to give me your postal address, I'll get them off to you. I don't build in anything smaller than 1/48th these days, so they are just taking up room in my files.

In the mean time, as you are building the Thorneycroft at the moment, do you want me to scan it and email it to you?

 

Regards,

 

John. 

 

Thanks for this mate, it's much appreciated.

 

No need to worry about the Thornycroft as I'm building those off a Geoff Lacey plan, but thanks for the offer.

 

ATB

 

Sean

[vindicareassassin]

I'll have a dig around and see what I can find, thanks for the idea

 

ATB

 

Sean

[Mancunian airman]

I have known about the mis-representation of the Airfix Thornycroft, IIRC the 'short version had 'wire control' whereas the 'longer' Thornycroft had the 'screw control' which is as the Airfix model.

 

Its will be a great benefit to have the two alongside so I,  (we),  can see the subtle differences therefore really looking forward to watching your progress . . . 

Ian

[vindicareassassin]

10 minutes ago, Mancunian airman said:

I have known about the mis-representation of the Airfix Thornycroft, IIRC the 'short version had 'wire control' whereas the 'longer' Thornycroft had the 'screw control' which is as the Airfix model.

 

Its will be a great benefit to have the two alongside so I,  (we),  can see the subtle differences therefore really looking forward to watching your progress . . . 

Ian

 

Close, only the very early models had the screw crane, but both the mid to late versions had the wire control, the screw control was more prevalent on 3ton 6x4s like the K6 and Retriever, and I believe the screw crane was also slightly smaller, only rated at around 2 tons, I could be wrong, my research so far is all internet based, and we all know how accurate that can be at times....

 

 

ATB

 

Sean

[vindicareassassin]

Today's progress....

 

They are now at rolling chassis stage, altered the bulkhead window in the LWB, Scratch built the fuel tanks and prepped and fitted the wheels and tyres including making the front tyres appear to be more like a road tyre than the heavily treaded ones supplied in the kit.

 

 

 

 

 

Next on the to-do list is the cabs and bonnets

 

ATB

 

Sean

[Mancunian airman]

Did you just file down the fronts tyres then ?

Did you have to re-tread them?

 

If I'm going to copy these builds I need the details,  sorry 

 

Ian

[stever219]

Please can I confirm from your first photo that on the SWB version the rear of the rear suspension locating slot should be where the front of the slot presently is, and on the LWB version the new location is moved forwards by twice the width of the slot?  Also the dimensions of the new fuel tanks please?  I have recently been given the Airfix Recovery Set and the Amazon is first into assembly.

[vindicareassassin]

11 minutes ago, Mancunian airman said:

Did you just file down the fronts tyres then ?

Did you have to re-tread them?

 

If I'm going to copy these builds I need the details,  sorry 

 

Ian

 

...... For those building along with me .......

 

 

 

 

 

The tread was filed using acrylic filler, dries hard and fast, but I left them over night to make sure they had hardened properly  before fitting them to the grind wheel chuck of my variable speed Dremel. They were then spun up just like a mini lathe and filed, ground and sanded into shape, using the original tread as a guide as to shape, then to represent road tread 3 lines were etched in.

 

The rear wheels were fitted together, which sounds easy but when you realise that each male half had to be sanded down before it would fit in the female half, the locating lugs were cut off and the halves rotated to better represent off road tyres, then spun up in the Dremel again to make them round and remove the mould seam, then once glued on and they had set I rubbed them on my sanding plate to give the tyres flat spots to represent weight applied.

 

 

The fuel tanks were made from solid plastic stock and using a battery drill this time as a mini lathe I shaped the ends in to domes, then used crafting wire to represent the retaining bands, these were set in place using acrylic matt medium before being glued to the chassis.

 

 

Better Ian?

 

ATB

 

Sean 

[vindicareassassin]

7 minutes ago, stever219 said:

Please can I confirm from your first photo that on the SWB version the rear of the rear suspension locating slot should be where the front of the slot presently is, and on the LWB version the new location is moved forwards by twice the width of the slot?  Also the dimensions of the new fuel tanks please?  I have recently been given the Airfix Recovery Set and the Amazon is first into assembly.

 

The amount is the same for both mate, about 2mm from centre to centre 

 

The new tanks are 11.5mm long and mine are 4.85mm in diametre, though it realy should be 4.5mm but its not noticable.

 

ATB

 

Sean 

[stever219]

Brilliant, thank you.  I can now take razor saw to plastic!  I'm looking forward to pinching more of your research for my build.

[vindicareassassin]

 

So with the cabs made and glued together, best mention before I go any further that all around the doors that are obviously leading edges were rounded very slightly and the mold line at the bottom deepened, I do this so that when the pats are glued together the panel lines are not lost.

 

You'll also notice I've glued parts to the front valance as they are not as heavily cut away on the real  thing, I'll carve these into shape when its all cured.

 

The next thing I did is remove the front window brace bars, they don't exist on real ones, and the glass purely over-laps, next I carved off the very poor casting of the openers frame, as these are so thin in real life its really only worth painting them on to the glazing sheet in this scale, also when the glue has cured I'll thin the centre support, not by much, probably by around half a mil either side, as its way to chunky.

 

I've decided to make the SWB a very early version, so it will have the screw type crane on the back, also the front radiator is close to how Airfix have modeled it, so I.ve gone ahead and glued it on, the filler cap needs to be relocated but I'll do all that when I detail the rest of the bonnet. 

 

The LWB however I'm making as a late version so the Radiator needs extending to the bottom of the chassis, the grill carving out and replacing with mesh and a new, vented, front bumper made.

 

 

Stay tuned for more.....

 

 

ATB

 

Sean

[DavidJ]

Nice work so far Sean. I particularly like the front wheels; something I will have to try.

 

I have had a WF8/NR6 Coles Mk VII Series 7 under construction for a while but progress has been stalled for a bit.

 

http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=44276

 

Hopefully, your build will provide the motivation I need to finish mine 

 

Cheers

 

David

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DavidJ]

By the way, the excellent "Night Bombers" film features a Thornycroft Amazon that is the same configuration as the Airfix model; SWB and long jib screw crane.

 

[vindicareassassin]

Crickey David, That's near 2 years ago!! does it still sit as it appears on the end of page 2??

 

Thanks for the heads up on the film, I'll see if I can track it down

 

ATB

 

Sean

[vindicareassassin]

Small Update..... Doing the radiator for the LWB.....

 

I had to make the chisels in order to do the inletting, the mesh is some steel mesh I have, held in place using acrylic matt medium again..... Not a job for the faint of heart as fingers and blades are in very close proximity.....

 

 

 

 

 

Anyhoo, the wife has just toddled off out for an overnight stay with a sick friend leaving me baby-sitting the dogs.... work will continue un-abated this evening apart from feeding the dogs and myself 

 

 

ATB

 

Sean

 

 

[DavidJ]

11 hours ago, vindicareassassin said:

Crickey David, That's near 2 years ago!! does it still sit as it appears on the end of page 2??

 

Thanks for the heads up on the film, I'll see if I can track it down

 

ATB

 

Sean

 

More or less!

 

I have a plan ... it's just taking a while to implement 

 

Here's a still from Night Bombers.

 

 

Cheers

 

David

[vindicareassassin]

The build on the chassis/cabs is now complete......

 

Since last time..... On the SWB..... fitted the filler neck to the rad and fuel tank, carved off and re added the bonnet strengthener folds and hinge, handles to the bonnet sides, fitted the brackets and mud guards, made spacers to lift the rotator gear cover to the correct height and fitted it's strengthening ribs,.... oh, and fitted a door mirror.....

 

 

 

 

 

Also worth a mention, the rear cable/winch feed roller and tow hook and spring, also back filled the rear cut out in the chassis as none of the ones I've got photos of have the rear that Airfix have provided.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the LWB looks like this.....

 

Same things as the SWB with a couple of notable differences, most notable is the front bumper, not quite correct due to scale limitations, it should have 4 cross strips but the plasti-card is just way to thick for that, also the hip ring, this is a quick cast of a Bedford QL one provided in Airfixs QL set, fits like an absolute dream

 

 

 

 

 

Now the Back end...

 

 

The rotary gear and tow hooks are the same as the SWB, the back deck is etched to look like planking, and the mud guards were bracketed up and cut to size, also the under deck boxes were constructed, I've left the doors open as I'll probably leave some kit hanging out before I finish up.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up...... The Cranes.....

 

 

ATB

 

Sean

[Ripaman]

Very nice Sean, do the cranes come with the kits or are you scratch building?

 

Did find a couple of pictures which are for reference only, which you might have seen already, don't show much. Mods please remove if they are not to be posted.

 

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Regards

Richard