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British Army Diamond T Tank Transporter with Centurion Project


Bonkin

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On 6/4/2017 at 3:42 AM, Bonkin said:

 

First off was the engine. I understand that brand new engines came out of the factory in gloss grey. My Dads engine was a REME rebuild though - which was painted a sort of duck-egg green/blue colour. Anyway, when I was with him towards the end of last year I took a pantone colour set with me and asked him to choose the colour which, as far as his memory served him, was a close match. He chose Pantone 3242C... so out with the colour cups I started to mix it up using Vallejo 70.961 and 70.970...

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Thankfully it came out spot on and the painted colour exactly matches the Pantone.

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I also did the transmission and drive link.

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So after painting the fan belts and filters, it is now complete:

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Just wondering if this is the colour I would paint my Churchill engine and gearbox :think:

 

 

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On 29/05/2018 at 05:55, Ripaman said:

Just wondering if this is the colour I would paint my Churchill engine and gearbox :think:

 

 

Possibly... although that would be from an earlier period wouldn't it? I'm afraid I'm no expert.

On 29/05/2018 at 06:00, Ripaman said:

Superb looking model I think your Dad is going to really like it, also painting looks brilliant :clap:

 

Regards

Richard

Cheers Richard :yes:.

 

Lovely weather again this weekend but today we've had a few scattered showers which has made mowing the lawn a lost cause :wink:. So what is a man left to do? Perfect excuse to escape to the cave for a few hours!

 

First up was a scratch build of the wing mirrors. Unusually, on my Dad's vehicle at least, these were fitted to the radiator. I used some plastic card and a 0.5mm brass rod cut to the right length, filing off the edges to give an angled look:

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I also finished the construction of the winch guide drum which I fitted in place (seen just under the cable drum), and then fed the cable through the pendulum guide and out the back between the rollers. Here it will eventually be looped back and fitted to the pintle hook. I think at least... it was left there when the trailer was not attached... not sure where it terminated actually when the trailer was on the hook... a question for the old man I think.

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I fitted the windows to the cabin (after first dipping them in Clear), and then. in preparation for final spraying, I masked them all up. I also covered the cable drum and used a bit of tin foil in the back of the ballast box:

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I fitted the mirrors to the radiator and then used some more tin foil to cover the engine.

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Including the underside:

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The bonnets I then placed into position without gluing. Almost ready for spraying...

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To blow out all the dust I put the airbrush up to 30psi to blow everything out.

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And now, after finishing the top coat:

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Notice how my mirrors came off. So did the door-handles! It is going to be very delicate!

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I've also been experimenting with Adobe Illustrator to create the decals. Not sure yet whether I'm going to print them myself or send them away to have them professionally done. This is his number plate and RASC unit badge - which will be fitted to the front right bumper and to the rear of the trailer. I've yet to create the design for the shield which goes on the left bumper. I will probably do a few for the Centurion as well - just so that everything matches.

Decals.jpg

 

Thanks for looking.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unfortunately I had too much going on at home over the weekend to spend any time at the bench. All I've really been able to do is to start measuring up for a display case. Looking at it, the internal measurements will need to be a minimum of (l w h)  56cm x 15cm x 18cm. That is around 22" x 6" x 7" for the old school lot - which includes my old man. That will save him reaching for a tape measure :giggle: .

 

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In the evenings I've also worked a little on the decals. This I believe is how the shield should look. It's all been done in Adobe Illustrator so I can resize it as required - and when printed it should be around 6-7mm in height. I'm posting it more for my Dad to check it out and confirm it's suitability... although I'm not sure how much of the detail in the sword will be visible.

shield.jpg

I think I'll have a go and printing them myself first - and only look to a professional printers if they don't work very well.

 

Finally I've been giving some consideration to the fire extinguishers...

Extinguisher.jpg

 

I've had a good google trawl for anything that looks like this and I've not turned up anything. I will try posting in the some restorers threads to see if they can shed any light on the overall shape and labels. I could have a go at scratch building these but I need some better reference material really.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

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  • 4 months later...

Wow. Been away from the bench for too long. I hadn't realised it was so long since I've progressed this... real life getting in the way too much. Since I last posted my dearest has had me completing various diy jobs and building a woodstore. That meant turning this patch of unused waste land (behind the garden office):

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into this:

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As you can imagine, this took quite a number of weekends to complete. On top of this, my daughter is at an age where she is selecting which university to go to - so consequently that has meant driving up and down the country visiting various different educational establishments. Of course my main interest has been in how much it is all going to cost :sad: .

 

Finally though, this weekend I was able to spend a little time at the bench... most of which has however been research! The project is back underway again though!

 

First job was to re-fit the mirrors and then to paint the inside of the headlamps and the air line taps, front and rear. I've used a single piece of wire for the mirrors for ease of fitting. The top part will end up being obscured by the grill once it is in place so won't be seen. I also build up the thickness of the rods a little because apparently they were telescopic fixtures.

20181028_174951.jpg the mirrors

 

I then painted the ends white in order to match the historical pictures I have. I find it weird how the bronze green can look so different under different lighting conditions. Note, the engine is still covered in foil. This will protect it from the gloss varnish when I come to spray it.

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I also bend them back a bit - which was the direction from the old man.

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Whilst I had the white paint out I flipped it over and painted part of the rear axle. Again, this is from historical pictures I have - the purpose I believe was for convoy night driving:

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The final part of painting was to the cupola cover. It looks a bit clean at the moment but I will try to texture (grubby) this up a bit later:

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Meanwhile a few pieces turned up in the post :like::

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Those nice people at Accurate Armour provide the kit above - which has the A bar and other bits and pieces which will help fill up the ballast box... but also they very kindly did me a one off order of ballast weights. These parts actually come from their Diamond-T kit:

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The research I've been doing has mainly been into the markings I need. I'm striving for historical accuracy so I want the trailer and Centurion to have the correct insignia and number plates etc. so that when the project is finally finished it will faithfully represent my Dad's vehicle in towing condition. I've ordered decal paper and fixative spray and have been busy drawing up all the badges etc. ready for printing.

 

Getting the decals on is a step I'm really looking forward to!

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

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On 04/11/2018 at 19:01, Hamden said:

 

Nice to see this one back on the bench, it is coming together nicely now

 

   Roger

Thanks Hamden. Although it is coming together I am still a very very slow builder. If I spent as much time building it as I did just thinking about it I could have finished 20 of them by now :giggle: !

On 04/11/2018 at 20:49, phildagreek said:

This is all very impressive stuff, including your wood store.

Thank you Phil. :like: .

On 05/11/2018 at 09:13, Bullbasket said:

Love the wood store. Mine's an old goat shed with a leaking roof. As has been said, nice to see this one under way again.

 

John.

Lol. Cheers Bullbasket :yes: .

 

So I've done a bit yesterday and today. Most of my time though has been on research and struggling with Adobe Illustrator (with clenched fists and gritted teeth!). As I said before, it is really important to me to get this as accurate as I can so in addition to trying to enhance the old b/w photographs I have from my Dad, I've been trawling the net for relevant pictures/documents pertaining to vehicle registration numbers and markings. I'm kinda of happy with what I've got.

 

My first job though was to give the tractor and Cent a good coverage of gloss varnish in preparation for decals:

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It is looking nice and shiny but I'm not so happy with the finish. I used Humbrol Enablel "Dries in minutes" Varnish from a rattle can. This is a lie by the way. I was starting to panic when 24hrs later it was still tacky.

 

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Although I scrupulously followed the instructions, the surface finish looks uneven to me and I think I may need to do some polishing after it has fully cured (maybe a week or two). Either way, I won't be using the same product again... so if anybody has any varnish recommendations, bring em on please.

 

Other work I've started on is the fire extinguishers. For these I've used 5.5mm diameter tubing cut to length and I've filled them with some green putty. Once the putty is fully hardened I need to fix the top, a hose and a handle.

20181111_155947.jpg

 

I said I'd been using Adobe Illustrator... well after many amateurishly spent hours, I finally had my decal set sorted... and I printed out multiple copies on clear and white decal paper - which I then sprayed with PlastiKote Clear Sealer. This is the first time I've done this so I've no idea how or even if they are going to work:

20181111_145345.jpg

 

The more eagle-eyed among you will notice that these seem to be more, err, RAF related. Well yes, in my stash I've got a couple 1:24 scale Hurricanes to build and I want to represent an aircraft from No.501 squadron... hence I took the time to prepare the lettering and code numbers for those as well.

 

Here is a closer look at this projects decals:

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Well, I think that is it for this week. Hopefully next week I'll be in a position to start adding these to the models :happy:. Thanks for looking.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A shame about the varnish, apart from it's enamel paint I fell out with Humbrol products a while ago. As suggested by various members on this site, I now use Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic matt and gloss varnishes. I use it slightly warmed and well shaken with a brush but I understand it can be sprayed. I buy mine online direct from W & N but you can get it from Hobbycraft and other places.

Apart from the varnish problems, it looks superb, the photo of vehicle and trailer is impressive, the Centurion looks huge! Is it going to be dirty or clean?

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On 20/11/2018 at 13:09, phildagreek said:

A shame about the varnish, apart from it's enamel paint I fell out with Humbrol products a while ago. As suggested by various members on this site, I now use Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic matt and gloss varnishes. I use it slightly warmed and well shaken with a brush but I understand it can be sprayed. I buy mine online direct from W & N but you can get it from Hobbycraft and other places.

Apart from the varnish problems, it looks superb, the photo of vehicle and trailer is impressive, the Centurion looks huge! Is it going to be dirty or clean?

Thanks Phil - that is sound advice and something I will check out. I haven't dared to gloss the trailer yet for not having a proven method. As for the Centurion, it will be dirty like it has just come off the range. I have no need to do much weathering on the tractor or trailer because the vehicles were well looked after in service life and would not be chipped/rusty or battle worn. The Cent though will be muddied up and looking in need of a clean :laugh:.

 

This week in the few hours I've managed to steel myself away I've done a little on the fire extinguishers. There is still a lot more to do in terms of general shaping and cleaning up, but it is a start. The handles were made using 1mm wide plastic strip and the hoses from 1mm wire. Unfortunately I've had to use a bit of artistic licence on these because the photos I have don't actually show the hose connection.

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Then it was on with the number plate (for his vehicle) and other decals. All of these are my hand made ones and are authentic for the vehicle, both in colour and placement.

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I used Micro Set and Micro Sol to fix them down. Note that I have yet to attach the bridge weight yellow disk to the front bumper. This is because it needs to sit slightly proud and I haven't yet determined how I'm going to do it.

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Same was done for the Centurion. You can also see (just) some of the priming and re-work on the extinguishers.

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Some may wonder why the unit markings are placed where they are on the Centurion... well see below. This is one of my Dad's pictures and just one of the many that I've been using for reference.

Cent01.jpg

 

The number plate for the Centurion is (as best I can tell) historically correct - and is in the range for the tanks he was transporting at the time. I wonder what happened to all these vehicles?

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Slowly getting there - and happy with progress so far... but looking forward to getting the Centurion dirtied up!

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Thanks for looking.

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On 26/11/2018 at 11:45, phildagreek said:

Looking better and better, it's funny how just a couple of decals can really bring something to life.

Aye. It's amazing just what a bit of colour can do.

 

Small update this one as I've not had time to do much - but it has got a lot to do with colour! After confirming with my Dad that the fire extinguishers were red, I painted them up. Apparently some were pale blue and others were yellow. I also did the hoses in black and used bronze for the cap.

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After a bit of gloss I added my decals:

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And then re-coated with more gloss.

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Finally I've crafted the brackets that will fit them to the ballast box. This is a first coat... I need to darken up the straps I think.

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Doesn't look like much but for my fat clumsy fingers it is a major achievement :laugh:.

 

Thanks for looking.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 02/12/2018 at 19:04, phildagreek said:

Brilliant work.

Cheers :yes:.

 

I was able to spend an evening with my Dad a week or so ago (brief family visit) and we discussed progress of the model and his memories of serving in the Army. Turns out I've got a couple of things wrong. Firstly, the circle emblem that is on the Centurion should actually be red not orange. This is something I need to correct before I start the weathering process. Secondly, the "Scotch Blocks" (see page 3) never had rope apparently - and were not really used when transporting Centurions. Instead they had a couple of drop pins which would go into the deck of the trailer to hold them fast. I'll need to remove the rope and add these pins... but when the trailer is connected up and probably end up putting them in the ballast box.

 

During the week the Molotow Liquid Chrome pen turned up that I'm going to use on the mirrors. I've also got the display case on order and this should turn up before Christmas.

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Progress wise I've mainly done some of the small fiddly bits... starting with the tyres. This is them drying out after using some weathering wash to add some grime to the treads:

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I had a lot of trouble fitting them because there are a lot of delicate parts for my clumsy fingers to break off. As it was, I lost a couple of the brake lines from the forward wheels. I will try and fit these later but I'm sure they will not be spotted if I don't:

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Great to get it back on its wheels again! I also fitted the fire extinguishers, the spare wheel (not muddied) and darkened the canvas cupola cover.

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Needs a blast from an air duster methinks. Still need to fit the perspex headlamp covers as yet...

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... and also the bridge weight classification disc to the front bumper, (this is something I've been working on separately).

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By the time it is filled up the base of the ballast box will no longer be visible:

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Bridge weight disk in progress...

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And here are just some of the resin ballast box weights from Accurate Armour. These will all need to be cleaned up and added to the ballast box.

20181216_151711.jpg

 

Hopefully over the Christmas break I'll have more time to press on and get it all finished before the year is out!

 

Thanks for looking.

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21 hours ago, Bonkin said:

I was able to spend an evening with my Dad a week or so ago (brief family visit) and we discussed progress of the model and his memories of serving in the Army. Turns out I've got a couple of things wrong. Firstly, the circle emblem that is on the Centurion should actually be red not orange. This is something I need to correct before I start the weathering process. Secondly, the "Scotch Blocks" (see page 3) never had rope apparently - and were not really used when transporting Centurions. Instead they had a couple of drop pins which would go into the deck of the trailer to hold them fast. I'll need to remove the rope and add these pins... but when the trailer is connected up and probably end up putting them in the ballast box.

First hand info like that is invaluable, and helps to make a build first class.....as this is. Great work so far.

 

John.

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On 16/12/2018 at 20:07, phildagreek said:

Looking good!

Cheers mate :yes:.

On 17/12/2018 at 14:22, Bullbasket said:

First hand info like that is invaluable, and helps to make a build first class.....as this is. Great work so far.

 

John.

Cheers John. I'm very lucky he's still around to share his memories. Admittedly (like Uncle "During the war" Albert), I've heard them many times before but to be honest I don't tire of them (although I think my poor old Mum does :hungover: :giggle: !). The truth of it is that I'm asking him things about small details that he really has to wrack his brains over... sometimes even to the point of calling some of his old army buddies to see if they can remember. One thing that does seem to come over quite a lot is "if it moved, paint it!". Maybe familiar to ex-servicemen? As an example, I was asking him the other day about how they would sleep in the back and I found out that even the wooden planks (that would rest on the ballast blocks) were painted green! On top of these they would each have 3 "biscuits" - which were like cushions of some sort.

 

Anyway, I'm posted again so quickly because the display case was delivered last night and I wanted to share the pictures. It's getting quite exciting now! This was a custom order from Widdowsons Ltd Acrylic Display Cases. The great thing about their website is that you can provide your own measurements, choose a base etc. and get an instant quote. I'm extremely pleased with it. The quality is spot on and I would definitely recommend them!

 

Fits perfectly:

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I also glued the bridge weight classification disc.

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And have started the laborious task of cutting and cleaning up the ballast blocks. There are 106 of them in total. I'm not sure if that is too many... certainly they would be stacked 3 high in order to fit them all in. Something I'll need to ask my Dad about (again).

20181218_194855.jpg

 

Thanks for the feedback and thanks for looking.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Seasons greetings to all. Finally I've had some time to sit down and crack on with this project! Not having to go to work has been great - and I've even managed to keep on top of the jobs provided to me by my nearest and dearest.

:laugh:

 

On the Centurion I fixed the decals (orange to red) and fitted the cables. I then started the weathering process, first by applying AK Interactive streaking grime to parts of the turret and the bazooka plates:

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I then also applied general washes and grime around the engine area, including some kerosene stains. I've not done any chipping at all because the period is post-war and the vehicles were well looked after. Servicemen were always usefully employed with paint brushes to keep things fresh. The look I wanted though was one of a bit of "just off the ranges". Also, looking at my Dads pictures, it is evident that the Centurions were on the whole a bit dirty.

20181229_132833.jpg

 

Once satisfied with the amount of grime, it was then on with mud and dust on the tracks. This time with AK pigments and fixer.

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I used a variety of different colours, including European Earth and Light Dust.

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Similarly I applied some at the back and front.

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I used a wetter solution and "flicked" this off the brush against a toothpick to get some splatters.

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Finally I re-fitted the plates and dusted these down at their bases as well.

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By and large, the Centurion is now just about finished and I'm really pleased with the result.

 

Thanks for looking.

Edited by Bonkin
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7 minutes ago, Hamden said:

 

Your Centurion certainly looks like its just come off exercise, very nice result

 

     Roger

Thanks Roger :yes:.

 

I've also managed to do some finishing work on the trailer. The reflectors are photo-etch and these I painted before removing them...

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... and applied them at the appropriate positions down the sides and back before completing the other decals and then gloss coating the whole thing.

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And now, because I couldn't help myself, I posed the Centurion on the trailer just to see what it would look like:

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I'll need to add some muck to the trailer flat bed as well. Knowing my Dad, he wouldn't have been too happy having such a dirty tank on his vehicle :wink:.

 

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Now I'm very much looking forward to getting the tie-down chains sorted out and fitted.

 

Thanks for looking.

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20 hours ago, fatfingers said:

Fantastic modelling and the weathering is brilliant too. Bet your dad will be well chuffed when he see's through fruits of your labour's :worthy:

 

Regards 

 

Steve 

Thanks Steve. I spent over an hour on the phone to him last night and yes he's extremely pleased with how things are going. He continues to pass on little snippets of information as well that will be useful for the build.

15 hours ago, Kris B said:

Are you planning to weather the trailer or brand new? 

I'm going to weather the trailer flat bed a little, i.e. to show a bit of wear and dirt where the tanks would load. I'm also going to apply a bit more dirt to the tyres. By and large though I want the trailer (and tractor) in good condition. They were never left dirty and my Dad has often talked of washing them and wiping them down with a diesel soaked rag.

Edited by Bonkin
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