Heather Kay Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 Having raised the spectre of the Austin earlier, I thought I should take a look at what was in the bag. I have this sneaking suspicion that almost every whitemetal and resin K6 kit out there owes more than a little to Airfix's rendition. The cab, scuttle, front wings and chassis all look terribly familiar. Still, who can blame anyone from, um, borrowing something that looks pretty good as somewhere to start from? At first blush, this BW kit is a different kettle of fish from the Hippo. The parts made a pleasant tinkly noise when decanted from the bag, which is a sign that the whitemetal alloy is higher quality. There’s a lot of very fine detail in the castings, which bodes well. There are some fun features to make life easier, such as the rear wheels are cast in pairs with the springs. Even some clear glazing material is provided. I might actually enjoy putting this one together! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 2 hours ago, Heather Kay said: Crossbreed Crossley Believe it or not, a couple of years ago I saw one of these in Scampton village. Just down from the Dambusters pub! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 25 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said: Believe it or not, a couple of years ago I saw one of these in Scampton village. Just down from the Dambusters pub! Wow! I had no idea any had survived. Now, there are several Ford WOT crash tenders in preservation, with the same gubbins as the Airfix Austin. They have a canvas tilt cab roof. Could it have been one of those do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 10 hours ago, Heather Kay said: Could it have been one of those do you think? It could have been. it was parked half on the grass at the bottom of the hill from the pub. I was so surprised to see it there that I just had time to note the low stance and three axles. Straight away my brain said, 'Crossley?' as I drove on around the corner towards home. I've heard of the Ford and probably seen pictures, but that was my immediate reaction at the time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 It’s a bank holiday weekend here in Blighty. Most folk head off to garden centres and DIY stores. Me? I tidy my stash and spend a couple of hours rubbing down some 0 gauge coach paintwork again. I can live with some paint irregularities for personal models, but for paying work I try to get as good a finish as I can. This will be the second round of rubbing down, and third application of livery colour. I hope this will be the last round. This is the rearranged 1940 stash. It lives in a high shelf above my workbench. The tidy was prompted by a some acquisitions, two from a BM member. I’m finding it hard to choose the next kit to hit the workbench. While I was re-respraying the coaches, it made sense to get some base coats on the Hippo. Having given the whole thing a coat or two of grey rattlecan primer, I could see how things looked. Surprisingly, little was needed to repair scratches or gashes, so while the airbrush was set up I got a couple of light coats of white on the top of the tank and cab. The upper parts were painted yellow, and that’s a notorious colour to apply with any density. A white base coat will help. I’ll get some more on a bit later. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philp Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 Hi Heather. Looking good. A secret I have found to painting yellow is a pink undercoat. It can go over white or not. Makes the yellow a lot easier to cover. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 16 minutes ago, philp said: A secret I have found to painting yellow is a pink undercoat. I have seen that used before. It seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it. I think I should obtain some pink paint! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 Well, the yellow went on adequately over the white. It’ll do. It’s Humbrol 24, which I thinned using Humbrol enamel thinners. It will hopefully be dry enough tomorrow morning to mask so I can spray the RAF Blue Grey. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 Masked and blue on. I’ll let that sit for a while before risking taking off the tape. I don’t really like leaving tape in contact with fresh paint for too long. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 Thats looking better already. Some minor retouching needed here and there. I’ll get some protective gloss varnish on later, before detail painting and working out the remaining fittings. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 This thread has been an epic tale of stubborn- er perseverance! It’s certainly looking good now (and extra marks for getting a big chunk of yellow on it too). Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 1 hour ago, AdrianMF said: This thread has been an epic tale of stubborn- er perseverance! Thanks Adrian! Some whitemetal kits are like that. You either have at it until it looks right, or you end up recycling it as nose ballast! A quick gloss coat done. A brief inspection showed a few areas that will need hairy stick remedial work. The next jobs will be glazing the cab, adding mirrors and wipers, and working out how to attach the rear mudguards and the access steps. It may be a while. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 That tanker is looking superb Heather. There is something about RAF blue/grey and yellow on a vehicle that is very nostalgic. Love it. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 Very much like the RN Wessex schemes, now that I think about it… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 There are never enough Guard labels on a sheet, so one of the three brake coaches is waiting on new supplies. I’ll be glad to get these varnished and protected, because then I embark on glazing. That’s a lot of windows. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 I retouched the paintwork. It’s getting there. While I had the enamels out, I painted the tyres, steering wheel and cab seats. Not sure about the next step. I might glaze the cab so it can be properly fitted to the chassis. Then those access ladders at the rear, and the fuel delivery booms. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 Pending transfer delivery - which Postie just did. Less than 24 hour turnaround is impressive - I thought I’d make some progress on the K6. I looked at that metal cab and floor for a good while. It’s chunky. I contemplated making it a bit less chunky, then remembered a resin cab and floor I had left from another build. Ironically, I’d rejected it back then and - would you believe it? - swapped it out for the Airfix cab! Anyway, because of the apparent incestuous nature of K6 kits at this scale, the cab fits the BW Models chassis without further mucking about. The axles and wheels have been installed, and I need to make up an exhaust pipe. The bodywork ought not take too long to put together, so this build should be done fairly quickly. Not sure how this image will come over. Let’s see... Splendid. Here’s a real one, handily taken from above. Another useful image. And another! Hopefully, from these, you can sort of see why I swapped the cab casting. Those front wheel arches are quite thin, although the resin ones are a bit too thin. I can glue some thin styrene strip around them, but even then it’s easier than scraping back the thick metal ones. I am pleased to find images of a real tender. That will help enormously with the detail fittings. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeroenS Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Oh yeah that is a lovely tender! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 The Austin K6 3-ton chassis was used by all three services for all kinds of jobs. Many entered civilian life after the end of hostilities, and could be found in all kinds of places. I’ve seen photos of box vans for the GPO stores, a mobile X-ray unit, as well as various flatbeds and tippers. I have to admit I’ve always been a bit hazy about how this CO2 tender actually worked. I thought at one stage it was just a supplementary unit to help top up a "proper" crash tender, but they were proper standalone units. In the prototype photos you can see the gas dispersal horn attached to the central hose reel, plus a couple of other nozzle affairs, that would have been used to direct the gas at the base of fuel fires to smother them. Behind the cab are two cylinders mounted on trolleys. Several nice details show up in the photos, such as the door mirrors, and what looks like a ladder rack on the top of the nearside cylinder bank. Note how bare metal plate has been used for areas where crew might be clambering up the machine. My inner detail fiend is keen to add all kinds of greeblies, but I think I will keep it fairly simple. I suppose I should finish lettering the coach and get them varnished before I play some more with this model. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 I think will do for now. I’ve reached a point where I’m getting annoyed by things. Silly things, such as the bottle banks not being parallel on the back. The gap between the banks at the front is smaller than the gap at the rear. I’ve tried to adjust the locating strips by filing, to force one or other end of the skewed bank over a bit, but why am I needing to do this? I bought this kit because I thought it would be a timesaver overall, but the more I change things, the easier it would have been to just start from scratch and do a conversion on the Airfix kit chassis. My current thinking is that I may use the chassis and cab and scratch the rear platform and cylinder banks in styrene using the kit parts as a pattern. The various detail castings can be reused. Right, back on the Shelf of Doom with it! This diorama isn’t really any closer to being completed is it! First, I’ve got the wrong refueller truck, and now the fire tender is rubbish. I’m not sure why I bother! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjwomack Posted June 3, 2021 Share Posted June 3, 2021 Oh dear, someone else joining me at the KUTA annual dance? Actually I was enjoying the fusion of resin and white-metal- it was an anything but injection GB in a single thread! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted June 3, 2021 Author Share Posted June 3, 2021 I think both lorries might be finished before the end of the GB. It’s just I have to be in the right frame of mind for scratch building, and that danged paying work needs to be done. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 I’ve not touched any of the models in this thread now for a week. I’m beginning to think - and mentally I reckon I’m almost there - these will be my first ever DNF in a group build. I fear I have lost interest in this project at the moment. Add in the incorrect refueller, and the need to basically scratchbuild the fire tender, I am more than tempted to call a halt. Perhaps they’ll resurface in a KUTA thread. Anyway, how long have got before the GB ends? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjwomack Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Did you want that answer in hours and minutes? Roughly 4 weeks and 3 days and 6 hours. I'll admit that with 3 completed the fourth may not get there; it's why I'll never enter the blitz builds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 On 6/10/2021 at 5:11 PM, Heather Kay said: I fear I have lost interest in this project at the moment. Add in the incorrect refueller, and the need to basically scratchbuild the fire tender, I am more than tempted to call a halt. That's a real shame Heather but I can understand. I recently had a very bad moment on a commission build (my first) of a 1/48 Meteor 8. "Bad varnish" moment towards the end. After a couple of weeks, and with some BM helpers (advice, encouragement etc) I have it back to a "good vranish" state. I've been really impressed with these two vehicles regardless of the issues you highlight. Some time away might regenerate some enthusiasm to finish? Besides, the Western Thunder fairies lead me to believe that a large pre/early war high wing twin engine bomber may be in your future ............? Just saying......... 😁 Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now