Land Rover - recommendations for books, research and plans etc?

[bootneck]

I have just taken on a new interest, to build some Land Rover kits.  I know virtually nothing about these vehicles details, even though I drove them for best part of twenty years!  Can anyone recommend any books, especially geared towards the modeller;  plus other research elements such as plans please?   I would like to build the 88in, 109in and Defender if possible.  I'm not certain on scales availabe but something around 1:24 although I'm not worried about the kits yet; just the research phase first.

 

cheers,

Mike

[richellis]

Have a look at Haynes manuals, always a mine of info and cheap, can get online or even try local charity shops

[threepot900]

From my bookshelves I can suggest ….

 

Haynes  "Enthusiasts Manual" for the Military L/R from 1948 on, so Series 1 to Defender, 80-110" models.  

Veloce publishing do a book on the Half Ton Military L/R ie: the SWB 88 models, std and air portable Lightweight.

Martin Hodder has 'Land Rover, Simply the best' published by Haynes.

Bob Morrison has 'Combat Land Rovers Portfolio #1' published by Brooklands Books.

James Taylor has 'Land Rover Military one-tonne' by crowd press. ie: the 101" forward control models.

Veloce have printed a book called  "Land Rover SIII Reborn", which follows the strip down and rebuild of a civilian 109. - the current Revell model in 1/24th.

Extreme Landrover Discovery by Haynes has plenty of photos of Hi-lift jacks, sump plates, roof racks, bull bars and many extras to let you scratch build these sort of extras for any model.

 

Decide what you want to start with, civil, military , Police, Paris Dakar, and don't forget the Australian Perentie 6x6 versions, Belgian Minerva or Spanish Santana, which were built under licence, and type that and L/R into google. There are literally hundreds of books on the subject. Some are marque histories, others development histories of a specific model such as the SII or the Defender. 

 

Sometimes a coffee table picture book is just as useful as full on technical manuals. There are also 2-3 L/R magazines in the UK, buy these if you see anything that takes your fancy, and they will also have recommendations on books.

 

Hope this helps.

[threepot900]

I forgot to say, 1/35 and 1/24 seem to be the two most common scales, most models being military 109's. They come in hard top and soft top versions, or with no top at all for those with a 50mm machine gun in the back.  Tamiya are also the only mainstream source of SIII 109 Ambulance kit. In real life many of these were converted to campers and driven round the world by adventure seekers.

 

 I cant think of any mainstream 88" models apart from this one which is hens teeth rare and $$$ when it does appear. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/monogram-2279-land-rover--539173

 

There are also a few police and fire brigade vehicles, both L/R and R/R in UK and European liveries.

 

Try Revell, Tamiya and Italiery in the first instance. Airfix and Hobby Boss also do Defender/Wolf kits in 1/48 and 1/35 scale respectively. I know there are ltd run resin kits of the Wolf and 101 out there, and I have a resin 90" Defender in Hong Kong Police livery someplace in the stash, but if you want odd and unusual, I think it will cost you $$$.

 

Scalemates is as always a good place to start looking!

[bootneck]

Thanks very much for this info, very useful.   Can I ask question about your books;  do any of them contain diagrams with dimensions etc., especially the chassis frames and what is connected underneath?  If there are, could you advise me of which titles have them please?  I cannot afford to buy a book unless it does have specific plans and dimension details; so, hopefully you could help me focus on which title to look for.

My reasoning is that when anyone asks for info on a subject to model, they get loads of suggested book titles but most only have histories and lots of photos of the external bodywork.  Even the photos tend to be oblique views that we can't do any size calculations by photo interpretation.   That is not just the case for vehicles but aircraft, ships and tanks etc.  They are nice to see but absolutely useless to the scratchbuilder or someone who wishes to convert an existing kit. 

 

Since I posted my initial request, I have bought the Italeri 1:24 LWB Land Rover plus the Revell 1:24 LWB Land Rover, and that is probably the scale I shall stay with now.   I would like to convert one of those to an 88in SWB version.  If that is a success, with the help of diagrams and dimensions etc., then I would hope to get another kit and do something similar to make a Defender.

 

Happy Modelling!

 

Mike

[richellis]

I’m 100% sure the Haynes workshop manual has that detail in, but possibly not dimensions. Contact the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, they hold lots of Land Rovers archives and they can send stuff via email or you can visit (and it’s well worth it)

[bootneck]

Thanks Rich, good info.  Can you advise if the Haynes manual that you refer to is this one,  or this version, or a different copy?

Mike

[Natter]

https://www.lrworkshop.com/

 

Mostly parts diagrams, but may be useful for details - maybe not. 'DIAGRAMS' tab will give you Defender or Series 3 diagrams.

[richellis]

I’d go for the Haynes version, I know they normally have lots of pics from a full strip down and rebuild.

 

[simmerit]

Kit Form Services do a 1/24 half tonner and a 1 tonner. Best quick though as they are closing down.  Both in 1/24.

 

Revel do a 3/4 tonner series 3 but it’s a civvie truck.  You could convert into a rag top and if you pick up two, cut one down to an 88 chassis.  Both should be interesting projects. Scale is 1/24.

 

firingline do a few bits in 1/35. - half tonner and etch kits for 3/4 tonners.  Worth a look.  Revel and Italeri do a series 3 3/4 tonner.  You can also pick up resin wheels.  
 

HobbyBoss do a 1/35 Wolf buts it’s more like a 110 than a Wolf.  That should give you something to run at.  Plenty of bits you can pick up for them like decent light fittings.

 

keep your eyes peeled on waltBay for Accurate Armour 1/35 land rovers. Series 3 3/4 tonners.  Pricey so be warned!

 

try doing a Google on 1/24 Land Rover and 1/35 Land Rover, plenty stuff about.

 

HTH for now 

[johnlambert]

12 hours ago, richellis said:

I’m 100% sure the Haynes workshop manual has that detail in, but possibly not dimensions. Contact the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, they hold lots of Land Rovers archives and they can send stuff via email or you can visit (and it’s well worth it)

Thanks Rich, I was going to recommend the BMM too (full disclosure, I volunteer there so I have an interest in the museum's success).

 

The museum has a reading room, full of books that you can look at.  I think it's only open in the week, which isn't ideal, but if you can get up there it's an opportunity to look at some useful books and make notes.  Plus, I'm pretty sure that they have a good selection of Series/90 and 110/Defender examples.  Although many are quite hard to access as they are hemmed in by other vehicles (too many cars, not enough space; I'm sure many of us can relate to that in one way or another).

 

But, as Rich has said, the archive team is very helpful, but it's a small team so they might sometimes take a while to respond to queries.