Airfix Austin K2/Y Ambulance (A1375) 1:35

[Mike]

Austin K2/Y Ambulance (A1375)

1:35 Airfix

 

 

A militarised version of the Austin K30 30-cwt truck chassis was the basis for this ambulance, known as the K2 chassis to which they fixed a boxy body made by coach-builders Mann Egerton.  The load area had been developed by the Royal Army Medical Corps and was capable of carrying up to ten seated casualties or four stretcher-cases, loaded from the double doors at the rear, but with access from the crew cab, which had simplified canvas flaps instead of doors that must have made from a draughty ride during the winter.  It was powered by a 6-cylinder 3.5L Austin engine with a non-synchromesh ‘crash’ four-speed gearbox that had to be practiced and fully understood in order to be mastered.  Lots of crunching gears were the symptoms of someone unfamiliar with the box, which complained loudly if you didn’t get the revs and clutch timing just right.  Double-declutching was a common technique to smooth out gear changes, and with a trailing wind it could reach a maximum speed of around 50mph.

 

The type was very well-liked by its operators, and was a literal life-saver to its passengers.  During HM Queen Elizabeth’s Auxiliary Territorial Service training, she learned to drive a K2 ambulance and probably still has memories of that gearbox.  Many hundreds were made during WWII, and a few even found their way into American service, with the type seeing the end of WWII and some of the Korean War before it was phased out.  My father was an RAF Ambulance driver in the 50s serving in Germany, and remembers the type, but he drove a German made Ford during his period driving his “blood wagon” as he calls it.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new tooling from Airfix’s recent 1:35 scale AFV line, many of which have been reboxings from Korean company Academy.  There has been talk of this kit being tooled for them by Academy, and the style of the sprues plus the Korean language on the back of the decal sheet backs that up.  The kit arrives in a sturdy top-opening red-themed box, and inside are three sand-coloured sprues plus a separate single bonnet/hood that has been slide-moulded for detail.  A clear sprue and a small Photo-Etch (PE) sheet completes the build fodder, and the instruction booklet rounds out the package, with colour profiles on the rear pages.  Detail is good throughout, although there is no engine within the bay, and the square vents on the roof means that the kit depicts the later variant, the earlier roof having circular rotary vents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the ladder chassis, making it up from two rails with four cross-braces and a H-shaped front section that is moulded as one piece.  The middle brace, part D13 has a square raised section on the top surface that should be used as an alignment cue, as identified in the diagram.  A depiction of the underside of the Austin motor and gearbox drops in from above, and the rear leaf-springs are added to mounts on the sides at the back of the chassis.  This supports the bulbous two-part back axle, which fits onto two rectangular plates, and is joined to the back of the gearbox by a long drive-shaft.  The front leaf-springs attach to the sides at the front that supports the axle beam, and has a two-part exhaust slipped under that exits near the back axle on the left.  A steering arm links the two front wheels together, which are different from the rear wheels, although they both have three parts each, just different hubcap details.  The front wheels are covered over by a single-piece wrap-around wheel arch, and the twin fuel tanks are made up from four-parts each before they are attached to slots in the sides of the chassis rail, taking care to use the correct one for each side, as they are handed.

 

 

 

The floor of the load area is moulded as a complex single part that incorporates the cab as well as the load area.  It has the driver’s foot pedals fixed in the planked front, and two stretchers are laid on the raised seating area, which has an outrigger glued to the edge to take the wider stretcher’s feet in grooves.  The bulkhead between the two areas is installed with the separate door able to be posed open or closed, and an upstand for the spare wheel is laid on the floor in front of it, with an extra angled section to support the tyre.  The door also has a clear pane in the top, and what appears to be a fold-down jump seat glued to the centre section in the load area side.  The interior side walls of the body are separate from the exterior, and have another bench about half way up with cushions on the base, and another stretcher that fits into slots like the lower one.  The end-caps glue into slots in the wall, and the walls are then fitted to grooves in the floor.  The crew cab receives the two-part spare tyre that is fixed in place by a bracket so it doesn’t roll away during cornering or braking, with a shallow hump in the outer wall to accommodate its bulk.  The driver’s seat drops into place on two L-shaped lugs, and here there’s a shallow sink-mark in the centre of the seat part, which should be filled if you think it will be seen.  The dashboard is a wide, straight part that lives up to its name, and has decals for the instruments, plus a steering wheel on long column that fits under the dash, then is mounted on the raised centre console, which has two levers located in front of it.  A simple padded box seat is added for the co-driver, who also has a small rectangular pad fitted to the wall behind him, the lucky thing.

 

At this point the outer walls are glued into position on the body, taking care to paint the sections that will be visible through the larger internal windows, as well as an empty rack for a pair of rifles next to the driver’s seat, and another pad that is located on the co-driver’s side.  The rear frame starts closing in the back of the body with added hinges at the top and bottom of each side, then the windscreen with two clear panels is attached to the cab, covered over with a two-layer sloped roof to keep the drivers dry.  At the rear the main roof is also two layers, adding extra detail to the interior, and helped by adding rectangular PE flanges to the edges of the two roof vents, after which you can put in the two back doors in either the open or closed position.  The body is then flipped over onto its back to fit a pair of boxes just behind the cab, and another two at the very rear, the latter made from five parts each.  The body and chassis are joined together, and while the model is still inverted, the rear wheels are bracketed by a large pair of angled mudguards, the forward two having brackets holding them in position.  Flipping her back over onto her wheels again, you can choose whether to have the back steps deployed or folded in, and build up the engine cowling.  Oddly, there’s a radiator core inside the cowling that won’t really be seen, as the radiator cowling is a plastic part with a mesh texture moulded into the panels, albeit very nice texture.  The top cowling is on its own sprue fragment, as it has been slide-moulded to achieve crisp detail on all three sides, including a nicely done set of louvers on the sides.  This drops over the engine bay, sealing it off from view.  The canvas side-doors are depicted rolled up at the front of the openings, and a wing-mirror is mounted above it on each side of the windscreen frame, then the side-lights and headlights with a choice of clear lens or hooded shroud are fixed on the wings and bonnet sides, with the front bumper bar mounted in front of the radiator on two brackets.  A circular PE placard is mounted to the right wing on a PE bracket, finishing the build.

 

 

Markings

There are four decal options on the sheet, and you’d think they’d all be boring green, but they’re not.  The different schemes are not only disparate, but one of them is also quite fun, with plenty of masking required in order to do it justice.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 30 Corps, Motor Ambulance Convoy, Royal Army Service Corps, North West Europe, 1944
• British Army, North Africa, 1940
• British Army, Alexandria, Egypt, 1942 (Not the one from Ice Cold in Alex)
• Auxiliary Territorial Service, England, 1944 Driven by Princess Elizabeth

 

 

 

Decals appear to be printed by a Korean company in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin high gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

It’s a really nice modern tooling of the almost ubiquitous British WWII ambulance, and may well feature in a few Ice Cold in Alex dioramas soon.  It’s a shame there’s no engine, but how many would have been exposed anyway?  There is resin for that if you’re so minded.

 

At time of writing, it’s available at a discount with a FREE Airfix branded pint glass.  What are you waiting for?

 

Highly recommended.

 

Tea-Total Option

 

Beer Drinker’s Option

 

Review sample courtesy of

 

[bootneck]

Yippee, whoop-whoop, hurray!   At last, a British vehicle that can find itself in many settings.  Great review Mike.

 

cheers,
Mike

[P.o Prune]

Any chance that this is the same model that was used during the Battle of Britain?
If it is. I've been looking for it forever!!

 

[Heather Kay]

18 minutes ago, P.o Prune said:

Any chance that this is the same model that was used during the Battle of Britain?

Nope. The K2 ambulances weren’t used by the RAF at that stage of the war. You’d be after an Albion for a heavy ambulance, or a Standard Tilly for a light ambulance. 

[P.o Prune]

14 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Nope. The K2 ambulances weren’t used by the RAF at that stage of the war. You’d be after an Albion for a heavy ambulance, or a Standard Tilly for a light ambulance. 

Thanks for info.
Do you know if any of the two are available in scale 1:32 or 1:35?

[Heather Kay]

6 minutes ago, P.o Prune said:

Do you know if any of the two are available in scale 1:32 or 1:35?

No problem. I’ve been interested in airfield vehicles for the 1940 period for years. As to kits, sadly, there is no-one producing the big Albion. By Albion, I mean this one:

 

JMV 149 Albion model AM463 RAF Ambulance 1937 by wheelsnwings2007/Mike, on Flickr

 

it’s essentially the same chassis as the refueller of the period, so there’s some scope for kitbashing the Airfix 1/48th AM463 refueller. Then again, it was a rare beast, mainly seen on large bomber airfields. The more common "heavy" ambulance of the late 1930s was based on a Morris Commercial chassis - again, almost impossible to find in kit form at any scale. Fighter fields relied on smaller general service vehicles in the main, and may not even have had specific ambulance bodied trucks.

 

Now, the RAF used Standard 10hp utilities, as Airfix again kitted in the 1/72nd Bomber Resupply Set. The only utility (which was shortened to "Tilly", giving the  nickname) in 1/35 is Tamiya's Austin. The Austins were much more common in army service, and weren’t really an RAF thing - but many stretch the point and mark the model up as RAF anyway. I don’t blame them.

 

Here's my take on the Airfix Standard Tilly with a scratch light ambulance body.

 

Titivating a Tilly by Heather Kavanagh, on Flickr

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. With some digging around the internet, it might be there are some small makers of kits and bits at the larger scales that can be bashed into suitable vehicles for you. Unfortunately, airfield service vehicles of the early war period are seemingly not that popular.

[At Sea]

I think not including ‘Katie’ from the film is a massive oversight, presumably because of copyright issues?

 

I bought one on pre-order because I love the film & think it would make a nice change from aircraft.

Airfix will do well with this release I think.

 

As for ‘Katie’, I expect the aftermarket decal chaps will be along shortly. 

[Wafu]

57 minutes ago, At Sea said:

I think not including ‘Katie’ from the film is a massive oversight, presumably because of copyright issues?

 

I bought one on pre-order because I love the film & think it would make a nice change from aircraft.

Airfix will do well with this release I think.

 

As for ‘Katie’, I expect the aftermarket decal chaps will be along shortly. 

Gecko models kit has the Ice Cold in Alex decals😂😂😂. 

[BIG X]

Thanks for the review @Mike 

 

I've just received the Gecko model (yesterday) - just to see what's in the box - as my modelling days are well & truly over.

 

I will be buying the Airfix one too - but I have to agree with some of the above posts - in that - for about £3 to £5 more it looks like you can get a kit that is in a completely different league to this one.

 

If it isn't against the rules I would like to maybe do a "comparison" thread - if that's allowed - to compare the individual components of both kits.

 

All the best - Steve

[Mike]

5 minutes ago, BIG X said:

If it isn't against the rules I would like to maybe do a "comparison" thread - if that's allowed - to compare the individual components of both kits.

Go for it, but in a separate thread would be best

[BIG X]

Just now, Mike said:

Go for it, but in a separate thread would be best

Oh I wouldn't dream of polluting this thread - but which section would be best to post it in do you think???

[Mike]

1 minute ago, BIG X said:

Oh I wouldn't dream of polluting this thread - but which section would be best to post it in do you think???

I was hoping you wouldn't ask Now you've made me think about it, I think AFVs > WWII would be best, as long as you don't then go on to build them there

[BIG X]

1 minute ago, Mike said:

I was hoping you wouldn't ask Now you've made me think about it, I think AFVs > WWII would be best, as long as you don't then go on to build them there

Trust me - my father was vicar - I definitely won't be building them - I can barely see well enough to take photos & type a few rambling sentences of late 

Time to order the Airfix I think...

Steve

[BIG X]

On 15/08/2022 at 11:23, At Sea said:

I think not including ‘Katie’ from the film is a massive oversight, presumably because of copyright issues?

 

I bought one on pre-order because I love the film & think it would make a nice change from aircraft.

Airfix will do well with this release I think.

 

As for ‘Katie’, I expect the aftermarket decal chaps will be along shortly. 

@At Sea If you look very carefully at the decal sheet in the review - you will see decals 27, 29 & 30 depict 121370 - which is the code for KATY in the movie.  It is hard to tell from the photo - but I am sure I can actually see the word KATY under the serial numbers - as depicted in the movie too.  A bit sneaky of Airfix - as those serials don't appear in any of the official 4 schemes - but I'm sure they will please a good many Sylvia Syms fans 

 

 

Steve

[VMA131Marine]

One other notable thing about the new Airfix kit: there is no Frame C. The tan parts are labeled A,B, and D. The clear frame is E. This suggests other variants are in the works. We already know the Gecko kit will be issued with a truck body with both open and enclosed cabs.

[BIG X]

1 minute ago, VMA131Marine said:

One other notable thing about the new Airfix kit: there is no Frame C. The tan parts are labeled A,B, and D. The clear frame is E. This suggests other variants are in the works. We already know the Gecko kit will be issued with a truck body with both open and enclosed cabs.

Yeah - also the clear sprue shows windows for a closed cab variant KS30 GS type 

Like this one - as previously owned by our own @fightersweep

 

[Seahawk]

Small point but NB Airfix have missed a digit off the serial for option A: it should be A1210728.   There's a photo of it in Peter Hodges' British Military Markings 1939-1945, Almark, 1971 (p.39).  The transfer looks a little big as well: not sure why Airfix have reproduced it larger than the serials on all the other options - except maybe to hide the absence of the missing digit?

[BIG X]

12 minutes ago, Seahawk said:

Small point but NB Airfix have missed a digit off the serial for option A: it should be A1210728.   There's a photo of it in Peter Hodges' British Military Markings 1939-1945, Almark, 1971 (p.39).  The transfer looks a little big as well: not sure why Airfix have reproduced it larger than the serials on all the other options - except maybe to hide the absence of the missing digit?

@Seahawk - not A1210872 ? ? ?

 

 

confusion reigns supreme already eh 

 

...same large stencil type and the 8 is there - but in a different spot.

 

My head hurts - Steve

[Seahawk]

Absolutely incontrovertibly A1210728 in white (as appears elsewhere on the Accurate Armour sheet).  A1210872 is a different vehicle: by the serial’s colour I’d judge in Italy or North Africa.

 

To my eyes Accurate Armour have this serial the same size as all the others.  It will be interesting to see what Gecko come up with.

Edited August 19, 2022 by Seahawk

[BIG X]

55 minutes ago, Seahawk said:

Absolutely incontrovertibly A1210728 in white (as appears elsewhere on the Accurate Armour sheet).  A1210872 is a different vehicle: by the serial’s colour I’d judge in Italy or North Africa.

 

To my eyes Accurate Armour have this serial the same size as all the others.  It will be interesting to see what Gecko come up with.

So far Gecko just have the two - Queenie's & Ice Cold...

 

[fatfingers]

17 hours ago, BIG X said:

 

Now thats a bit lovely, especially with the Polar Bears Divisional marking! 😉

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[BIG X]

WOW!!!

 

I just read this thread & I am lost for words - take a look - it's shocking what has occurred behind the scenes...

 

Steve

[Aeronut22]

2 hours ago, BIG X said:

WOW!!!

 

I just read this thread & I am lost for words - take a look - it's shocking what has occurred behind the scenes...

 

Steve

Would I be right in thinking the 'owner' of the Austin brand is currently BMW?

[BIG X]

13 minutes ago, Aeronut22 said:

Would I be right in thinking the 'owner' of the Austin brand is currently BMW?

WIKIPEDIA - 

The rights to the Austin name passed to British Aerospace and then to BMW when each bought the Rover Group. The rights were subsequently sold to MG Rover, created when BMW sold the business. Following MG Rover's collapse and sale, Nanjing Automobile Group owns the Austin name and Austin's historic assembly plant in Longbridge. At the Nanjing International Exhibition in May 2006, Nanjing announced it might use the Austin name on some of the revived MG Rover models, at least in the Chinese market. However, Nanjing is for the moment concentrating on reviving the MG brand. The MG brand is traditionally used for sports cars and Nanjing has no rights to the Rover name, so a revival of the Austin name would seem a logical brand for selling more standard cars. It might also be argued that a British name would be more respected in the European market than a Chinese name. Nanjing Automobile Group itself merged into SAIC Motor.

 

More than a decade on the Austin name now belongs to the British Engineer John Stubbs, owner of specialist suspension company Black Art Designs. Stubbs aims to take the Austin name back into the mainstream market, possibly with an electric vehicle.

 

I can't vouch for the accuracy - it is Wikipedia - but they are usually on the right track.

Steve

[At Sea]

This is bonkers. It has mystified me why Mustangs & Phantoms need a ‘Boeing Licenced product’ sticker when it’s arguable that a) Those companies, North American Aviation & McDonnell Douglas are defunct & b) those aircraft are essentially ’public domain’ as the shape is so iconic.

 

If true that this is happening with all models where does it end?

 

Corporate lawyers trying to justify their salary by raking in pennies of royalties.

 

Yee gads!