Travel in a Dead World

[Slackbladder]

Hello again all. Been a while since I've posted anything but I have now finally started a new project. We're going back to the Western Desert in the Autumn of 1927.

 

Ralph Bagnold and a selection of his fellow officers have been adventuring in the Middle East in motor cars over the last year or so. This diorama will eventually depict an overnight stop on their most ambitious adventure to date, an 800 mile round trip across the Western Desert from Cairo to Siwa Oasis. If successful it would be the first time the journey had been completed by motor car.  With no water, food or fuel to be found along the way they would have to carry all their supplies with them. The trip would be undertaken by the six officers in three of their privately owned Ford Model Ts (two tourers and a roadster). At this time the cars were largely unmodified with none of the engine covers or wheel/mudguards removed as was later the case when they upgraded to Model As. They did however re-introduce the makeshift external condenser tank attached to the radiator cap that had been used by the Light Car Patrols towards the end of the First World War. Bagnold also introduced his first sun compass on the trip, which would later be used so effectively by the Long Range Desert Group and SAS during the North Africa campaign of the Second World War.

 

 

As you can see from the above there's not much to work with on the scenery. Some progress images to follow.

Edited February 20 by Slackbladder
Changed a tag

[Slackbladder]

Started on the base. Only a base coat of some old house paint and sand followed by a mix of plaster, PVA, water and pigment so far.

 

 

[Slackbladder]

The first Model T (Bagnold's) is well under way.

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Some of the chaps' luggage.

 

     A few of the large number of fuel cans required.

 

     

 

Now attached quite basically with a piece of wood between the handles. The fuel was siphoned into the tank so that they didn't have to keep removing the cans.

 

     Bagnold's sun compass.

 

    

 

Slight scale difference in the figure helmets in the ICM ANZAC figures kit and the resin heads with tropical helmets attached that I ordered. We will overcome this hopefully.

 

That's all for now, more to follow.

[malpaso]

Cool.  I read Bagnold’s “Libyan Sands” a couple of years ago.  Well written descriptions and stories of his early exploration.  This was 1941 copy from the local library!

[Slackbladder]

That is indeed where the inspiration for this build comes from Malpaso. Unfortunately no-one makes a Ford Model T Roadster in 1/35 so I will either use some "artistic licence" and just have to use one of the Roadster Pick-ups from the ICM kit as is, or try and convert it somehow to look more like a Roadster. Luckily I have two, so one to experiment on and if that fails back to plan A.

[Slackbladder]

Minor update with the addition of the condenser pipe, having found some suitable copper wire.

 

 

And some further work on the base.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 3 by Slackbladder