The Build…
My selected vehicle for the build is the one with the colourful adorned caunter scheme, North African 1940 (The Caunter scheme is a camouflage scheme used on all military vehicles used by the British Army in the early days in the North African desert. It comprised a series of 6 colours…the main colours being the Portland Stone, Light Grey and Slate applied in stripes as on my K2).
Schemes on offer in the box…
Additional items used for this build are Def Models resin sagged wheel set, Red Zebra Austin K2 Ambulance Stowage, and finally, A caunter scheme 1940-1941 paint set from AK.
The first stage of construction is the beautifully detailed chassis. Here are the two main chassis frame members. A little time and effort is required in the removal of injector pin marks carried-out with a sanding stick.
The main frames have been cleaned-up along with the cross members.
This all fits together quite nicely. Be aware of cross member part D13 as this can be incorrectly fitted upside-down (I know because I did it)! The square detail should be facing up and (to be fair) the instructions quite clearly point this out. I did remove it and fit it the correct way up but only after discovering my faux pas the next day. The correction wasn’t pretty, but it had to be done for the correct fitment of the exhaust.
The engine is supplied as the sump plate and gearbox only. Not really a problem as the engine covers are supplied only in the closed position,
The differential is nicely detailed but let down by injector pin marks and two small holes. These were eradicated by filling the holes with appropriate diameter plastic rod and Squadron Green Putty which then were trimmed and sanded.
The hollow end of the exhaust pipe is refined by deepening and widening with an appropriate size drill.
The completed chassis fitted with exhaust, prop shaft and nicely detailed leaf suspension.
The two fuel tanks have been constructed and fitted. Each tank comprises of four parts which includes a separate neck-fill nozzle and cap.
Although not used in this build, I did construct the road wheels to check the fit. Not bad!
From this point on I deviated slightly from the kit instructions to aid construction and painting. Here the two stretcher guide rails have been fitted (incorrectly), only this time the “boo-boo” was spotted relatively straight away when I had the fortuity to test-fit one of the stretchers. Here you can see the “Cock-Eyed” angle of the stretcher giving the game away!
A piece of glazing has to be fitted in the cabin door. Here I’ve used a new product (to me) Ammo By Mig Acrylic Ultra Glue. Any excess glue is easily cleaned-up with water and the glue, once cured, seems to be much stronger than other acrylic glues that I’ve used in the past.
Its those pesky injector pin marks again, this time on-show in a rather prominent position. Once again my go-to filler is used and sanded down with increasingly fine wetted sandpaper until a smooth finish is achieved. Sorted!
Back to the cabin and floor section. I decided to finish the floor and cab areas with a wood effect. Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow was first airbrushed onto the wood areas followed by Windsor & Newton Burnt Umber applied in dots and then using a clean dry brush, was worked into the surface ensuring coverage of all “nooks & crannies”. Finally, the brush was drawn back along the panels to try and impart a wood-grain finish.
Note, that I’ve fitted the windscreen, seats and steering wheel.
Oh no, not more injector pin holes! Actually not a problem this time as all of these are covered by the inner body panels and other bits and pieces.
Airfix provide etch brass for the roof panel air vent frames, once again, a faultless fit.
A test fit of the body panels and roof secured with Tamiya tape.
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