What! A Lorry Again?! (1/35)

Well, one could be tempted to think that this blog is slowly changing its primary subject. I can however, assure you that I am not becoming a lorry modeller. Several nice narrow gauge models for Nystrup Gravel are in different stages of construction. Both at my own work bench and abroad.

Inspired by Pete Mesheau from Canada I have begun construction of a Wespe Models' kit of the utterly British looking Fordson 7V. You can see Pete's Fordson in this post - just scroll down, but remember to enjoy the images of his speeder. The Wespe kit is in resin and not one of the best resin kits I have built. I had to replace several parts with parts from my spares box. Removing flash and preparing the parts for assembly took some time as well. But if you fancy a 7V in 1:35 this is the only kit there is, and the main cab part is actually very good.

The very basic instructions for the 7V kit. The parts count is low, so one could probably do without.

The Wespe kit depicts a truck made to tow a semi trailer, so to build a lorry with a standard drop down side cargo bed I had to make some modifications to the chassis. And build a cargo bed from scratch, of course. First I removed the brackets for the semi trailer coupling and made the chassis ready for the new cargo bed. I also had to remove some strange raised areas on the cab front. I think they are meant for markings on the military lorry, but as I'm building a civlian version they are not needed on my model. Info and drawing on a Fordson 7V can be found in issue 92 of the excellent magazine with the long name - Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review.

The chassis has received the first modifications while the cab still needs the peculiar raised areas sanded down.

Aligning wheels and drive train took some effort, as there are no clear location points. But with some trial and error I managed to get a chassis that keep all four wheels on the ground. I used Araldite to glue the wheels in place, as the slow curing glue leaves plenty of time for adjusting fit and alignment. An exhaust pipe was added from brass pipe. The kit contains two fuel tanks. I fitted only one, as none of the photos I could locate show more than one tank. As the cab is almost devoid of any interior detail, I added gear lever, hand brake and fire extinguisher from Resicast parts. I am also in the process of building a driver.



Chassis on four wheels ready for a scratch built cargo bed. The major sanding jobs on the cab are done and only minor adjustments to obtain a good fit to the chassis remain The small pencil marks shows me where I still need to sand a little.

Do you still need inspiration for your own building of the Wespe kit the image below should provide all you need. It is from a series of great paintings done by Mike Jeffries. You can see more of his paintings on his website called Transport Artist.

An image that almost makes me feel sorry I wasn't born earlier. This 7V is fitted with a tipping body. The painting shows many of my interests: A long coal train in the background, an excavator and a nice British lorry. Many thanks to Mike Jeffries for letting me show his great work on my blog.