Citroen HY In Service on Nystrup Gravel

Bought back in august 2022 the Solido Citroen HY van is now in service on Nystrup Gravel. This is the second van on the layout with a French background and a real icon. The van needed a few tweaks and weathering before it was ready for display on my layout.

It's summer and much of my modelling at this time of year happens outside. Photographing a finished model, too.

With the investment pattern of Nystrup Gravel there is always something stored on the shelves to bring to the worktable. If lack of fortune should ever leave the little company poor there are projects for several years in storage, only needing paint and materials. The Citroen HY van is now out of storage. Not because the financial situation for Nystrup Gravel is worsening - I simply missed working on a car model!

As usual I begin with disassembling the model. It separated to a greater extent than planned! I hope the repair will be manageable. I worked outdoor as Denmark (as most of Europe) has had quite high temperatures (34 C in late June).

Before I disassembled the model I had made a list of things I wanted to add or change on the van. Nothing major, but just to make the Citroen a little more realistic and fit in on the Nystrup Gravel layout. Because let's face it: this is not a fine scale model, but a diecast car with added plastic detal that is often quite simple.

• Paint headlights. Moulded in plastic and obviously so.
• Rear axle. Bent and needs adjusting.
• Interior details. Add coulour and details. Remove benches in cargo area and repaint.
• License plates. Add Danish 1950's license plates.
• Weathering. Slight dusting and basic weathering. 

Seats frames were painted gloss black and the cushions leather brown. The bare metal floor under the seats were painted grey, as it was only the area in front of and between the seats that was covered in black matting. The prototype cab is very spartan and there really isn't much to add to the model. Having removed the seats in the cargo compartment and repaired the damage from the disassembly process, I air brushed the model's all black interior grey using thinned 991 'Dark Sea Grey' from Vallejo. I then weathered the floor very lightly. I skipped any further weathering and detailing as only the top rear door opens and the view of the interior is very limited. The glass in the rear door opening was missing on my model and I added a new one from a piece of clear plastic.

There aren't too many HY's in original condition. Most have been rebuilt into food trucks, mobile homes or restored almost beyond recognition. Here's a nice original one from the UK. The rear window is a different shape than on my model. This HY has weathered nicely!

The bent rear axle that made the left rear wheel sit off-angle was fixed by adding a 4 mm thick scrap of plastic behind the wheel. This holds the wheel in it's right position. I tried to straighten the axle but without success as I was afraid of ruining the wheel attachment completely. Painted black the rectangular piece of plastic isn't very noticable. While this really isn't a proper solution the trick works.

It was a quick job cutting and sanding a pair of license plates from 1 mm plasticard. With a few quick passes of a brush with gloss yellow paint they were soon ready to receive the decals from 'Skilteskoven'. The front plate was fitted under the radiator and the rear plate over the rear door. To make the rear plate fit properly I had to remove a small metal casting with a grinder attachment in my Dremel. 

The license plates are fixed to a wooden stick during painting. Danish license plates during the 1950's were stamped metal plates with round edges. Using 1 mm plasticcard allows me to round the edges and obtain a good likeness to the prototype.

Decals added and the first weathering applied to the van.

The head lights were painted 991 'Dark Sea Grey' from Vallejo which is a decent match for the van's colour scheme despite not being metallic. Before I added the license plates I weathered the model with an intial air brushing of matt varnish on the lower third of the van. Once dry I added another layer of matt varnish, now with a touch of sand coloured paint added. I air brushed this on the lower quarter of the van giving the impression of a car that has travelled on dusty country roads. A wash of heavily thinned black oil paint was added around roof edges, handles and around the lid of the petrol tank. Very limited traces of rust were added. Not much as the van was a relatively new car in the Nystrup Gravel-period.

The right side of the van showing sliding door and slight traces of beginning rust where upper body elements join.

A short stop for a cup of coffee from the thermos.

Not every story has a happy ending! Here is a humiliating end for a long wheel base Citroen van. Butchered into a trailer for horse transports.

The end of my Citroen HY is much better. New tasks ahead so off it goes.

Ladas in H0

With a steady stream of Eastern European railway models in 1/87 scale arriving, I have begun collecting a few matching cars as well. I had no problem selecting the first type of car to buy: Lada. Rugged, practical, and iconic, it symbolised (well, kind of) national pride in the Soviet Union and will continue to outlive the USSR for many more years.

The Busch Lada 1200 loaded on a Soviet narrow gauge flat wagon. Not an unlikely load in a post-Soviet rural area even today.

There is a wide range of Lada models available but I chose two of the models from the Busch range. I decided to have a rather early model and one of the more recent that I remember myself - including a taxi ride in one on some very frozen streets of Leningrad.

The 1971 Lada 1200 is a finished model while the 1976 Lada 1600 is in kit form.

Instructions for the assembly of the Lada 1600. I think I can handle this level of complexity...

The Lada 1200 (VAZ-2101 'Zhiguli') was a licence-built version of the Italian Fiat 124, that was heavily modified and tailored for the rough climate and road conditions across the Soviet Union.  The car was widely and successfully exported to the West under the Lada brand for more than two decades.

The Lada 1600 (VAZ-2106 'Zhiguli') was a modernised version of the original model and it became the Soviet contribution to top the Eastern Bloc charts for comfort and prestige during the communist period as the really expensive and luxurious GAZ and ZIL cars, intended for party members and various state officials, were completely out of reach for ordinary people. 

The Lada 1600 was in production 1976–2006 and after the fall and disintegration of the Soviet Union the model was produced by Russian IzhmashAvto in Izhevsk and RosLada in Syzran. There seems to have been a 'shadow production' in Ukraine, but it was most likely nothing but a tax evading assembly of parts imported from Russia.

I'm slowly beginning to settle for a 2000-themed Eastern European in the western, rural part of the area. Consequently the Ladas will be rather old cars and heavily weathered.

Finally a Lorry For Gravel Transports

I have searched for a nice lorry to place at the lorry loading ramp for as long as I have had plans for my 1/19 scale Nystrup Gravel layout. In 1/19 scale the selection of lorry models is quite limited, the models are large and comparatively expensive. Now the lorry is here!

'Looks like good German quality!' Nystrup Gravel workshop manager Petersen seems to think of the Mercedes L 3500.

My hunt for a lorry in 1/19 scale (for car models the most usual scale is actually 1/18 scale) hasn't been easy. As mentioned the selection of lorrys is limited and they can be quite expensive (usually in the range of 150-200 €). I have a closed van and a small 3-wheel lorry in my collection and I've been lucky to find them quite cheap on Ebay. For years I have been looking at the Schuco Mercedes L3500 as the smallest lorry fitting my layout's time frame. I have been holding back buying one due to the price, but I've now been fortunate to get my Mercedes at almost half the usual price, even including postage. 

The Schuco model holds the usual high quality of the company's products. The model is a mix of metal castings and injected plastic parts with vinyl tires. There are far fewer clumsy details on the model than usually on die cast models as parts with delicate details have mostly been done in plastic resulting in more finesse. The model is huge (particularly so when I have just finished a 1/87 narrow gauge locomotive) and measures 40 cm in length. As such it fits the lorry loading ramp on my layout. Unfortunately the Mercedes is 9.5 cm high over the sides, exactly 3 mm higher than the chute on the lorry loading ramp! I'm now planning how the ramp can be rebuilt to accomodate the Mercedes.

40 cm of 'Wirtschaftswunder' Mercedes lorry ready for service on my small layout.

A peek into the cab shows a detailed interior. Perhaps a driver figure could be fitted?

The lorry model will not need many details added apart from new license plates and hand tools like showels. I will definately fit custom made decals to the model before detail painting and weathering.    

If you are a reader from Scandinavia and want to know more about the prototype Mercedes L 3500 I can recommend a visit to the Sundborg blog, where the author goes into detail with the history of the first post-war classic Mercedes lorry. Check the blog out for plenty of other interesting stories. The blog is a testimony that ideas and creativity can inspire across scales and themes. Dive into Sundborg's abundant inspiration - but set aside some time for the experience!

Period advertisement for the Mercedes L 3500 even showing then end of a typical DIN steel skip.

The rear end looks good too and will probably be adorned with the local haulage contractor's name. I have built models of haulage contractors lorries before, among them was the double cab Ford i 1/35.

I'm not starting work on the lorry anytime soon, but will probably design and order decals this summer in preparation for a winter project.

UFO Mothership

Back in august 2023 I took some hours off from serious modelling and built two UFO's for a quick fly-by over Nystrup Gravel. In need of a refreshing change from 1950's era modelling I have now finished the drones' mothership. Not a fancy flying one, but a humble Lada Niva model 1980 in Ukrainian pixel camouflage. Basically a simple repainting job to make the car match the drones and highlight that Russia''s full scale invasion of Ukraine has now been going on for 2 years. 

The finshed Ukrainian army Lada Niva parked across a narrow gauge line.

The Lada Niva was the world's first mass-produced off-road vehicle with a unibody construction. The Niva was initially aimed at the rural market much like the Land Rover, but later models also targeted urban users. As many other less than high profile car models the Lada has received cult status in certain sub-cultures exactly like the East German Trabant and IFA-lorry. 

The versatility of the Niva is shown to great effect here. A practical use of bonnet design enabeling long branches to be carried with no fuss.

The base for my model of the drone mothership is the Solido Lada Niva 'Vagabund' model 1980 in 1/18 scale. The model depicts a sporty version of the Niva without bumpers and with an added roof rack for storing equipment. Made in a heavy metal casting the detail is a bit soft, but shape and general design looks very fine. Details like mirrors and windshield wipers are made in soft plastic that makes them a bit more resilient to snapping than details in hard plastic (that on the other hand often looks better).

Straight out of the box and onto the layout for photography. The Niva crosses the tracks quite easily due to its high gound clearance.

First step in my conversion was to disassemble the car into four main assemblies: roof rack, interior, chassis and body. All markings on the body were removed with a cloth with acetone. Even if the body was to receive several layers of paint I was afraid that the printed markings could show through. Better safe than sorry. The rear lights and windows were masked with Tamiya masking tape while the head lights were simply removed. I only masked the windows and left the rubber edging free for over spraying.

The first layer of new paint was a black primer to make sure later paint would adhere properly. With smal squares of masking tape I built up the black part of the characteristic pixel camouflage. With the black squares in place I air brushed a light sand over the car and when dry, masked the formations to stand out in light sand. Then I air brushed a light green over the model and once that layer had dried I masked the squares to stand out in light green before I covered everything in dark green. After drying the camouflage masking was removed with tweezers. I kept the masking on windows and rear lights. After cleaning up a few edges on the camouflage pattern, I air brushed a layer of matt varnish over the body and finished with some light dusting of the lower parts with a light earth colour.

The model disassembled in four major assemblies.

The light sand paint is drying. The masked black areas can be made out around the door.

The camouflage masking squares have been removed. Some of the edges will have to be cleaned up by brush as paint has crept under the edges of the tape in places. Overall an acceptable result for a quick job.

The interior received a few quick bursts with two earth coloured paints through the air brush. I washed the floor with heavily diluted brown oil paint. The seats received a little air brushed wear. I added some fibre grass on the floor and in the trunk. Some card board from discarded boxes was glued to floor and seats and a shovel thrown on top. In the trunk some plastic tube painted olive drab partly covered with a tarpaulin from copper foil might just look like M 72 LAW anti tank weapons seen through the windows.

Interior before the body is mounted and fastened. A few minutes of adding detail helps add some realism to the interior.

Bringing much needed LAWs to the brothers in the front line.

I removed the jerry cans on the roof rack and disguised the holes left by their mountings with a rolled up camouflage net. I rolled some first aid gauze around a little block of styrofoam and soaked it in diluted white glue. While the glue was still wet I placed strips of white paper randomly on the roll. Once fully dried the roll was painted dark green and the paper strips picked out in different shades of greens. 

Finally I removed the masking on windows and rear lights and painted three white crosses as recognition markings. Then I gave the car a wash of heavily diluted black oil paint. After the wash had dried, I air brushed another layer of dust over the car. Finally I fitted the front lights and painted some scratches with a light green colour on exposed locations on the car. These small cars receive a beating near the front lines. The roof rack was fixed in place and the car ready for display.

Southern Ukraine is flat and criss-crossed by tree lines.

Despite the camo repaint in a Ukrainian garage, the guys painting the Lada left the logo intact. The spot light cover is a reminder of happier times...

Drone in the air!

One of the sub-cultures that have taken the Niva to heart are the supporters of hardbass music. A lovely Niva with Adidas-stripes feature in the music video to the tune 'Slav King'. See the video here and remember to turn sound on to enjoy a few minutes of hardbass!

The ever popular Adidas stripes have spread to the Niva! 'Boris' on his ride in true gopnik squat-style.

While the Niva has been a fun modelling project the war in Ukraine is bloody and cruel. Think about that while sitting at your cozy worktable modelling. You may even be able to donate a small sum for some much needed humanitarian help to Ukrainians rather than adding another kit to the stash of unbuilt models?

Ford AA With New License Plates

Back in April 2022 I finished my rebuilding and repainting of a Ford AA recovery lorry. By mistake I had designed the car's license plates a tad too small. As I ordered decals for the Land Rover's license plates, I had new ones made for the Ford lorry. It was a quick job cutting and sanding a pair of new and larger pieces of plasticard for the plates. With a quick pass of a brush with gloss black paint they were soon ready to receive the decals from 'Skilteskoven'. 

I may be a minor detail, but in my view it looks better with true to prototype sized license plates. Here the recovery lorry is parked next to the lorry loading ramp in Nystrup.

The old license plates were carefully removed and the new ones fitted with AC-glue. Small scratches in the paintwork were repaired with a fine brush and black paint. As most car owners kept license plates resonably clean I didn't add any waethering to them.

The lorry is equipped with a warning sign looking pretty much like the Ukrainian flag. Hardly a coincidence as I finished the model merely a month after the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Having to revisit a model to make small changes or correct minor mistakes isn't unusual for me. It's seldom something I write about on the blog, though. But it's a common practice as there is always something extra that can be done to add extra finesse to a model. Not least in a large scale like 1/19.

Land Rover in Service

As mentioned in a previous blog update I have been working on my Land Rover model. From the beginning it was my plan to decal the car as belonging to a farmer or a foresty official. In the end I decided to provide the car with markings from the Danish National Forest District 4 that took care of the large forests between Nystrup and Skovby. The district was subordinated to the National Forestry Authority placed in the Danish capital Copenhagen and as the authority had a central vehicle administration the Land Rover is carrying Frederiksberg (a district in Copenhagen, Denmark's capital) license plates (denoted by the 'A' on the plate).

The Series 1 is a small vehicle as illustrated by Nystrup Gravel chief mechanic Petersen posing in 'victory parade style'.

I've had the Minichamps Land Rover Series 1 in my collection since autumn 2021. It is fairly standard that car models spend some time on my shelves before they get the treatment that allows them to take active part in the Nystrup Gravel story. The treatment consisted of several stages with the first being application of decals printed by 'Skilteskoven' in Odense. With a very glossy surface on the model the decals went on nicely. I made two license plates from plasticard, painted them glossy black and once dry applied decals there as well. Once dry the license plates were AC-glued to the Land Rover.

Straight from the package without tarpaulin fitted. 

With decals in place, I began painting some of the smaller parts on the car to enhance its realism. A few underside parts were in bright metal that needed to be toned down and many other small details had a new cover of paint - exhaust pipe, doorhandle and rearview mirrors to mention a few. I used Vallejo acrylic paints for detail painting.

The Land Rover on the worktable having the first weathering applied.

I like the vehicles on my layout weathered as well as everything else to make them blend in realistically. In contrast to the heavily weathered Ford AA with crane the Land Rover received only light weathering. The 'Landy' would be a rather new car in the early fifties and usually Danish state institutions kept their equipment well maintained.

A heavily thinned light earth acrylic paint was painted over the tires' tread area. Once dry I sanded off the paint on the tires' top, leaving paint only in the grooves. A little paint was applied to the sidewalls of the tires followed by a thin misting with the air brush using the same colour. The underside of the car had a thin spray of light earth as well. Carefully I also sprayed a little light earth on the areas of interior areas that would collect dust.  To illustrate wear on the seats a light colour was sprayed very sparingly in the middle of the seat cushings. The engine and engine bay had a light spray of dark grey, manifold some rust and the bay treated with a engine grime wash. The tarpaulin had a wash with a thin mix of black oil paint and turpentine.

Finally the whole vehicle had matt varnish airbrushed over it in varying intensity. I avoided spraying glassed areas by covering them with masking tape. Headlights and other smaller details I wanted to keep glossy were simply covered with a finger tip.

Side view of the finished Land Rover. I really like the writing on the door with the Royal crown insignia masterfully created by decal producer 'Skilteskoven'.

The doors open on the model and allows for a variety of scenes to be created on the layout.

With windscreen, door tops and tarpaulin removed the basic, rugged lines of the Series 1 is clearly visable. In this form it's more a utility vehicle for agriculture, forestry or industry than a car.

As a vehicle from the forest services the cargo bay should naturally have a saw or an axe and maybe even one of the petrol powered chainsaws emerging in the Danish forest business in the early 1950's. Until I find (or get to scratchbuild) 1/19 scale versions of the tools, I have simply placed a red oil can to avoid the rear of the car looking empty.

What's missing? An early design chainsaw of course!

As the Land Rover is such an iconic car I'm quite amazed that my modelling colleague at Sundborg doesn't have a Land Rover post on his blog, that has detailed descriptions of many less well known car models in H0 scale. Perhaps time to change that, Mr. Sundborg?

Ford AA Recovery

In July 2021 I bought a pair of Ford A cars from a seller in France. One of them was fitted with a crane, and during my summer vacation I fitted a new rear suspension and axle to replace the assembly damaged during shipping.  

The Ford A recovery lorry in mid March. Wheel centres painted dark blue with basic weathering added. The crane assembly test fitted with a few items being tried out for detailing. 

The lorry in almost original state with only the crane detached.

I kept the crane assembly and the rest of the vehicle separate during the next stages in the process of getting the lorry in a condition to serve on my layout. First I removed all unwanted items on the car. The printed markings on the doors were removed with acetone, swabs and a soft cloth. Always remember to test the acetone on the model's paintwork where it can't be seen. One never knows if the paint will stand up to the acetone. In this case I only noticed a slight toning down of the gloss varnish. Then the silver footboard attachments were removed and the holes filled with putty and sanded smooth.

Printing on the doors removed and the holes remaining after the steps on the footboards was removed, filled with putty. The Modelu photographer was repaired with putty from the same batch. Once the two part putty is mixed I try to apply as much as possible to current projects to avoid waste.

The heavily chromed radiator and other parts were either painted over in a more discrete colour or treated with matt varnish mixed with a drop of grey paint. Being an older car in the early 1950's, I didn't want the recovery lorry to look too shiny. Under the bonnet I airbrushed the engine dark grey and added a wash of Vallejo engine grime and traces of rust. The inside of the bonnet was treated to look suitably used. 

To keep the bonnet open during painting I simply used masking tape.

I painted the crane light grey with some of the previous black paint showing to represent paint worn and flaked away. The wooden planks were given a layer of light beige brushed on with semi-dried paint. It's not far from dry-brushing, only with more paint on the brush. The result is a faily good foundation for the next stages in painting and weathering. The battery was fitted with wires and connetions to its terminals. I unwound the thread representing the winch wire and painted it a grey-brown colour with oil paint. The thread was then wound around the wire drum and passed through the A-frame to the top guide wheel, through the lifting hook assembly and finally fastened to the A-frame. The two drawbars were glued in place and and fitted with representations of steel wire used to keep them safely stored during transport.

The small load area behind the cab is being equipped with a selection of small items.Here is an early test wiith oil cans and wooden blocks. The battery has been fitted with wires and a bit of greenish corrosion.

The crane is painted to represent a worn piece of equipment with damaged paintwork. More weathering will be applied.

In the next phase I will finish painting of details and fitting licenseplates as well as applying weathering. I hope to fininsh the Ford before too long, as other projects are waiting.