Bedford O Tipper (1/35)

Along with many modellers I seem to buy models when they are available and not when I have time to build them. With my interest in a very narrow field of seldom modelled subjects it is an absolute necessity. The kits that suits my taste are mostly produced in very limited quantities or difficult to obtain. Sometimes the producers aren't in business for long. So I shop when I can and build later. This was also the case with my Bedford tipper. Bought three years ago the kit is only reaching my work bench now with the Opel finished (well almost, I noticed I hadn't fitted wipers at the windshield and I broke off the open door while taking pictures).


A preserved Bedford O tipper. See more restored Bedfords in this Flickr-album where I also found the blue tipper..

The Bedford O is a 1:35 resin and white metal kit from Roadcraft Models.The company is almost untraceable on the internet and probably best known for a 1:35 kit of a Series 1 Land Rover (that I unfortunately have never seen for sale). I have only seen Roadcraft Models advertised at Scale Link.

The kit is accompanied by some good instructions. An exploded view drawing shows what goes where while a small booklet with text explains how best to prepare, assemble and finish the model. This kit is obviously made by a modeller for modellers - and test built as well. The instructions are proof of that. Surely other short run producers could learn a thing or two (or 27) from Roadcraft Models!

Chassis building progressing. A little work on the tipper body has been done as well. I used two componet epoxy glue for the main parts. I like epoxy better than AC-glue when fixing large and heavy white metal parts together. The white metal chassis parts will result in a heavy model.

If you read Danish you can find a nice article on the Bedford O on the Sundborg-MJ blog.

Planning Ahead (1/35)

I have always been planning my modelling projects well in advance before starting to build. Some projects needs planning because parts must be aquired from the other side of the planet, some because I just need to find out what a particular valve did and if the axles were really placed asymmetrically under the locomotive, some simply because I like to individualize each model - even if otherwise built out of the box - and that takes planning.

My list for 2013 (a list for a year's 'production' usually takes well into the following year to finish) is long as ever and contains a pretty normal mix of locos, wagons, lorries, landscape with some electronics and lighting projects added.

A loco I plan to build. The 'preserved' upper part of a pre WWI Danish built single cylinder IC loco. 

The classic Bedford O will be seen near Nystrup Gravel in the shape of a 1:35 kit from Roadcraft Models.

On the list I also have a Jung ZL114, two Hudson bogie wagons with steel sides, a crawler tractor, more lights and welding flicker in the loco shed and Tamiya's Citroën TA.

I must be a rather determined modeller as almost every model I have had listed on a piece of paper or in an electronic file has reached a finished state - sooner or later. What I like to model isn't changing much either and that probably raises my productivity a bit too.

Finished Opel Kapitän (1/35)

Director Holm from Nystrup Gravel aquired a model 1939 Opel Kapitän just before the war broke out. Tight import restrictions made it impossible for him to get a new and fancy American car and he continued to use the Opel well into the 1950´s.

The director on visit at the loco shed. The weather is obviously warm as the rear door is left open for some fresh air.

I worried that the assembly of doors and roof would be very difficult, but the final assembly worked out fine. The warping of the roof was rather easily dealt with by taping it down while the glue set. A slight gap was taken care of with Humbrol plastic putty and sanding. The time spent on painting director Holm's yellow haired 20 year old daughter probably wasn't worth the trouble, as not much of her can be seen through the door.

The 1:35 Kapitän with the roof taped down while the glue dried.

After priming with 'Chaos Black' I painted the car with Vallejo's 71036 mahogany from the 'Model Air' range. It is prethinned and works great from the container straigt into the air brush - no fuss! I did the chrome lining and bumpers etc. with Vallejo 'chrome'. A steady hand and good eye sight is an advantage. The kit's decals weren't good. They all disintegrated when they came in contact with water. Not quite what you would expect from decals! I managed to save the dials for the dashboard, though. The license plates are from 'Skilteskoven' my usual supplier of special decals.

Even though the car turned out better than expected I think it will last some time before I set out to build another ICM kit. Even if ICM do some pretty interesting subjects, their kit design with many subassemblies and a lot of tiny parts makes building quite time consuming and painting difficult. Fortunately I have a Tamiya Citroën TA waiting to be built. Probably with only half the number of parts!

Previous posts on the building of the car can be found here:
Progress on the Opel Kapitän
Director Holm's Opel Kapitän

Hesketh MD2 Arrived (1/35)

Last week I got the package with my O&K MD2 from Hesketh Scale Models. Even though the model is not on my 'to do list' for the spring, I couldn't resist opening the package to see what was in the box. The kit is nicely packaged and the contents well protected with a sufficient amount of bubble plastic wrapping.

Quite a large box for the kit. Actually the comprehensive instructions takes up most of the space!

The kit parts are out of the box.

 The parts themselves are packed in zip lock bags of different sizes and it isn't difficult to get a view of all the contents - making sure everything is there.

Seems that the first batch of both the cabbed and open loco are currently sold out. So watch Hesketh Scale Model's website if you want an MD2 yourself.

Progress on the Opel Kapitän (1/35)

The progress on the Opel Kapitän has been slow due to my expectations of trouble with the assembly of the upper body. Recently I saw a very nice model of a Kapitän on the military modelling site Missing Links and was assured the model could be finished. With motivation regained I set out to finish my model. 

Door parts in abundance awaiting painting, weathering, glazing and assembly. Female passenger test fitted in the rear seat. Decals fitted to the dash board. 

I decided to prepare all interior parts including painting and weathering before I close up the car. I have also spent some time planning the sequence of assembly. With most of the parts ready and having a plan I'm looking forward to test it.

Inspired by the Opel model on Missing Link I will keep the left rear door open and fit a passenger. I picked the female figure from Nemrod's set with two figures for the Citroen Traction Avant. It is not a set seen often in shops. I bought my set from Blast Models in Paris.

The male driver in the set gets most of the attention on the image on the package. The female passenger is barely visible through the wind screen.

Interior finished and figure fitted. Right side doors glued in place. Car ready for left side and roof.

Next up is the dreaded final assembly and painting. The car will be painted mahogany with chrome lining, trim and bumpers.

Gaps between modules (1/35)

On a small module you are literally always standing close to the edge. Even more so in a relatively large scale as 1:35. How a module is designed, how the track runs across it and how buildings and trees are arranged all contribute to how obvious the connections between the modules are.

When my modules are set up my primary visual concern is to disguise the narrow gap between them. I have tried to hide the gaps with grass and shrubbery. But having grass every 80 cm will end up being far too obvious.

My newest module - the one with the bridge over a small stream - is for the next few years the end of the line. The left end of the module is designed to enable a connection to be made to the only other established industrial railway in the scale range 1:35-1:32 in Denmark. My friend's modules are not of the exact same profile as mine and to help disguise that the module is finished off with a wooden fence, grass and shrubbery.

A tiny piece of fence. Should I be able to build a bit of the bakelite factory in the future it will be hiding behind a brick wall. The wooden fence was almost completely levelled by one of the factory's lorries in 1942 and replaced with a more sturdy wall. On the nearer side of the track shrubbery will facilitate a smooth transition to the next module.

My 1:35 fence is supposed to be surrounding the bakelite factory 'Bankes Bakelit'. The fence is made from wood and quite simple. Just like a real fence. The lettering on the fence is hand painted after the letters were marked out in pencil. Not as difficult as I thought.

New 1:35 Kit - O&K MD2 (1/35)

Having modelled industrial railways in 1:35 for more than a decade I have not grown accustomed to the luxury of having a selection of kits in the scale for neither locos nor wagons. Most of what pulls skips at Nystrup Gravel is more or less home made or cobbled together from a resin upper body and a drive unit that has been adapted to fit. The only exeption has been the kit of the Swedish Sala-loco currently undergoing maintenance and updating at my work table. I have accepted that without any problems as 1:35 is not a traditional railway modelling scale.

But now a new company has announced what looks like an extremely promising 1:35 kit of the Orenstein & Koppel MD2. And from my interpretation of the company's post on the FS32NG-group it seems it will be the first of a series of locos in 1:35. Something I never dared to hope for. 

Finshed MD2 with cab. Photo from Mark Hesketh.

I have always fancied the sturdy looking O&K-locos. Because of their slab sided construction, many of O&K's locos designed before the war lends them well to etched metal construction.

You can see more images of the model on the web site of the small company that makes the kit – Hesketh Scale Models. You will even be able to start planning the build of the model, as the instructions are online as PDF-files. A nice drawing of an MD2 can be seen on the Dutch website Industriespoor.