Hi Guys,

This is my finally finished Bedford QLD GS. Based on the 6pdr Portee chassis, Accurate Armour Cab and a scratch built tilt.

Vehicle representd the RQMS's truck Q2, from 151st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, 11th Armoured Division - 1944.



















Al

Hi Guys,

I never quite understand why people look at a thread that asks for comment and then don't bother to say anything!! Anyway if you weren't interested in the last one you probably won't be interested in this one either

This is the second of my Bedfords the (GS) Special. Designed for carrying ammo, hense the steel body this one is being 'run' in by the Mt Sgt!!

Vehicle representa Mt Sgt's truck (Q3) - same unit and division.

If I had waited untilI got an ammo load it would probably have been another 18 months.

















Al

Alan,

They look great, but I have always liked British soft skins. They always seem to have that "bull dog" look to them. Please keep sharing your work.

Darryl

Hi Darrel,

Thanks, for a while I wondered if I would ever get them finished.

Yes, we need more Commonwealth trucks in 1/35 plastic, there is such an interesting range still to be made.

Cheers

Al

I couldn't agree more!! Maybe, just maybe someone will kit them in plastic at a reasonable cost.

Darryl

A nice pair of Bedfords you've got there Alan. Always like to see some good British softskins.
Did you try Accurate Armour for a load for the ammo carrier? Got a vague recollection that they did a one-piece load for one of their Scammell gun tractors.

And curious as to what references you've got your hands on. Got a couple of portee kits just waiting for new bodywork, but no good starting points yet.

Hey Al,
Sorry for not responding quicker !!
I just spent the last 45 minutes adding your photos to my hobby photofile.
Marvelous shots of your work, your lorries are amazing !!!
Your figures are great, the seated figure I recognize as a Resicast tank rider but the standing figure is either a combo of Tamiya UC figures or something I haven't seen before.
And just a quick Q & A:
I know that GS means General Service for British vehicles.
But Bedford lorries always have an interesting combination of letters tacked onto their vehicle names.
What does MWD, QLC, QLD mean?
Cheers

jjumbo

Alan-- great job as usual. Are you planning to put this baby in a diorama?
DJ

Hi guys,

Darryl,

we live in hope!!

David,

Thanks for the comments. For reference I used Bedford to Berllin and Beyond by Robert Coates. Hard to get, but the odd copy still around. Also Mr Roo and a few others gave me a lot fo help and advice. For the tilts I made a template for the floor and built on that.

The load in the QLD Special is an Accurate Armour load, main reason I opened the back up. I will dig up what I have and PM you. A lot was trial and error as I'd never attempted anything like this before.

John,

As alwasy thanks for the comments. The standing figure is from the Tamiys Bren carrier set with the drivers arms and a new head, the other is the Resicast figure I reviewed recently.

On the QLD question well lets see if I can get it right. All army vehicles are classified into one of three general types A, B or C.

A vehicles carry armour and do the fighting.
C vehicles are those used in construction work.
B vehicles are not armoured and includes lorries etc used for transport.

Bedford used two letter model designation to describe their vehicle, so the Bedford QL is the manufacturers bit as is the extension which denotes the type of vehicle:

QLB = Bofors Light AA tractor (note the B in QLB has nothing to do with B vehicles above this is purely the manufacturers model spec).
OLC = Chassis/Cab - for special bodied vehicles, that were added to the basic lorry but not built by Bedford,
QLD = No direct interpretation but given to the standard basic lorry built by Bedford.
QLT = Trooper
QLW - Winch added to vehicle.

Sorry that is not more comprehensive but I would be hear all night and most of next week !!

Hope that helps!!

DJ,

Again tanks for the comments, both are for the Pier (one day!!).

Cheers

Al

Hey Al,
Thanks for your brief explanation.
Yeah, British vehicle nomenclature can be so baffling at times, it's almost like you need a team program to figure out who's playing !!!
I'm with Darryl, we need more British softskins in plastic.
When you consider how many were built and used by Allied troops, a few more Canadian Military Pattern trucks in plastic would also be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

jjumbo

Hi John,

Ah lets see, in cars and light utilities how about:

Tourers

Austin 8hp 2 seater
Humber Snipe 4 seater

Saloons

Austin 10hp 4 seater
Hillman 10hp Minx 4 seater
Standard 14hp 4 seater
Vauxhall 14hp 4 seater
vauxhall 25hp 4 seater
Ford WOA1, WOA1/A 4 seater

Light Utilities

Austin 10hp G/Gy
Nilman 10 hp (Mks I, IA, IIm IIA, IIB and IV)
Morris 10hp series M
Standard 12hp

Heavy Utilities

Humber SNipe 4 x 2
Humber F.W.D 4 x 2
Ford WOA2 4 x 2
Bedford Series QLD, QLT, QLB,QLR, OLC's (many) and QLT 4 x 4

Light Trcuks

8cwt

Ford WOC1
Humber Snipe 4 x 2
Humber F.W.D 4 x 4
Morris Commercial PU
Morris Commercial PU8/4

15cwt

Austin BYD 4 x 2
Bedord MW series 4 x 2
Commer 'Beetle' 4 x 2
Fordson WOIT, TO1Y 4 x 2
Fordson WOT2 series 4 x 2
Guy 'Ant' 4 x 2
Guy 'Quad-Ant' 4 x 4
Morris Commercial CS8 4 x 2
Morris Commercial C4, Mks 1 and II 4 x 2
Morris Commercial C8/GS 4 x 4

30cwt 4 x 2

Austin K 30
Bedford OX series
Bedford MSC
Commer Q2
Ford E018T
Fordson WOT3 series
Morris Commercial CS11/30
Thornycroft GF/TC4, HF/TC4

2 Ton 4 x 2

Austin K2/YF
Bedford ML
Karrier Bantam Mk i and II

3 ton 4 x 2

Albion CL125, KL 127
Bedford QY series
Commer 04
Dennis WD
Dodge 80, 82
Layland Lynx
Thornycroft WZ/TC4, ZS/TC4
Tillings Stevens TS20

I suppose there isn't much choice or variety in British Trucks for manufactuirers to choose from .

Yes, I know about the market, but a couple of the more known and widly used vehicles would be a big plus.

Cheers

Al

Part 2

some others that are missing

3 Ton 4 x 4

ACE 0853 matador
Albion FT11N
Austin K5 series
Bedford QL Series
Fordson WOT6
Guy Lizard
Karrier K6
Thornycroft Nubian

3 Ton 6 x 4

AEC Matrshal
Albion BY series
Austin K3/YF
Austiin K6, K61A
Crossley 1GL7, 1 GL8
Ford E917T
Fordson WOT1 series
Guy FBAX
Karrier K 6
Layland Retriever
Layland Terrier
thornycroft Tartar

Heavy Lorries

5 Ton 4 x 2

Bedford OW series
Dennis Pig
Dodge 100

6 Ton 4 x 2

Commer Q6
Dennis Max Mk ( and Mk II
Dodge 120
E.R.F. 2C14
Foden DG4/6
Fordson Thames 7V (4-6 ton)
Maudsley Militant

10 Ton 6 x 4

Albion Cx6N
albion Cx23N
Foden FG/6/10, DG/6/12
Layland Hippo Mk I, MK II Mk IIA and Mk IIB

and a few trailers to match would also be good.

Al

Dammit Alan! It just ain’t fair on us poor mediocre to middlin’ modellers to continually churn out masterpieces like this.

What did you paint it with? What colours? How did you make the canopy? What did you... Ach! Enough for now!

Excellent job mate!

You really need to do some build lesson for us poor mortals.

These are superb!

As you can tell, once again I'm superbly impressed! The canopy looks incredibly realistic.

Hey Alan,
You're slipping up !!
Where's the list of Canadian and other Commonwealth trucks and lorries used by the Brits ?
I bow in awe of you and your references.
Cheers for the list, I'll cut and paste it onto a Word document.

jjumbo

Alan !! real nice bedfords, i have a dio base that i picked up for my bday, to compliment the portee, which is nearly done, but my amera has bee out of acion latley!
shame i cant post pics atm,
the ammo carrier is pretty sweet, how do you brush paint greens whitout fingerprints gettin all over em, when i paint greens, they are blotchey and they really attract fingerprints

Hi Murdo, Thanks for the exceedingly kind comments and glad you enjoyed the pics. Medicocre you're builds aren't mate.

Tarps are paper tissue and the paint is my usual mix 50/50 OD and DG.

I learn't a lot building these.

Cheers

Al

Hi John,

Picked up a copy of British Military Transport World War Two from Ryton Publications lots of pics and scale drawings and general truck info. ISBN 1 898135 02 9 cost me £10.00. It's not big only about 50 pages in paper back form but lots of good info.

Al

Hi Jimmy,

Yip, keep up the work on the Portee, I'll look forward to seeing some more pics when you get organised. On the painting side I use watery paints, several coats and try and keep my big clumbsy hands out of the way lol, lol.

Cheers

Al

hi alan, nice pair of bedfords..i like specially the tarps..what material and how did you achieved the finish? i always wonder why did they made the rear differential narrower..were they designed for double tire specs? thanks for sharing. ed

Hi ed,


Thanks for you comments. Can't say why they were designed that way but on the tarps I can help.

Made from Mens Klennex Tissues. Cut out the basic shape you want and then fold it where you want the main creases to be. I tend to cut a little larger than I need and trim off the excess at the end.

Then dip it into a cup or pot of watery PVA (white) glue. Press in the main crease lines you want and then crumple it up for added effect.. The tissue just needs to be soaked in the wet PVA, then take it out and squeeze off the excess. Carefully open up the tissue paper again and drape it over the shape you want to cover. It should have the main creases you wanted plus lots of other little ones.

If it is still a bit too damp let it sit and dry a little. Once you start to feel it going stiffish, then lift it off and paint the underside, put it back into place and paint the top. Painting it early also helps to strengthen the tissue if it starts to look a bit weak.

Painting, I used Buff and Khaki, Red Brown and sometimes stuff from the gunk pot. Just mix up the colour that you want. Make the mix watery so that as you add different colours and shades it will blend naturally when the tissue is wet. You will find that the more you wet and work the tissue the more fabric like it becomes. Once you have, what you think looks OK then add a varied selection of Mig Pigments again of diferent tones and colours, I just rub them in with a paint brush.

Best advice is to try a few experiments just to get a sense of how the paper reacts. The hard part is separating it again when you take it from the pot, but if you fold it bearing that in mind it isn't too difficult.

It will dry solid and tend to tighten up, so if you want dips and so on use some coins or paint pots to help it sag where you want. Just keep an eye on how it's drying the tissue is much tougher than you migh think and takes a bit of working to get the shape you might finally want. Remember you can go back and alter or change it at any time by soaking it again with water.

It's a very cheap way to make tarps

Hope that makes sense and helps.

Al

Brilliant! Thanks very much for the explanation mate.

thanks alan, lots of work in there but i'll try that on my next project. thanks again. ed

Hi Murdo and Ed,

Your welcome. Try a few experiments, on any kind of frame, don't worry about it going hard just wet it again, the more you work the tissue, the more fabric like itbecomes. Use a nice soft paint brush. I think the dust helps roughen up the fibre and if you get any water marks just rub some more dust in and they will disappear. lol, lol.

Al

Looks awesome Alan, very nice! Very nice indeed! Your tarps came out well, as did the rest of your "two fer" build. Nice touch with placing a figure in the back of them, fantastic work!

Thanks for sharing...had to save your pictures as well!

Cheers -
Tim

Hi Tim,

Many thanks, it took a while to get them finally finished!! Comments, much appreciated and glad you enoyed the pics.

Al