Hi folks,

Not that long ago Tamiya released the BSA M20 kit. It's a basic kit to say the least and not at the standard we have come to expect today, but it did provide a vehicle that hadn't been available before and that despite all its failings is always a plus.

Inside the Armour produced an upgrade set to give it some more detail and I'm going to see how these marry up for the current campaign running here on site.

Terry has done a review over on PMMS that's worth a read,and there's not a lot I can add to that knowing even less about motorcycles than everything else.

http://perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/tamiya/tam35316.html

There's a walkabout here on site I took of some time back

https://armorama.kitmaker.net//features/3225

If you build this straight out of the box it won't take long, as it is a very simple kit, one tree of parts for the M20 and one tree containing two figures and a small sign post, some Mk II Sten guns and the riders kit.

Not sure how long it will take me though!

Some pics to start with





Standard Instructions





Kit parts





Decals



ITA conversion













Cheers

Al

looking forward to seeing how you get on with this as I have one in the stash and if yours goes well I might pick up the ITA set

Hi Pat,

The ITA replacement wheels sit at the same height as the top of the fender on the kit part, which seems a bit odd to me as with the replacement fenders on top the bike would site a bit higher?

The replacement wheels are a bit rough in places, and it's not clear to me yet exactly how they will fit but I'll study the completed pictures from the ITA site and go from there.

ITA Example





The casting of the Tamiya kit parts is very good Some very fine parts that need careful removal. Pity they didn't include a decent set of spokes for the wheels rather than the thick cast options that have too few spokes.

I had considered removing the cast spokes and replacing them with the ITA set but the wheels are of different sizes!

Keep you posted on how things go.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

Well I don't like to admit defeat very often, but I had to give up on the new wheels. No jig is provided for the spokes and no central alignment between the 4 PE parts that need added so after a frustrating couple of hours I gave up and reverted to plan B.

For a bit more depth on the kit I scribed out around the kit wheels freeing up the mudguards and then started adding additional spokes to the front wheel. Time consuming but doable.

Progress so far.



Cheers

Al

very nice build.

Hi folks,

A bit more progress. The Tamiya kit depicts a late M20 with the air intake added on top of the fuel tank. I've opted to make a few changes, I'll leave off the 2nd seat and the air intake and I'll fill the alteration that was made to the fuel tank to accommodate the air intake.

So far I've just used 3 pieces of the conversion set. As I'm adding the panniers I couldn't see the point in switching them to PE as they will be covered by the haversacks. I did add the folding arms after I had filed the kit part down a fair bit.

The big issue with the kit was the way the wheels were molded to the mudguards and the lack of spokes in the wheels. I've scribed out all the excess plastic making a more 3D effect and added in more spokes.

This is how things stand at the moment.





One thing I did notice was the connecting rods form the rear of the front mudguard, These are very distinctive in so much as they fit around the outside of the mudguard. Unfortunately no PE part is provided to fix this so I made one form lead wire.



This kit got a bit of a death when it was released but with a little TLC I think you can make a stab at a fairly reasonable representation of the bike. I wasn't put off but the lack of detail and I'll probably do a later version some time as thousands of these were produced.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

a bit more work, some wiring added and the handlebars attached. Just a small lever to fix on and choose a unit





Al

Hi folks,

Well calling this one done for now. I used very little of the ITA conversion and it would be nice if the set included a jig and spacers for the spokes, plus a new backing rod for the front mudguard and a tap for the top of the fuel tank.

First fitting of the figure had him sitting too high. The springs into the seat have small extensions that fit into the seat and I had to remove the seat and shorten these to get the right height. I added a front registration plate, seen on some of the earlier versions although these appear to have carried a ordinary number, 28, 57, 550 rather than a registration number and I left of the second seat.

I've left the option to add some kit to the figure, early gas mask, pistol and map case depending on the final home. I carved off the kit straps and added a Resicast Head. Not sure about the signals markings but they will do for now. You get white/blue arm bands for the figure, but my suggestion would be to fit these before you fit the arms. I painted one on the left arms and turned the other into a brazzard for a recently promoted acting LCpl.

The parts are quite delicate so you need to take care when cutting them off and handling them. Not a perfect kit but one I'm reasonably happy with for now.







Cheers

Al

wow.

luca

Thanks Luca,

Glad you enjoyed the effort.

Cheers

Al