I was planning my next military project to be a 1/76 Revell Sherman Firefly but while waiting for some reference books and decals to arrive I had some spare time to fit in another quick build.

At a recent Vintage Car Swapmeet I purchased a box of Airfix 1/72 British 8th Army Soldiers. The box was taped up but when I shook it there was definitely some plastic inside, so I handed over the NZ$2 asking price.

Once I returned home and investigated the contents I discovered not only some 8th Army Soldier but a Churchill Tank (probably Airfix, missing lots of parts) and a Bedford MK Truck. Whether the Bedford was from JB Models or Airfix I’m not sure… but it was a bit of a mess. Whoever had assembled the model had decided to do so with the entire chassis upside down.



A sane modeller would have thrown the thing in the spares box and forgotten about it but then I noticed the Bedford had been glued together using contact adhesive – the sort of stuff that goes rubbery when it sets. This meant that disassembly was possible without too much damage to the plastic. The glue kind of peeled off like liquid masking agent. The disassembly and clean up took, perhaps, an extra 2-3hrs, compared to a fresh kit straight from the box. But there’s something satisfying about rescuing a wreck.

The detail on the kit is very good except for some of the lockers under the deck. I’m no expert on MK Bedfords but I couldn’t find any photos on the web that matched the lockers on the kit. (By the way, if you’re googling pictures of ‘MK Bedford’ you get mostly woman’s handbags. Try ‘MJ Bedford’ if you want truck photos. The MJ was a later version of the MK with a different engine).

So, under the deck I made up new lockers, added a filler neck to the fuel tank, raised the fuel tank, replaced the mud-guards with metal strips (ex photo-etch ‘sprue’) and added new tail-lights with a number plate on the RHS.

On the cab I added wing-mirrors, indicator lights, a platform over the cab and also added some detail to the observation hatch cover. On the front bumper I made up some headlight guards.

The canvas cover on the back looked like a loaf of bread as the top cover overhung the sides by too far. I filed this back on all four sides to not-quite flush. I painted the camouflage with a disrupted pattern to highlight the different canvas sheets. The Wikipedia page for the TK Bedford shows a similar pattern.

I’m happy with the result, especially considering what I started with, but I think I’ll start my next project with fresh plastic.

great save!

Excellent overhaul, It came out very nice.

Good work, $2 well spent.

great revamp on the bedford

ive just recently got jb models bedford
il be using this as inspiration hopefully mine can look just as good

Thanks for all the nice comments.

Panzer IV, you might be able to answer a question I have about the UN decal option that's with your kit. On the box art for the JB Models kit it shows the UN logo on a blue square on the cab doors. (Airfix reissued the JB Models Bedford kits)

The decals supplied with at least one Airfix kit that I've seen include the UN logo, but not on a blue background. And the instruction say to apply the UN logo decal, which is white, onto a white painted cab - very strange.

I wondered if it was a fault with that particular decal sheet, to be missing the blue background.

Does the earlier JB Models kit include a blue square on the decal sheet?

If not, then it might be something to watch out for if anyone is planning to build the UN option. They'll have to do some extra masking & painting, or cut a blue square out of another decal from the spares box.

That's the silk purse from the sow's ear!